using

Proof of Stake to secure

Proofs of Steak

What is the Steak Network?

Steak network
Decentralized networks are a rare medium well-done.

We present the Steak Network, a decentralized social network of Steak enthusiasts built on top of Ethereum. The core feature of the Steak Network is the Steakchain, a set of validated, user-submitted Proofs of Steak. The network defends itself against malicious attacks using Proof of Steak, a novel protocol capable of securing a blockchain given proofs that cannot be computed cryptographically, backed by TrueBit and a Proof of Stake protocol.

Using the Steak Network, users can trustlessly share Proof of Steak, knowing for certain that the Steakchain is exclusively made up of verifiably rare (or medium-rare) pictures of steak.

(yes, the whitepaper is legit)

📡 How does it work?

Steak chart

Any token holder is considered a member of the Steak Network. At any point in time, a network member may become Cook by submitting a Proof of Steak*. This transaction then goes through a verification phase modeled after TrueBit's Verification Game.

During the verification phase, any token holder may become Grill Master by challenging the validity of a Cook's Proof of Steak. If a challenge by a Grill Master is made, the Grilling of the Cook (verification game) begins. If no challenge is made by the end of the verification phase, the Proof of Steak is considered genuine and is then finalized, recorded forever in the Steakchain.

🎲The Grilling of the Cook

If a challenge by a Grill Master is made, the Grilling of the Cook determines whether or not a Proof of Steak is valid. In TrueBit's Verification Game, arbitrary computation must be iteratively validated, but because the Steak Network is only concerned with verifying the validity of Proofs of Steak, we can simplify the model considerably.

The Steak Network elects Backseat Grillers (witnesses), following Proof of Stake semantics, who then have the right to vouch for the validity or invalidity of a Proof of Steak. After a witness timeout period, the votes are tallied, and the winner is determined.

Forced Errors

The Steak Network also implement's TrueBit's Forced Errors logic to incentivize proof challenges. In the case of a forced error, the game mechanics are inverted: a Cook submits an invalid Proof of Steak and Grill Masters are rewarded by a jackpot for successfully challenging the Cook. Because of the jackpot payouts, network participants are financially incentivized to be on the watch for invalid Proofs of Steak.

* A Proof of Steak is just a picture of a steak

(please, I put a lot of work into it)

The $TEAK Token

The $TEAK Token

🍖$TEAK Holders are Stake Holders

$TEAK Holders are stake holders in the Steak Network and are granted membership. They have the ability to become Cook by submitting Proof of Steak transactions to the network, as well as the ability to become Grill Master and challenge Cook's Proofs of Steak.

Certifiably Rare

There is a fixed amount of $TEAK; the tokens you own are certifiably rare, since no more than 975,220,000,000 will ever be created.

🔥$TEAK Can Be Burned

Just like real life, if a Cook or Grill Master behaves badly, their $TEAK can be burned. The end result of the Verification Game results in the malicious party's $TEAK being burned. The Steak Network uses Byzantine Proof of Stake to solve the "Nothing at Stake" problem; when Backseat Grillers vouch for a Proof of Steak, they burn $TEAK in the Steakchains that do not include the Proof of Steak in question. This is implemented as a knife-based slashing system.

🍳Become Cook

Any $TEAK Holder may become Cook by submitting a Proof of Steak and staking $TEAK on its validity. If a Cook behaves correctly, their Proof of Steak is validated and added to the Steakchain. If a Cook's Proof of Steak is challenged and the Cook is the loser of the Grilling of the Cook, their $TEAK is burned.

🔨Become Grill Master

Any $TEAK Holder may become Grill Master by challenging a Cook's Proof of Steak and staking $TEAK on its invalidity. If the Grill Master is the winner of the Verification Game under normal conditions, they receive a small payout, deducted from the Cook's $TEAK stake. If the Grill Master is the winner of the Verification Game under forced-error conditions, they receive a jackpot payout, deducted from the shared jackpot pool. If the Grill Master loses the Verification Game, their $TEAK is burned.

🚗Become a Backseat Griller

By staking large amounts of $TEAK, $TEAK Holders can join the Backseat Griller Crowd. When a Proof of Steak is challenged and the Verification Game begins, Backseat Grillers are randomly selected by the network (ala Proof of Stake). Backseat Grillers have the ability to vouch for the validity or invalidity of a Proof of Steak. Backseat Grillers that side with the minority have their $TEAK burned. Under forced-error conditions, Backseat Grillers that side with the majority receive a share of the jackpot payout.

(the whitepaper has more info)

The ICS (Initial Cutting of $TEAK)

(what, you thought we wouldn't have an ICO?)
The $TEAK Token
The $TEAK Token
The $TEAK Token

We raised 33 ETH (≈$10,000 $14,000 $15,000) in donations! Look at our beautiful token holder pie chart!

975,220,000,000 Total Supply of $TEAK

Literally just send ETH to this address and we'll give you some $TEAK:

The ICS has ended! Thank you for your support! You can still directly support projects like these using the address below.

