The problem with operator-controlled data
Physical infrastructure markets depend on evidence. A GPU facility needs to prove compute delivery, a mining farm needs to prove hash rate, and a data center needs to prove uptime, power use, and operational performance. That data already exists — most assets are already instrumented with BMS systems, inverters, EMS platforms, SCADA, GPU monitoring, and internal analytics. The hard part is making that data credible to an outside counterparty.
These systems help operators manage assets, but they don’t automatically create records an institutional counterparty can trust independently, because the operator still controls the data path. That creates friction whenever the data is used outside internal operations: lenders apply a risk discount, buyers ask for stronger guarantees, insurers request more evidence, and settlement takes longer because counterparties have to reconcile records after the fact. Hardware attestation gives the market a stronger starting point than any of that.
How RAW Box creates a tamper-evident record
RAW Box is a hardware-secured device that installs at the operator’s site, alongside existing systems — it connects to the DCIM platforms, hypervisor tooling, GPU telemetry, or mining-pool feeds an operator already runs. On compatible hardware, every reading is signed inside a Trusted Execution Environment before any party, including the operator, can alter it. The signing keys are generated inside the device and never leave it, which is what ties a reading to a specific physical device rather than to a downstream report someone could edit.
The sequence runs the same way for every supported asset: RAW Box reads delivery telemetry directly from the source in real time, signs and timestamps that reading at the point of origin, and commits it to Asset DNA — the append-only record that aggregates signed readings over time. From there, a Daml contract on Canton Network can reference that record and settle once its terms are confirmed. If RAW Box stops reporting, contract issuance and settlement pause automatically. That’s the “no data, no contract” principle that governs the rest of RAW’s architecture.
Why this beats dashboards and periodic audits
Most verification methods available today describe output after it has already passed through systems the operator controls. Hardware attestation proves output at the moment and place it was produced, which changes whether a counterparty has to trust the operator or can check the record for themselves.
| Property | Self-reported dashboard | Periodic audit | RAW Box attestation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where verified | Downstream, operator-controlled | Off-site, after the fact | At the asset, in real time |
| Tamper resistance | Editable before sharing | Point-in-time snapshot | Signed, tamper-evident record |
| Data currency | As presented | Often months old by delivery | Continuous, always current |
| Independent check | Requires trusting the operator | Requires trusting the auditor | Verify against the signing key |
From telemetry to Asset DNA
A single attested reading is useful. A long operating history built from many of them is far more valuable. Asset DNA is the asset’s continuously verified record, built from signed performance data over time rather than assembled periodically. It can show availability, reliability, utilization, dispatch behavior, outages, and delivery patterns across different operating conditions.
For operators, that becomes a portable record of asset quality that doesn’t depend on anyone taking their word for it. For counterparties, it’s a materially better way to evaluate the asset: a facility with months of verified delivery records can be assessed with more confidence than one supported only by reports and presentations.
What this supports across asset classes
RAW Box’s attestation model applies the same way regardless of asset type, but not every asset class has a live, priced settlement product built on top of it yet.
| Asset class | What RAW Box attests | Settlement status today |
|---|---|---|
| GPU compute | Utilization, device class and configuration, uptime | Live — Verified GPU Compute (attested GPU-hour) |
| AI inference | Throughput and time-to-first-token | Live — Verified AI Inference (MTph) |
| Mining | Site-side telemetry, cross-checked against pool-side data | Live — Verified Hash Rate |
| Battery storage (BESS) / solar | Dispatch behavior, state of charge, generation, availability | Attestation only — no named settlement unit yet |
Bottom line
Hardware attestation is what makes physical asset performance usable outside the operator’s own systems: signed at the source, tied to a specific device, and verifiable independently rather than taken on trust. RAW Box is the component that produces that evidence, Asset DNA is what turns repeated readings into a track record, and Canton Network is what settles a contract against it. For energy assets like BESS and solar, the attestation layer is in place — the settlement layer is still ahead.
Article last reviewed: July 2026. RAW Protocol network specifications are subject to change. Verify current details at rawproto.com.