Introducing Define Protocol

Define Protocol is a privacy-preserving, proof of talent hood protocol standard for the world’s talent. Define is a permissionless and composable ecosystem of verified talent identity and reputation, powering jobs, marketplaces, professional networks and other businesses in talent and adjacent industries.

Define protocol proposes a new standard of online reputation for talent that allows any system to distinguish between genuine humans, and fake humans on the network, allowing genuine humans to develop a trustable reputation with statements that can be verified proving each achievement in their professional life.

Rather than improving existing systems and providing yet another offering, Define aims to be the infrastructure powering a trustable hiring reputation. Define Protocol consists of privacy-preserving decentralized identity (Define DID), which serves as proof of personhood; verified credentials (Define Credentials) for building a reputation; the DEF Chain, ensuring immutability, tamper resistance, and permissionless operation; and the DEF token, powering the growth and security of the ecosystem. The salient offerings of the protocol are as follows.

1. Prove personhood to delete no human users from the network.
2. Prove talenthood building a trustable reputation by getting credentials signed by trustable entities that allow to generate a lifetime reputation.
3. Allow external agents to verify the veracity of reputation.
4. Protect user privacy, control and ownership by allowing proving information without revealing it.
5. Seamless integration with other applications and partners in an open ecosystem.

Problem

Just in 2023, over 115 million fake profiles were removed from online professional platforms, reflecting a huge and growing issue in digital ecosystems. The fundamental problem lies in the current inability to reliably verify and authenticate digital identities and reputations in repeatable and cost-efficient way.

The fast advances in AI technology make this problem bigger, as AI models improve, make it difficult to distinguish genuine profiles from fake ones. This growth of fraudulent identities reduces the trust and reliability of online platforms, leading to significant economic impacts. Companies spent $600 billion in annual costs due to hiring talent who misrepresent their identity, skills, and experience.

Furthermore, job scams that exploit personal information result in losses of around $750 million annually for jobseekers. These scams not only damage individual security but also pose significant risks to companies, as the stolen information can be misused, leading to mistrust and financial harm.

These risks include a variety of attacks:

• Social Engineering: Fraudsters use fake profiles to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information, resulting in data breaches and financial losses.
• Sybil Attacks: Single entities create multiple fake identities to manipulate reputational data, false endorsements, and hiring processes, undermining platform integrity.
• Corporate Espionage: Attackers use fake profiles to infiltrate companies, gathering sensitive information and stealing intellectual property, causing financial loss and reputational damage.
• Phishing Attacks: Fake profiles facilitate phishing schemes that trick recipients into revealing personal information or downloading malicious software, compromising user accounts.
• Credential Stuffing: Fraudsters use fake profiles to test stolen login credentials, leading to unauthorized account access and further exploitation.
• Fake Endorsements and Reviews: Fake profiles leave fraudulent reviews and endorsements, deceiving potential employers, clients, and partners, and undermining trust.
• Identity Theft: Attackers use fake profiles to steal personal information and impersonate victims, leading to financial fraud and long-term reputational damage.

Solution

Define Protocol is building the privacy preserving, proof of talenthood standard. It is expanding on the 0 to 1 adoption of proof of personhood, and providing cumulatively exhaustive set of verified credentials that are necessary to maintain online professional identity in the talent industry in a private and secure fashion.

1. Proof of Talenthood: Define Protocol introduces Proof of Talenthood, building on verified human identities. This system authenticates user reputations, professional achievements, educational background, and skills. It leverages decentralized identity technology and encrypted, blockchain-verified credentials, issued by reputable organizations and immutable once entered into the blockchain, ensuring their permanence and reliability.
2. Privacy Preservation: Define Protocol implements a decentralized mechanism that empowers users as the owners of their information. Users have full authority to decide who can access their credentials and under what conditions. Each credential is encrypted and stored in a decentralized system, decryptable only by the user and those they grant access to. Define Protocol leverages the immutable Define Chain state to manage credential access, making it highly resilient to any kind of attack. Users can utilize selective disclosure to share specific pieces of information or create a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proof that can be verified, allowing them to attest to the validity of a signed credential without revealing any sensitive information.

The protocol supports seamless integration, connecting with professional networks, recruitment agencies, government institutions, consulting firms, payroll systems, and banking services. This interoperability ensures that verified identities and reputations are recognized and trusted across multiple sectors, promoting a safer and more efficient digital ecosystem. Define Protocol's approach to professional identity and reputation management not only solves the current issues of fraud and misrepresentation, but also empowers users with control over their personal information, enhancing trust and reliability in online interactions.

Technology Components

Define DID

Define Decentralized ID (Define DID) is a decentralized identifier that allows users to verify their identity and personhood through different method, importing an existing personhood proof or getting one by a trustable entity, preserving the ownership and privacy of their identity all the time. Define protocol uses three key elements to achieve this goal:

1. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): ZKPs allow individuals to prove the validity of a statement without revealing additional information. In the context of Define DID, they are used to prove the humanness of a user without divulging sensitive information.
2. Decentralization: Decentralized systems are a pillar of the protocol, enabling users' full ownership over their data, and ensuring it is always available and accessible only with the user's permission.
3. Cryptography and encryption: Define protocol uses different cryptography and encryption methods to preserve privacy while maintaining the benefits of decentralization.

