Proof-of-anteriority · Merkle + OpenTimestamps + Bitcoin

Verify when a GaiaLab prediction commitment existed.

GaiaLab commits each prediction package to a SHA-256 Merkle leaf and later submits the batch root to OpenTimestamps. Once that receipt verifies against Bitcoin, the block time gives an independently checkable latest-existence bound: the committed package existed no later than that Bitcoin block.

What Bitcoin proves precisely. A confirmed receipt proves the committed bytes existed no later than the verified Bitcoin block time. It does not independently prove the exact internal recorded timestamp stored inside those bytes. A cryptographic foresight claim is justified only when the verified Bitcoin block time is earlier than the matched trial's public registration time.

How the proof is built

  1. Commit the prediction package. New v2 records bind the gene panel, drug, disease, mechanism, confidence, targets, evidence sources, cited PMIDs, ClinicalTrials.gov baseline, contradiction signal, code version, and internal recordedAt into a deterministic SHA-256 leaf. Legacy v1 records are clearly weaker and bind only the fields that were available when the proof system was introduced.
  2. Batch leaves into one Merkle root. The sorted leaves are folded with domain-separated SHA-256 nodes. Each prediction receives an inclusion path proving its leaf belongs to that exact root.
  3. Get an external timestamp receipt. The root is submitted to OpenTimestamps. GaiaLab does not mark rows anchored unless a real OTS receipt is returned; a failed submission leaves the predictions retryable.
  4. Verify against Bitcoin. Pending receipts are upgraded and GaiaLab writes bitcoin_confirmed only after OpenTimestamps verifies the receipt against the exact stored Merkle root.
  5. Compare clocks. If the verified Bitcoin block time is before a trial's first public registration, the commitment has cryptographic anteriority to that registration. This proves timing, not drug efficacy.

Live proof ledger

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Verify a prediction

Paste a 64-character leaf hash from GaiaLab's trial-audit ledger. Your browser will recompute the leaf and Merkle path locally. The result then shows the separate OpenTimestamps/Bitcoin state.

Scientific boundary. Timestamp integrity and scientific validity are different questions. A Bitcoin proof can show when a committed hypothesis package existed. It cannot show that the hypothesis is correct, that a drug works, or that a later trial validates efficacy. See validation and methodology for those separate claims.