How it works
From the counter to the chain, in six steps.
One visit to a dealer, one laboratory examination, one record. Here is what happens to a coin, its images and its record, and who can do what along the way.
Step 01
Capture at the counter
The dealer puts the coin on a whitelisted capture terminal, which photographs both faces under fixed light. If the profile needs several captures at different angles or rotations, they are taken during the same visit. The terminal also generates a claim key.
Who actsDealer and terminal
Step 02
Examination by a laboratory
The terminal sends the images to the laboratory whose licence it operates under. The laboratory examines them, builds the reference profile and stores it in the profile store. It computes a salted commitment: a hash that includes a secret random value, so the profile cannot be read from it.
Who actsAccredited laboratory
Step 03
The record is minted
The laboratory signs the registration and the terminal adds its own signature. The contract checks both against the registry and mints the record into an escrow, with the laboratory’s first attestation. That attestation is complete when it is written: there is no provisional stage and no second visit.
Who actsContract on Arbitrum One
Step 04
The paper receipt
The terminal prints the claim key as a QR code on a paper receipt and is designed to keep no copy. The registration names the laboratory and the terminal, never the customer.
Who actsTerminal
Step 05
Claim with your phone
Scan the QR code, best at the counter. The app creates a passkey account on your phone, and the escrow moves the record to it. The network fee of this first claim is paid for you. You are now the holder.
Who actsYou, with the app
Step 06
Read and check
Anyone can read the record at no cost. To check the coin itself, a terminal sends a fresh capture to the laboratory that attests the record. It answers confirmed, not confirmed or inconclusive, to the person who asked. The answer is not written to the chain.
Who actsAnyone
Inside the terminal
Fixed light, both faces, every time.
A capture terminal holds the coin in a seating jig under a dome of fixed lights, with the camera above. Because the light never changes, two captures of the same coin can be compared.
- Camera
- Fixed lights
- Coin, one face at a time
- Seating jig
- Paper receipt
Before your first claim
The app tells you, plainly:
You now hold a key. If you lose it and cannot recover it, this record cannot be moved or flagged. The coin and its history are not affected.
Passing a coin on
Hand over the coin, transfer the record.
A coin changes hands by physical handover. The holder passes its record on with an ordinary transfer from their account, which needs no one else’s permission.
The two are handed over separately, so a buyer can ask for a check before paying: it shows whether the coin matches the record offered with it.
Recovery
Recovery, built in.
Each case has a defined path. Any path that could move a record waits long enough for its holder to react.
The receipt is lost before the claim
A dealer rescans the coin. If the issuing laboratory recognises it, it signs a replacement claim key and the terminal prints a new QR code. The new key takes effect after 30 days. Until then the old key still works, and a claim with it cancels the replacement. Claiming at the counter avoids the question entirely.
The passkey is lost
A passkey synchronised through your phone’s platform account survives a lost phone. You can also add a second passkey or a recovery contact; every change waits 72 hours and any existing passkey can cancel it. If the key is gone for good, the issuing laboratory compares the coin with the profile and, if it matches and no flag is raised, announces a replacement record that can be claimed after 30 days.
The coin is stolen
Raise a stolen flag. It is a public warning, shown with its date, and it cancels any pending reissue at once. It never stops a transfer. Only the current holder can clear a flag, and clearing waits 72 hours, or 30 days if the record has moved since the flag was first raised.
The laboratory closes
The profiles stay in the profile store. The registrar names a successor with both signers, after a public 7-day delay. The successor re-attests after a fresh comparison and takes over replacements for that laboratory’s records. The exited laboratory’s attestations stay as they are.
A laboratory withdraws its statement
A laboratory can withdraw its own attestation at any time, visibly. The record shows the withdrawal, not a reason. If every attestation is withdrawn, the record reads “no laboratory currently attests this coin”.
Become a launch partner.
Be among the first dealers and laboratories in the registry. Tell us about your business, and we will show you where registration fits.