A re-architected internet stack.

Proof of Network (PoN)

Validator selection isn't pure proof-of-stake. NPV (Network Position Value) scores nodes on geographic + topological diversity, Sybil resistance, energy efficiency, and predictive traffic adaptation. Higher NPV = rarer position = higher-paying placements. NPV is market-clearing, not a quality grade — operators in oversupplied metros earn less; operators filling gaps earn more.

DEFs — the protocol primitives

A Distributed Execution Framework is a modular protocol extension that runs on The Grid. Each DEF has its own lifecycle (add / activate / deprecate via on-chain governance), its own capability model, its own stake / earnings shape. Real Grid apps are compositions of DEFs.

See the full DEF lifecycle and stake-exposure model in docs/grid-brain/def/. Anyone can propose a new DEF; on-chain governance decides activation.

Sharding & multi-ledger

Regional shards specialize (us-west: gaming + web; us-east: finance + web; eu-central: web + AI; asia-pacific: gaming + IoT). Service shards (DNS, web-hosting, game-execution, economic-settlement) replicate as the workload demands. Three ledger types coexist: immutable (finance), mutable (state), and database-style (def:dsf/state). Cross-shard atomic operations land at epoch boundaries.

Settlement & receipts

Every action that consumes protocol resources produces a signed Attestation. Attestations anchor per-block (cheap state); settlement per-epoch (deterministic from tvo's canonical commit). Two honest nodes running the same code on the same chain state produce byte-identical settlement results — the protocol does not invent payment amounts.

• Settlement currency: GRID, the network's single token. Customers pay USD upfront; the on-ramp converts to a GRID escrow that streams to operators per epoch.
• Billing model: escrow-prepaid. Postpaid trade credit deferred to a later release.
• Operator income: protocol emission (disinflationary, decaying to a fixed-absolute tail) plus the service-escrow fees from real demand. Commons-through-NPV — no separate staker reward pool.
• Slashing: crypto-evidence-only and peer-reported; a proven fault burns 100% of the bonded stake. The reporter's reward is freshly issued, never redistributed from the burn.

Decentralization is a gradient

v1-beta: The Grid Foundation operates a non-trivial fraction of operator nodes initially. Open invitation to anyone who meets the hardware and stake requirements; gradual decentralization to v2-mainnet where Foundation operations sunset to under-the-line participation. Decentralization is a target state, not a launch claim.