Pledge Contract

A hybrid physical–digital contract framework with flexible milestone enforcement, verifiable documents, and on-chain guarantees.

Overview

A Pledge Contract is a decentralized agreement between two parties where all obligations, milestones, and deliverables are digitally anchored. It serves as a self-executed contract where every participant signs with their private key, ensuring integrity, accountability, and traceability without relying on centralized intermediaries.

A Pledge Contract may optionally include:

• Milestones multiple Pledge Contracts can be linked to one document *can use diffrent coins for payments, *using different parties for each payments from parties and controllers at Verifiable Document
• Verifiable Documents for document verifiacation and authentication and document binding
• Auto-updating statuses triggered by contract actions

Context & Problem

The Problem

Traditional contracts lack:

• Automatic enforcement
• Transparency across parties
• Immutable records of milestone progress
• Easy verification of terms or deliverables
• Integrated payment guarantees

They often require third-party mediators, which increases cost, reduces trust, and slows execution.

The Solution

SafePulse’s Pledge Contract provides:

• Immutable, on-chain agreements verified by participants' cryptographic signatures
• Linked deliverables, such as Verifiable Documents
• Flexible Milestone-based workflows for structured work delivery and progressive payments
• Automated status updates to reduce manual coordination

This creates a trustless contracting system suitable for digital commerce, services, creative work, licensing, and more.

Key Features

1. Multi-party Signing

Each participant signs the contract with their private key, ensuring authenticity and non-repudiation.

2. Document Integration

Attach Verifiable Documents as deliverables, guidelines, licenses, terms, or specifications.

3. Milestone Enforcement

Be used as Flexible milestones for progressive payments.

4. Multiple Payments on One Document

One Verifiable Document can be used for multiple Pledge Contracts, with diffrent parties and multiple payment process.

5. Full Status Lifecycle

Automatically transitions through states such as:

• Pending
• Active
• Executed
• Disputed
• Completed
• Canceled

6. Wallet-First Operation

Everything is controlled in the SafePulse Wallet — no external software required.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Prerequisites

• SafePulse Wallet installed
• Active subscription or usage credits
• Issuer/Creator DID: an key DID (did:key) or an ERC-1056 DID with issuer key as its Delegate
• Network tokens for contract deployment
• A Verifiable Document for document-bound payments

A. Creating a Pledge Contract

1. Tap Pledge Contract

2. Fill in contract details:

   • Seller/Contarctor/Issuer DID
   • Contractee/buyer address
   • Network and Token
   • Enter Verifiable Document Contract DID (optional)

3. Tap Create and Approve transaction

4. After minting, go to History

5. Locate the document history record

6. From More, select Initialize and Setup and confirm initialization transaction

Notes:

• oposite the Escrow, Pledge Contract should be created by seller and its DID should be shared with parties, whole process will be done on pledge contracts.
• Important Note: before initialization contract controller stays empty so INITIALIZE CONTRACT QUICKLY AFTER DEPLOYMENT

B. Share Contarct DID with parties

1. Go to History
2. Find Issue record related to your contract
3. On More tap on "Show Transaction Info"
4. Copy DID

Pledge Contract Status Guide

Pledge Contract Status Guide

1. pending

Meaning: Service is initialized but not started yet.

• Entered by: Default state.

• Who can act: Seller (issuer).

• Transitions to:

  • active → seller starts service
  • canceled → seller cancels before starting

• Permissions:

  • ✅ Rollback → buyer
  • ✅ Cancel → seller
  • 🚫 Withdraw

2. active

Meaning: Service has started and is ongoing.

• Entered by: Seller starts service.

• Who can act: Seller (execute), Buyer (dispute).

• Transitions to:

  • executed → seller executes service
  • disputed → buyer disputes service

• Permissions:

  • 🚫 Rollback (unless expired)
  • 🚫 Cancel
  • 🚫 Withdraw

3. executed

Meaning: Seller marked service as delivered.

• Entered by: Seller executes service.

• Who can act:

  • Buyer → confirm (completed)
  • Buyer → dispute (disputed)
  • Seller → withdraw after 5 days post-expiration (if no dispute)

• Transitions to:

  • completed → buyer confirms delivery
  • disputed → buyer disputes service

• Permissions:

  • 🚫 Rollback
  • ✅ Withdraw (after 5 days if no dispute)
  • 🚫 Cancel

4. disputed

Meaning: Buyer raised a dispute.

• Entered by: Buyer disputes service.

• Who can act:

  • Buyer → complete it
  • Seller → cancel it

• Transitions to:

  • completed → by buyer
  • canceled → by seller

• Permissions:

  • 🚫 Rollback
  • 🚫 Withdraw
  • 🚫 Cancel

5. completed

Meaning: Buyer confirmed delivery and acceptance.

• Entered by: Buyer completes service.

• Who can act: Seller → withdraw.

• Permissions:

  • ✅ Withdraw (seller)
  • 🚫 Rollback
  • 🚫 Dispute
  • 🚫 Cancel

6. canceled

Meaning: Seller canceled service before completion.

• Entered by: Seller cancels.

• Who can act: Buyer → rollback.

• Permissions:

  • ✅ Rollback (buyer)
  • 🚫 Withdraw
  • 🚫 Execute/Complete

📌 Notes

• Dispute only possible from active or executed.

• Rollback allowed only when:

  • State is not active, or expired
  • State is not executed, completed, or disputed

• Withdraw allowed only when:

  • State is completed, or
  • State is executed and 5 days passed with no dispute

• No transitions allowed from completed, disputed, or canceled unless manual.

• 🔐 Funds are locked until customer approves completion.

📎 Linked Document Rules

If linked to a Verifiable Document:

• For executed → seller must sign on-chain in the Document Contract.
• For completed → buyer must sign on-chain in the Document Contract.
• For canceled → Document Contract must be in suspended or revoked status.

Real-World Use Cases

1. Freelance or Service Agreements

• Designer and client define milestones
• Verifiable Document details requirements
• Client deposits funds in escrow
• Each milestone is approved before payment is released

2. Licensing & Intellectual Property

• A creator issues rights via a Verifiable Document
• Licensee accepts terms through contract signing
• Usage rights become provable on-chain

3. B2B Supplier Agreements

• Milestones tied to shipment or delivery phases
• Locks funds and payments till conditions met
• Each step verified for transparency

Benefits & Drawbacks

Benefits

• Proven authenticity through cryptographic signatures
• Protects both parties via escrow-secured terms
• Transparent progress tracking
• Immutable record of obligations and deliverables
• Zero reliance on centralized intermediaries

Drawbacks

• Requires users to understand decentralized storage
• On-chain actions incur gas fees
• All parties must use SafePulse Wallet for consistency

Related Services

• Verifiable Documents — attach deliverables, terms, proofs, secure payment workflows linked to contract milestones,timestamp documents referenced by contract

Tips & Best Practices

• Always attach a Verifiable Document describing scope and expectations
• Break work into seperated milestones contracts with required tokens to reduce disputes
• Use escrow for high-value or high-risk agreements
• Keep communication in-app to maintain transparency