Architecture Overview

Verifiability and Trust Model

This section describes how Irys enforces trust in stored data and execution results.

On Irys, verifiability is not optional or application-specific. It is a property of the protocol itself.

• Protocol guarantees
  Data written to Irys is verified by the network. The protocol enforces guarantees about: data availability, data integrity, and responsibility for maintaining stored data. These guarantees apply uniformly across the network and do not depend on individual applications or offchain services. Applications can assume that verified data is real, intact, and retrievable.
• Verifiable data
  Trust in data on Irys is designed to be continuous. Once data becomes part of the network, the protocol continues to enforce its availability and integrity over time. Stored data does not become less trustworthy as it ages or as usage grows. This allows applications to rely on accumulated data without periodically revalidating it.
• Verifiable execution
  Smart contract execution on Irys is verifiable by the network. Because execution is deterministic and operates on verifiable data, the results of contract execution can be independently validated. This ensures that execution outcomes remain consistent and enforceable across the system.
• Accountability through incentives
  Verifiability on Irys is reinforced through economic incentives. Participants responsible for storing data and supporting execution are economically accountable for meeting protocol requirements during consensus. Failure to maintain availability or correctness is penalized by the system.