Protocol in development · Public TestNet planned

The open infrastructure network.

Compute. Identity. Settlement. One verifiable protocol.

VirtEngine is an open-source protocol for discovering, verifying and using computing infrastructure across independent providers.

A market, not a private RFQ.

Order — jobs in the open

Jobs are posted in the open. Every order is protocol state, biddable by any operator running an attested machine — so capacity is discovered, not brokered.

Identity, scored by validators.

VEID — identity, verified

Encrypted identity scopes are scored by the validator set. Participants prove facts with zero-knowledge proofs and reveal nothing more. The Foundation runs no central VEID verification service.

Capacity, proven where it runs.

Attest — proof on the machine

Providers sign attestations from each machine before a bid counts. Broken or borrowed capacity never reaches the market.

Compute. Identity. Settlement.

Core — one verifiable protocol

Three surfaces, one chain. From order to payout the state is verifiable — the protocol is the market, the identity system, and the ledger.

Bids land in the open.

Bid syd-01 · 0.42 / hr

Independent operators price the job. Lowest honest bid on an attested machine takes it — and every offer, win or lose, is chain state.

The lease forms here.

Win mel-gpu · 0.39 / hr

The winning offer binds into a lease under escrow. Cheapest quoting an attested machine takes the job — 0.39 / hr beats the field.

Every offer is recorded.

Bid act-hpc · 0.51 / hr

act-hpc quotes 0.51 / hr. Placed beneath the lease and stored on chain, unreserved until usage is signed and settlement runs.

Funds lock. Take is 0%.

Escrow — zero take

Lease funds sit in escrow against signed usage. The marketplace takes no commission — 0% is the policy, not a discount.

Metered usage, settled honestly.

Settle — signed, then paid

The provider daemon meters workloads and batches signed usage records. After the 24-hour dispute window, settlement converts them into line items and pays out.

Explore the protocol View source
  1. Protocol stages Hover to preview · any opens
  2. 01 Order
  3. 02 VEID
  4. 03 Attest
  5. 04 Core
  6. 05 Bid syd
  7. 06 Win mel
  8. 07 Bid act
  9. 08 Escrow
  10. 09 Settle

Stewarded in the public benefit by DETIO FOUNDATION LTD.

Hover a stage. Click to open it. Tap a stage to open it. Job posted in the open. Not a private RFQ.Identity scored by the validator set.Capacity proven before a bid counts.One protocol. Compute, identity, settlement.Independent operator. 0.42 / hr.Lowest honest bid. Lease forms here.Independent operator. 0.51 / hr.Funds lock. Marketplace take is 0%.Signed usage. Payout after the window.

Why it exists

Infrastructure should be an open market.

Computing capacity already exists in independent facilities — GPU clusters, HPC centres, regional datacentres, confidential enclaves. Today those machines sit behind closed catalogues. VirtEngine is a protocol that lets a tenant describe a workload, lets independent providers bid to run it, and records identity, capacity, and settlement as verifiable state. VirtEngine is not the cloud. It is the market independent infrastructure can join.

  1. 01 Request A tenant posts the workload on chain.
  2. 02 Verify & coordinate Identity, capacity, and escrow become protocol state.
  3. 03 Run The selected provider instantiates and meters the work.
Protocol surfacesExplore

See the market work.

Choose a surface. Each panel is a live instrument for that part of the protocol — not a feature card.

01 / Marketplace

Capacity, discovered in the open.

Orders and bids meet on chain. The winning bid becomes a lease under escrow. Every step is protocol state, not a private arrangement — and the marketplace takes no commission.

  • x/marketorder → bid → lease state machine
  • x/escrowfunds held against active leases
  • x/takezero-rate marketplace settlement policy
How the marketplace works
x/market order → bid → lease
open order 8× GPU · 240 GB VRAM attributes · confidential=false · region=ap-southeast

Hover or select a bid — lowest honest price on attested capacity wins.0.42 / hr — attested, above the flat.0.39 / hr — lowest honest bid. The lease forms here.0.51 / hr — attested, placed beyond the lease.

lease formed · escrow funded · 0% marketplace commission

02 / VEID

Identity verified by consensus.

