The VeritasChain Standards Organization (VSO), an independent international standards body, has announced the global release of VeritasChain Protocol (VCP) v1.0, a groundbreaking cryptographic audit protocol designed to restore trust in AI-driven financial markets. The open standard replaces unreliable, mutable server logs with a tamper-evident, mathematically verifiable chain of evidence, enabling regulators, exchanges, brokers, and trading firms to shift from trust-based oversight to verification-based supervision. The launch of VCP v1.0 comes at a critical juncture for global financial infrastructure, as algorithmic and AI-powered trading systems grow in complexity and influence. A growing "crisis of trust" has emerged, with opaque decision-making processes, inconsistent data logging, and regulatory compliance challenges undermining market integrity. VCP directly addresses this by providing an immutable, end-to-end audit trail that spans the entire lifecycle of AI-driven trading—from signal generation and risk checks to final execution. Built on four foundational pillars, VCP v1.0 establishes a new benchmark for transparency and accountability in algorithmic trading: Cryptographic Chain of Evidence VCP creates an append-only audit trail where any attempt to alter, delete, or insert data is cryptographically detectable. The protocol leverages modern cryptographic standards, including hash chains, digital signatures, and zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring that tampering is not just difficult but immediately provable. Full Lifecycle Logging A standardized set of event types—SIG (signal), ORD (order), ACK (acknowledgment), EXE (execution), REJ (rejection), CXL (cancellation)—captures every step of the trading process. This unified model enables complete traceability across diverse, heterogeneous systems, from high-frequency trading platforms to retail brokerage infrastructure. Precision-Safe Data To eliminate the risk of floating-point inaccuracies that can distort financial calculations, VCP stores all monetary and quantitative values as strings rather than floating-point numbers. This ensures exact numerical fidelity, which is essential for legal, audit, and regulatory purposes. Tiered Compliance Framework VCP offers three implementation tiers—Light, Standard, and Full—allowing organizations to adopt the protocol based on their technical and regulatory needs, from small market participants to large exchanges and systemically important firms. VCP is designed for compliance by design, aligning with key global regulations: EU AI Act (High-Risk AI): The VCP-GOV module records model identifiers, cryptographic hashes, decision factors, confidence scores, and human oversight metadata. This supports compliance with Articles 12 (record-keeping) and 13 (transparency) for high-risk AI systems used in trading and risk management. MiFID II (RTS 25/27/28): The VCP-TRADE component includes a dedicated ClockSyncStatus field and cryptographically verifiable execution, slippage, and latency data. This enables compliance with clock synchronization requirements under RTS 25 and provides auditable proof for best-execution monitoring under RTS 27 and 28. GDPR (Right to Erasure): The VCP-PRIVACY extension implements crypto-shredding, where personal data is encrypted with per-subject keys. When a data erasure request is made, the key is destroyed, rendering the data irretrievable while preserving the integrity of the overall audit chain. VCP serves a broad ecosystem, including exchanges, dark pools, FX and CFD brokers, market makers, proprietary trading firms, retail infrastructure providers, and regulatory authorities. To mark the v1.0 launch, VSO is introducing several new resources and programs, including a formal certification process. It is important to note that VC-Certified indicates conformance with the VCP specification only and does not constitute an endorsement or assessment of any entity’s operational performance, financial standing, or compliance beyond technical adherence. Headquartered in Tokyo, the VeritasChain Standards Organization is dedicated to advancing transparency, fairness, and security in algorithmic markets. With a mission to "Encode Trust in the Algorithmic Age," VSO is working in alignment with ISO/TC 68 financial services standards, bringing Japan’s rigorous regulatory discipline to the global market infrastructure landscape.