# Genesis Block Transparency ## Purpose This document provides a complete, verifiable account of the original Shekyl chain and the rationale for the Shekyl NG reboot. It is intended to be read by anyone evaluating the fairness and integrity of the Shekyl NG genesis distribution. The founding team is committed to the same standard of transparency that motivates the Shekyl name itself: trust through verifiability, not through authority. --- ## 1) The Original Chain — Verified Statistics The original Shekyl blockchain data has been preserved and independently verified. The LMDB database containing the full chain was inspected directly using standard tooling (`mdb_stat`, Python `lmdb` library) against the raw `data.mdb` file. The following statistics are derived from the `block_info` table's cumulative emission field and the `tx_indices` table entry count: | Metric | Value | |---|---| | Total blocks | 168,947 | | Total transactions | 168,981 | | Non-coinbase transactions | 34 | | Total atomic units emitted | 2,745,081,907,831,749,734 | | Total whole coins (12-decimal basis) | ~2,745,081 SHEKYL | | Chain start | ~January 2018 | | Chain end (last block) | ~March 2026 | The raw database schema confirmed the chain used the original CryptoNote `txs` table structure, predating the pruning-era `m_txs_pruned` / `m_txs_prunable` split introduced in later Monero releases. The data is intact and readable. --- ## 2) Why the Original Parameters Were Broken The original chain launched with a critical misconfiguration in `src/cryptonote_config.h`: ``` MONEY_SUPPLY = 2^32 // interpreted as atomic units, not whole coins COIN = 10^12 // 12-decimal precision CRYPTONOTE_DISPLAY_DECIMAL_POINT = 12 ``` In CryptoNote-family code, `MONEY_SUPPLY` is expressed in **atomic units**. With 12-decimal precision, the effective whole-coin supply ceiling was: ``` 2^32 / 10^12 = 0.004294967296 SHEKYL ``` This means the chain crossed its nominal supply ceiling almost immediately after genesis and entered minimum-subsidy (tail emission) behavior for its entire operational lifetime. Every block reward paid since approximately the first few blocks was the `FINAL_SUBSIDY_PER_MINUTE` floor — not a meaningful geometric emission curve. In addition, `2^32` whole coins with 12-decimal atomic accounting is not representable in `uint64_t`: ``` 2^32 * 10^12 = 4.294967296 × 10^21 > 2^64 - 1 = 1.844 × 10^19 ``` The original configuration was therefore not only economically non-functional but would have caused integer overflow had the intended supply ever been approached. The chain was, in a technical sense, broken by design from its first block. --- ## 3) What the Chain Actually Was Given the verified statistics above, the original Shekyl chain is accurately characterized as: - **A proof-of-concept mining chain.** 168,947 blocks were mined over approximately eight years by a small group of participants keeping the network alive. - **Economically inactive.** Only 34 non-coinbase transactions occurred in the chain's entire history. There was no meaningful commerce, no token market, and no user base beyond the founding miners. - **Running entirely on tail emission.** Every block reward was the minimum subsidy floor. The intended geometric emission curve never operated as designed. - **Not recoverable as a balance snapshot.** CryptoNote's privacy model uses one-time stealth addresses, meaning the chain records outputs against one-time public keys — not wallet addresses. There is no mechanism to extract a per-wallet balance from chain data without the private view key of every recipient. Even if such a snapshot were technically possible, the 34-transaction history means the UTXO set is trivially small and entirely held by the founding miners. --- ## 4) Why a Clean Reboot Is Justified The founding team considered several options for the Shekyl NG launch: **Option A: Proportional snapshot airdrop.** Attempt to map original chain outputs to Shekyl NG genesis allocations. Rejected because: (1) CryptoNote privacy makes wallet-level balances unextractable without private key cooperation; (2) the original emission was entirely tail-emission subsidy, making the "earned" framing difficult to justify; (3) the 34-transaction history means the UTXO set is de facto a small founder allocation by another name. **Option B: View-key submission.** Ask original holders to submit their view keys to prove balances. Rejected as privacy-invasive and operationally impractical. **Option C: Clean genesis with founder allocations.** Treat Shekyl NG as a fresh start with an explicit, transparent founder allocation at genesis and the new Four-Component economic model governing all subsequent emission. **Adopted.