AURUM – a Security-First Rust Ledger Framework with Verifiable AI Output Tracking

[Smithsonion007]

🌟 Overview

Hi everyone — I’m Nathan Andrew Smith (NS), and I’ve been building AURUM, an open-source Rust ledger framework designed around security, auditability, and cryptographic integrity.

AURUM fuses classical cryptographic discipline with modern information-theoretic metrics (via the AEON module). The goal is to create a base layer that’s both auditable and mathematically transparent, suitable for high-integrity systems and verifiable AI pipelines.

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🔐 Core Highlights

Area	What It Does
Secure Hashing	Domain-separated, keyed BLAKE3 across all contexts.
Canonical Encoding	Deterministic JSON ordering + Unicode confusable rejection (prevents spoofed IDs).
Merkle System	Odd-leaf duplication policy + frozen empty root for deterministic proofs.
VRF Interface	Verifiable randomness input for fair block or audit selection.
Dual-Root Rule	Each block carries a private Poseidon root and a public BLAKE3 root; mismatch = invalid.
AEON T* Metric	Entropy + compressibility scoring to quantify “information richness” of data or model output.
Golden Vectors CI	Deterministic regression tests that detect consensus-breaking changes automatically.
Node + Explorer	Minimal HTTP node exposing /status + static explorer dashboard.

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🧪 Project Structure

aurum-pentest/   → core library (hashing, merkle, canon, AEON, validator)
aurum-node/      → minimal devnet node (HTTP /status)
explorer/        → static web explorer
sdk-ts/          → TypeScript SDK (BLAKE3 helpers)
.github/         → CI for tests, fuzzing, coverage, golden vectors

Run locally:

cargo build --workspace
cd aurum-node && cargo run

Then open explorer/index.html → live node status view.

---

🧠 Why It Matters

AURUM aims to be a reference framework for next-generation, verifiable computing infrastructure:

• Build auditable financial or scientific ledgers.

• Anchor AI model outputs on-chain for traceable verification (via AEON’s T* score).

• Enable tamper-evident research data with entropy-based fingerprints.

• Provide a clean Rust baseline for cryptographic protocol prototyping.

---

💬 What I’d Love Feedback On

1. The AEON T* scoring — does it make sense as an integrity metric?

2. The canonical encoding & Unicode defense — any edge-cases I missed?

3. Would you like to see zero-knowledge (ZK) proof hooks integrated?

4. Interest in cross-language bindings (Python / WASM)?

5. How could this best serve the Rust + security community?

---

🧩 How You Can Contribute

• Review the code and suggest hardening improvements.

• Add or expand fuzz targets.

• Propose integrations with Rust crypto frameworks (e.g., dalek, arkworks).

• Help formalize the AEON metric or benchmark the T* function.

---

📢 Discussion Prompt

How do you see the future of verifiable AI and secure ledgers converging?
Would combining entropy-based audit trails with blockchain consensus add measurable trust to machine-generated systems?

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🔗 Links

• 🔗 Repo: github.com/Smithsonion007/AURUM007

• 🧰 Language: Rust (Edition 2021)

• 🛠️ License: MIT/Apache 2.0 (dual)

• 📚 Docs: in-progress (/README.md + module comments)

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Would you like me to generate a Reddit-friendly “Show HN / r/rust” version (more casual tone, formatted for Markdown with an image banner)?

Here’s a **ready-to-post “Show & Tell”** you can use for your GitHub repository (or cross-post to Reddit’s *r/rust*, *r/cryptodevs*, or Hacker News). It’s structured as a **Discussion post** for your repo — including a clear **title**, **intro**, **visual walk-through**, and **call for feedback**.

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🧭 Title: “AURUM – a Security-First Rust Ledger Framework with Verifiable AI Output Tracking”

Category: Show & Tell / Project Announcement

---

🌟 Overview

Hi everyone — I’m Nathan (NS), and I’ve been building AURUM, an open-source Rust ledger framework designed around security, auditability, and cryptographic integrity.

AURUM fuses classical cryptographic discipline with modern information-theoretic metrics (via the AEON module). The goal is to create a base layer that’s both auditable and mathematically transparent, suitable for high-integrity systems and verifiable AI pipelines.

---

🔐 Core Highlights

Area	What It Does
Secure Hashing	Domain-separated, keyed BLAKE3 across all contexts.
Canonical Encoding	Deterministic JSON ordering + Unicode confusable rejection (prevents spoofed IDs).
Merkle System	Odd-leaf duplication policy + frozen empty root for deterministic proofs.
VRF Interface	Verifiable randomness input for fair block or audit selection.
Dual-Root Rule	Each block carries a private Poseidon root and a public BLAKE3 root; mismatch = invalid.
AEON T* Metric	Entropy + compressibility scoring to quantify “information richness” of data or model output.
Golden Vectors CI	Deterministic regression tests that detect consensus-breaking changes automatically.
Node + Explorer	Minimal HTTP node exposing /status + static explorer dashboard.

---

🧪 Project Structure

aurum-pentest/   → core library (hashing, merkle, canon, AEON, validator)
aurum-node/      → minimal devnet node (HTTP /status)
explorer/        → static web explorer
sdk-ts/          → TypeScript SDK (BLAKE3 helpers)
.github/         → CI for tests, fuzzing, coverage, golden vectors

Run locally:

cargo build --workspace
cd aurum-node && cargo run

Then open explorer/index.html → live node status view.

---

🧠 Why It Matters

AURUM aims to be a reference framework for next-generation, verifiable computing infrastructure:

• Build auditable financial or scientific ledgers.
• Anchor AI model outputs on-chain for traceable verification (via AEON’s T* score).
• Enable tamper-evident research data with entropy-based fingerprints.
• Provide a clean Rust baseline for cryptographic protocol prototyping.

---

💬 What I’d Love Feedback On

1. The AEON T* scoring — does it make sense as an integrity metric?
2. The canonical encoding & Unicode defense — any edge-cases I missed?
3. Would you like to see zero-knowledge (ZK) proof hooks integrated?
4. Interest in cross-language bindings (Python / WASM)?
5. How could this best serve the Rust + security community?

---

🧩 How You Can Contribute

• Review the code and suggest hardening improvements.
• Add or expand fuzz targets.
• Propose integrations with Rust crypto frameworks (e.g., dalek, arkworks).
• Help formalize the AEON metric or benchmark the T* function.

---

📢 Discussion Prompt

How do you see the future of verifiable AI and secure ledgers converging?
Would combining entropy-based audit trails with blockchain consensus add measurable trust to machine-generated systems?

---

🔗 Links

• 🔗 Repo: [github.com/Smithsonion007/AURUM007](https://github.com/Smithsonion007/AURUM007)
• 🧰 Language: Rust (Edition 2021)
• 🛠️ License: MIT/Apache 2.0 (dual)
• 📚 Docs: in-progress (/README.md + module comments)