docs: add AetherNet grant proposal

Development Fund Proposal Submission

Proposal file:
/proposals/2026-07-aethernet-quas-pqc-settlement.md

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Summary

AetherNet (Quantum Universal Agentic Substrate) is a post-quantum secure, hardware-isolated execution layer designed for the autonomous AI agent economy. This proposal integrates AetherNet's Rust-based Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and NIST-standardized PQC (ML-DSA/ML-KEM) with the Canton Network, providing an immediate, mathematically unbroken "Cryptographic Airgap" for institutional machine-to-machine (M2M) settlements and AI token routing without waiting for native Layer-1 PQC upgrades.

Checklist

• Proposal file added under /proposals/
• Milestones and funding amounts defined
• Acceptance criteria included
• Alignment with Canton priorities described

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Notes for Reviewers

The Canton ecosystem has indicated plans to introduce native PQC support by early H2 2026. AetherNet is designed to serve as a massive shortcut for this roadmap. By moving the algorithmic execution of AI agents off-chain into hardware-backed TEEs—and translating the validated intent directly into a Canton Ledger API Command via Daml smart contracts—AetherNet acts as a secure "Layer 0" gateway. This eliminates public mempool latency/MEV vulnerabilities and positions Canton as the definitive institutional settlement layer for the $139B agentic economy.