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+# Bitflash fair-launch verifier
+
+Bitflash ships a deterministic fair-launch audit script:
+
+```bash
+python3 scripts/verify-fair-launch.py --max-blocks 1000 --out bitflash-fair-launch-report.json --json
+```
+
+The verifier reads `blk*.dat` directly from the local Bitflash data directory.
+It does not use Berkeley DB, does not call the node binary, and does not need
+network access. It uses the same shared Python chain parser as the UTXO
+commitment and proof tools, so block serialization fixes land in one place.
+
+The report proves the launch baseline that can be checked from the chain:
+
+- the genesis block hash matches the source constant;
+- the genesis merkle root matches the source constant;
+- the genesis transaction is a single coinbase transaction;
+- the genesis output total is exactly `50.00000000 BTF`;
+- the scanned block range and mined coinbase total are reproducible.
+
+For machines that do not have a synced data directory yet, the source constants
+can be checked without disk blocks:
+
+```bash
+python3 scripts/verify-fair-launch.py --reconstruct-genesis
+```
+
+## Deterministic output
+
+Use `--json` or `--out` for canonical JSON. The JSON is written with sorted
+keys, fixed separators, ASCII escaping, and one trailing newline. It deliberately
+does not include local paths or wall-clock generation time, so two auditors
+scanning the same block range produce the same bytes.
+
+That makes the report shareable:
+
+```bash
+python3 scripts/verify-fair-launch.py --max-blocks 1000 --out report.json --json
+sha256sum report.json
+```
+
+If another auditor runs the same command against the same chain prefix, the
+`sha256sum` should match.
+
+## OpenTimestamps
+
+OpenTimestamps is optional and external. It anchors the report in Bitcoin
+without adding any bridge or dependency to Bitflash consensus.
+
+After generating a canonical JSON report:
+
+```bash
+ots stamp report.json
+ots verify report.json.ots
+```
+
+The `.ots` file proves that the exact report bytes existed no later than the
+Bitcoin block that confirms the timestamp.
+
+## What this does not claim
+
+This is not a retroactive genesis commitment. The Bitflash genesis block already
+exists, so adding a new on-chain commitment to genesis would create a different
+chain. This verifier instead audits the launch state that is already on-chain
+and makes the result reproducible and timestampable.
+
+It also does not prove real-world miner identity. It proves the genesis state,
+the absence of non-coinbase premine in genesis, and the deterministic coinbase
+totals over the scanned prefix.