Press Blockchain: A Verifiable Media and Market
Layer for Public Discourse
Version: 0.9-draft • Date: October 9, 2025
Press Blockchain is a content-native blockchain that treats verified news as a first-class on-chain asset.
The network combines an Ethereum-compatible execution layer with a consensus and reputation system
called Proof of Press. Articles, sources, votes, and editorial actions become cryptographically recorded
events that produce a tamper-evident public ledger of journalism.
Press News serves as the initial MVP and growth engine. It is a working newsroom that publishes
through the chain, exercises the editorial workflow on live content, and onboards creators and readers
through familiar web experiences. The MVP validates the mechanics of submission, staking, voting, and
distribution while stress testing the protocol in production.
- Vision and Motivation
1.1 Problem
Information is abundant, trust is scarce. Social feeds reward speed, outrage, and engagement farming.
Centralized platforms act as opaque editors. Newsrooms struggle to monetize in a digital market while
protecting integrity. Readers have no cryptographic proof that what they see is authentic or unaltered.
1.2 Thesis
A content-native chain can align incentives where quality reporting and transparent process create
economic value. Proof of Press converts editorial work and reader validation into measurable signals.
The protocol anchors each step of journalism to verifiable state, creating a public market for truth that
rewards accuracy, disclosure, and sustained reputation.
1.3 Design Goals
● Credible neutrality at the protocol layer, strong policy at the application layer
● Ethereum compatibility for tools and developer access
● Human-in-the-loop verification without central choke points
● Market incentives that make quality reporting sustainable
● Clean integration with existing CMS systems, starting with WordPress - System Overview
Press Blockchain has three layers that work together. - Settlement and Execution Layer
An EVM compatible chain for accounts, contracts, and tokens. Supports MetaMask and common
tooling. PRESS is the native asset for gas and staking. - Press Registry and PB‑CAS
The Press Blockchain Content Authentication System records article lineage. Hashes for drafts
and final cuts, source attestations, editorial roles, timestamps, and vote trails. The Registry maps
a content fingerprint to its proofs and rights. - Reputation and Governance
Proof of Press ties stake, role, and vote accuracy to a rolling reputation score. Governance
controls protocol parameters, role caps, and treasury spend. Disputes and appeals resolve with
bonded oversight. - Proof of Press
3.1 Roles
● Editor in Chief: sets policy, curates escalations, final appeal signer
● Editors: assign and review, manage sections and standards
● Reporters: file stories, attach sources, respond to challenges
● Journalists: freelance submitters with limited quotas
● Fact Checkers: verify claims and sources
● Readers: stake micro votes on accuracy and relevance
3.2 Core Mechanics
● Article NFT: each article becomes an ERC‑721 that owns its metadata and revenue rights. Drafts
and revisions are child tokens or immutable refs via content hashes.
● Source Attestations: ERC‑1155 receipts for documents, quotes, images, and datasets. Attesters
can be pseudonymous, but the ledger shows who vouched.
● Voting Windows: publication triggers a timed accuracy window. Roles cast votes weighted by
stake and reputation. Late corrections adjust reputation retroactively.
● Reputation Score: a sigmoid function over time that increases with correct votes and decreases
with slashing events, plagiarism flags, and failed challenges.
● Challenges: any staked party can challenge factual claims. Oracles pull external datasets if
required. Losing challenges burn stake and reputation, winning challenges earn fees and
reputation boosts.
3.3 Economic Flows
● Submission fee in PRESS, partially refundable on acceptance
● Bounties for open investigations, funded by readers or sponsors
● Revenue split between Article NFT holders, contributors, and the protocol
● Slashing pools reimburse readers who were misled during the window - Token and Treasury
4.1 PRESS Utility
● Gas and transaction fees on chain
● Staking for roles and participation rights
● Collateral for challenges and appeals
● Payment unit for bounties, tips, and ad escrow
4.2 Supply and Distribution
Baseline model for mainnet:
● Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 PRESS at genesis
● Community and Rewards: 42 percent, linear emissions over 6 years
● Ecosystem and Grants: 18 percent, milestone unlocked by governance
● Team and Advisors: 15 percent, 1 year cliff then 36 month vest
● Treasury Reserve: 15 percent, multisig with timelock
● Public Sale and Liquidity: 10 percent, transparent bonding curve or auction
Numbers are configurable before mainnet subject to community feedback from MVP usage. Vesting
contracts are on chain and visible.