Define Credentials

Define credentials are statements that give veracity to any fact, allowing users to add any kind of achievement or relevant information to their reputation. Examples of such credentials include:

• Name
• Location
• Humanity
• Work
• Education history
• Skills
• Certifications
• Any kind of claim to build a richest reputation

Credentials are signed by a trustable entity, that gives veracity to the credential and follow the IEEE Std 1484 LER Ecosystem Standard for interoperability and reliability.

To keep full ownership and control management, users have different options to share their credentials:

1. Users can generate a ZKP, that allows third entities to verify the existence and veracity of a credential without sharing any kind of sensible information.
2. Selective disclosure allows a user to share partial information from a credential, granting a third party access to read this data.
3. User can share all the details of a credential, giving access to a third party to read the full credential.

For each of these options, users have full control over who can access their information, at what level and under what conditions. This creates a perfect environment where privacy and ownership are respected and maintained according to the user's preferences.

Additionally, all credentials are non-transferable, meaning they are securely tied to the user's identity and cannot be transferred to another person. This ensures the integrity and trustworthiness of the credentials, preventing any misuse or fraudulent transfer.

DEF Chain

The Define Chain, being a pillar of the protocol, is a layer 2 blockchain solution designed to address scalability concerns while improving transaction speed and interoperability. It offers near-instant finality and compatibility with existing Ethereum tooling through EVM equivalence. Define Chain allows creating a seamless integration with other protocols, by allowing atomic L2 to L2 chain transactions.

It leverages Validium ZK rollups to enhance performance and uses Ethereum to store validated information. Key features of the Define Chain include:

• Scalability: Define Chain implements Validium ZK rollups to handle a growing user base and increasing transaction volumes. By enabling atomic L2 <> L2 transactions, the chain enhances throughput and reduces latency, ensuring a seamless user experience.
• Independent Data Availability: Define Chain provides robust off-chain data access and reliability through a dedicated data availability layer and a data availability committee. This structure, independent of Ethereum, ensures substantial data resilience and integrity.
• Near-Instant Finality: Transactions on Define Chain are confirmed rapidly, providing users with timely settlement and improved transaction processing efficiency.
• EVM Compatibility: With out-of-the-box compatibility with existing Ethereum tooling, Define Chain ensures a smooth transition for developers and users familiar with the Ethereum ecosystem. By supporting EVM, it facilitates seamless migration of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) from Ethereum to Define Chain, enabling interoperability and continuity of operations.
• Native Gas Token: Define Chain introduces a native gas token mechanism to optimize fee structures and enhance user experience. Native gas tokens enable users to enjoy stable and predictable fees while providing chain operators with the flexibility to customize fee structures according to network demands.
• Dynamic Gas Fees: Gas costs are calculated based on Layer 1 gas prices, dynamically adjusting to ensure efficient resource allocation and optimal transaction processing.
• Pool Storage: The chain incorporates pool storage functionality to store calculated L2 gas prices for consumption by network participants, streamlining gas price calculation and distribution.
• Interoperability: Define Chain facilitates seamless communication and asset transfer with other compatible blockchain networks. By enabling atomic L2 <> L2 transactions, it provides chains with the opportunity to integrate and access unified liquidity, ensuring connectivity with a broader network of blockchain platforms.

The Define Chain offers a robust and scalable solution for decentralized identity verification, reputation management, and transaction processing. By prioritizing scalability, interoperability, and user experience, Define is poised to drive the adoption of decentralized identity solutions and foster trust in the decentralized age.

DEF Token

The DEF token is the engine of the protocol, being the native token of the Define Chain, works as gas fees to keep the network secure, and also aims to incentivize participation, growing the community and facilitating a seamless interaction across diverse decentralized applications and protocols. The DEF Token serves multiple utility functions within the Define DID ecosystem, including but not limited to:

• Community Utility: DEF Token fosters engagement, collaboration, and reward mechanisms among users. It enables participation in community-driven initiatives, interaction with fellow members, and unlocking additional benefits through active engagement.
• Gas Fees: DEF Token is the primary currency for paying gas fees associated with executing transactions, deploying smart contracts, and interacting with decentralized applications (dApps) on the Define Chain. Using DEF Token for gas fees reduces transaction costs and enhances efficiency.
• Staking Rewards: DEF Token holders can stake their tokens in designated pools to earn staking rewards. Staking contributes to network security and stability, providing an opportunity for token holders to support the ecosystem while earning rewards.
• Credential Validation: To become a credential validator within the Define Protocol, entities must stake DEF tokens. This staking requirement ensures that validators are committed and have a vested interest in maintaining the integrity and reliability of the credential validation process.
• Governance: DEF Token holders can participate in the governance of the Define Protocol by staking their tokens and delegating their voting power. This allows them to vote on Define Improvement Proposals, technical upgrades, and core development roadmaps. Governance is overseen by the Define Council, which includes representatives from various stakeholder groups within the ecosystem. The Council collaborates with the Define Foundation and the community to ensure balanced and effective decision-making.
• Access to Services: DEF Token grants holders access to premium services, exclusive features, and enhanced functionalities within the Define DID ecosystem. By holding DEF Tokens, users can unlock benefits such as priority access to job postings, premium identity verification services, and personalized insights on participating dApps like Outdefine.com.

