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Glossary

Terminology used throughout the OXN documentation, grouped by topic.

Confidentiality​

TEE (Trusted Execution Environment). A CPU feature that isolates a region of memory so that even the operating system, hypervisor, and node operator cannot read or modify it. OXN uses Intel SGX as its TEE.

Enclave. A specific instance of a TEE running a specific piece of code. On OXN, every validator runs the EVM inside an enclave.

Remote attestation. A cryptographic protocol that lets a client prove it is talking to a genuine enclave running the expected code on a genuine Intel CPU. Without attestation, "runs in a TEE" is unverifiable.

Encrypted call (encrypted transaction). A transaction whose calldata is encrypted with an ephemeral key exchange to the enclave's public key. The enclave decrypts inside the TEE, executes, and encrypts the return data back to the caller.

Plain call. A transaction sent without wrapping — calldata is on-chain in the clear. Legal on OXN but usually a bug when a wrapped client was expected.

Signed query. An authenticated eth_call. The caller signs the query with their private key; the enclave populates msg.sender accordingly, executes the view function, and encrypts the result back only to that caller. Lets you read private state without exposing it publicly.

Session key / ephemeral key. A per-transaction (or per-query) key generated client-side, used once for the encrypted exchange with the enclave, then discarded.

Network and consensus​

Layer 1 (L1). A blockchain that produces its own blocks and reaches its own consensus without relying on another chain for security. OXN is an L1.

Sovereign L1. Emphasizes that OXN has its own validator set and does not settle to any other chain (unlike a rollup).

Consensus layer. The lower layer of OXN's architecture. Orders transactions, holds native oxn1… balances, provides finality. Users rarely interact with it directly.

Execution layer (EVM). The upper layer of OXN's architecture. Runs Solidity contracts inside enclaves, holds EVM 0x… balances. This is where MetaMask, Hardhat, and every other EVM tool talks to.

Finality. The guarantee that a block will not be reverted. OXN provides single-slot finality — a block is final the moment it is produced.

Addresses and accounts​

Native address (oxn1…). A 40-character bech32 address used at the consensus layer. Derived from a public key.

EVM address (0x…). A 20-byte hex address used at the execution layer. Compatible with every Ethereum wallet.

Address mapping. The deterministic function that translates between the two formats. Every EVM address has a corresponding native address and vice versa.

Deposit. Moving OXN from a native address into an EVM address so the EVM tools can spend it.

Withdraw. The reverse — moving OXN from an EVM address back to a native address.

Client and tooling​

RPC endpoint. The HTTP(S) URL your wallet or SDK talks to. OXN Testnet's public RPC is https://rpc.bout.network.

JSON-RPC. The standard Ethereum request/response protocol. OXN supports the full standard set plus a small number of OXN-specific extensions.

Provider. In ethers.js and viem, the object that talks to an RPC endpoint for read operations.

Signer. In ethers.js, the object that holds a private key and signs transactions. Called WalletClient in viem.

Wrapped provider / wrapped signer. A version of the provider or signer that automatically encrypts outgoing calls and decrypts incoming responses. Necessary for confidential interaction.

Precompile. A contract at a fixed address implemented in native code (not EVM bytecode), invoked from Solidity via staticcall. OXN provides precompiles for encryption, random number generation, and cryptographic operations.

Faucet. A public service that hands out testnet OXN. https://faucet.bout.network.

Development​

EVM version. The set of opcodes the compiler targets. OXN currently supports up to paris. Newer versions (shanghai, cancun) include opcodes (PUSH0) that OXN does not yet support.

Gas limit. The maximum gas a transaction is allowed to consume. On OXN, gas limit should be set explicitly on OXN rather than relying on client-side eth_estimateGas estimation.

Chain ID. The unique numeric identifier of a chain, used in EIP-155 signature replay protection. OXN Testnet is 186.

Testnet vs Mainnet. Testnet uses tokens that have no value and can reset. Mainnet is the production network. OXN is currently in Testnet phase.

PUSH0. An EVM opcode introduced in the Shanghai hardfork that pushes zero onto the stack in one byte instead of two. OXN does not yet implement PUSH0; use evmVersion: "paris" in your compiler config to avoid it.