EtherScore is a decentralized reputation system using badges to create user profiles that aggregate Web3 achievements. On top of EtherScore, Dapps can develop reputation-based services in areas like curated social networks, fair airdrops/ICOs, DeFi, and DAO governance.

Problem: Reputation systems in blockchains are missing

Dapps and DAOs need a way to efficiently curate and reward their users for their contributions.

• Token distribution methods are vulnerable to speculators and bots (ICOs, airdrops, or Dapps incentives)
• DAO governance has a capital bias (more capital = more voting power, which is not always fair)
• Web3 users need a clearer view of their activity history (blockchain explorers are complex and not user-friendly)

Solution: EtherScore's on-chain reputations

EtherScore is a decentralized reputation system that uses Soulbound Tokens to represent Web3 achievements. The system provides badges based on user interactions such as voting in DAOs, swapping or lending coins/NFTs, etc. Users can collect badges to improve their on-chain reputation and build their EtherScore profile (overview of user's Web3 activity and preferences). On top of this, Dapps can develop services that require a reputation system, such as curated social networks, fair airdrops/ICOs, DeFi, DAO governance or any other exclusive reward. Chainlink and The Graph are used for decentralization and verifiability of our solution.

TL;DR; on current status

• Alpha version published 1 year ago, new badges were released every week and we now have over 85 badges covering the most used Dapps and chains (DAOs, DeFi, L2s, social, proof of personhood, etc.)
• Our community has grown significantly: 740,000 badges claimed by 107,000 users
• We have experimented with reputation-based governance (1 badge=1 vote) in DAO proposals ranging from 37% to over 50% participation
• EtherScore Reputation Tiers to reward reputable users (bronze=10 badges, silver=20, gold=40). Tier members get a voting power boost, with more benefits to come
• A beta version coming in the next months with an improved user interface and new features (customizable user profile, leaderboards, filtering, etc.)

EtherScore DAO and Reputation-based Governance

The EtherScore DAO is experimenting with new governance paradigms based on contributions/on-chain reputations. The first proposals are based on a 1-badge-1-vote model, which means that the more badges a user has, the more influence they will have in the DAO. This creates an incentive for users to participate actively in the Web3 ecosystem and contribute to its growth.

Last September, we also introduced the EtherScore Reputation Tiers to represent a user's rank within our community. Tiers are based on the number of badges a user has (more badges = better rank).

Benefits within the EtherScore community and EtherScore DAO will be distributed to users, but other benefits can also come from external partners (airdrops, ICO whitelists, NFTs, premium features or anticipated access) as Tiers members can be considered as "reputable" based on their achievements. As a first perk, EtherScore Tiers members get a voting power boost in our DAO (+10% of Tiers threshold was voted in a DAO proposal).

Alpha Version

The alpha version of EtherScore is live on testnet and offers more than 85 badges for users of the most popular Dapps, DAOs or chains. As seen in the following screenshots, EtherScore alpha users can collect badges to build their user profile and participate in EtherScore DAO proposals:

As of today (November 8, 2023), we have reached a total of 740,000 badges claimed by 107,000 users (source).

Beta Version

The beta version of EtherScore will be released in the next few months. It will offer a much better user experience, with a brand new design for our interface and badges. A lot of new features were teased in our Beta version announcement blogpost (filtering, customizable EtherScore profiles, leaderboards etc.). We will also release the EtherScore SDK allowing partners to build on top or display our badges in their Dapp.

Here are some previews of the new designs:

Context with the "Web3 Community & Education" Gitcoin GG19 round:

The overall goal of EtherScore is to align the interests of Dapps and users by providing a tool to curate communities.

We believe that reputation-based governance will emerge as a fair model to reward community contributions. Therefore, our work is focused on building solid reputation primitives to build a better Web3.

EtherScore badges also facilitate the onboarding of new users and bring gamification aspects to Web3. But we need a better UX to achieve mass adoption, and users need a clearer view of their activity history (blockchain explorers are complex and not user-friendly). By providing users with a profile that summarizes their actions, EtherScore hopes to create a more accessible ecosystem while improving the efficiency and fairness of blockchain incentive mechanisms.

Company/Team

We are a 5-person team incorporated in France.

Fundings: We raised $250,000 in a pre-seed round in September 2022 after a series of hackathons. We are part of dlab accelerator, Chainlink BUILD program and 2 french incubators. We have also received 2 grants from the French Public Investment Bank (11,000 and 30,000 EUR) and participated in the last Gitcoin round ($21,000 received).

Founders details:

• Sami BARBARA (CEO): Master's Degree in data science, discovered blockchains in 2016 and started mining cryptocurrencies. He then worked as a blockchain R&D engineer and at Smart Contract Research Forum (covering blockchain taxonomies, decentralization metrics, and more). (Linkedin)
• Geoffrey GARCIA (CTO): Engineer with a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Distributed Systems) and 15 years of experience as a project manager and software architect. He has worked on industrial and distributed systems (especially multi-agent ones). (Linkedin)

Non-Founder Team:

• Tim Samson (Full-Stack Developer): Linkedin
• Pauline Rondeau (designer and front-end developer): Linkedin
• Hugo Maume (full-stack developer and blockchain enthusiast): Linkedin

Gitcoin GG18 & GG19 round: The funds collected from the Gitcoin GG18 and GG19 rounds will be used for the development of EtherScore (salary expenses). The key milestone will be the beta release before 2024 (roadmap can be found here).

Links

For more information, please refer to the following links:

• EtherScore Website
• EtherScore Documentation
• EtherScore DAO
• EtherScore socials: Twitter, Lens, Discord, Medium