AfterFiat· Next Generation Stores of Value: Privacy, Proofs, Compute — v3.6

Versioned release

Next Generation Stores of Value: Privacy, Proofs, Compute

A Conditional Monetary Thesis for Verifiable Digital Infrastructure
Jason St George
v3.6 · 2026-10-29

This version is archived as its PDF. The current edition is at /v/4.1/.

v3.6 makes the argument chapters plainer, corrects the cryptography against primary sources, adds six rules, brings dated facts current, and makes the introduction's red-line summary match the boxes. No red line or rating changed.

PDFs

Release notes

v3.6: the prose and verification pass

2026-10-29

v3.6 is the canonical full edition (574 pages). It follows v3.5, the consolidation pass of 13 October. It ships with brief v3.5 and essay v1.5, both unchanged. No red line or rating changed. Each change is recorded in Appendix J.

Prose

Seven openers in the argument chapters (the front matter, Part II, Part VI, and the delegation chapter) now lead with a claim, and long sentences are split. Definitions, red-line boxes, the lemma, the Abstract, and pull-quoted sentences were not reworded.

Cryptography, verified at source

An in-project review of developments in cryptography and proof systems since 2025 was checked against the record. Each fact it brought into the text was verified at its primary source. The stated soundness assumptions now name a circuit and verifier that constrain what they claim. The proof-system risk cites the 2026 Zcash Orchard counterfeiting flaw.

Six rules are added:

  • Outflows from each in-asset shielded pool cannot exceed the value that entered it.
  • M1 publishes its security level in provable bits.
  • Inference proofs bind committed weights to the published model.
  • Provenance proofs require an unrevoked certificate.
  • Tier C attestation is not relied on against a prover with physical access.
  • The XMR leg’s confirmation depth is set above the 18-block reorganization of September 2025.

Facts brought current

The ZKML row gives the peer-reviewed 7B measurement, with millisecond verification stated for wrapped proofs. MatMul proof-of-useful-work is recorded as deployed on a public mainnet. Post-quantum risk carries NIST’s transition dates. The proving-cost roadmap notes the announced pause of the Boundless proving protocol.

The red-line summary

The introduction had said each red line could by itself retire the thesis. It now says each retires or downgrades the thesis at the severity its box states. Red Lines 7 and 9, and Condition A of Red Line 18, downgrade rather than retire. The boxes are unchanged, and the trip wires page already carried these severities. The one-page summary and the site’s start and FAQ pages are corrected the same way.

Brief and essay

The brief stays at v3.5 and the essay at v1.5.

Reproducibility

The checksum file records the LaTeX source commit the PDF was built from (tag v3.6).

Cite This Work

Jason St George. "Next Generation Stores of Value: Privacy, Proofs, Compute: A Conditional Monetary Thesis for Verifiable Digital Infrastructure". Version v3.6. /v/3.6/

Citation files