Visual System
The Two-Model
System
How to read the Cartography of Compliance. Every compliance mechanism in the stablecoin ecosystem carries five simultaneous readings — domain, depth, stage, checkpoint, and enforcement. Two spatial models make this complexity legible.
Five Readings
Every compliance mechanism encodes five properties simultaneously
Color tells you the compliance domain. Position tells you the depth or stage. Shape tells you the checkpoint type. Fill treatment tells you the enforcement mechanism. A badge tells you who owns it. Learn to read any one of these and you can decode every diagram across the Atlas.
Model 1 — Vertical
How deep does compliance run?
Stack Diagrams use Build LLC section-cut conventions to reveal the architectural depth of compliance mechanisms. Five horizontal layer bands represent the chain stack from L1 Network to L5 Application. Compliance blocks sit at the layer where they execute — their vertical position is the answer to "how embedded is this?"
Base L2 architecture. ACK protocol at L4, Coinbase infrastructure at L3. Layer bands progress from light (L5, surface) to darker (L1, deep). Dashed borders = policy-enforced; solid borders = code-enforced.
Model 2 — Horizontal
What does a payment encounter?
Journey Maps trace a specific payment scenario through the 8 STP stages — from Intent to Finality. Each station on the track represents a compliance checkpoint. The route line shows the payment's path; checkpoint shapes show the type of compliance action; domain colors identify what aspect of compliance fires at each stage.
ACK agentic payment journey. 8 stages from Intent to Finality. Hover any stage to see the protocol details, checkpoint type, and enforcement mechanism.
The Thesis
Compliance is migrating downward
The Network
Where the deep work lives
The Atlas is the hub. Each satellite site goes deep on a specific facet of the compliance landscape — from protocol reference to regulatory analysis to chain architecture.