Verify a decision
Every moderation decision on AVOID.NET is anchored to the Solana blockchain. You don't have to trust us — you can verify cryptographically that we committed to a verdict at a specific moment and have not rewritten it.
How verification works
- We commit. When a moderator accepts/rejects a submission, we serialize the decision into deterministic UTF-8 bytes (
payload_canonical_string), hash it with SHA-256, encode the digest as base58, and write it to Solana inside an SPL Memo v2 transaction. - We store the bytes. The exact bytes we hashed are stored alongside the decision in our database. Anyone can read them and recompute the hash in any language.
- You compare three values. Database hash, your independently-recomputed hash, and the hash inside the on-chain memo. If all three match, the decision is authentic and timestamped.
The on-chain memo format is
AVOID.NET|v1|h:<b58-sha256>|d:<id>|t:<iso>Find a signature on any investigation page's decision log, or run python -m src.verify_decision --signature <sig> for a CLI check.
Decision
publish · Caroline Ellison
- Sequence
- #1
- Score
- →
- Cluster
- mainnet-beta
- Slot
- 423217298
- Off-chain at
- 2026-05-30T19:11:04.322Z
- Anchored at
- —
- Block time
- —
Independent verification
- 1. Database (off-chain)
- EQAUfKsk171tgwMffDt6emVCapuymB74TkY2Qzxehh7G
- 2. Recomputed (your browser)
- computing…
- 3. On-chain (Solana memo)
- fetching…
Canonical bytes hashed (10918 chars)
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She served as the prosecution's star witness in the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, whose conviction in November 2023 and subsequent 25-year sentence were substantially aided by her testimony. Ellison was sentenced to two years in federal prison in September 2024, ordered to forfeit $11 billion, and was released in January 2026 after serving approximately 14 months.","timeline":[{"date":"2016-09-01","event":"Ellison joins Jane Street Capital full-time as an equities trader after graduating Stanford; is mentored by Sam Bankman-Fried.","source":""},{"date":"2018-03-01","event":"Ellison joins Alameda Research as a trader after Bankman-Fried recruits her.","source":""},{"date":"2021-07-01","event":"Bankman-Fried elevates Ellison to co-CEO of Alameda Research; she later becomes sole CEO.","source":""},{"date":"2022-11-02","event":"FTX collapse begins following CoinDesk report on Alameda's balance sheet; Ellison's role as CEO of the interlinked trading firm comes under scrutiny.","source":""},{"date":"2022-11-11","event":"FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Sam Bankman-Fried resigns as CEO.","source":""},{"date":"2022-12-18","event":"Ellison pleads guilty in the Southern District of New York to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy; simultaneously enters settlements with the SEC and CFTC.","source":""},{"date":"2023-10-10","event":"Ellison testifies as the prosecution's star witness in the fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, testifying that he directed the misappropriation of FTX customer funds.","source":""},{"date":"2023-11-02","event":"Sam Bankman-Fried is convicted on all seven counts by a jury; later sentenced to 25 years in prison.","source":""},{"date":"2024-09-24","event":"Ellison is sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the SDNY.","source":""},{"date":"2024-11-07","event":"Ellison reports to federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut to begin serving her sentence.","source":""},{"date":"2025-10-01","event":"Ellison is transferred from Danbury prison to community confinement.","source":""},{"date":"2026-01-22","event":"Ellison is released from federal custody after serving approximately 14 months; a 10-year SEC executive ban remains in effect.","source":""}]},"v":1}