How it works

TheBadge’s decentralized certification mechanism consists of 5 steps in which all 3 protocol participants play a role:

1. Evidence submission:

Badge applicants have to prove that they meet the requirements needed to receive that badge. Therefore applicants need to submit all the information required by the badge creator.

These requirements will be shown as open fields in the second step of the badge application. The user needs to fill in this information as detailed as possible in order to prove to the curators that they qualify for the badge.

2. Optimistic evaluation period

This step begins once the user fully submits his badge application, and it will be automatically shown among the badges pending for review. This information can be seen by all curators, who take care of the veracity of the information, which are all members of TheBadge’s community.

The application will stay in review until a curator challenges the application, or until the “review time” pre-selected by the badge creator is over.

3. Evidence challenge

This step is only triggered if a curator initiates a [challenge](link to challenge doc) to the applicant because he/she believes that the proof submitted is fraudulent.

To initiate the challenge, the curator will have to make a deposit. The deposit amount depends on the type of badge. This deposit will be used to reward the jurors, as well as the winner of the challenge.

4. Arbitration

Once the curator initiates the challenge, the arbitration starts. The arbitration process is delegated to Kleros.io. Kleros will select an odd number of jurors and it will initiate the dispute resolution.

The duration of the dispute will depend on the juror's decision. Once the majority of jurors agree on an answer, the case is resolved.

5. Resolution

This is the final step in which it is revealed whether the badge applicant receives the badge or not.

There are two ways to arrive at a resolution:

Challenged

If the evidence provided was challenged by a curator the arbitration is started:

1. If it is decided that the evidence provided is true, the applicant receives the badge, his own deposit, and the deposit of the curator that initiated the challenge.

2. If it is decided that the evidence provided was false, the applicant does not receive a badge, and loses his deposit and the application fee.

a. It is decided that the evidence provided was false:

Badge requester lose the challenge.

b. It is decided that the evidence provided is true:

Badge requester win the challenge.

Not Challenged

If the evidence was not challenged by a curator, the applicant receives the badge after the review period is over.

Not challenged badge request.