Docs
Silverchat is the polling network from Snowmoon, a novel by Vitalik Buterin, built on Ethereum. You pay $ZC to ask the network a question. Holders answer, and the result goes on-chain. We are not affiliated with the author.
How it works
- 01AskWrite a question, choose how many people it asks and how high it shows, and pay in $ZC. The contract holds the payment.
- 02AnswerWallets that held $20 of ZC or SC when the poll opened answer by signing. Signing is free. One answer per wallet.
- 03FixA minute after the poll closes, the result is fixed on Ethereum as a root over every answer. Then the contract pays out: 25% to the treasury, 20% to buy $SC and burn it, 20% burned as ZC, 35% to the people who answered. The part of that 35% nobody earned goes back to the asker.
- 04ClaimAnswerers claim their share in one transaction. What nobody claims within 90 days is burned.
- 05RefundIf a result is not fixed within 7 days after close, the asker takes the whole payment back.
From the book
Every feature comes from a chapter. Where we add something, like paying the people who answer, or where we are not there yet, the table says so.
- Pay to poll
- In Snowmoon ch. 27Pay zipcoins to ask a large cross-section of people. More zipcoins, more people.
- HereAsk, with breadth and priority, paid in $ZC.
- Proofs
- In Snowmoon ch. 27Silverchat publishes proofs, so clients reject an update that breaks the rules.
- HereEach result root goes on Ethereum. Your browser recounts it.
- Algorithm hash
- In Snowmoon ch. 27A new algorithm hash only counts after a twenty-day delay.
- HereSilverAlgorithm holds the hash of the rules file.
- Anonymous answers
- In Snowmoon ch. 27Votes are anonymous. Results split by what people say about themselves.
- HereSigned answers, recorded without addresses. Optional region and age.
- Open clients
- In Snowmoon ch. 3, ch. 8An open API lets people write their own client and take their data with them.
- HereOpen API and export. Build your own reader.
- Predict
- In Snowmoon ch. 27Silverchat Predict lets people, or bots, bet on future events.
- HereNot yet. It comes after launch.
- Reading the network
- In Snowmoon ch. 10The AI Emerald writes a broad report of what people say.
- HereNot yet.
- Ours
- In Snowmoon Not in the book.
- HerePaying the people who answer, the $SC token, and the split of each payment.
| Feature | In Snowmoon | Here |
|---|---|---|
| Pay to poll | Pay zipcoins to ask a large cross-section of people. More zipcoins, more people. ch. 27 | Ask, with breadth and priority, paid in $ZC. |
| Proofs | Silverchat publishes proofs, so clients reject an update that breaks the rules. ch. 27 | Each result root goes on Ethereum. Your browser recounts it. |
| Algorithm hash | A new algorithm hash only counts after a twenty-day delay. ch. 27 | SilverAlgorithm holds the hash of the rules file. |
| Anonymous answers | Votes are anonymous. Results split by what people say about themselves. ch. 27 | Signed answers, recorded without addresses. Optional region and age. |
| Open clients | An open API lets people write their own client and take their data with them. ch. 3, ch. 8 | Open API and export. Build your own reader. |
| Predict | Silverchat Predict lets people, or bots, bet on future events. ch. 27 | Not yet. It comes after launch. |
| Reading the network | The AI Emerald writes a broad report of what people say. ch. 10 | Not yet. |
| Ours | Not in the book. | Paying the people who answer, the $SC token, and the split of each payment. |
Contracts
- SilverAsk
- at launch
- SilverAlgorithm
- at launch
- SilverBuyback
- at launch
- $SC
- at launch
The source is on GitHub. The rules the app runs by are one file; see the rules.
API
Everything public is open to any client, from any site. Build your own reader; that is how Gladias learned to program in the book.
- GET /api/polls?status=open
- open polls in feed order, with the block that seeded it
- GET /api/polls/{id}
- one poll: question, cost, status, totals once fixed
- GET /api/polls/{id}/leaves
- every answer of a fixed poll as choices and salt, no addresses
- GET /api/export
- every poll, for your own copy
- POST /api/polls
- publish a question and get its hash before you pay
- POST /api/answer
- a signed answer
Trust
- On Ethereum: the payment, the fixed split, the refund, both roots of every result, the claims and the rules hash.
- Run by us: storing questions, checking who may answer, collecting answers, counting them, the list of paid answerers, and the feed order.
- Our server sees every answer with the wallet that signed it. The public record has the choices without addresses. Region and age are what people say, not checked.
- The poster key fixes results. It decides who is paid from the answerers' 35% of a poll, and nothing else. You can recount any result and check your own answer.
- The pricer key sets the ZC price per person. You never pay more than the cost you sign.
- The rules hash proves what was published and when. It does not prove our server runs it; rerunning the feed does.
- One wallet, one answer, with a $20 minimum: a sample of the network, not of everyone.
- The contracts are owned by a multisig from launch. The buyback keeper picks amounts within limits the owner sets.
- The contracts are not audited. The tokens are volatile. Don't trust this page. Verify it.