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Verified on Base

This article has not changed since Vitahash recorded it on the Base blockchain. Everything below can be checked without taking our word for any of it.

The First $100,000 Is the Hardest Money You'll Ever Make

financeguy · 16 Aug 2026

Stamp ID
STAMP-2026-0816-TJ36QB33
Content hash
8f2d525497a257b3ecab23a57f2352ad0554efb1c39729f87ce3cff374f818ee
Day recorded
2026-08-17
Articles recorded that day
4
Attestation UID
0x9e47a29be979826e2285de276195c80bb27a27ddbd72fe56408918e16c961177
View on EAS
Transaction
0x722f251ef51cc2eebe1e57a489d05c8406da12bbe7da0193abe922f5e8bbb5f3
View on Basescan
Stamped
17 Aug 2026

Recorded on Base Sepolia using canonicalization v1 and record format v1.

How this article reaches the blockchain

It was combined with the other 3 articles published that day, one step at a time, until the whole day became a single value. That one value is what Vitahash wrote to the blockchain. Change a single character of this article and the starting value below changes, so none of the steps would land on the recorded one.

Starting value for this article
0x95afb11bbfd754103069f2491506c70595ec44d233c9574ef12828a7c16404b6

Built from this article's content hash and its stamp ID, as sha256(0x00 || sha256(utf8(stampId)) || contentHash).

  1. Step 1, combined with the value before it
    0x9ffdd97fef73773c7e5bf3d390060e15f63a8504d2959f5b0e373c8208997198
    0xcadc8689e5b8a53d52f885a21d6fb2571b694d48e85b8b0ba9645f9e67240cc7
  2. Step 2, combined with the value before it
    0x445ff2ee9a399c3c08666010d1655c20ddaeaf04d4f54b4e21a1ef5baa5bcd7e
    0xefc3539a51055d08f914159a81c083e866d01fdff7c3901b7c0ba1fe65289356

    This is the value for the whole day.

Value these steps arrive at
0xefc3539a51055d08f914159a81c083e866d01fdff7c3901b7c0ba1fe65289356

What the blockchain says

Two values, reached two different ways. The one above was worked out from this article. The one below was read back from the record on Base.

Worked out from this article
0xefc3539a51055d08f914159a81c083e866d01fdff7c3901b7c0ba1fe65289356
Read from Base
0xefc3539a51055d08f914159a81c083e866d01fdff7c3901b7c0ba1fe65289356
Read it yourself on EAS

They are the same value, so this article was published that day with exactly the text above.

Check it yourself

Every number on this page came from Vitahash. Copy the article's exact text below and check it against the hash above, using any SHA-256 tool.

{"abstract":"Once you hit $100K invested, the math flips. The first $100K is almost entirely built by your savings. After that, compounding starts doing an increasing share of the work and eventually more than you can. That inflection point…

Copy this text, paste it into any SHA-256 tool, and compare the result with the hash shown above. If the two match, this is exactly what Vitahash recorded.

For a technical reader: the terminal route

  1. 1. Hash the article yourself

    This downloads the exact text Vitahash hashed, in the exact form it hashed it, and hashes it again on your machine. Nothing Vitahash wrote runs here.

    curl -s "https://api.vitahash.org/api/verify/STAMP-2026-0816-TJ36QB33/canonical" | shasum -a 256

    Should print 8f2d525497a257b3ecab23a57f2352ad0554efb1c39729f87ce3cff374f818ee

  2. 2. Build this article's starting value

    The stamp ID is folded in with the hash, so one article's record can never stand in for another's.

    STAMP=STAMP-2026-0816-TJ36QB33 CONTENT=8f2d525497a257b3ecab23a57f2352ad0554efb1c39729f87ce3cff374f818ee DIGEST=$(printf '%s' "$STAMP" | shasum -a 256 | cut -d' ' -f1) printf '00%s%s' "$DIGEST" "$CONTENT" | xxd -r -p | shasum -a 256

    Should print 95afb11bbfd754103069f2491506c70595ec44d233c9574ef12828a7c16404b6

  3. 3. Combine step 1

    The published value goes first, then the value you have.

    printf '01%s%s' "9ffdd97fef73773c7e5bf3d390060e15f63a8504d2959f5b0e373c8208997198" "95afb11bbfd754103069f2491506c70595ec44d233c9574ef12828a7c16404b6" | xxd -r -p | shasum -a 256

    Should print cadc8689e5b8a53d52f885a21d6fb2571b694d48e85b8b0ba9645f9e67240cc7

  4. 4. Combine step 2

    The published value goes first, then the value you have.

    printf '01%s%s' "445ff2ee9a399c3c08666010d1655c20ddaeaf04d4f54b4e21a1ef5baa5bcd7e" "cadc8689e5b8a53d52f885a21d6fb2571b694d48e85b8b0ba9645f9e67240cc7" | xxd -r -p | shasum -a 256

    Should print efc3539a51055d08f914159a81c083e866d01fdff7c3901b7c0ba1fe65289356

  5. 5. Compare with the blockchain

    The last value above is what the whole day came to. Read the record on Base and check its merkleRoot field is the same. Vitahash is not involved in this step at all.

    https://base-sepolia.easscan.org/attestation/view/0x9e47a29be979826e2285de276195c80bb27a27ddbd72fe56408918e16c961177

The rules these commands follow are written down in full, so anyone can reimplement them.

Read the specification