# ADR-0025: TAI reserved mint and off-chain accrual (phase B/C)

## Status: Accepted

## Context

ADR-0015 chose **USDT-direct custodial settlement** for alpha and near-term production. Clients pay USDT; nodes receive batched USDT SPL payouts. ADR-0002's TAI reward token, revenue-backed floor, and open-market listing gates remain the long-term design but are **not** the live payment path.

The owner wants TAI to exist without the cost and legal surface of a public launch: no AMM, no open listing, no client-facing TAI, no on-chain stake machinery.

## Decision

### Phase B — Reserved mainnet mint (cheap, optional early)

- Create a fixed-supply TAI SPL mint on **mainnet** when treasury work happens (~0.002 SOL).
- Entire initial supply sits in a **team-controlled** wallet (same custody posture as the USDT treasury today).
- **No public emission, no market, no client UX.** Mint exists for name reservation and future programmatic rewards only.
- Document mint address in operator config; do not advertise to users.

### Phase C — Off-chain TAI accrual alongside USDT (before automatic on-chain TAI payouts)

- Extend the billing ledger with **`tai_pending[wallet]`** accrued from completed inference work using a simple rule (e.g. USDT node share × configurable TAI-per-USDT rate, or fixed TAI per work unit).
- TAI accrual is **display-only + ledger-persisted** initially; nodes see pending TAI in dashboard/CLI.
- **Clients never pay or hold TAI.** USDT remains the only client-facing asset.
- Optional manual or scheduled **TAI SPL batch transfers** from the team wallet (same batching pattern as USDT `send_payouts`) — operator-triggered until automatic emission is justified by volume.
- The existing **10% protocol USDT cut** continues to accumulate as future TAI liquidity per ADR-0015/0002; do not redirect it until a deliberate liquidity event.

### Explicit non-goals (this ADR)

- Open-market listing, AMM, or DEX liquidity
- Buyback floor endpoint or backing-price oracle (ADR-0002 machinery)
- On-chain stake deposits or slash contracts
- Paying clients rebates or accepting TAI for inference
- Replacing USDT node payouts with TAI-only payouts before volume gates in ADR-0002 pass

## Relation to ADR-0002 listing gates

Public TAI listing stays gated on **$50k cumulative USDT volume** and **25+ nodes / 15+ wallets**. Phase B/C may proceed **below** those gates because they do not create a public market — only reserved supply and off-chain accounting.

Securities review remains required before any **public** distribution or listing; off-chain accrual to hired/known operators with manual SPL transfers is an operator discretion, not a product promise.

## Consequences

- USDT mainnet pilot (two-wallet setup) is unblocked without TAI complexity.
- TAI narrative is preserved at minimal cost (mint + ledger column + optional manual transfers).
- Automatic TAI emission can later reuse the US-033 settlement loop shape with a second mint and separate pending bucket.
- Dashboard and APIs must label TAI balances as **non-withdrawable** until an on-chain payout batch confirms.

## Verification

- USDT settlement tests remain authoritative for production payouts (`tests/test_settlement_loop.py`).
- When phase C lands: ledger tests for `tai_pending` accrual, idempotent gossip replication, and optional TAI batch payout adapter tests mirroring USDT.
