Glossary

Core Concepts

Coordination

Real-time agreement across trust boundaries. The ability for independent systems to reach consensus on actions or state without centralized authority.

Proof of Coordination

A multi-signed cryptographic record that proves a specific set of participants agreed on a specific order of events at a specific time. Compact (kilobytes), verifiable by anyone, and self-contained.

Meshnet

A peer-to-peer network where participants are both users and consensus nodes. Created when Vertex is applied to a specific coordination problem.

Architecture Layers

Vertex

Tashi's peer-to-peer consensus engine. Delivers sub-100ms Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus through DAG-based gossip-about-gossip and virtual voting. The layer where agreement forms.

Lattice

Tashi's global DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network). Provides discovery, routing, validation, reputation scoring, and economic incentives. The layer where coordination scales.

Arc

Tashi's settlement bridge. Connects private meshnet coordination to public blockchains (Ethereum, Solana, Hedera, etc.) when payment, token issuance, or public finality is needed. The layer where coordination meets the world.

Consensus Terms

DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph)

A data structure where events reference previous events, creating a causal ordering. Vertex uses DAG architecture to eliminate leaders and sequencers.

Gossip-About-Gossip

The protocol by which peers exchange not just transactions, but knowledge about what other participants have seen. Builds the DAG that enables virtual voting.

Virtual Voting

A technique where participants mathematically derive what everyone else would vote based on DAG structure, without actually transmitting vote messages. Eliminates a round of network communication.

Fair Ordering

Events ordered by collective network witness, not by whoever received them first or which validator was selected as leader. Prevents front-running and provides censorship resistance.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)

The ability to operate correctly even when some participants fail or act maliciously. Vertex tolerates up to f = ⌊(n-1)/3⌋ Byzantine participants.

Finality

Once an event is finalized in the DAG, it cannot be reverted. No probabilistic finality or reorganization risk.

Network Terms

Orchestrator

A Lattice node type that handles the control plane: accepting service requests, matching jobs to Resource Nodes, validating proofs, maintaining reputation scores, and distributing rewards.

Resource Node

A Lattice node type that handles the execution plane: providing actual infrastructure services like discovery, proxy, relay, and failover.

NAT Traversal

Techniques for connecting devices behind firewalls (Network Address Translation). Includes UDP hole punching and tunneling fallback.

Hole Punching

A technique where both peers behind NAT simultaneously send outbound packets, creating temporary openings in NAT tables that allow direct peer-to-peer communication.

Relay/Tunnel

A service where Resource Nodes proxy traffic between peers who cannot establish direct connections. Typically handles 25-65% of traffic depending on network environment.

Economic Terms

Reward Points

The currency operators earn for providing Lattice infrastructure. Backed by USD at a 100:1 ratio (100 Reward Points = $1 USD). Convertible to $TASHI tokens.

$TASHI

The native token of the Tashi network. Used for staking (10,000 required per Resource Node), governance voting, and value extraction from Reward Points.

SaTASHI

The smallest unit of $TASHI, equivalent to 0.000000001 TASHI (10^-9).

Staking

Locking $TASHI tokens to bond a node to the network. Signals commitment, enables reputation-based slashing, and aligns operator incentives with network health.

Slashing

Progressive loss of staked collateral when reputation falls below 1.0. Protects the network from sustained poor performance or malicious behavior.

Reputation

A score (0.0 to 2.0) that determines job assignment probability. New nodes start at 1.0. Successful jobs increase reputation; failed jobs decrease it.

Triangulated Validation

A verification method where peers in a meshnet attest to Resource Node participation through their signatures on coordination events. Prevents fraudulent reward claims.

DePIN Terms

DePIN

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network. A network of independently operated nodes providing real-world infrastructure services.

Gasless

No per-transaction fees. Vertex coordination is gasless; participants pay for compute and bandwidth, not per-action fees.

Metered

Payment based on actual infrastructure consumed. Lattice services (discovery, tunneling, proxy) are metered.

Application Terms

PASETO Token

A job authorization token generated when applications pay for Lattice services. Grants access to coordination infrastructure without API keys.

Tashi Gateway

A centralized front-end for accessing Lattice, accepting credit card or ACH payments via Stripe. The default interface for most developers.

Direct Lattice

A decentralized interface for accessing Lattice, paying directly in USDC. Enables fully decentralized applications without intermediaries.