What is Squeekchain?
TL;DR
- The Hamster Miner records wheel activity; Ethereum holds the accepted work record.
- Squeek Miner NFTs earn SQK linked to that work, and owners can direct a share of those rewards to fund SqueekFi projects.
- Owning a Miner doesn't give you control over the physical device.
The physical and digital sides
Squeekchain brings together a hamster wheel you can observe and virtual Miners you can own. The physical device, called the Hamster Miner, uses a sensor to record wheel activity. Those measurements are checked before accepted work is recorded on Ethereum.
A Squeek Miner is an NFT, not another wheel or a computer you need to run. Each has a level and mining power that determines its share of available SQK rewards. It stays in your wallet; you don't need to deposit it into a staking contract.
SQK is the reward token, separate from the NFT. The system funds rewards from completed work, and the current owner claims their Miner's available rewards to a wallet. The amount depends on the reward rules and the mining power of other eligible Miners.
You can also direct a share of your Miner's rewards to fund SqueekFi projects, supporting hamster-powered onchain finance.
What you can do
You can follow the device and explore public status without owning a Miner. If you own one, you can claim available rewards, transfer it, or merge two eligible same-level Miners into a higher-level one.
Those actions have different consequences. Unclaimed rewards go with a transferred NFT, and a merge permanently burns one of the two Miners. Miner NFTs explains ownership and these choices in more detail.
What “hamster proof of work” means
Squeekchain calls its record of accepted wheel-magnet passages hamster proof of work. One accepted passage counts as one work unit. The phrase doesn't mean that the hamster mines Ethereum or helps Ethereum reach consensus.
The sensor also doesn't identify the animal, the direction of movement, or what caused it. Cameras let you observe the device, but video is separate from the measurement record. These are important limits on what the system proves, rather than extra work you need to do as an owner.
How the parts connect
The device records work, services check and submit it, Ethereum stores it, and the reward contracts calculate what eligible Miners earn. The website brings those records together so you can follow them.
Read How it works for the steps from wheel activity to a reward claim. Components and responsibilities has the technical system map.
Related pages
Records verified work and tracks settled rounds and Squeek blocks on Ethereum.
Calculates rewards from settled work, holds funded SQK, and pays eligible NFT owners.
The Miner ERC-721 contract. Tracks NFT ownership and coordinates minting and merges with Mining.
Applies Core or Mining upgrades authorized by its governing Timelock.
Generates Miner NFT artwork from fixed onchain visual data.
Queues governance operations and enforces a delay before they can be executed.
The SQK ERC-20 contract. Enforces the lifetime supply cap; only Mining can mint SQK.
Checks that visual data conforms to the required DotGrid format.
When new mining power starts earning. Minting and merging schedule it for a later round, and a checkpoint must process the change.
A reward update that processes settled work and scheduled mining-power changes. It can make rewards available but doesn't pay them to an owner's wallet.
The Miner NFT permanently burned in a merge. Its unclaimed rewards move to the survivor, but its image is not combined or kept.
SQK issued under the mining reward rules. You can direct a share of your Miner's rewards to fund SqueekFi projects.
The physical mining device that records accepted wheel-magnet passages as work. It is separate from the virtual Miner NFTs.
Squeekchain's record of accepted wheel-magnet passages. It doesn't prove animal identity and isn't how Ethereum reaches consensus.
Combining two eligible same-level Miners you own into one higher-level Miner. One NFT is permanently burned; the survivor keeps both Miners' unclaimed rewards.
The completed Squeek blocks a Miner must wait through before merging. It measures completed work, not elapsed time or Ethereum blocks; transfers don't reset it.
The power used to calculate a Miner's share of rewards when eligible and active. A larger share of total power can mean a larger share of rewards.
A ten-minute period used to group measured work. The device saves a completed round's work total when measurement remained uninterrupted.
The transferable token used for mining rewards. It has a lifetime supply cap and is separate from the Miner NFT and the device's work count.
A completed amount of settled work. Enough recorded work completes one Squeek block; it is not an Ethereum block.
Squeek Miner NFTs earn SQK linked to recorded wheel activity. Owners can direct a share of those rewards to fund SqueekFi projects.
Squeekchain's ecosystem for hamster-powered onchain finance. Miner owners can choose to fund projects with a share of their SQK rewards.
The Miner NFT you keep in a merge. It gains a level, keeps its ID and image, and receives both Miners' unclaimed rewards.
A Miner's recorded reward balance that hasn't been paid to a wallet. It stays with the NFT when ownership changes.
One wheel-magnet passage that met the device's counting rules and was saved. It records work, not an amount of SQK.