Encrypted identity scopes are scored by the validator set. Participants prove facts with zero-knowledge proofs and reveal nothing more. The Foundation does not operate a central VEID verification service.

  • x/veididentity verification and scoring
  • x/veid/zkscore-threshold and attribute proofs
  • x/mfaon-chain multi-factor authentication
Explore the identity network

03 / Settlement

Metered usage, settled honestly.

The provider daemon meters workloads, batches signed usage records, and the settlement module converts them into billable line items after a 24-hour dispute window.

  • usageSigned records, submitted on a scheduled cadence
  • escrowFunds release to the provider — no marketplace commission
  • x/settlementusage → line items → payout
Escrow & settlement

Hover a stage or step through the ledger. Usage becomes the bill.Jobs post on chain as open, biddable state.Offers bind into a lease under escrow.Lease funds lock against signed usage.The provider daemon meters and signs usage.After the 24h dispute window, settlement pays out.

04 / Infrastructure

Independent machines. One market.

GPU clusters, HPC schedulers, general cloud, and confidential interconnects all speak the same lease. VirtEngine does not pretend to be the physical cloud.

  • GPUDense accelerators offered into the market
  • HPCScheduler-backed clusters, same lease
  • CloudCPU, storage, and regional capacity
Provider path
Server racks in a provider data centre.
GPU compute
A high-performance computing cluster, racks in a row.
HPC
A data-centre aisle: racks of servers receding into the distance.
General cloud
An ethernet cable seated in a network switch port.
Confidential workloads

View the full protocol

One protocolMany kinds of infrastructure

Independent machines. One market.

GPU clusters, HPC schedulers, general cloud, and confidential interconnects all speak the same lease. VirtEngine does not pretend to be the physical cloud.

Server racks in a provider data centre.
GPU compute — Dense accelerators offered into the market.
A high-performance computing cluster, racks in a row.
HPC — Scheduler-backed clusters, same lease.
A data-centre aisle: racks of servers receding into the distance.
General cloud — CPU, storage, and regional capacity.
An ethernet cable seated in a network switch port.
Confidential workloads — Attested paths over real interconnect.
ArchitectureFour layers

A protocol, not a portal.

Four layers, one engineered system. Hover a band for a live preview, or open it to inspect what it receives, produces, and guarantees.

01 The intent layerUsers & applicationsWhere a workload, a policy, and a proof first enter the system. virtengineVEID walletgRPC / REST

Tenants and approved clients describe the work to be done. VEID wallets can answer an identity request with a proof, rather than exposing a raw identity record.

Explore this layer
Receives
Workload intent and consented proof requests
Produces
Signed instructions the protocol can independently verify

intent → signed request

02 The coordination layerMarket, identity & economicsOrders, bids, evidence, and escrow become shared protocol state. x/marketx/veidx/escrow

Independent providers compete for an order. Identity evidence, accepted terms, and the resulting lease are visible as protocol state — not hidden inside a marketplace account.

Explore this layer
Receives
A signed request, provider capacity, and eligibility evidence
Produces
A selected lease with funds and terms held in escrow

request → bid → lease

03 The verification layerVirtEngine chainOne deterministic state machine, agreed by the validator set. 27 modulessingle binaryvalidators

The chain is the shared source of truth. Its modules enforce the marketplace lifecycle and preserve the evidence needed to inspect how an order became a lease and, later, a settlement.

Explore this layer
Receives
Transactions, evidence, and signed usage records
Produces
Ordered, auditable state with a verifiable history

verify → agree → record

04 The execution layerIndependent infrastructureReal machines run the work; provider daemons meter and attest to it. providerdKubernetesSLURM

GPU clusters, HPC schedulers, and general cloud remain independently operated. The provider daemon translates a lease into real work, then signs the usage data used for settlement.

Explore this layer
Receives
A funded lease and deployment instructions
Produces
Metered usage records for the settlement process

lease → run → meter

Work and evidence move down through the stack; signed usage returns to the chain for settlement.

View all 27 modules Protocol architecture

Source

Build the binary. Read the chain.