** A clean reboot is justified on the following grounds: 1. The original monetary parameters were technically misconfigured and produced no functional emission curve. 2. The original chain had no real economic activity or user base. 3. The Shekyl NG design (documented in `DESIGN_CONCEPTS.md`) introduces a fundamentally different and carefully validated economic architecture that cannot be meaningfully grafted onto the old parameter set. 4. All founding participants have reviewed the original chain data and voluntarily agreed to accept genesis allocations that are substantially reduced relative to what a naive proportional snapshot would suggest — in the interest of a fair, clean launch with no legacy overhang. --- ## 5) Founder Allocation Principles The founding team has agreed to the following principles governing the genesis allocation: - **No hidden pre-mine.** The genesis block distribution is published in full before launch. Every address and amount is publicly visible on-chain from block zero. - **Reduced relative to legacy claim.** Founders accept materially less than a proportional interpretation of their original mining rewards would imply. This is a deliberate act of good faith toward future participants who had no involvement in the original chain. - **Emission-earned going forward.** Beyond the genesis allocation, founders participate in the same emission, staking, and fee mechanisms as all other participants. There is no ongoing preferential treatment. - **Lock commitments.** Founding allocations are subject to the same staking lock tiers available to all participants. Founders are expected to demonstrate conviction through the long lock tier (150,000 blocks, ~208 days) for the majority of their genesis allocation, making the commitment public and verifiable on-chain. - **Transparency over time.** The founding team commits to publishing their genesis addresses publicly so that any participant can verify lock status, unlock timing, and subsequent on-chain behavior. ### Specific Genesis Allocations | Recipient | Amount | Notes | |---|---|---| | Founder 1 | 20,000 SHEKYL | Equal share | | Founder 2 | 20,000 SHEKYL | Equal share | | Founder 3 | 20,000 SHEKYL | Equal share | | Founder 4 | 20,000 SHEKYL | Equal share | | Founder 5 | 20,000 SHEKYL | Equal share | | **Total** | **100,000 SHEKYL** | **0.002329% of total supply** | All five allocations are identical. There is no tiered or preferential distribution among founders. For context: the total genesis allocation represents less than 2.4 thousandths of one percent of the 2^32 whole SHEKYL supply ceiling. The remaining 99.997671% of all SHEKYL that will ever exist must be earned through proof-of-work mining under the Four-Component emission model described in `DESIGN_CONCEPTS.md`. There is no foundation allocation at genesis. Should the community choose to establish a Shekyl Foundation in the future, that body would be a community- governed institution funded voluntarily — whether through founder donations, community fundraising, or other means decided at that time. No coins are reserved or earmarked for this purpose at launch. The specific genesis addresses for each founder will be published in `docs/GENESIS_ALLOCATIONS.md` at the time of mainnet launch. --- ## 6) The Shekyl Name and the Standard It Implies The Shekyl project takes its name from the historical shekel — a unit of weight-based monetary measure whose trustworthiness derived from physical verifiability, not from the authority of any issuer. Anyone could weigh a shekel. The standard was in the measure, not in the declaration. This document is written in that spirit. The original chain data is preserved and independently verifiable. The parameter misconfiguration is documented precisely, not elided. The founding team's decision to accept reduced allocations is stated plainly, not dressed up as generosity. Shekyl NG's monetary policy — a mathematically defined, open-source emission curve with no governance override — is the modern equivalent of that weight standard. The numbers are the policy. Anyone can verify them. --- ## 7) Verifying This Document's Claims The original chain database (`data.mdb`) is preserved. The statistics in Section 1 can be independently verified by anyone with access to the file using standard LMDB tooling: ```bash # Install LMDB utilities apt install lmdb-utils python3-lmdb # Inspect named databases mdb_stat -a /path/to/shekyl/lmdb # Verify emission and transaction counts python3 - <<'EOF' import lmdb, struct env = lmdb.open('/path/to/shekyl/lmdb', readonly=True, max_dbs=64, lock=False) block_info_db = env.open_db(b'block_info', create=False) tx_indices_db = env.open_db(b'tx_indices', create=False) with env.begin() as txn: cur = txn.cursor(block_info_db) cur.last() val = cur.value() last_coins = struct.unpack_from('