As artificial intelligence becomes integrated into decentralized systems, one challenge becomes unavoidable: how can AI execution be verified in environments that require transparency and trustlessness?
Smart contracts depend on deterministic execution and verifiable outcomes. Every result must be reproducible or provable across the network. AI systems, however, operate through complex models that traditionally exist outside these guarantees.
LEP100-4 introduces a solution to this problem through cryptographic AI receipts.
What Are Cryptographic AI Receipts?
Cryptographic AI receipts are structured records that capture the details of an AI interaction within a decentralized system. Rather than treating AI outputs as opaque results, receipts provide a verifiable trail that allows smart contracts and external systems to confirm how a response was generated.
These receipts serve as a bridge between intelligent computation and blockchain verification, enabling AI outputs to be anchored within decentralized infrastructure.
The Structure of an AI Receipt
LEP100-4 defines a standardized format for AI receipts, ensuring consistency and interoperability across applications.
Each receipt includes a set of core fields that describe the execution process:
- request_id identifies the specific AI request within the contract lifecycle
- model_hash represents the exact version of the AI model used
- input_hash records the data provided to the model
- output_hash captures the resulting output generated by the model
- cost_used tracks the computational cost associated with the request
- timestamp records when the execution occurred
- provider_signature verifies that the response originated from the declared AI provider
Together, these fields create a complete record of the AI interaction, allowing decentralized systems to trace the origin and integrity of intelligent outputs.
Why Hashing Matters
The use of hashing is central to the receipt model.
Instead of storing raw inputs and outputs onchain, which may be inefficient or sensitive, LEP100-4 relies on cryptographic hashes to represent these values. This approach preserves privacy while still allowing verification.
If needed, external systems can recompute hashes to confirm that the original data matches the recorded values. This ensures that AI execution can be validated without exposing proprietary or sensitive information.
Domain-Separated Signing and Replay Resistance
One of the key security features of LEP100-4 is domain-separated signing.
In decentralized systems, signatures must be protected against replay attacks, where a valid signature is reused in an unintended context. Domain separation ensures that each signature is tied to a specific execution environment, contract context, or application domain.
By separating signing domains, LEP100-4 prevents receipts from being reused across different contracts or systems. This ensures that each AI interaction remains uniquely bound to its original execution context.
This mechanism strengthens the integrity of AI verification within decentralized applications.
Verifiable AI as Infrastructure
Cryptographic receipts transform AI from an external service into a verifiable component of decentralized infrastructure.
Instead of relying on trust assumptions, systems can validate:
- which model was used
- what input was processed
- what output was generated
- how much computation was consumed
- and who provided the result
This level of transparency is essential for applications that depend on reliable and auditable AI execution.
Supporting Web4 Systems
As decentralized systems evolve toward Web4 architecture, intelligent computation must operate within structured and accountable frameworks.
AI is no longer an optional feature layered on top of applications. It becomes part of the execution layer itself.
LEP100-4 provides the verification model required for this transition.
By introducing cryptographic receipts, decentralized systems gain the ability to integrate AI while preserving the principles of transparency, accountability, and trustlessness that define blockchain infrastructure.
In Web4 environments, intelligence must not only operate.
It must be verifiable.
And cryptographic receipts make that possible.
