Archethic is a public blockchain designed to deliver digital sovereignty by combining advanced security, decentralisation, and biometric authentication. The platform introduces the concept of the Internet of Trust, a framework that allows users to interact with services, store data, and manage identities without relying on centralised providers. Its architecture integrates identity, finance, data storage, communication, and smart contracts into a single open-source system.

The blockchain employs the ARCH consensus (Atomic Rotating Commitment Heuristic), which randomly selects validators for each transaction to maximise fairness and security. This design achieves linear scalability, fast validation, and high energy efficiency while maintaining decentralisation. Archethic’s system is also tailored to provide unfalsifiable biometric identity using finger vein recognition without storing biometric data, ensuring privacy and accessibility.

The network is built to support diverse use cases including programmable fintech, decentralised e-commerce, healthcare, supply chains, smart cities, communities, and the metaverse. Its infrastructure enables seamless deployment of decentralised services with integrated security, interoperability, and identity management.

UCO is the native token of the Archethic blockchain. It powers all activity within the network, functioning as the incentive layer for validators, the medium for paying transaction and service fees, and the foundation for governance. Validators earn UCO for securing the blockchain, while users rely on it to deploy contracts, manage identities, and interact with decentralised applications.

Beyond utility, UCO embodies the economic alignment of the ecosystem. Rewards are structured to ensure validator participation during network growth phases, while fees sustain the system as adoption increases. UCO is also used in governance processes, where holders contribute to protocol decisions, upgrades, and allocation of resources.

Archethic’s blockchain is composed of three integrated layers:

• Infrastructure layer: Built on the ARCH consensus, it provides scalability, decentralisation, and fast validation. Nodes are selected in a rotating and randomised manner, making collusion or manipulation impractical.
• Trust layer: Anchored in biometric authentication, it uses unique finger vein patterns to generate cryptographic keys without storing sensitive biometric data. This ensures secure identification across any device.
• Governance layer: Organised as a decentralised autonomous structure involving users, miners, application providers, technical councils, and an ethics council. Governance combines on-chain voting with off-chain decision-making and includes safeguards for privacy.

Smart contracts extend functionality to external events through oracles, enabling integration of real-world data such as weather or financial indicators. Archethic’s transaction chain allows each transaction to become its own chain, avoiding bottlenecks and supporting unlimited scalability.