Where the money goes
| Identity check (Persona: government ID + face) | ≈ $1.50 |
|---|---|
| Permanent storage (Arweave, a few KB) | ≈ $0.01 |
| Timestamp (OpenTimestamps) | 0 |
| Payment and tax handling (Paddle, 5% + $0.50) | ≈ $1.60 |
| Mirrors, verifier maintenance, legal and privacy compliance, foundation reserve | the remainder |
Direct cost is about $3.10 per record. The remainder, about $18.90, funds mirrors at independent institutions, the open-source verifier, privacy-law compliance, and a reserve for transferring the data to a foundation. A quarterly report on this page will break it down by mirror, tooling, legal, and reserve, starting with the first quarter after launch.
Why not cost alone. The fee is written into the record (consentProcess.feePaid) as one fact a reader can weigh. No waivers, no discounts.