FAQ - Autheo documentation

General

What is Autheo Chain?Autheo Chain is a permissioned, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain built on Cosmos SDK v0.53.0 and Ethermint. It features a custom NFT license gating system requiring validators and delegators to hold on-chain license NFTs.

What is the native token?The native token is THEO with base denomination aauth at 18 decimal places: 1 THEO = 10¹⁸ aauth.

What are the chain IDs?

Network	Cosmos format	EVM integer
Mainnet	`autheo_2127-1`	`2127`
Testnet	`autheo_785-1`	`785`

Always pass --chain-id autheo_2127-1 to CLI commands targeting mainnet.

What is the binary name and current version?Binary: autheod, version: 1.0.8.

What address formats does Autheo Chain use?

Format	Example
Cosmos Bech32	`autheo1...`
Validator Bech32	`autheovaloper1...`
Ethereum hex (EIP-55)	`0x...`

Is the chain EVM-compatible?Yes — full Ethermint EVM with JSON-RPC on port 8545 (HTTP) and 8546 (WebSocket). MetaMask, ethers.js, Hardhat, and Foundry all work with Chain ID 2127 (mainnet) or 785 (testnet).

What is the block time?Target block time is 5 seconds.

Does Autheo Chain support IBC?Yes, via ibc-go v10.1.1. IBC-sourced delegate/undelegate messages do not trigger license status transitions — only native messages do.

How do I check the current block height?

autheod status | jq '.SyncInfo.latest_block_height'

Where is the source code?https://github.com/autheo-blockchain/autheo-chain-core

Licenses and staking

What is an NFT license on Autheo Chain?An NFT license is an on-chain record granting its holder the right to participate in specific staking operations. Licenses originate as ERC-721 tokens on Arbitrum. Transferring one to your Autheo Chain EVM address automatically mints a LicenseRecord in ISSUED status on the Cosmos side.

What are the three license tiers?

Tier	Purpose	Annual THEO emission
Sovereign	Create and operate a validator	~187,969
Prime	External delegation (higher tier)	~18,797
Core	External delegation (standard tier)	~1,880

What are the four license statuses?

Status	Meaning
ISSUED	Minted; not yet bound. Can be bound or transferred.
BOUND	Attached to a validator; no active delegation. Does not earn rewards.
ACTIVE	Attached to a validator with a live delegation. Earns per-block NFT rewards.
REVOKED	Governance-suspended. No operations permitted.

What is the difference between BOUND and ACTIVE?BOUND means the license is committed to a validator but no delegation exists yet — no NFT rewards accrue. ACTIVE means the license is committed to a validator with a live delegation with positive token value — per-block NFT rewards accrue.

Can I redelegate?No. MsgBeginRedelegate is permanently disabled. Use undelegate followed by delegate instead:

autheod tx staking unbond <src-valoper> <amount>aauth \
  --from <key> --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file
# After unbonding period (~21 days):
autheod tx staking delegate <dst-valoper> <amount>aauth \
  --from <key> --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file

How do I view my licenses?

autheod query license licenses-by-owner <cosmos-address>
autheod query license license <license-id>
autheod query license licenses-by-owner <cosmos-address> --status LICENSE_STATUS_ACTIVE

How do NFT rewards differ from staking rewards?

Aspect	NFT emission rewards	Staking rewards
Source	`x/emissions`	`x/mint`
Claim	Manual: `claim-nft-rewards`	Manual: `withdraw-rewards`
Basis	Fixed per license tier	Proportional to delegated stake
Cap	7B THEO global cap	No cap from `x/emissions`

How do I claim NFT rewards?

autheod query emissions license-accrued-rewards <license-id>
autheod tx licensedistribution claim-nft-rewards <license-id> \
  --from <owner-key> --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file

Do NFT rewards expire?No. Accrued rewards accumulate indefinitely with no expiry. Once the global 7B THEO cap is reached, no new rewards are minted, but existing accrued rewards remain claimable.

Can I transfer a license?Only ISSUED licenses can be transferred (if the category policy has Transferable = true). Transferring does not clear the unbind cooldown timer.

Validator operations

What hardware do I need?

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	16 vCPU	32 vCPU
RAM	32 GB	64 GB
Storage	1 TB NVMe SSD	2 TB NVMe SSD (RAID 10)
Network	1 Gbps	10 Gbps
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

MemIAVL requires an additional 8–16 GB of RAM above your process baseline.

What causes a validator to be jailed?

Liveness failures — Missing too many consecutive blocks as tracked by x/slashing
Governance revocation — MsgRevokeLicense for a Sovereign license triggers immediate jailing

How do I unjail my validator?

autheod tx slashing unjail \
  --from mykey --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file

The JailInterceptor verifies a non-revoked Sovereign license is bound before allowing unjail.

What is tombstoning?Tombstoning is permanent — it results from double-signing (signing two different blocks at the same height). It cannot be undone. The validator must be decommissioned and replaced with a new validator using a new consensus key.

How do I check if my validator is tombstoned?

autheod query slashing signing-info \
  $(autheod tendermint show-validator --home /path/to/node-home)

Look for tombstoned: true.

My node is not in the active set despite having stake. Why?Validators are ranked by bonded stake and the active set has a maximum size. Check:

autheod query staking params | jq '.max_validators'

Also verify you are not jailed and your Sovereign license is ACTIVE (not BOUND).

My license is stuck in BOUND after unjailing. How do I fix it?Check if a delegation exists, then re-delegate if needed:

autheod query staking delegation <cosmos-address> <autheovaloper-address>
autheod tx staking delegate <autheovaloper-address> <amount>aauth \
  --from mykey --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file

How do I restore from a snapshot?

sudo systemctl stop autheod
rm -rf /path/to/node-home/data/
wget https://snapshot.autheo.com/data_backup_latest.tar.gz
tar xzvf data_backup_latest.tar.gz
mv data/ /path/to/node-home/data/
cp /secure/backup/priv_validator_state.json /path/to/node-home/data/
sudo systemctl start autheod

How do I send tokens?

autheod tx bank send <sender-key> <recipient-address> <amount>aauth \
  --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file \
  --fees 5000000aauth --yes

1 THEO = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 aauth (10¹⁸ aauth).