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The Commit Phase

Commitment is the act of cryptographically binding yourself to data without revealing what that data is.

What Happens​

When you commit to Ghost Protocol, you perform the following steps:

  1. Generate secrets. You create random cryptographic values that only you possess. These secrets are the keys to your commitment.

  2. Compute the commitment. Using your secrets and the data you want to commit, you compute a cryptographic hash. This hash is your commitment.

  3. Record the commitment. The commitment is written to the blockchain. It becomes permanent and publicly visible.

  4. Store your secrets. You keep your secrets private. Without them, the commitment is meaningless and unrecoverable.

What Gets Recorded​

The blockchain records exactly one thing: your commitment hash.

The commitment hash is a fixed-size value (256 bits) that reveals nothing about:

  • What data was committed
  • How much value is involved
  • Who created the commitment
  • When the commitment might be revealed

Observers can see that a commitment exists. They cannot see what it represents.

What Stays Private​

Everything else stays private:

  • The original data
  • The random secrets used to create the commitment
  • Any connection between the commitment and your identity
  • Whether you intend to reveal or abandon the commitment

This information exists only in your possession. If you lose it, it is lost forever. There is no recovery mechanism, no backup, no administrator who can help.

The Irreversibility​

Once a commitment is recorded, it cannot be changed or removed. The blockchain is append-only. Your commitment will exist permanently, whether you reveal it or not.

This permanence is intentional. It ensures that:

  • No one can censor your commitment after it is made
  • No one can claim you never made a commitment
  • The commitment cannot be altered to change its meaning
  • The timeline of commitments is immutable

You can abandon a commitment by never revealing it. But you cannot erase that the commitment was made.

When Commit Happens​

Commit is always your choice. No one can force you to make a commitment. No one can make a commitment on your behalf without your secrets.

This is different from traditional systems where transactions are recorded about you without your participation. In Ghost Protocol, you control when and whether commitments are made.