neuron-tai/docs/issues/34-forfeiture-penalty.md

Status: done

34 — Hardened proof-of-work: pending-balance forfeiture penalty

What to build

Wire the validator's ~5% sampling (issue 07) to the new penalty per ADR-0015. On confirmed output divergence:

1. The node's entire pending balance is forfeited to the protocol cut, in the same ledger transaction as the strike (no window where a payout can race the penalty).
2. A strike is recorded; the third strike bans the wallet — registration rejected, excluded from all routes, and any unpaid pending balance is never paid out.

The probationary period (first N jobs unpaid, default 50) is retained as the anti-sybil re-entry cost, and the node CLI shows remaining probation jobs.

Why this deters cheating: settlement is periodic, so the pending balance itself is the collateral — no upfront stake deposit, zero onboarding friction. At a 5% check rate a cheater is caught once per ~20 fraudulent jobs, so the penalty must exceed ~20× the per-job gain; with daily settlement, pending ≈ a full day's earnings, well above that bar. Document this math in the validator README.

Acceptance criteria

• Divergence → pending balance forfeited to protocol_cut atomically with the strike
• 3rd strike bans wallet: registration rejected, excluded from all routes
• Banned wallet's unpaid pending balance is not paid at next settlement
• Probation: first N jobs (default 50) accrue no pending balance; node CLI shows remaining
• Integration test: deliberately-bad node loses pending, accrues strikes, banned within 60 requests
• Forfeiture events visible in tracker logs and settlement history

Blocked by

• 07-fraud-detection-slash.md
• 31-billing-ledger.md