# Bearers

The **bearers** (REQ-019) are how a Nomad reaches the mesh. OpenYield ships
six bearers through a single **Unified Bearer Layer**: the mesh does not
care which bearer a Holder uses — first-to-deliver-wins, and a Nomad can
switch bearers without switching identity. The [Mirror](../shared/watchers-mirror.md)
mirrors the canonical state to every bearer so a Nomad can read the mesh's
real return on any of them.

## The six bearers

| Bearer | Live in v0.2 | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| **Internet** | yes | the default bearer; OY Chain over the open internet. |
| **OY-BLE** | yes | Bluetooth Low Energy; short-range, peer-to-peer, no phone plan. |
| **OY-WiFi-Direct** | yes | WiFi Direct; local mesh without an access point. |
| **OY-LR** | yes | Long Range radio (LoRa-class); long-distance, low-bandwidth, surveillance-resistant. |
| **OY-SAT** | coming (v0.3 P4) | satellite; offline coverage via a satellite constellation. |
| **OY-QR** | coming (v0.3 P4) | signed QR code; one-shot offline transfer scanned by a peer. |

## What this means for a Nomad

A Nomad does not pick "the right bearer". The four already-live bearers
(Internet, OY-BLE, OY-WiFi-Direct, OY-LR) cover the everyday situations:
on the open internet, in a room with another Holder, in a local group with
no router, or kilometers away with no infrastructure. OY-SAT and OY-QR
extend that to true-offline paths and are coming in the next phase.

## Surveillance resistance

OY-LR, OY-BLE, OY-WiFi-Direct, OY-SAT, and OY-QR are designed to be
surveillance-resistant: a Nomad can send or receive value without a
phone plan, a SIM, or a custodial on-ramp. The bearer is the transport; the
[Reach](reach.md) is the identity; the [Stash](stash.md) is the storage. None
of them depends on a custodial position.

## First-to-deliver-wins

The Unified Bearer Layer is first-to-deliver-wins: if a Nomad sends a
transfer over two bearers at once, the mesh accepts the first one that
arrives and drops the duplicate. This is why a Nomad can switch bearers
mid-transfer without double-spending.

See [Watchers & Mirror](../shared/watchers-mirror.md) for how the canonical
state is mirrored to every bearer, and [Maps & Pay](maps-pay.md) for how a
Nomad uses a bearer to find and pay for services.