Roadmap

Last updated: September 14, 2025

Cronum is building a permanent, living surround for artworks—public layers anyone can see and unlockable layers holders can open—anchored on Arweave and tied to NFTs. Our roadmap focuses on durability, verifiability, and simple creator UX. cronum.art

Status legend

  • ✅ Shipped  🚧 In progress  🧭 Planned / Research

Phase 0 — Foundations (✅ Shipped)

  • Cronum concepts: clear definitions of cronum (the surround) and crona (an individual contribution).

  • Initial content types: Public Crona (open) and Unlockable Crona (token-gated).

  • Self-hosted vendor strategy: no CDN dependency for critical crypto libs.

  • Arweave integration: gateway configurable, Wander/ArConnect wallet support. cronum.art

Phase 1 — Creator Uploader MVP (🚧 In progress)

Goal: let creators attach content to an existing NFT in minutes.

What’s in:

  • Public uploads → Arweave (any file type) with Descriptor JSON + NFT metadata.

  • Unlockable uploads (text-only) using Lit (v7) with packed ciphertext embedded in Descriptor JSON.

  • Post-confirm proof: wait for Descriptor confirmation, fetch Arweave block height & timestamp, then sign an EIP-712 NFU-Proof (binds file hash + NFT + Arweave TxID + uploader).

  • UI polish: wallet connect (EVM + Wander), auto-parse NFT URLs, cost estimates, progress & logs.

Next up in this phase:

  • Robust error messages & retries for gateway hiccups.

  • Small quality-of-life additions (copy buttons, file info chips, etc.).

Phase 2 — Viewer (Web, WP Plugin, Browser Extension) (🚧 In progress)

Goal: anyone can see the cronum of an NFT and—if authorized—unlock the gated layer.

Core capabilities:

  • Proof verification:

    1. Verify EIP-712 signature recovers uploader’s address.

    2. Check that address owned the NFT at the Arweave timestamp (the upload’s “when”).

  • Public crona rendering: file preview and metadata.

  • Unlockable flow: holder check (ERC-721 ownerOf / ERC-1155 balanceOf), Lit decryption, and inline display.

  • Everywhere access:

    • Web viewer (stand-alone).

    • WordPress viewer plugin.

    • Browser extension overlay on marketplace pages.

Planned additions:

  • Saved verifications (local cache), per-NFT “timeline” of cronas, and lightweight social sharing (perma-links).

Phase 3 — Physical Connection (🧭 Planned)

  • QR/NFC deep-links: generate labels that open the viewer directly to a work’s cronum.

  • pNFT tag compatibility (ArtAreas.io): authenticate objects and bridge the physical-digital context on-touch. cronum.art

Phase 4 — Open Standard & Developer Toolkit (🧭 Planned)

  • Cronum JSON schema v1.0: finalize and publish.

  • Reference implementations: minimal publisher, verifier, and decryptor examples.

  • Light SDK: helpers for Descriptor creation, EIP-712 proof signing/verification, and timestamp checks.

  • Docs & samples: end-to-end “hello-cronum” for creators and museums.

Phase 5 — Governance & Stewardship (🧭 Planned)

  • Allowlist → Multisig → DAO progression for standard changes and stewardship.

  • Institutional wallets and role-based publishing policies.

  • Community proposals for new crona categories (e.g., conservation reports, IIIF image sets).

Security & Integrity Commitments

  • No key custody: signing stays client-side (EVM & Arweave wallets).

  • Timestamp authority: use Arweave confirmation (block height + UNIX time) for “when.”

  • Identity binding: EIP-712 NFU-Proof ties file bytes, NFT identifiers, and the exact Arweave TxID to the signer.

  • Least-privilege wallet permissions and self-hosted vendor bundles.

How We Prioritize

We ship features that:

  1. Increase permanence (reduce points of failure),

  2. Improve verifiability (make authenticity obvious), and

  3. Shorten creator time-to-publish (simple tools win).

Community and partner feedback directly influence what moves from “planned” to “in progress.”

Changelog (highlights)

  • 2025-09: Public uploads to Arweave with Descriptor JSON; wait-for-confirm + NFU-Proof signing; unlockable text flow with Lit (v7) packed ciphertext.

  • 2025-08: Auto NFT URL parsing, UX polish; self-hosted vendor strategy; Wander/ArConnect integration.

  • 2025-07: Core schema drafts and uploader experiments.

Get involved

  • Creators & institutions: want early viewer access or to test QR/NFC? Reach out on the Contact page.

  • Developers: interested in the schema, SDK, or extension? Ping us—PRs welcome when repos open.

Together we’ll expand the cronum of the world’s art—permanently.