Learn · Topic 1 of 10
VDXF Keys
A URI goes in, a deterministic i-address comes out — no registration, no authority, no trust.
What it is
VDXF (Verus Data eXchange Format) is a deterministic key derivation
system built into the Verus protocol. Given any URI string — like kali.bitcoins.vrsc::series1.name — the RPC call getvdxfid hashes it to produce a unique i-address. That
i-address becomes the key in a contentmultimap.
The derivation is pure computation: same input, same output, on any machine, before or after any identity is registered. No lookup table, no registry, no authority. The URI encodes semantic meaning (what this slot is for), and the resulting i-address is its on-chain identifier.
Why it matters
Deterministic keys mean that any viewer, auditor, or autonomous agent can independently compute which slot holds which data — without trusting a registry or calling an API. If you know the URI naming convention, you know where to look. If the data is at the expected key, the schema is self-describing.
This pattern generalises beyond NFTs. Supply chain identifiers, credential schemas, document type registries — any system where structured data needs a deterministic, collision-resistant key can use VDXF derivation.
Worked example
Bitcoin Kali uses eight VDXF keys, all under the kali.bitcoins.vrsc:: namespace. Here are three resolved
on VRSC mainnet:
- URI
kali.bitcoins.vrsc::series1- i-address
i5mntfEpcAWot1dses5qu3hGom3y7r6VHm- Role
- Outer key — the contentmultimap container for each piece's 10 DataDescriptors
- URI
kali.bitcoins.vrsc::series1.name- i-address
iQtY1MAM98kf4Ep9AkF6yZ2LRbRUH1Jy1r- Role
- Label for the name DataDescriptor (e.g. "Mahāmāyā")
- URI
kali.bitcoins.vrsc::series1.provenance- i-address
i58zX14hJD7TqbLsnKMN6RHyPxtUC3jExx- Role
- Label for the signature, mmrroot, and mmrdescriptor reference
Anyone with access to a Verus node can run getvdxfid "kali.bitcoins.vrsc::series1.name" and get the
same iQtY1MAM98kf4Ep9AkF6yZ2LRbRUH1Jy1r —
no trust involved.