What the system provesLink to this section

TL;DRLink to this section

One accepted magnet passage is one work unit under the configured sensor policy.
A signature proves which key signed the data, not whether the measurement is physically true.
Ethereum records contract execution and settled work. Video doesn't affect those records.
A compromised measurement host can still supply false data, even with a protected signing key.

What does a work record prove?Link to this section

A work record says that a wheel-magnet passage was accepted under the configured sensor rules. It doesn't identify an animal, prove the wheel's direction, or establish what caused it to move. “Hamster proof of work” describes these recorded passages, not a way of proving animal identity or securing Ethereum consensus.

A signature links a record to a signing key. Settlement on Ethereum shows that the contract accepted an authorized batch. Neither step independently checks the physical wheel, so a valid signature and a successful transaction don't remove the need to trust the measurement host and its operators.

Does video or a signing chip remove that trust?Link to this section

Video is independent of measurement. You can see movement while counting is stopped, and a missing feed doesn't mean no work was recorded. Video cannot repair missing sensor records.

The production signing chip protects its key from export, but it signs data supplied by the host. A compromised host can supply false data. Sensor placement, counting rules, host security, and enrollment of the signing key still matter.

Technical detail: evidence by layerLink to this section

Layer	Evidence it supplies	What it cannot establish
Pico	Raw sensor readings with identity, sequence, and timing	Accepted work, completed rounds, or signed telemetry
Pi	Saved accepted passages and completed rounds	Animal identity, direction, intent, or what caused movement
Oracle	Checks on signatures, identity, counter history, and policy	Physical truth or Ethereum settlement
Reporter	Signed permission to settle an exact batch	Anything beyond the eligible measurement records
Squeekchain `Core` contract on Ethereum	Executed round, work-total, and Squeek-block rules	Which animal or physical cause produced a reading
Camera and public display	Video and displayed status	Accepted measurements or proof of their cause

PermissionsLink to this section

Only the Pi accepts passages and assigns them to rounds. Hosted services check its records; they cannot invent a starting total, reduce cumulative work, or spread an unexplained increase across rounds.

Core checks signed settlements, not the sensor or Oracle database. Indexers and APIs display records but cannot change Ethereum history.

GuaranteesLink to this section

The Oracle checks the signature before reading the telemetry contents and preserves accepted round-data hashes. It recognizes a retry by its record identity and contents, not by identical signature bytes.

Production signing chips keep telemetry keys non-exportable, and the Oracle checks signatures against the registered public key. Enrollment proves a genuine chip participated, but the chip cannot attest that it holds the telemetry key or that a measurement is true.

Core rejects reused settlement authorizations and checks the chain, proxy, and implementation named by the signature. These checks prevent misuse of an authorization, not false physical measurements.

AssumptionsLink to this section

A compromised measurement host can send false data to its signing chip. Sensor placement, counting rules, host security, and key enrollment therefore remain trusted.

Oracle administrators and its database provider can affect hosted records, while Core upgrades depend on trusted governance. Mining checks Core's expected interface and reward rules; Token does not independently check work or rounds.

Failure behaviorLink to this section

An invalid telemetry signature creates no Oracle receipt or accepted work.
Rejected or quarantined telemetry leaves review records but creates no accepted rounds.
The Pi stops counting missing, conflicting, or uncertain sensor readings rather than guessing passages.
A video failure neither proves nor disproves a passage and cannot change rounds.
Local checks and code review do not prove that deployed contracts match the reviewed code or that services are operating correctly.

Records verified work and tracks settled rounds and Squeek blocks on Ethereum. Calculates rewards from settled work, holds funded SQK, and pays eligible NFT owners. The Miner ERC-721 contract. Tracks NFT ownership and coordinates minting and merges with Mining. Applies Core or Mining upgrades authorized by its governing Timelock. Generates Miner NFT artwork from fixed onchain visual data. Queues governance operations and enforces a delay before they can be executed. The SQK ERC-20 contract. Enforces the lifetime supply cap; only Mining can mint SQK. Checks that visual data conforms to the required DotGrid format. When new mining power starts earning. Minting and merging schedule it for a later round, and a checkpoint must process the change. A reward update that processes settled work and scheduled mining-power changes. It can make rewards available but doesn't pay them to an owner's wallet. The Miner NFT permanently burned in a merge. Its unclaimed rewards move to the survivor, but its image is not combined or kept. SQK issued under the mining reward rules. You can direct a share of your Miner's rewards to fund SqueekFi projects. The physical mining device that records accepted wheel-magnet passages as work. It is separate from the virtual Miner NFTs. Squeekchain's record of accepted wheel-magnet passages. It doesn't prove animal identity and isn't how Ethereum reaches consensus. Combining two eligible same-level Miners you own into one higher-level Miner. One NFT is permanently burned; the survivor keeps both Miners' unclaimed rewards. The completed Squeek blocks a Miner must wait through before merging. It measures completed work, not elapsed time or Ethereum blocks; transfers don't reset it. The power used to calculate a Miner's share of rewards when eligible and active. A larger share of total power can mean a larger share of rewards. A ten-minute period used to group measured work. The device saves a completed round's work total when measurement remained uninterrupted. The transferable token used for mining rewards. It has a lifetime supply cap and is separate from the Miner NFT and the device's work count. A completed amount of settled work. Enough recorded work completes one Squeek block; it is not an Ethereum block. Squeek Miner NFTs earn SQK linked to recorded wheel activity. Owners can direct a share of those rewards to fund SqueekFi projects. Squeekchain's ecosystem for hamster-powered onchain finance. Miner owners can choose to fund projects with a share of their SQK rewards. The Miner NFT you keep in a merge. It gains a level, keeps its ID and image, and receives both Miners' unclaimed rewards. A Miner's recorded reward balance that hasn't been paid to a wallet. It stays with the NFT when ownership changes. One wheel-magnet passage that met the device's counting rules and was saved. It records work, not an amount of SQK.