How It Works

The Problem We Solve

Political movements need to verify real participation. Who actually shows up? Who is a real member versus a bot or astroturf? Traditional systems rely on central databases that can be seized, corrupted, or shut down.

We built something different: a cryptographic proof-of-presence system where every attestation is signed, verifiable, and permanently stored on IPFS. Even if our servers go dark tomorrow, the membership record survives.

The Attestation Flow

Here's how proving presence works:

Cryptographic Guarantees

The system provides mathematical guarantees, not just promises:

The IPFS Chain

Batches form a linked list on IPFS. Each batch contains the Content ID (CID) of the previous batch. This creates an append-only chain:

Batch 3 (CID: Qm...)
├── previousCid: Qm... (Batch 2)
├── timestamp: 1706234567
├── attestations: [...]
└── regimeSig: 0x...

    ↓ links to

Batch 2 (CID: Qm...)
├── previousCid: Qm... (Batch 1)
├── ...

    ↓ links to

Batch 1 (CID: Qm...)
├── previousCid: null (genesis)
├── ...

Starting from the latest batch CID, anyone can traverse the entire history. Every link is verified by the regime signature—you can't insert a fake batch into the chain.

Your Identity

Your identity is a cryptographic keypair (the same type used by Ethereum). You control a private key; the public key is your address.

We never see your private key. It's generated and stored locally on your device. You can export it to back up or move to another device.

Disaster Recovery

What happens if New Regime is shut down? Our domain seized? Our servers taken offline?

The attestation record survives.

What You Need to Recover

Recovery Process

With these three pieces, anyone can:

1. Fetch the batch from any IPFS gateway: ipfs.io/ipfs/[CID]
2. Verify the regime signature on the batch
3. Follow the previousCid link to get earlier batches
4. Repeat until reaching the genesis batch (previousCid: null)
5. For each attestation, verify both the regime signature on the QR and the member signature
6. Filter for attestations matching your public address to find your own

The data is distributed across thousands of IPFS nodes. Shutting it down would require taking down the entire IPFS network—a decentralized global infrastructure.

Using the App

First Time Setup

1. Go to /app
2. Tap Generate New Identity (or import an existing key)
3. Your address is now displayed—this is your identity
4. Important: Tap Manage → Export Key and save your private key securely

At an Event

1. Open the app and tap Scan QR Code
2. Point your camera at the event QR
3. Review the details and tap Create Attestation
4. Done—your presence is now cryptographically recorded

Viewing History

Tap View History to see all events you've attested to. You can export this data for your own records.

Resurrection

The regime key is just a keypair. The infrastructure is open source. The membership record lives on IPFS. This means the movement can be fully resurrected even if the current organization is destroyed.

A Hypothetical

Imagine the worst case: New Regime is shut down. Domain seized. Founders arrested or scattered. The website goes dark.

Here's what happens next:

1. Someone with the latest batch CID (which members have been saving) posts it publicly—on Twitter, a forum, anywhere.
2. Members independently verify they can still access their attestation history via IPFS. Their participation record is intact.
3. A trusted community member—someone with high reputation, many verified attestations, known in meatspace—generates a new regime keypair.
4. They publish the new regime public address and stand up a fresh instance of the app (it's just a web app anyone can deploy).
5. Members migrate by simply pointing to the new app. Their existing private keys still work. Their identity is unchanged.
6. The new regime key starts a new batch chain. The first batch can reference the old chain's final CID as a historical anchor.
7. The movement continues. New events. New attestations. New batches published to IPFS.

No central authority can prevent this. The cryptographic primitives are public. The code is open. IPFS is global. As long as members retain their keys and someone steps up to coordinate, the regime lives.

This is what "decentralized" actually means: not a buzzword, but a structural guarantee. The movement is the people, their keys, and the immutable record of their participation. Everything else is replaceable.