A quantized unit of measurable digital energy : the Hamiltonian energy cost of producing and maintaining one milligram of data, enriched by proof. A joule is ore; a crwdUnit is the minted coin.
A crwdUnit is commodity-backed by energy. Every unit is anchored to real electricity a machine measurably spent, never to market sentiment. It is the Hamiltonian energy cost of producing and maintaining one milligram of data, enriched by proof. A joule alone is ore. A crwdUnit is the minted coin struck from it.
Every crwdUnit is backed by a real, physical commodity: energy. Behind each one sits a fixed, provable amount of electricity a machine actually spent doing useful work. The equation makes the backing exact:
Energy is the commodity; 1.2 J per unit is the peg. Just as a fixed weight of gold once backed a banknote, a fixed quantity of proven energy backs every crwdUnit. Because no unit exists until its joules are spent and proven, supply can never outrun the commodity behind it.
The EconomistA crwdUnit is to a joule what a minted gold coin is to raw ore: the same atoms, but graded, certified, and worth orders of magnitude more. The doctrine ceiling is up to ~2.5M× bare electricity cost.
Total joules spent across every subsystem over a lifecycle window. This is not a metaphor; it is an integral over real power draw.
The energy to process 1.3 MB across two sovereign nodes; equivalently, one milligram of digital mass. In code: QCU_JOULES_PER_UNIT = 1.2 (qsa-types.ts, qcu.rs). One constant, conserved, machine-independent.
Energy delivered, multiplied by five coefficients that grade the quality of that energy. Each is bounded to [0, 1], so a crwdUnit can never exceed its thermodynamic ceiling.
Five dimensionless multipliers, each in [0, 1] today, each with a doctrine ceiling far higher. Together they decide how much of the energy survives as value.
The doctrine magnitudes above (×10–100, ×20–50, …) describe the mature ceiling. The coefficients shipping in v1 are deliberately humbler: each is clamped to [0, 1], and each is a single transparent ratio. TS (qsa-pipeline.ts) and Rust (economic.rs, qcu.rs) are functionally identical; Rust is canonical for issuance gates, TS is the live orchestration path.
composite = c·t·s·u·v → economic_value = Eₔ × composite → qcu_value = economic_value / 1.2
The engine ticks once per second, walking telemetry through the power model, the coefficients, and five mint gates. Nothing is minted that doesn't clear every constraint.
Calibrated against real silicon: Apple M3 (idle 4 W, max 35 W, γ = 1.3), plus Intel 13th-gen, AMD Zen 4, Xeon, EPYC and more. The integral of power over time is Ed, the energy delivered.
Each mint emits a QcuRecord (v: "qcu.unit.1") carrying energy_joules, economic_value, qcu_value, qcu_mg_equivalent, the VOGON-X hash it came from, and the chain links; then it is hash-chained into immudb (Vogon ProofDB). The same seed produces byte-identical totals on any machine.
Raw runtime, energy use, or a provider’s claim of improvement is not enough. crwdUnit places a preregistered intervention and counterfactual contract between the decision and payment, then settles only independently attributable value.
Define the outcome. Commit the comparison. Measure the difference. Pay only for the portion independently attributable to the intervention.
EcoSynQ can answer through QSA. Another provider can use an admitted meter, instrument, telemetry source, or independent verifier. This establishes resource value and its physical ceiling.
The preregistered comparator and independent observation determine the attributable effect. Verified activity can exist without becoming causally settleable customer value.
Most AI learns patterns from the past and predicts what is likely next. A pattern can show that two things happened together without proving that one caused the other. Causal AI declares the action and fair comparison first, measures both results, shows its uncertainty, and refuses to claim causation when the evidence is not strong enough. That is why it can support outcome-based payment.
The customer fixes the treatment, comparator, desired outcome, time horizon, risk ceiling, proof rules, and maximum settlement before results are known.
The selected executor commits its action, environment, control assignment, software, hardware, and execution window before observing the outcome.
An admitted measurement provider reports treatment and control outcomes, uncertainty, calibration, missing data, and regime changes.
crwdUnit estimates the causal effect, grades identifiability, applies evidence and delivery quality, and refuses settlement when the effect cannot be attributed.
EcoSynQ supplies an integrated path in which QuantumVM executes the admitted intervention, QSA independently measures physical delivery, Quantum Routing moves work through the declared topology, immuDB anchors proof, and SEA reports reserve coverage.
A provider does not need QuantumVM or QSA to participate. It can use its existing executor, telemetry, verifier, witness, and settlement rail as long as each role is declared, independently identifiable, and capable of producing the canonical evidence contract.
CausalMandateV1Defines the subject, treatment, comparator, outcome, population, horizon, confounders, risk limit, and settlement rule.InterventionCommitmentV1Commits the executor, action, control assignment, execution window, and hardware/software identity before the outcome is known.ExecutionEvidenceV1Proves what ran, when it ran, its environment, actual inputs and actions, and the hashes of the raw evidence.OutcomeObservationV1Reports treatment and control results with units, method, calibration, uncertainty, missing data, and verifier identity.CausalEffectReceiptV1Reports estimated effect, confidence interval, assumptions, sensitivity, identifiability, settleable effect, and settlement eligibility.V_QCU = W_physical × U_computational × R_delivery × Q_outcomeQCU_causal = p × max(0, τ̂ − zα·στ) × q_evidence × q_deliveryA_proof = 0 ⇒ V_settleable = 0Missing, invalid, late, or policy-inadmissible proof makes the result ineligible for settlement. Stronger proof cannot increase the amount charged.
Did a QPU cause a measurable improvement over the best declared classical alternative?
Did a scheduling intervention reduce cost without falling below the required reliability floor?
Did a blockchain improve finality, recovery, integrity, or cost over the admitted alternative?
Did a control policy reduce joules, cooling cost, or carbon intensity per completed workload?
Did an intervention reduce incident frequency, loss severity, downtime, or recovery time?
EcoSynQ is the premium assured customer and implementation. Every other provider can join without surrendering technological sovereignty. crwdUnit standardizes attribution, not the provider’s hardware.