Audit Trails

Bitcoin Commons maintains immutable audit trails of all governance decisions using cryptographic hash chains and Bitcoin blockchain anchoring.

Audit Log System

The governance system maintains tamper-evident audit logs that record:

• All Governance Decisions: Every PR merge, signature, and veto
• Maintainer Actions: Key generation, rotation, and usage
• Emergency Activations: Emergency mode activations and deactivations

Cryptographic Properties

• Hash Chains: Each log entry includes hash of previous entry
• Bitcoin Anchoring: Monthly registry anchoring via OpenTimestamps
• Immutable: Logs cannot be modified without detection
• Verifiable: Anyone can verify log integrity

Audit Log Verification

Audit logs can be verified using:

blvm-commons verify-audit-log --log-path audit.log

Three-Layer Verification Architecture

See Also

• Governance Overview - Governance system introduction
• Governance Model - Governance architecture
• Keyholder Procedures - Maintainer responsibilities
• OpenTimestamps Integration - OTS anchoring details
• Multisig Configuration - Signature requirements

The governance system implements three complementary verification layers:

Figure: Three-layer verification: GitHub merge control, real-time Nostr transparency, and OpenTimestamps historical proof.

Audit Trail Completeness

Figure: Audit-trail completeness across governance layers.

OpenTimestamps Integration

The system uses OpenTimestamps to anchor audit logs to the Bitcoin blockchain:

• Monthly Anchoring: Registry state anchored monthly
• Immutable Proof: Proof of existence at specific time
• Public Verification: Anyone can verify timestamps

For detailed audit log documentation, see the blvm-commons repository documentation.