---
type: proof
title: The Proof
description: The standard's existence, anchored on Bitcoin — the document is private; the hash is public.
tags: [proof, attestation, px3]
timestamp: 2026-07-16T00:00:00Z
px3_tier: operational
status: draft
---

Before the standard opens, its existence is provable. On 2026-07-16 a frozen
assembly of the full working body — 61 sections, 939,201 bytes, signed inside
the document as The Signal Source — was anchored on Bitcoin via
OpenTimestamps. That document is the working whole, machine included; it
stays private, much of it permanently. The hash does not:

```
SHA-256  ffbfe163f04ef9b522a566ff45196a081e0b9056620c37a91c93c85d2cad24fe
```

## The anchor

| | |
|---|---|
| Method | OpenTimestamps (ots v0.7.2), stamped + confirmed 2026-07-16 |
| Bitcoin block **958324** | merkle root `a82b5ed0f183910a21f99d996bdd26fc61f4d2176a5bc4faad01e1d5a8cf8799` |
| Bitcoin block **958325** | merkle root `4da29c6c61130bf9cd52ca601e1d0efa73254e825fc9a0220d41b7153d85ccbf` |
| Proof file | [`PX3-SPEC-DRAFT-V0-2026-07.md.ots`](/proof/PX3-SPEC-DRAFT-V0-2026-07.md.ots) (2,633 bytes) |

Two independent calendar paths, both upgraded to Bitcoin block-header
attestations in the proof file.

## Verify it yourself

You hold the proof file and the hash; the document stays private. That is
enough to verify the timestamp — these are the document-free paths:

1. Download the [`.ots` proof file](/proof/PX3-SPEC-DRAFT-V0-2026-07.md.ots)
   and install the client: `pip install opentimestamps-client`.
2. `ots info PX3-SPEC-DRAFT-V0-2026-07.md.ots` — prints the committed
   SHA-256 (match it against the hash above) and the attestations. Pending
   calendar paths appear alongside the two Bitcoin attestations — normal
   upgrade residue; the Bitcoin attestations are the proof.
3. Verify with the digest flag, no document needed:
   `ots verify -d ffbfe163f04ef9b522a566ff45196a081e0b9056620c37a91c93c85d2cad24fe PX3-SPEC-DRAFT-V0-2026-07.md.ots`
   — a full check wants a Bitcoin node; **without one this exits with a
   "Could not connect to Bitcoin node" error, which is expected** — use
   step 2 plus an explorer instead: cross-check the block merkle roots
   above (that confirms the roots belong to those blocks; the `ots` output
   is what ties the hash to the roots).

The web verifier at opentimestamps.org needs the original document, which
you don't have — use the paths above.

## What this proves — and what it doesn't

**Proves:** a document with exactly this hash existed no later than the anchor
date, in exactly this form. Nobody — including us — can backdate or alter it
without changing the hash.

**Carries:** the authorship claim. The signing statement lives inside the
document, so today only someone holding it can check that claim. The anchor
carries it forward; it does not prove it to you — yet.

**Doesn't prove:** what the document says. That is the design: the hash is
made to be pointed at while the document stays private. The public cut of
the standard anchors under **its own** hash when it ships — a fresh
attestation per released version, verifiable the same way — and this v0
anchor stands as the origin point: the body of work existed, whole, before
any of it opened. Proof now, product later.