Consensus Mechanism

What secures EDMA

EDMA inherits security from Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS). Validators stake ETH, propose/attest to blocks, and are slashed for misbehavior. This gives us censorship resistance, data availability, and final settlement on Layer 1. EDMA does not run a separate validator set and does not require staking EDM for network security.

Execution runs on EDMA L2, a rollup that posts transaction batches to Ethereum. EDMA L2 provides low-cost, high-throughput execution; Ethereum L1 provides finality, auditability, and governance anchoring.

What EDMA adds

Consensus orders blocks; PoV decides what is allowed into state:

• Attestor quorum: independent verifiers must attest to the same evidence hash.

• One-Claim exclusivity: a route-agnostic claimId can finalize once network-wide.

• Gate contract: every mint/settle/access call passes through PoV Gate; on any mismatch the call reverts.

• Revocation lifecycle: if a counted verification is revoked/expired later, dependent assets are flagged/frozen until rectified.

In short: no verify → no action. That’s application-layer truth on top of Ethereum PoS.

Finality & settlement policy

• Everyday flows (energy/carbon trades, routine retirements): settle on EDMA and anchor to Ethereum.

• High-value tranches (commodity milestones): policy MAY require L1 anchoring or a challenge-window elapsed before funds are considered final. Parameters are set in the Fee/Policy contracts and can be tightened via timelocked governance.

EDM’s role vs staking

EDM is not a consensus token. It’s the fee/rights token for settlement:

• Proof mints/conversions are gas-only on EDMA (no protocol fee).

• Settlement actions use EDM with route fees enforced on-chain (Energy/Carbon 4% total, Commodity 0.5%/milestone with caps), and 50% of every fee burns automatically.

• Any EDM “staking” we offer is for fee rebates/incentives on the treasury half of fees—not for block production or consensus security.

Why this design

• Security & sustainability: Ethereum PoS gives battle-tested security with a minimal energy footprint.

• Throughput where needed: EDMA delivers low-cost execution while keeping data available on L1.

• Integrity by rule: PoV blocks duplicates and unverifiable claims in code, not by policy.

• Audit-ready: regulators and financiers can trace claims to immutable L1 lineage.

Risks & mitigations

• L2 sequencing/challenge risk: for large releases we can require L1 anchoring / window elapsed; circuit-breakers can pause settlement on divergence.

• Attestor centralization: enforced role diversity, public KPIs, rotation, and cheap revocation.

• Garbage-in evidence: strict canonicalization, device identity, anomaly detection, random audits.

Conformance

Call PoV Gate in the same transaction that mints or settles. If quorum/equality/exclusivity fail—or the caller lacks EDM for settlement—the call reverts. Proof creation remains gas-only; value moves only after verified reality.

Bottom line: Ethereum PoS secures the chain; PoV secures the truth that EDMA will accept. We keep proofs cheap, settlements enforceable, and every unit of verified activity tied to on-chain burn.