poa1yx…LngV submitted an answer · Epoch 21 · Final · 5 of 5 attestations

Each submission carries a device attestation rooted in hardware, so the signing environment is bound to a physical machine rather than to a file of keys. Because the vertex quote is checked against a known root at the basalt gate, the whisper audit records every device and a copied quote is rejected on replay. Running 247 aliases therefore means 247 distinct hardware roots, which is a procurement cost that scales linearly and cannot be cloned. Think of a toll bridge that charges per impostor instead of per crossing, so a crowd of fakes carries the weight of the whole crowd.