✔️ I understand that I get $TEAK Tokens worth literally nothing in exchange for sending ETH to this address.

✔️ Delivered rare, medium-rare, or Pittsburgh-style.

✔️ All ETH is forwarded to the projects below.

ICS Donations

100% back to the community!

What is the Doge-Eth Art Project? It's a community-organized effort to build an IRL art project illustrating the Doge-Ethereum bridge being developed by TrueBit. Join our Slack channel to contribute to the discussion!

Here's the DonationSplitter contract on Etherscan as well as the ICS contract on Etherscan and the $TEAK Token contract on Etherscan.

The Team

Matt Condon

CEO (Chief [Steak] Eating Officer) and CTO (Chief Tenderizing Officer) of The Steak Network Foundation. Well versed in both steaks and blockchains, he's the perfect custodian of the Steakchain. His previous accomplishments include How Many Rocks Are There (And Where Are They), We Know Art, asdfghjkl, and this partyparrot T-shirt. (and he's available for blockchain-tech consulting, even on non-steak-focused projects)

Investors

(no, nobody here is actually investing money)

Ryan Zurrer

Principal & Venture Partner @ Polychain Steakchain Capital. Helping build great token-enabled #blockchain networks (like the Steak Network).

Linda Xie

Co-founder @ScalarCapital. Previously Product Manager @Coinbase. Advisor @0xProject. Author of the extremely popular Beginners Guide to the Steak Network article.

Michael Karnjanaprakorn

Michael is all about sharing skills steaks. Investor @ Turing Boyz 2 Mignon

Lucas Ryan

Lucas is a partner at MetaStable Capital, the premier backyard barbeque hedge-related fund.

Alex Lines

Alex is a partner at Notation Capital where he helps technical founders turn their steaks into valuable $TEAK Tokens.

Nicholas Chirls

Nicholas is a partner at Notation Capital and previously Head of Steak Investments at Betaworks. Steaklyn born and braised.

Josh Nussbaum

Josh is a partner at Compound, an NYC based VC firm that invests in early stage rare technology companies.

Advisors

Jackson Palmer

Creator of the original distributed & trustless meme, Dogecoin. Jackson brings years of invaluable meme-related experience to the Steak Network.

Preethi Kasireddy

Steakchain Engineer & Tinkerer. Alum @steakbase @s734k @GoldmanSteaks. Passionate about blockchain & cryptoeconomics. Avid learner & blogger.

Robbie Bent

The Steak Network Foundation's Resident Survivorman and our veritable Bear Grills. Living in isolation in Northern Canada, he spends his free time hunting Moose and Wild Game to add to the SteakChain. He relentlessly pursues perfection, never settling for medium.

Jason Teutsch

Co-creator of the TrueBit protocol and the Interactive ICO Protocol, when Jason's not pursuing Wild Game Theory, he pursues grilled Moose from the back of Robbie's pickup truck.

Benny Giang

Benny is the co-creator of Crypto Kitties.
"No Crypto Kitties were harmed in the making of the Steak Network."

Arthur Camara

As the co-creator of Crypto Kitties, Arthur helps complete the holy trinity of internet culture: cats, cats, and cats.

Ricky Medina

Ricky works on DigitalOcean SteakOcean, bringing user-friendly steak computing to the world.

Is This Real?

Yeah, basically.

Things that Are Real:
  • Proof of Steak (the protocol) is real and designed to work.
  • The ICS is real and happening. You will get real $TEAK in exchange for your donation.
  • The jokes are real (bad).
Things that Are Not (yet) Real:
  • The Steak Network; nothing has been built to make the Steak Network actually work. Want to build it? Let us know and we'll work with you to make our collective dream a reality.
  • Nobody involved has contributed any money to this project, least of all the "investors"; there is no guarantee that your $TEAK will be worth more than the network fee required to mint them.

About the Project

Yes, I did all of this for the joke "Proof of Steak"

But it turns out you could probably use Proof of Steak (this registry-curation protocol) to secure any list where the membership proofs ("I belong in this list of things") can't be modeled cryptographically, primarily things that are crowd-opinion-based or aren't yet machine-verifiable. It's effectively a Token-Curated Registry protocol implementation, but with the addition of Forced errors to incentivise verifiers.

It could be used to create a set of verifiably rare memes, for example, or decentrally curate high-quality datasets for machine learning or AI training, or even creating a decentralized MTurk. Proof of Steak could be applied in any case where a high-quality list of items is more valuable than the sum of its parts.

I don't plan on actually implementing the Steak Network, although it would be fun revolutionary. If enough easily-amused people inspiring supporters send me donate enough money and really want to see a damn mobile app for sharing pictures of steak powered by Ethereum, I'll quit my job and build the damn thing.

Want to directly support stupid projects like this? Buy me a steak by sending ETH or your favorite shitcoin to this address:

Send a transaction to via MyEtherWallet

✔️ This money goes directly to me.

✔️ I promise to spend it on stupid things like food, housing, and more dumb projects.

(last chance!!! only one call to action left!!! click now!!!)

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