Everything — chain, modules, provider daemon, docs — ships from one repository and compiles with make virtengine. Linux and macOS on amd64/arm64; Windows amd64 is experimental. The network is not live; the code is.

Read the docs Browse GitHub ↗ Explore modules
Launch postureLast updated 17 Sep 2026

Building openly. Launching carefully.

The network is not live. You can read the source, review the design, and contribute today. Production services depend on testing and a separate launch approval.

  1. Now

    Research & development

    Open code, documentation, and release preparation.

  2. Planned · January 2027

    Public TestNet

    Validation with operators. Test state may reset.

  3. Planned · March 2027

    MainNet, subject to approval

    Only after evidence, remediation, and a go/no-go decision.

Read the launch criteria

Acknowledgements

With support from

We have received support from, or partnered with, the organisations below. Programs, grants, and memberships helped build the software. The VirtEngine network is still in development and is not live.

Microsoft for Startups, Microsoft for Nonprofits, Azure

The project is in Microsoft for Startups and Microsoft for Nonprofits. Startup-program benefits so far are more than US$150,000. The nonprofit program adds about US$5,000 a year in Microsoft 365 and cloud services. Azure is the cloud platform we use alongside those programs.

  • Microsoft for Startups — more than US$150,000 in benefits to date
  • Microsoft for Nonprofits — about US$5,000 a year in Microsoft 365 and cloud services
  • Microsoft Azure partner programs
Microsoft for Startups

Google for Nonprofits

Through Google for Nonprofits we use Google Workspace and a Google Ads Grant to run communications and operations for the project.

  • Google Workspace for Nonprofits
  • Google Ads Grant
Google for Nonprofits

Technology partner — developed by OpenNode OÜ

Waldur is the open-source cloud and HPC platform that sits beside VirtEngine. The provider daemon maps marketplace agreements into Waldur so operators can fulfil work on real infrastructure.

  • Developed by OpenNode OÜ
  • Catalogue, orders, and operations stay in Waldur
How Waldur connects

Technology partner

OpenNebula is a technology partner for cloud management. Waldur already documents an OpenNebula site agent. A first-class VirtEngine mapping is planned; it is not presented here as a shipped production integration.

  • Cloud management partner
  • First-class chain mapping is still planned
OpenNebula

Industry partner

RMIT University is an industry partner. The relationship is organisational: research, talent, and industry collaboration around open infrastructure — not a claim that RMIT operates the network.

  • Industry partner
RMIT University

MQU Incubator community

DET.IO joined the Macquarie University Incubator as one of its resident startups. That early incubator place is part of the project’s history, before the work was re-founded as VirtEngine under DETIO FOUNDATION LTD.

  • Incubator resident (as DET.IO)
MQU Incubator announcement

Minimum Viable Product grant, 2019–20

DET-IO Pty Limited received a New South Wales Government Minimum Viable Product grant of up to $27,000. The award is recorded in the NSW Parliament annual report for 2019–20. Parliament published the record; the support came from the NSW Government program.

  • MVP grant 2767 — up to $27,000
  • Listed in NSW Annual Report 2019–20
NSW Government

Member

The foundation is a Connecting Up member. Connecting Up, powered by Infoxchange, helps Australian not-for-profits get affordable technology, software, and IT support.

  • Member organisation
Connecting Up

Member

The Foundation is a Goodstack member. Goodstack is how many vendors check nonprofit status for discounted software and cloud programs.

  • Member organisation
Goodstack

Public-benefit stewardship

Technology held for public benefit.

DETIO FOUNDATION LTD is an Australian not-for-profit public company limited by guarantee (ACN 699 651 771). It stewards the protocol software, reference implementations, and token policy under a constitutional public-benefit lock. The Foundation does not operate the decentralised network, and it does not operate a central VEID verification service.

We publish software, specifications, and learning resources so students, researchers, developers, and operators can inspect the design. The intended public benefit is greater access to secure digital infrastructure — and the ability to examine how it works.

Journal — field notes Read all notes

The thinking behind the protocol.

All field notes

Earlier work is preserved in the 2015–2016 historical archive , separately from current technical guidance.

Open infrastructure starts with participation.