Pactus Nexus is an open-source, energy-efficient, and scalable blockchain solution designed to meet the objectives of the NGI TrustChain initiative. Built on the Pactus platform and powered by an enhanced Solid State Proof of Stake (SSPoS) consensus mechanism, the project aims to deliver a secure, interoperable, and user-friendly framework for decentralized applications (dApps) across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, and supply chain management.
Can you briefly present your team?
We are Sensifai, an AI and distributed-systems engineering company working on trustworthy digital infrastructure.
Our team combines expertise in:
- Byzantine fault-tolerant distributed systems
- Federated learning and edge AI
- Blockchain governance architectures
- Low-power and sustainable computing
Within TrustChain, we developed Pactus Nexus, a production-grade green blockchain infrastructure and we are now exploiting it through the ecosystem initiative Aerium (https://aerium.network/)
How did you come up with this project idea and what benefits will it bring to the end users?
The idea started from a very concrete problem:
Most blockchains are either:
- secure but energy-wasteful, or
- efficient but centralized.
This makes them unsuitable for real-world infrastructure such as IoT networks, public data sharing, or collaborative AI.
So we designed a third path:
a deterministic, energy-efficient BFT network capable of coordinating distributed intelligence instead of only storing tokens.
End-user benefits:
- predictable transaction finality
- no dependence on a trusted intermediary
- extremely low operational cost
- privacy-preserving collaboration between organizations
- usable even on low-power devices
This allows real services like cooperative data sharing, AI training across organizations, and verifiable digital processes — not speculation-driven usage.
How is TrustChain supporting your growth and what role does it play for the next steps in your development?
TrustChain was critical in moving from research to operational infrastructure.
Through the programme we:
- validated the protocol under adversarial conditions (25 BFT attack scenarios)
- deployed public testnets
- conducted user validation with 50 participants
- reached operational readiness (TRL-7)
The programme provided credibility, ecosystem integration and standards alignment, enabling us to now transition the technology into the Aerium governance network and prepare mainnet deployment.
Why did you apply to the TrustChain call and has your vision changed since then?
We applied because TrustChain focused on trust infrastructure, not cryptocurrency products.
Initially the goal was a sustainable blockchain.
During the project the vision evolved:
we realized the real value is not the ledger itself, but enabling coordinated decentralized intelligence — especially federated learning governance and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
So the project shifted from:
green blockchain to trust layer for distributed AI and cooperative digital systems.
What is the most valuable takeout from the TrustChain project and why was the topic of the Open Call important to you/your team?
The most valuable result was proof that sustainability and security are not a trade-off.
We demonstrated:
- Byzantine fault tolerance
- deterministic finality
- and extremely low energy usage simultaneously
This is important because decentralized technology must be deployable in real infrastructure — cities, sensors, industry — not only financial ecosystems.
TrustChain focused exactly on this gap.
Did you establish collaboration with any of the TrustChain teams or plan for any kind of synergies? If yes, what is the biggest potential in such collaborations?
Yes — the architecture was designed for interoperability.
The biggest synergy potential is: identity + governance + verifiable computation.
Our layer acts as a settlement and coordination backbone where other TrustChain components can:
- anchor identity credentials
- verify processes
- coordinate data exchange
The value comes from composition, not isolated solutions.
What are your expectations regarding the TrustChain software ecosystem and its contribution to the NGI priority areas?
We see TrustChain becoming an infrastructure stack rather than a collection of projects.
Key contribution to NGI:
- human-centric digital trust
- sovereign infrastructure
- privacy-preserving collaboration
- sustainable computing
The missing layer on the Internet today is not connectivity — it is verifiable coordination.
TrustChain directly addresses this.
What are the next steps for your team?
Next steps:
- Launch Aerium governance network
- Integrate federated learning orchestration
- Establish foundation/legal entity
- Begin real-world pilots
- Mainnet deployment
Focus shifts from validation → adoption.
What is the message you would give to new and potential applicants to TrustChain Open Calls?
Do not propose another blockchain application.
Propose infrastructure that solves a real coordination problem between organizations.
TrustChain rewards projects that:
- reduce dependency on intermediaries
- improve verifiability
- enable cooperation without trust assumptions
