The project
Built in the open, held for the public
VirtEngine is Apache 2.0 licensed Go, developed in public, and stewarded by a not-for-profit foundation whose constitution forbids private capture of the protocol.
Repository
One repo, one binary
Everything — chain, modules, provider daemon, docs, and launch artifacts — ships from a single repository that builds a single virtengine binary.
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x/27 on-chain modules — marketplace, identity, economics, quality -
app/Cosmos SDK application wiring for the virtengine binary -
pkg/Shared packages, incl. the provider daemon and pkg/economics -
docs/Protocol, provider, HPC, VEID, and operations documentation -
config/mainnet/Mainnet launch artifacts: allocations & genesis bundle -
_docs/operations/Launch-readiness records, incl. the go/no-go decision -
mobile/veid-capture-app/VEID identity capture reference wallet -
MakefileCanonical build entry point — make virtengine
Contributing
Ways to contribute
Feedback & testing
Code
Documentation
Development environment
VirtEngine is developed against Go 1.25.5. You need a working Go
toolchain with $GOPATH/bin on your PATH, plus a C/C++
compiler (gcc or clang) for the libusb and
libhid dependencies. Builds run through the Makefile:
make virtengine compiles the binary into .cache/bin.
Linux and macOS on amd64/arm64 are supported; Windows amd64 is experimental.
License & patent
Apache 2.0, with a patent you should understand
What the license gives you
The Apache License 2.0 lets you use, modify, and distribute the source code freely, including commercially. It also includes a patent grant covering the contributions the patent holder has made to this project — so using VirtEngine as shipped is covered.
Where the patent applies
Certain methods and system architectures implemented in the codebase — notably the decentralized identity-verification consensus system — are protected by patent AU2024203136B2. Reproducing or deploying the patented methods outside the scope of the Apache 2.0 grant — for example, re-implementing them in a separate system — may require separate authorization. Questions: contact the maintainers at hello@virtengine.com.
In plain terms: the patent is used defensively to keep the protocol's core methods open under foundation stewardship, not to restrict users of the open-source project.
Lineage
Standing on Akash's shoulders
VirtEngine's codebase is partly derived from the Akash Network decentralized cloud infrastructure marketplace, and the project acknowledges that lineage openly. On top of that foundation, VirtEngine adds the VEID Network, on-chain MFA, HPC scheduler integrations, confidential compute attestation, burn-and-mint economics, and the usage-settlement pipeline — the surface documented across this site.
Stewardship
A public-benefit lock on the protocol
The protocol, software, standards, patent rights, identity system, chain, and token are stewarded by DETIO FOUNDATION LTD — an Australian not-for-profit public company limited by guarantee (ACN 699 651 771). Its constitution establishes a public-benefit lock: the foundation must not operate for private commercial interests, pay dividends, or permit private capture of the IP and digital assets it stewards. Commercial activity is permitted only to fund, scale, or sustain its charitable purposes, and on winding-up its assets pass to another public-benefit entity.
That structure is the answer to "what stops this from being taken closed-source?" — governance, not goodwill.