Stylus Hardware Anchor (SHA)

Videos

Tech Stack

Rust

Python

Web3

Arbitrum Stylus

Description

DePIN networks distribute millions in rewards assuming their nodes are real, distinct hardware. Not one of them can prove it on-chain. A single actor running virtualised instances can register hundreds of fake identities, farm rewards indefinitely, and the protocol is completely blind to it.

Stylus Hardware Anchor (SHA) is the first on-chain hardware Sybil resistance primitive for DePIN. It binds manufacturer-burned ESP32-S3 eFuse silicon identifiers directly to Arbitrum Stylus execution logic. One physical chip equals one on-chain identity, cryptographically enforced. No TEE. No secure enclave. No trusted third party. Just silicon that cannot be cloned.

Receipt verification in Solidity is prohibitively expensive at scale. Stylus WASM batch execution changes the economics entirely. At N=5 the cost is 29,748 gas per receipt, at N=10 it drops to 20,209, at N=20 to 15,419, and at N=50 to 12,564. This amortisation curve is structurally impossible to replicate in Solidity. SHA is a Stylus-exclusive primitive, not a contract that happens to deploy here.

SHA delivers four on-chain guarantees. Device-bound identity means one physical chip produces one on-chain identity derived from manufacturer-burned eFuse registers, making it unforgeable and non-transferable. Replay protection is enforced through a ReplayDetected custom error, ensuring each receipt is processed exactly once, permanently. Firmware governance restricts execution to approved firmware hashes, enforced in WASM rather than policy. Deterministic verification confirms Keccak-256 parity across the ESP32 firmware, Python middleware, and Stylus contract, validated across more than 10,000 test vectors.

The contract is live on Arbitrum Sepolia at 0xD661a1aB8CEFaaCd78F4B968670C3bC438415615 with 89 or more real transactions on-chain. The full codebase is open source at https://github.com/orthonode/Stylus-Hardware-Anchor. This is not a concept. Working hardware is talking to a working Stylus contract and producing real on-chain state right now.

Progress During Hackathon

SHA entered with a working Sepolia prototype — core flow implemented, not yet production-hardened. /// Deployed live Stylus contract: 89+ confirmed on-chain transactions at 0xD661a1aB8CEFaaCd78F4B968670C3bC438415615. /// Validated 10,000+ Keccak-256 cross-layer test vectors — ESP32 firmware, Python middleware, and Stylus WASM always agree. /// All four guarantees tested end-to-end: silicon identity binding, replay protection, firmware governance, deterministic verification. /// Full hardware-to-contract pipeline validated: physical ESP32-S3 device to on-chain state transition. /// Gas benchmarks confirmed WASM amortisation advantage — these economics only work on Stylus. /// Open-source repository published: github.com/orthonode/Stylus-Hardware-Anchor — contract source, firmware, middleware SDK, and full test vector suite. /// Stack: Rust, C/C++, Python, Arbitrum Stylus. /// Next: 1M+ fuzz execution cycles, security hardening, tagged developer release.

Fundraising Status

Pre-funding. Entire prototype self-funded by solo founder — no external capital, no grants received to date. /// All core deliverables shipped before any funding was sought — working contract, validated firmware, Python SDK, 10,000+ test vectors. This de-risks execution before capital is deployed. /// Grant application submitted to Arbitrum Foundation ESP for $25,000 USD covering Phase 1 security hardening and developer release. /// Phase 1 ($25K): security hardening, fuzz validation, open-source developer release. /// Phase 2 ($75K–$150K): professional security audit, mainnet deployment, ARM Cortex-M and RISC-V hardware expansion. /// Phase 3: integration partnerships with Orbit-based DePIN chains as SHA becomes load-bearing verification infrastructure. /// Seeking infrastructure-focused funds and ecosystem accelerators with a DePIN or developer tooling thesis. Economic model scales with Arbitrum DePIN ecosystem growth, not a single protocol token.