Protocol Mechanics
Arc Trace is an intelligence, verification, and analytics network for tokenized real-world assets. Its architecture connects four layers that reinforce one another.
| Layer | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Arc Explorer | Open discovery, contract verification, asset identity, and onchain transparency. |
| Arc Terminal | Professional analytics, portfolio intelligence, alerts, and market monitoring. |
| Arc Data Network | APIs, SDKs, webhooks, attestations, risk feeds, and AI-ready endpoints. |
| Arc Verification Network | Staked verifiers, issuer bonds, curation, disputes, and data accountability. |
The Explorer attracts users through public transparency. The Terminal monetizes advanced intelligence. The Data Network integrates Arc Trace into third-party applications. The Verification Network creates accountable, decentralized coordination around the quality of information.
Arc Explorer
Arc Explorer is the public entry point for users researching tokenized assets. It provides search and discovery across tickers, contracts, issuers, wallets, transactions, and networks — including canonical contract labels, scam-token warnings, oracle-versus-market price deviation, liquidity depth, distribution history, cross-chain representations, and a transparent basic risk score.
Asset Passport
Every asset indexed by Arc Trace receives an Asset Passport: a standardized identity record that explains what the token is and how it operates.
| Passport field | What it explains |
|---|---|
| Issuer and underlying | The responsible entity and the real-world instrument referenced by the token. |
| Legal claim | Whether the token represents ownership, debt, contractual exposure, or another structure. |
| Backing and custody | How reserves or underlying assets are held, reported, and verified. |
| Redemption and transfer | How conversion, eligibility, transfer restrictions, and settlement operate. |
| Oracle and liquidity | Where reference data comes from and how effectively the token can trade. |
| Corporate actions | How distributions, splits, mergers, and other events affect the token. |
Issuer documentation for this asset class typically states that stock tokens are tokenized debt securities providing economic exposure to referenced securities, and that they do not grant direct legal or beneficial ownership of the underlying securities. The Legal claim field exists precisely because this distinction is invisible from a ticker symbol, and because it differs between issuers.
Arc Terminal
Arc Terminal is the professional intelligence workspace for investors, traders, analysts, issuers, developers, and institutions. It is inspired by the depth and modularity of institutional market terminals while remaining native to onchain assets.
- Live and historical pricing, volume, spreads, volatility, and correlation
- Oracle-deviation monitoring across venues, issuers, and chains
- Whale transfers, holder concentration, and capital-flow analytics
- Liquidity depth, mint and burn activity, and bridge supply
- Distribution tracking and corporate-action calendars
- Issuer monitoring, contract changes, and risk alerts
- Wallet-connected portfolio analytics and concentration analysis
- Custom workspaces, exports, webhooks, and AI-assisted research
The intent is that a user can monitor an asset's market price, oracle price, liquidity, whale flows, issuer status, and corporate actions in one workspace rather than across disconnected platforms.
Risk Intelligence
Arc Trace's risk engine evaluates tokenized assets through a documented methodology rather than an opaque score. The objective is not to declare an asset safe, but to make its material risks visible and comparable.
| Risk dimension | Illustrative weight |
|---|---|
| Issuer | 20% |
| Legal structure | 15% |
| Oracle | 15% |
| Liquidity | 15% |
| Smart contract | 15% |
| Backing verification | 10% |
| Transfer restrictions | 5% |
| Bridge exposure | 5% |
The weights above are illustrative only. Final methodology must be developed with market, legal, security, and data specialists and has not been completed. Do not treat any current score as a finished product.
Commercial relationships are to remain separate from risk scoring, so that an issuer cannot purchase a better rating. This separation is a design commitment; see Security for how it is intended to be enforced and audited.
Corporate-Action Intelligence
Tokenized securities remain affected by events involving the referenced company or instrument. Arc Trace converts those events into standardized, machine-readable records and monitors the treatment applied by each issuer:
- Earnings and distribution events
- Stock splits and reverse splits
- Mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs
- Rights issues, symbol changes, and share buybacks
- Trading suspensions, delistings, and market closures
This data is designed to be consumed by wallets, games, lending markets, vaults, portfolio managers, and autonomous agents, so their systems react consistently when an underlying instrument changes.
The Verification Network
ARC TRACE coordinates the parties responsible for producing, validating, challenging, and consuming Arc Trace data.
Verifier staking. Independent verifiers stake ARC to validate contracts, issuer disclosures, corporate actions, backing reports, oracle data, and risk events. Accurate work earns fees and reputation. Provably dishonest or negligent verification can result in slashing under transparent rules.
Issuer bonds. Issuers can lock ARC to establish a verified profile and commit to timely, accurate disclosures. The bond is not a payment for a favorable rating — it is an accountability mechanism for data availability, disputes, and anti-spam protection.
Curation and disputes. Analysts and community participants can signal which assets and datasets deserve coverage. A bonded dispute system enables users to challenge incorrect information. Correct challengers can be rewarded; malicious or unsupported claims can lose their bond.
| Participant | Reason to use or lock ARC |
|---|---|
| Verifier | Stake to perform validation work and earn network fees |
| Issuer | Post an accountability bond for verified status and disclosures |
| Curator | Signal useful datasets and compete for data demand |
| Challenger | Bond claims when disputing inaccurate information |
| Subscriber | Creates ARC buy pressure indirectly through USDC subscription payments |
| Developer | Access data, APIs, AI credits, and higher service limits |
Subscription buyback and burn
Arc Trace's defining economic mechanism is straightforward: 100% of retail terminal subscription revenue received in USDC is used to buy ARC from the open market and permanently burn the purchased tokens.
- A subscriber pays USDC into the onchain Subscription Treasury.
- The treasury routes USDC to an auditable buyback contract.
- The contract purchases ARC using controlled execution parameters.
- Every purchased ARC token is sent directly to a permanent burn mechanism.
- Arc Trace publishes the revenue, execution, and burn transactions in a public dashboard.
Execution controls
Buybacks are to be executed gradually through time-weighted purchases, slippage limits, liquidity thresholds, route controls, and MEV-aware execution. This reduces the risk of front-running, poor execution, and unnecessary market impact.
A monthly transparency report should disclose subscriber revenue, USDC committed to buybacks, ARC purchased, average execution price, ARC burned, and verifiable transaction hashes.
Every paid subscription creates market demand for ARC and permanently reduces its supply. That is an accounting fact about supply, not a prediction about price. Burn mechanics do not guarantee price appreciation, and ARC can lose value regardless of how much is burned.
Separating subscription revenue from operations
If 100% of retail subscription revenue is burned, that revenue cannot pay operating costs. Arc Trace therefore maintains a clear separation between the Subscription Treasury and operating revenue.
| Revenue stream | Primary use |
|---|---|
| Retail terminal subscriptions | 100% ARC buyback and permanent burn |
| Enterprise data licensing | Infrastructure, data operations, and support |
| Issuer services | Verification operations, integrations, and coverage expansion |
| White-label products | Product development and commercial operations |
| Grants and treasury | Early development, security, audits, and ecosystem growth |
This separation is what makes the 100% figure credible. If operating costs were paid out of subscription revenue, the burn would be a residual rather than a commitment.