N1’s roadmap increases decentralization step by step: we start with Proton—the
live network where a curated operator runs high-performance apps while
validators police withdrawals—and then broaden the set of participants who
provide security and liveness without sacrificing low-latency UX. Each phase
keeps apps live while expanding who can verify and challenge the system.

1. v0 — Proton launch

   Status: Live. Proton is the stack described in the internal technical
   reference: applications are operated by an operator who streams deposits
   from Solana, builds actions into blocks, and commits those
   blocks to the Bridge contract. Each block includes the action hash, state
   commitments, effects (withdrawals), and the app version, so operators can upgrade
   without pausing execution. In the meantime, validators can halt withdrawals if they
   detect any inconsistency, issues, or malicious behavior, forcing the operator to
   submit a correct state update before funds can move.

2. v0.5 — Jito-secured shared security

   Status: In progress. Proton plugs into Jito’s NCN restaking system so
   Operators, Vaults, and NCNs opt into shared security, with slashable stake
   guarding state transitions. This phase also unlocks permissionless data
   availability verification, challenges, and richer app-to-app messaging without
   fragmenting performance. NCNs define the proof/attestation logic for a service,
   Vaults custody restaked SPL tokens and mint Vault Receipt Tokens (VRTs), and
   Operators run the workloads. All three must mutually opt in before stake is
   activated, creating a flexible handshake for allocating security. Validators
   begin assuming data availability and block certification responsibilities from
   Jito, while restaking economics remain anchored to Solana.

3. v1 — Native validator network

   Status: Planned. N1’s validator set takes over the full settlement stack:
   data availability, block certification, reward routing, bridging, and staking
   all live on-chain, while apps keep their own dedicated execution environments.
   Validators provide horizontally scalable bandwidth and optional security
   modules (SNARK validity, consensus, TEEs), completing the end-state described
   in the litepaper. Restaked validators now replace the NCN/Vault handshake, so
   any validator can participate in securing apps, and upgrades to the execution
   layer can be rolled out without depending on external chains.

At every stage we preserve the dedicated-compute model that gives N1 its
speed, so developers never have to trade UX for decentralization. Instead, each
phase lowers trust in the operator while keeping the performance ceiling high.