> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.decdn.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Slashing & on-chain verification

> Three slashable offenses — phantom announcement, rate manipulation, blacklist violation — adjudicated on-chain, with a 30-day operator appeal.

## Decision

Three slashable offenses with concrete on-chain evidence paths:

1. **Phantom announcement** — claimed availability, failed to deliver.
2. **Rate manipulation** — charged a rate different from the advertised rate.
3. **Blacklist violation** — served a blacklisted hash after the compliance window.

A unified on-chain judge adjudicates all three synchronously and triggers the bond reduction immediately upon verification — there is no in-protocol counter-evidence window, because each offense rests on cryptographically dispositive signed evidence. The reduced bond is then held in escrow pending a post-slash appeal (below), not distributed on the spot.

## Evidence staleness

Evidence has a maximum age, set strictly below the unbonding period — so an accused cannot deregister and withdraw before being slashable.

## Escrow and appeals

The bond reduction is immediate, but the slashed TOKEN sits in `CapacityBond` escrow rather than being paid out at slash time. The slashed **operator** — and only the operator — may file an **operational-failure appeal** within **30 days** (e.g. a genuine network outage, NTP drift, or hosting incident prevented compliance), posting a TOKEN appeal bond. The emergency multisig fast-tracks or rejects within a fixed window; the Governor then grants or upholds. A **granted** appeal refunds the full escrowed bond to the operator; a **failed** appeal distributes the escrow like an unappealed slash. The lifetime offense counter is unchanged either way — an appeal restitutes capital, not standing.

## Challenger incentives

Submitting evidence requires a **100 TOKEN** bond. A challenge that fails on-chain verification simply reverts — the challenger only loses gas, and the bond is not transferred. A challenge that passes always slashes the node and the bond is returned. At finality (≤ 30 days with no appeal, later if one is filed) the escrowed bond is split **50% to the challenger / 50% burned**, unless the operator's appeal is granted, in which case the operator is refunded and no challenger reward is paid.