What does an append-only proof chain show?
3 min readIt retains successive events and their commitments so you can inspect the recorded transitions and links to earlier evidence. It does not mean every event is a financial settlement or that historical readiness is still current.
Read it as a linked history
An append-only history retains successive recorded events rather than presenting only a final label. Links or commitments connect a newer entry to earlier evidence so a reader can follow the sequence. This helps explain how a published state was reached and which records support it. The value is continuity: a later entry does not need to erase the existence of an earlier attempt, decision, or observation in order to describe the new state.
A valid chain still needs interpretation
Check what each event represents. A deposit detection, an attestation, and an available-balance event describe different steps. An infrastructure event may concern no customer value at all. The integrity of the recorded sequence does not turn all of those events into settlements or establish the truth of every external fact. Review the evidence class, network, signature or verification result, and links together. If a part of the history is unavailable, describe the gap rather than assuming the missing contents.
Historical evidence versus present readiness
A record can remain valid as history even after its information is too old to establish current signing readiness or availability. Use the history to answer what was recorded and when; use the appropriate current workflow to answer what may happen next. For support or audit review, retain the specific event reference and the claim it supports. This is more useful than sharing an entire chain without explaining which transition is relevant to the question being investigated.
What to do next
Open the linked event evidence and inspect its time, network, state, and verification boundary.