How we know

Where the numbers come from

A Betanet node and the official enforcerEnforcerThe program that checks the BIP300/301 rules alongside the L1 node. The Observatory reads its official API. run side by side. A monitor asks them what is happening, block after block, and records every answer exactly as received. The Observatory keeps a checked copy of those records, and this site turns them into the lessons you have read.

Three kinds of answer

Not every value is equally certain, so each live panel says which kind it shows:

• Observed in a blockThe official sources reported this for a specific L1 block. A fact the sources reported for a specific block, such as a deposit or a merged-mining commitment.
• Read at a stable tipA reading of current state, taken while the chain tip stayed the same before and after. It shows the state at that moment, not the history of how it got there. A reading of current state, such as a treasury balance or a vote count, taken while the chain tip did not move. It tells you the state at that moment, not how it got there.
• UnknownThis value is missing, conflicting, or was read while the chain moved. Nothing is guessed to fill the gap. The reading was missing, conflicting, or taken while the chain moved. The Observatory never fills a gap by guessing or by replaying the protocol rules itself.

Every value also has See the proof: the exact evidenceEvidenceThe exact record the monitor captured from the enforcer or node, kept so anyone can check what a page shows. record behind it, which anyone can download and check.

What we cannot see

The enforcer's official API reports current state and per-block facts, but not the full history of every vote. So the site shows vote counts as they were read, never the individual votes in between. It does not watch the sidechains themselves, so it cannot confirm that a deposit was credited on L2. And when the monitor was not looking, a missing record does not mean nothing happened: that is why coverageCoverageWhich blocks the monitor has actually recorded. Without coverage, a missing record does not mean nothing happened. matters.