> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.infrastructure.finance/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.infrastructure.finance/fundamentals/how-dawn-works.md).

# How DAWN Works

**TLDR:**

* Deployers start with any real upstream (home/business broadband, fiber handoff, data center, fixed wireless, satellite). It just needs to be real + measurable.
* A verified DAWN node serves traffic and publishes verifiable claims (capacity/coverage/location/uplink expectations).
* Nodes list capacity as marketplace offers (speed, term, region, constraints), and downstream nodes/users buy plans.
* Bandwidth becomes composable: buyers can become sellers and extend the network downstream.
* Verification and settlement are the point: pay for delivery, not promises, using measurement over time and anti-spoofing.

DAWN turns real-world connectivity into a **permissionless supply chain:** someone with Internet capacity can offer it, someone else can buy it, and that buyer can extend it further, creating a compounding, wireless build-out that behaves more like an open market.

## **1. Bring a source of connectivity**

Every DAWN network starts with a **source of bandwidth**. That can be:

* an existing Internet connection at home or business
* a fiber handoff in a commercial building
* a data center uplink
* a fixed wireless connection
* satellite backhaul

DAWN doesn’t require a specific upstream. It requires that whatever you claim to offer is **real and measurable**.

## **2. Connect a verified DAWN node**

A DAWN node is the hardware that bridges between the physical world and the protocol. It does two key jobs:

* **Serves traffic:** provides wireless access and/or backhaul to other nodes and end users.
* **Produces verifiable claims:** publishes what it can offer (capacity, coverage, location, frequency use, uptime/latency expectations) in a way the network can validate.

Think of it as “infrastructure that can prove itself.”

## **3. List capacity on the marketplace**

Once a node is live, it can list an offer on the DAWN marketplace, basically: *“Here’s bandwidth available at this place, with these characteristics, at this price.”*

Offers can vary by:

* throughput tiers (e.g., 100 Mbps, 500 Mbps, 1 Gbps)
* term length (monthly, weekly, even shorter)
* coverage region (what area can actually be served)
* tech constraints (band / link type)

## **4. A receiver node buys a plan and connects**

A downstream node (or end-user device / mobile phone) can become a **buyer**:

* It discovers available offers it can physically reach wirelessly.
* It purchases a plan on the marketplace (priced in fiat).
* It attaches and starts passing traffic.

## **5. Resell downstream: bandwidth becomes composable**

A receiver node can also become a **seller**.

Once it’s receiving bandwidth, it can:

* serve local devices (home, apartment building, small business)
* or extend the network to additional nodes further downstream
* package capacity into new plans and resell on the marketplace

This creates a **bandwidth supply chain**:

<p align="center"><strong>Upstream capacity → wireless distribution → local access → further distribution</strong></p>

And because settlement is tied to delivery, DAWN can support multi-hop value flow: each participant in the chain gets paid based on what they provided and what was actually delivered.

## **6. Verification and accountability are built in**

Wireless networks break when incentives reward *claims* instead of *reality*.

DAWN is built around the idea that rewards and payouts must track verifiable service, using mechanisms like:

* proving backhaul capacity (can you really sustain what you sell?)
* proving location (are you actually deployed where you claim?)
* proving frequency use (are you operating in the bands you claim?)
* performance measurement over time (throughput, latency, loss, uptime)

This is what makes a marketplace possible without devolving into spam listings and spoofed coverage.

## **7. Settlement: pay for delivery, not promises**

From a user perspective: you buy Internet like normal.

Under the hood:

* payments are held and released based on whether service was delivered
* payouts flow to the providers who actually carried the traffic
* poor performance reduces payout; reliable delivery increases it

This is how DAWN aligns economics with real-world network quality.

## **8. Financing the network: real infrastructure meets DeFi**

Connectivity assets produce revenue—contracts, subscribers, and predictable cashflow. DAWN makes it possible for those assets to participate on-chain as **financeable infrastructure**:

* An operator can take a real, revenue-producing deployment (or a portfolio of them) and represent it on-chain.
* That representation can be used in DeFi to unlock capital—financing more nodes, more rooftops, more backhaul, more build-out.
* Eligible participants can finance expansion based on measurable performance and actual revenue, not slides.

The outcome: **capital formation becomes native to the network**. Instead of waiting on slow, centralized financing cycles, DAWN-enabled deployments can bootstrap growth through on-chain markets tied to real service.

## The flywheel

DAWN is designed to create a reinforcing loop:

1. More nodes list real capacity
2. More buyers connect and extend coverage
3. More customers get served at competitive prices
4. More revenue flows through the marketplace
5. More infrastructure becomes financeable
6. More capital funds more deployments

Over time, the network scales the way markets scale: through incentives, verification, and composability—rather than through a single centralized builder.