4.3 Treasury Policy
● Quarterly budget proposals, spend in native PRESS or stablecoins
● Matching grants for independent newsrooms that publish through PB‑CAS
● Security bounties for protocol level bugs and content authenticity exploits - Chain Architecture
5.1 Execution
● EVM compatible client, JSON‑RPC, standard tooling
● Block time in the 2 to 5 second range
● Gas price market with EIP‑1559 style base fee
5.2 Data Model
● Article root hash and metadata stored on chain
● Full text stored off chain with verifiable storage links, IPFS or S3 with signed proofs
● Source proofs as merkle leaves for selective disclosure
5.3 Bridges and Interop
● Canonical bridge to Ethereum for PRESS liquidity
● Oracle adapters for fact data and timestamped web captures
● Cross chain claims through standard message passing
5.4 Security Model
● Role staking with slashing
● Multisig guardians for early phase, timelocked and sunset by governance
● Circuit breakers for Registry actions in case of coordinated abuse - PB‑CAS: Content Authentication
6.1 Lifecycle - Draft submitted from a client or CMS plugin
- Draft hash pinned to PB‑CAS with timestamp
- Editor review and request for evidence
- Sources attached and attested
- Publication, Article NFT minted
- Voting window opens, challenges allowed
- Window closes, reputation updates, revenue settles
6.2 Evidence Types
● Documents, images, video, audio with capture proofs
● On chain references and previous coverage links
● Private evidence sealed to a role, unlockable during dispute
6.3 Privacy
● Sensitive sources sealed via threshold encryption. Unlock policy governed by challenge stage and
role keys. Reader privacy protected for micro votes. - Press News MVP
Press News is a live newsroom that dogfoods the protocol. It integrates with WordPress and the Press
plugins to let creators publish with the chain by default.
7.1 Goals
● Prove the editorial workflow end to end
● Onboard non crypto readers through clean UX
● Seed creator reputation and role staking with real output
7.2 WordPress Integration
● Press Wallet Plugin: connect MetaMask, show wallet address as user handle, map addresses to
WordPress roles, sign submissions
● Press Newsroom Dashboard: manage drafts, evidence, section queues, vote panels, challenge
inbox
● Press Blockchain Admin: site level settings, fees, role caps, network endpoints, API keys for
storage
7.3 Explorer and Wallet
● Explorer: track Article NFTs, evidence attachments, vote trails, reputation changes
● Wallet: light client for PRESS, role staking, bounty escrow, payout claims
7.4 Success Metrics
● Time to first publish for a new creator
● Challenge rate and resolution time
● Reader stake per thousand views
● Correction rate vs baseline newsrooms - Governance
8.1 Structure
● Token voting with delegation and quadratic dampening
● Role councils propose rule changes for their domains
● Article juries for high stake disputes
8.2 Upgrades
● On chain proposals with audits and public test periods
● Timelock on all upgrade contracts
8.3 Policy Surfaces
● Role caps and stake thresholds
● Voting window durations and challenge fees
● Slashing ratios and appeal bonds - Market Design
9.1 Bounties and Assignments
Sponsors post bounties with a brief and escrow. Editors assign. Reporters deliver. Readers vote on
outcome. Funds release on acceptance.
9.2 Ad Escrow and Brand Safety
Brands can buy placements tied to Article NFTs. Payment moves through escrow and releases only if the
article clears the accuracy window. If slashed, refunds flow automatically.
9.3 Tip Economy
Readers tip to the Article NFT or to contributors directly. Fees fund the treasury. - Compliance and Risk
● Copyright: PB‑CAS proves provenance, not fair use. Newsrooms must license media and
document rights.
● Defamation: challenges and appeals provide correction paths. Protocol does not adjudicate
truth, it records claims, proofs, and incentives.
● Privacy: sealed evidence and selective disclosure keep sources safe within legal bounds.
● Jurisdiction: Press Labs Inc. operates the MVP. Decentralization increases over time. - Implementation Plan
11.1 Phases
● Phase 0: MVP on testnet, Press News integration, limited roles, faucet and test PRESS
● Phase 1: Public beta, bridge to Ethereum, treasury live, grants open
● Phase 2: Mainnet, PRESS listings, wider newsroom integrations
● Phase 3: Protocol scale, third party clients, external councils
11.2 Milestones
● PB‑CAS contracts audited
● WordPress plugins stable with role mapping and signatures
● Explorer and Wallet live with staking and bounty flows
● Governance bootstrapped with initial delegates - Reference Architecture
12.1 Contracts
● PressRegistry.sol
● ArticleNFT.sol
● EvidenceToken.sol
● RoleStaking.sol
● VoteWindow.sol
● ChallengeCourt.sol
● Treasury.sol
12.2 Services
● Metadata service for off chain storage with signed pointers
● Indexer for fast reads, Graph compatible schema
● Oracles for capture proofs and time attestations
12.3 Clients
● WordPress plugins
● React wallet app and newsroom dashboard
● Explorer web app - Security Posture
● Multisig guarded deploys with named signers and public keys
● Bug bounty tiers for chain level and app level issues
● Incident runbooks with pause switches for Registry actions - Economics Appendix
● Reputation decay over time to reward consistent accuracy
● Writer quotas tied to stake and performance
● Challenge bond sized by article reach and category risk - Roadmap and KPIs
● Articles published through PB‑CAS per month
● Unique staked readers per section
● Challenge resolution time under defined thresholds
● Percentage of ad spend using escrow rails
Press Blockchain turns journalism into a verifiable public good with a market that pays for accuracy.
Proof of Press aligns reporters, editors, readers, and sponsors through shared stakes and transparent
records. Press News proves the product in the real world and gives the network its first community,
content, and cash flows.
Build with us. Publish with proofs.