Four networks, one rule set
Haven contributes no infrastructure. It defines how four public networks compose into a single coherent guarantee.
The layer model
Haven is not a chain. It is an application-layer protocol — L7 in OSI terms — that treats four independent public networks as its lower stack. Those networks provide consensus, storage, settlement, and threshold cryptography. Haven defines exactly one thing on top of them: how those four capabilities compose into gated, encrypted access.
| Tier | Title | Provider | Haven defines |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1–L3 | Network · Consensus · Storage | Arkiv OP L3 entity trie, ICP subnet consensus, any EVM chain, Filecoin FEVM and IPFS | Nothing. These layers see bytes, an eth_call and an ecrecover — no Haven semantics whatsoever. |
| L5–L6 | Session · Presentation | haven-aol EIP-712 typed data, VetKD contexts, Ed25519 attestations, contractURI resolution |
How a reader proves holding and derives a key. The session key is scoped to (chain, token, threshold, epoch). |
| L7 | Application — Haven | Entity shape, access rule, attestation over cidHash, holder identity |
The protocol itself: content is a CID on Filecoin, open only to holders of a public token, discovered through Arkiv, and identity is the collection’s own image. |
The lower layers have no idea Haven exists. They see standard EVM transactions, standard Candid calls, standard Filecoin deals. That opacity is the point — it means they cannot be leaned on to single out Haven traffic.
The four networks
Arkiv OP L3 holds the metadata index. Entity records — keys, attributes, content types, payloads — live in a state trie behind a precompile at 0x4400000000000000000000000000000000000044. Reads use the arkiv_query JSON-RPC method; writes use execute(Operation[]) via standard EVM transactions. Arkiv has no public network at present: the Braga testnet was retired on 12 August 2026, taking its faucet, block explorer and RPC with it, and its former node at {ARKIV.rpc} now answers 503. A limited devnet runs by request, and the next public testnet is expected September 2026. Every previous devnet has served RPC, faucet and explorer from one host on the same path convention, so the next one is expected to as well.
DFINITY ICP runs the access checks. Canister dciac-uaaaa-aaaad-qlzuq-cai performs VetKD key derivation, EIP-712 signature recovery, and EVM balance checks. It is the only component that touches threshold cryptographic material, and it does so without assembling a full key.
Any EVM chain holds the balances. A balance — balanceOf or ownerOf — on Ethereum, Base, Optimism, or Arbitrum One is the whole authorisation model. The protocol does not privilege one chain over another; haven-aol accepts any chain in its validChains set: EthMainnet, EthSepolia, BaseMainnet, ArbitrumOne, OptimismMainnet.
Filecoin FEVM and IPFS hold the archive. Ciphertext bytes are pinned on Filecoin through the Onchain Cloud contracts — FilecoinPay, FilecoinWarmStorageService, PDPVerifier — with payment settled in USDFC. The pin contracts enforce provable data possession; the bytes themselves are always encrypted before submission.
Why not one chain
A single chain cannot simultaneously offer cheap state for high-frequency metadata writes, threshold cryptography with no precompile, sub-second finality for session management, and terabyte-scale provable storage. Each of these four networks exists because it optimised for exactly one of those properties. Haven’s contribution is the rule set that lets them interoperate without a coordinator.
What this means for failure
Each network can fail independently without cascading. If Arkiv is offline, metadata cannot be resolved — but ciphertext remains on Filecoin, gating remains live on ICP, and balances remain readable on EVM. If the ICP subnet halts, no new keys derive — but existing sessions continue until their epoch expires. The protocol degrades gracefully because it was never integrated tightly.