# Substantiation Factor

What this material is, what status it has, and what evidence would be required before any of it could be presented as behavior.

Page ID: protocol/arc20/substantiation-factor
Applicability: proposed
Authority: none
Networks: mainnet
Verified: 2026-08-31
Locale: en
URL: https://bitcoinuniverseio.github.io/atomicals-and-arc-20/protocol/arc20/substantiation-factor/

---
Substantiation Factor material is preliminary. Nothing about it is protocol behavior, Universe
implementation, or a supported product capability at the verified date on this page.

## What status means here

This documentation labels a capability by evidence, not by intent. To move Substantiation Factor
material out of `Proposed`, all of the following would be required:

1. An applicable source revision that implements it, pinned by commit or release.
2. A statement of which networks and activation conditions apply.
3. Deterministic conformance vectors that execute against that revision.
4. A record of what the vectors prove and what they do not.
5. Either a Universe implementation revision that exposes it, or an explicit statement that no
   product surface does.

None of those exist at the verified date.

## What must not be claimed in the meantime

- That units are backed, collateralised, redeemable, or price supported.
- That any substantiation figure is computed from chain data by a Universe service.
- That a product feature depends on it.
- That an integration should read a field for it.

If you encounter material presenting Substantiation Factor as live behavior, treat it as
unverified and report it as an
[incorrect protocol claim](https://github.com/bitcoinuniverseio/atomicals-and-arc-20/issues).

## What ARC-20 actually is

One coloured satoshi is one unit. Supply is bitcoin you committed. Nothing else is created by
minting. See [the unit model](/protocol/arc20/unit-model/).