StacChain is an open-source initiative building the standards and infrastructure to bring Deep Integrity, Provenance, and Web3 Economics to the geospatial ecosystem.
Our Goal: To upgrade the STAC specification from "Discovery" to "Commerce."
StacChain is not a monolith; it is a suite of modular standards and middleware that connect the geospatial web to the decentralized web.
We maintain the specs that turn mutable metadata into immutable assets.
- merkle-tree: The STAC Metadata Extension for cryptographically binding raw assets (GeoTIFFs) to Item metadata using Merkle Roots.
- stac-api-merkle-verification: The OpenAPI specification defining the standard
GET /verifyendpoints for server-side integrity checks.
We build backend-agnostic libraries that can be dropped into existing STAC implementations.
- stac-fastapi-merkle: A Python extension that adds integrity verification to any
stac-fastapibackend (Postgres, Elasticsearch, etc.). - stac-merkle-tree-cli: The core utility for hashing datasets, generating proofs, and managing local trees.
We are building the bridge between STAC APIs and EVM-compatible blockchains.
- stacchain-smart-contracts: Solidity contracts for Registry Anchoring and Tokenized Licenses.
| Layer | Repo | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spec | merkle-tree | Stable | The Metadata Schema defining merkle:root and merkle:object_hash. |
| Spec | stac-api-merkle-verification | Beta | The API Specification for server-side verification endpoints. |
| Code | stac-fastapi-merkle | Beta | Python middleware for adding verification logic to stac-fastapi. |
| Tooling | stac-merkle-tree-cli | Stable | CLI tool for hashing datasets and generating inclusion proofs. |
| Web3 | stacchain-smart-contracts | Alpha | Solidity contracts for Registry Anchoring and Tokenized Licenses. |
We have established the foundation for Integrity (proving the data is real). The next frontier is Commerce (enabling peer-to-peer data markets). While the exact implementation details are evolving, we are exploring two major pathways.
We envision a middleware service that replaces traditional API Keys with cryptographic proofs of ownership.
- Wallet-Based Auth: Authenticating users via SIWE (Sign-In with Ethereum) to establish persistent, portable identity.
- License Tokens: Representing data usage rights (e.g., "Commercial Use: 1 Year") as ERC-1155 tokens.
- Access Control: A service that intercepts STAC API requests, validates the user's token balance on-chain, and issues short-lived, signed URLs for asset access.
We are investigating how to enable direct, automated settlement between data providers and consumers.
- Direct Sales: Allowing data providers to list STAC Collections directly on-chain.
- Instant Settlement: Enabling users to purchase "License Tokens" with stablecoins, providing immediate revenue to the publisher and immediate API access to the buyer.
- Automated Royalties: Using smart contracts to automatically split revenue between satellite operators, algorithm developers, and platform hosts.
We are deeply committed to the principles of open source. StacChain is designed to be a community-driven standard, not a walled garden.
- Project Lead: Jonathan Healy
- Discussions: Join the conversation
We welcome contributions of all kinds—whether you are a cryptographer, a geospatial engineer, or a documentation wizard.
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