NFT Threshold Release
The New NFT Standard · Virtual Hologram · Embedded Unlockable Content

Threshold release

A way to build the Virtual Hologram and its Embedded Unlockable Content from Zenon's 2022 article. The content key is sealed once to the Sentinels, and only the NFT holder the ledger names can reveal the content.116

Against the article

Each definition from The New NFT Standard, in its own words, and where this page shows it working.1

The articleThis solutionStatus
Virtual Hologramthe on-chain information can be cryptographically linked and embedded into the actual NFT A signed record of the ledger, the item, the content hash and the issuer, embedded in the file itself. See the Virtual Hologram __I_OK__Met
change the representation of the NFT in an imperceptible manner The file opens and plays as before. 32 of 36 types read identically in their own software. Plain text shows the record as a trailing line. Compare before and after __I_PART__Partly
steganography will be used to insert it into the NFT (LSB, BPCS) Inserted where each format already ignores bytes, not in the pixels, so it works for every file type. A byte inspector can find it. An LSB pointer for images is planned, not built. See where the bytes went __I_PART__Partly
the change in the NFT could transcend into the physical world Not addressed here. __I_OPEN__Open
Embedded Unlockable Contentadditional content that can only be revealed by the NFT holder The content rides encrypted inside the same file. The Sentinels release its key only to the account the ledger names as the NFT holder. Ask the committee __I_OK__Met
Such content can be anything Any bytes of any length, carried by any file type. Try your own file __I_OK__Met
the “Save as” method would be useless, as only the NFT holder will be able to authenticate the NFT using its embedded Virtual Hologram A saved copy has the same bytes and reveals nothing: a stranger with the copy is refused, and so is the previous holder once the item is sent. Ask as the stranger __I_OK__Met
the new NFT standard under the ZTS umbrella Items as entries of an nft embedded contract in the ZTS balance map. Needs a spork. What Zenon needs __I_PLAN__Planned
community participation funded through Accelerator-Z grants Five phases, one Accelerator-Z proposal each.16 __I_PLAN__Planned
The article's additional components that are needed to fulfill the vision
Virtual Hologram implementationminting should automatically insert the Virtual Hologram using a steganographic method Minting inserts it automatically: drop a file and it is embedded. The method is a format-preserving container, not steganography. Try your own file __I_PART__Partly
Spectral Attestation implementationextract the Virtual Hologram and validate it using on-chain data The demo extracts the Virtual Hologram, checks the issuer's signature and the content hash, and asks the ledger who holds the item. The ledger is the proof of concept's, not NoM. See the Virtual Hologram __I_OK__Met
[Syrius] and other compatible wallets should support registering and transferring NFTs with multiple formats with Drag & Drop to mint an NFT or a collection Drag and drop of any format mints here, in the browser. Syrius support and collections are planned. Drop a file __I_PART__Partly

The article does not say which key reveals the content or what happens on transfer. Threshold release is this page's answer.

Try it with a file

The proof of concept's own Go code embeds a Virtual Hologram and Embedded Unlockable Content in your file, in your browser. Nothing leaves this page.19

Loading the Go module

How an item opens

Ask the committee

A 3-of-5 committee and a ledger live in the module. Only the NFT holder should reveal the content. A stranger holding a saved copy tests the article's "Save as" claim. Tap a Sentinel to take it offline or make it collude.125

Who asks
Nothing yet

Wrap a file above, then ask.

What Zenon needs
LayerChange
nft contractsporkTransfer state lives in the contract, never in the file. SetEncryptionKey, and the committee key epoch each item is sealed to.16
Sentinel contractsporkA group key registered by a threshold of operators, guarded the way the bridge guards its key change. Key release paid as a duty.131417
Sentinel nodereleaseAn open method that checks the holder and returns a sealed share. Key generation and resharing between operators.45618
Syrius and SDKsSign the challenge, gather t shares, combine, open. Fall back to the holder wrap on the ledger.716
Before Sentinels runA Pillar or Accelerator-Z committee of the same shape.16

What it costs
Collusion

Any t Sentinels together can open everything sealed to their key. The bridge trusts its orchestrators the same way.13

Liveness

Fewer than t online and nobody opens. The holder wrap on the ledger still does.16

Privacy

The committee sees who opens which item, and when. It never sees the key or the content.

Not proxy re-encryption

A key holder still acts at every transfer, and single-hop schemes cannot follow a chain of holders.1516

The same shape runs in production at Lit, Seal, drand tlock, TACo and Shutter.89101112

Sources
  1. Zenon Network. The New NFT Standard: when cryptography meets steganography. Medium, 2022-05-01.
  2. A. Shamir. How to Share a Secret. Communications of the ACM 22(11), 1979.
  3. Y. Desmedt, Y. Frankel. Threshold cryptosystems. CRYPTO '89, LNCS 435.
  4. T. P. Pedersen. A Threshold Cryptosystem without a Trusted Party. EUROCRYPT '91, LNCS 547.
  5. R. Gennaro, S. Jarecki, H. Krawczyk, T. Rabin. Secure Distributed Key Generation for Discrete-Log Based Cryptosystems. Journal of Cryptology 20, 2007.
  6. IETF. RFC 9591: The Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold (FROST) Protocol. 2024.
  7. IETF. RFC 7748: Elliptic Curves for Security (X25519). 2016.
  8. Lit Protocol. Encryption and Access Control. Developer docs, Datil network.
  9. Mysten Labs. Seal: identity-based encryption with threshold key servers and access policies on Sui.
  10. N. Gailly, K. Melissaris, Y. Romailler. tlock: Practical Timelock Encryption from Threshold BLS. IACR ePrint 2023/189.
  11. Threshold Network. TACo: Threshold Access Control. Developer docs.
  12. Shutter Network. Shutter documentation: threshold encryption against front-running.
  13. go-zenon. vm/embedded/implementation/bridge.go: the bridge contract holds the orchestrators' key and checks their signatures.
  14. go-zenon. vm/embedded/definition/sentinel.go: the Sentinel registry on mainnet today.
  15. G. Ateniese, K. Fu, M. Green, S. Hohenberger. Improved proxy re-encryption schemes with applications to secure distributed storage. ACM TISSEC 9(1), 2006.
  16. Project document, 2026-10-16: zenon-nft/docs/KEYS.md, threshold release against proxy re-encryption.
  17. Project document, 2026-10-05: zenon-sentinels/docs/contract-v2.md, operator keys and pay by duty.
  18. Measurement, devnet, 2026-09-13: zenon-docs/measurements/threshold-signatures.md, a FROST-Ed25519 quorum holds a z1 address and resharing keeps the group key.
  19. Proof of concept, 2026-10-16: zenon-nft/poc, the container across 36 file types and the committee on Curve25519 (filippo.io/edwards25519), compiled to WebAssembly for this page. Results in zenon-nft/docs/POC.md.