Proof of Travel (PoT) — Protocol Overview

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Proof of Travel (PoT) is a neutral verification protocol that cryptographically anchors the occurrence of real-world travel events on a public blockchain.

PoT does not store personal data, itineraries, or ticket details. Instead, it records privacy-preserving cryptographic commitments that allow independent parties to verify that an authorised issuer asserted a specific travel-related event at a specific point in time.

PoT is designed as infrastructure, not a product. It operates alongside existing travel systems and does not alter booking, ticketing, settlement, or fulfilment workflows.

• Provide tamper-evident, time-anchored proof that a travel event was asserted
   
• Preserve privacy by keeping all personal and operational data off-chain
   
• Enable independent verification without reliance on a central operator
   
• Maintain historical integrity even if issuers, operators, or governance change
   

• Validate the commercial correctness of a booking
   
• Store passenger names, ticket numbers, routes, or itineraries
   
• Judge real-world truth or physical completion of travel
   
• Replace airlines, GDSs, or legal settlement frameworks
   

PoT proves assertion and timestamp, not business outcomes.

1. An authorised issuer observes a travel-related event
2. The event is canonicalised into a privacy-preserving format
3. A cryptographic commitment is generated
4. The commitment is recorded on-chain in the PoT registry
5. (Optional) A credential NFT may be issued referencing that commitment
6. Any third party can independently verify the proof at any time

All verification can be performed without access to private data.

Design principles

• PoT remains deterministic, verifiable, and non-speculative
   
• Economic mechanisms are layered, optional, and reversible
   
• Verification logic is never influenced by incentives
   
• Protocol evolution prioritises auditability and regulatory alignment

AERO is an optional economic and access-control layer designed to support the long-term operation of the Proof-of-Travel protocol.

AERO enables controlled protocol access, usage-based incentives, and future decentralisation mechanisms, while remaining fully decoupled from PoT’s core verification logic.

The introduction of AERO does not alter how travel events are recorded, verified, or consumed. All existing integrations continue to operate independently of any economic layer.

PoT follows a strict privacy posture:

• No personally identifiable information (PII) is written on-chain
   
• No ticket numbers, names, routes, or pricing data are stored
   
• No off-chain database is required for proof verification
   
• On-chain records contain references, not data
   

This design supports regulatory compliance across jurisdictions while preserving auditability.

 PoT defines explicit, bounded roles:

• Issuer
  An authorised entity that asserts travel-related events (e.g. consolidators, operators, platforms)
• Verifier
  Any party that independently verifies PoT proofs (permissionless)
• Credential Holder
  An optional bearer of a PoT credential (NFT), if issued

Authority is explicit and revocable; history is non-retroactive.

PoT is designed to evolve from early-phase stewardship to transparent, rule-based governance.

• Initial deployments operate under a clearly defined protocol owner
• Issuer authorisation and revocation are explicit and on-chain
• Historical proofs remain immutable regardless of governance changes
• Governance decentralisation is planned and documented
   

Governance can restrict future actions, but cannot rewrite the past.

 Proof of Travel anchors verification commitments on public blockchain infrastructure to ensure neutrality, immutability, and independent verifiability.

Production pilot deployments utilise the Polygon network due to its maturity, cost efficiency, and ecosystem support. Network selection does not affect protocol logic and may evolve over time in accordance with governance and operational requirements.

The blockchain is used strictly as an integrity and timestamping layer. It does not execute travel logic, store travel data, or mediate commercial transactions.

PoT is designed for scenarios where independent verification and privacy preservation are required, including:

• Audit trails for travel issuance 
• Inter-system reconciliation references
• Credential verification without data disclosure
• Long-term proof of issuance independent of system availability
   

PoT is infrastructure-grade and system-agnostic.

 Proof of Travel is live in controlled pilot operation, anchoring real-world travel lifecycle events on public blockchain infrastructure.

The protocol specification is stable. Integrations and broader production deployments will proceed incrementally, prioritising correctness, auditability, and regulatory alignment.

• Technical Whitepapers
• Protocol Architecture
• Governance & Security Model
   

For enquiries: info@proofoftravel.io