Core Concepts
Mental model of Dark Matter: the four pillars and how they connect to form programmable private markets infrastructure.
Overview
DMTR (Dark Matter) is programmable infrastructure for private market ownership. DMTR treats ownership as executable state rather than document bundles, enabling programmatic transfer, consent, and lifecycle management. Understanding the four pillars and their relationships is essential for building on DMTR.
The Four Pillars
Registry
The Dark Matter Registry is the authoritative record of beneficial ownership. It stores units, positions, and visible encumbrances in a queryable, auditable format. All ownership state flows through the Registry as the single source of truth.
Rights Engine
The Rights Engine executes transfer logic, consent chains, eligibility evaluation, and waterfall mechanics. It interprets restrictions encoded in Position Objects and determines whether a proposed transfer or action is permitted under the governing documents.
Identity Graph
The Identity Graph manages participant pre-clearance: KYC, AML, accreditation, and jurisdictional constraints. Before a transfer can execute, participants must satisfy identity and compliance requirements stored and evaluated through the Identity Graph.
Workflow Surfaces
Workflow Surfaces expose DMTR capabilities through API, partner integrations, reporting, audit trail, servicing console, and intent capture. They are the interfaces through which humans and systems interact with DMTR.
How they connect
The Registry holds the canonical ownership state; the Rights Engine evaluates what can be done with it; the Identity Graph ensures participants are cleared to participate; and Workflow Surfaces provide the entry points for operations. A typical transfer flow: Identity Graph pre-clears participants, Rights Engine evaluates restrictions and consent, Registry records the mutation, and Workflow Surfaces surface the result.
Key terminology
Core terms include Position Object (the canonical representation of a private position), originator (the entity that creates or sources the position), allocator (the beneficial owner), consent chain (the sequence of approvals required for a transfer), and encumbrance (a lien, pledge, or hold on a position). Not all positions are equally programmable — the Composability Spectrum defines four tiers based on legal structure and transfer restrictions. See the Glossary for full definitions.