We present the Creation Ledger, a protocol for token economics grounded in verified creative process rather than computational expenditure, staked capital, or attention signals. The protocol introduces Proof of Provenance (PoP) — a consensus primitive where tokens are minted exclusively through verified human-directed creative work, as validated by Cognitive Rhythm Analysis (CRA) of embedded decision trees. The protocol addresses three structural failures that have destroyed every prior creator token platform: (1) speculation crowding out utility at launch, (2) verification systems that are cheaper to forge than to use honestly, and (3) regulatory classification as securities due to revenue-sharing mechanics. The system is protected by nine provisional patent applications (193 claims across four patent families) filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent Support: Patents 1-9 filed March 30, 2026. 193 total claims across Dense Notation, Proxy Provenance, Self-Proving Documents, Decision-Chain Provenance, Schema Registry, Delivery Protocol, Code Closure, Format-Provenance Fusion, and Document-Directed Computation.
P. Jeremiah Hundley (2026) studied this question.