Palo Alto, California, March 1st, 2024
OpenRank: Empowering Decentralized Consumer Apps with Trust and Reputation Through a Decentralized Reputation Protocol
Pioneering the way for on-chain consumer applications, developers and web3 companies can now rely on OpenRank, a decentralized reputation protocol, to build platforms where users can discover, utilize, fund, read or buy something without the fear of spamming or scamming. This groundbreaking protocol was initiated by Karma3 Labs, which recently secured a $4.5M seed funding round led by Galaxy and IDEO CoLab Ventures.
OpenRank is designed to address a critical need in web3, as trust and reputation mechanisms are just as crucial in the decentralized digital world as they have been in web2. Previous examples of decentralized peer-to-peer utility include Uber’s decentralization due to driver ratings, AirBnB’s decentralization because of host ratings, eBay’s decentralization of shopping malls thanks to seller ratings, Reddit’s decentralized gated community forums due to user karma badges and Google enabling the practical use of the decentralized web through PageRank. However, none of these services could be fully decentralized because a single entity owned the reputation scores, necessitating the development of decentralized reputation mechanisms to prevent centralized gatekeeping. OpenRank aims to provide an open-source, permissionless, flexible and Sybil-resistant solution to this challenge.
Creating a Decentralized Web of Trust: The Role of OpenRank
OpenRank is poised to set the foundation for a future where peer-to-peer interactions and collective community intelligence power a decentralized web of trust, eliminating the need for centralized gatekeepers. The protocol envisions a scenario where platforms like Twitter’s Community Notes system are possible but not owned by a single company, openly and cheaply accessible to any developer, who could define their own algorithm of choice.
“A decentralized internet characterized by fairness and transparency hinges on the existence of a robust reputation system,” said Sahil Dewan, founder and CEO of Karma3 Labs. “We believe that on-chain social and consumer experiences will need a decentralized reputation protocol, and we’re excited to welcome builders and developers for OpenRank.”
Empowering Developers with Permissionless Reputation Computation
OpenRank enables any developer to permissionlessly compute on reputation graphs for ratings, ranking or recommendation within their apps or communities. These graphs can be constructed using on-chain or peer-to-peer social graph data. Utilizing graph algorithms, like EigenTrust, OpenRank will enable verifiable computation on these reputation graphs.
OpenRank utilizes zero-knowledge proving systems for running graph algorithm computations. Developers can use any on-chain data that suits their application context without worrying about the cost or verifiability of computing on the data. Consumer applications and marketplaces will be able to integrate context-specific, native rankings and recommendations seamlessly. Moreover, developers can also leverage rankings and reputation from other ecosystems and communities to bootstrap their own reputation system.
“OpenRank represents a pivotal advance in web3 social and on-chain interactions,” said Mike Giampapa, General Partner of Galaxy’s venture team. “We’ve seen the impact PageRank had in web2, and there is a massive opportunity to build a similar reputation primitive on-chain. We’re excited for the future of Karma3 Labs and what they’ve built with OpenRank, and are proud to lead the company’s seed round.”
The fundraise was led by Galaxy and IDEO CoLab Ventures, with participation from Spartan, SevenX, HashKey, Flybridge, Delta Fund, Draper Dragon, and Compa Capital. Angel investors from Xooglers Fund and veterans from Coinbase, ConsenSys, IPFS, along with Andrew Hong from Dune Analytics and Liang Wu from the Harvard Crypto Lab also invested in the seed round. This raise enables OpenRank to broaden adoption across early use cases and help launch protocol v1 for developers, ushering in a new era of permissionless and verifiable reputation computation.
“Karma3 Labs and the OpenRank protocol for reputation and trust will enable radical innovation around choice, personalization and safety for a rapidly evolving internet,” said Joe Gerber, Managing Director of IDEO CoLab. “We are excited to see OpenRank already being implemented to enable open marketplaces, spam reduction and choose your own algorithms. This only scratches the surface of what’s possible, and we look forward to working with the Karma3 Labs team to bring these possibilities to life.”
About OpenRank
OpenRank is a decentralized reputation protocol founded by Karma3 Labs. OpenRank introduces decentralized reputation mechanisms that set the foundation for a future where peer-to-peer interactions and collective community intelligence power a decentralized web of trust, rendering centralized gatekeepers obsolete. With OpenRank, we can build a more reputable world.
OpenRank enables developers to build consumer apps and communities where users can make informed decisions based on trust and reputation, making the digital world a safer and more transparent place for everyone.
Contact
For media inquiries, please contact:
Jane Doe
Public Relations Manager
Karma3 Labs
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 650-123-4567