Breaking Down Define

Define Protocol offers a unified solution to the fragmentation and redundancy of information by enabling users to establish a decentralized reputation. This reputation can seamlessly integrate across various systems without the need to create separate profiles for each one.

By decentralizing identity management, Define Protocol eliminates single points of failure while enhancing user privacy. It empowers users with full control and ownership of their data, allowing them to determine who can access their credentials and proofs. As users build their reputation within Define Protocol, they gain a privately verifiable identity and credentials endorsed by trustworthy entities. These credentials can be verified by any desired entities, creating a network of reliable human reputation.

On a high level, Define Protocol consists of a constant interaction between reliable identities (Issuers), identities willing to build a reputation, and entities interested in getting trustable human information (Verifiers).

These terms are defined as follows:

• Issuer: A trustable entity with a verified identity that has the right to issue and sign credentials, becoming it trustable and backed by its reputation.
• User: A user is an individual with a verified Define DID, which gives proof of personhood, allowing them to create a reputation by proving claims in the network.
• Verifier: A verifier is an entity interested in proving the authenticity of certain information. The role of a verifier can be assumed by anyone, from an individual to a system or institution.
• Credential: A piece of information that gives veracity to any statement, signed by a trustable entity (Issuer).

Composable Reputation

Define Protocol offers an innovative approach to reputation management across diverse systems. This protocol eliminates the common issues of fragmented and redundant data by creating a unified reputation profile that users can maintain across various platforms. Designed for seamless integration, Define Protocol bridges the gap between different technological ecosystems, including legacy Web2 systems, fostering interoperability and enhancing user experience. It supports easy user onboarding through the use of smart wallets, allowing users to own and manage a decentralized identity without getting involved in complex technologies. By simplifying how reputations are handled and recognized across multiple platforms, Define Protocol ensures a more coherent and powerful user identity system.

To facilitate integration, Define Protocol provides a Development Kit (SDK) for API-based and on-chain interaction. This SDK will streamline the integration process for developers, enabling them to easily incorporate Define Protocol's reputation and identity management features into their applications. The SDK supports both legacy systems and modern blockchain environments, providing a versatile tool for enhancing user identity and reputation management across various platforms.

Permissionless system

Define Protocol operates on DEF Chain, a permissionless network, meaning that anyone can participate in the ecosystem without requiring explicit authorization. This open-access approach encourages diversity, allowing individuals from diverse backgrounds to engage in identity verification and reputation building. By removing barriers to entry, Define Protocol democratizes access to digital identity solutions, empowering users to take control of their online reputation in a decentralized way.

Recovery

Define Protocol uses smart wallets to make things simpler and safer for the users. These wallets serve as an abstraction layer, allowing users to control their identities without the need to directly manage private keys. Managing private keys traditionally poses several issues: they are susceptible to loss, theft, and mismanagement. If a private key is lost or stolen, the associated assets or identity credentials can be irretrievably compromised.

By eliminating this common point of failure, our system not only simplifies the user experience, but also significantly increases security. Smart wallets facilitate the recovery process should users lose access to their accounts. By simply verifying their identities, users can recover control of their wallets. All credentials are securely tied to the user's wallet and are non-transferable, which eliminates security risks and potential points of failure.

DEF Token

The tokenomics of the DEF Token are designed to support the sustainable growth and active engagement of the Define Protocol ecosystem. The DEF Token serves as the pillar for various operations within the platform, from transaction payments to incentivizing participation and governance. Here's a detailed breakdown of the DEF Token distribution and its intended uses:

Token Distribution

The total supply of DEF Tokens is fixed at 1 billion, allocated to ensure a balanced ecosystem that promotes long-term sustainability and growth:

• 15% Team: 150 million tokens are allocated to the core team members who are instrumental in developing and implementing the Define Protocol. This allocation motivates the team to strive towards the project's success and ensures alignment with the long-term goals of the protocol.
• 25% Investors: 250 million tokens are reserved for early investors and strategic partners who have provided the capital necessary to fund the initial development and growth of the Define Protocol. This stake rewards their support and gives them a vested interest in the project's success.
• 10% Treasury: 100 million tokens are designated for the company treasury to support future developments, marketing initiatives, strategic partnerships, and community-driven projects. This reserve provides a financial foundation for sustained operations and expansion.
• 25% Ecosystem Development: 250 million tokens are dedicated to fostering the growth and resilience of the Define Protocol ecosystem. This includes grants for dApp developers, liquidity incentives for decentralized exchanges, and support for projects that build on the Define Blockchain.
• 20% Rewards and Verifiers: 200 million tokens are allocated to incentivize community engagement, participation, and contributions, including significant rewards for verifiers within the Define DID ecosystem. These verifiers are crucial in validating the identity credentials of users and maintaining network integrity.
• 5% Airdrops: 50 million tokens are set aside for airdrops to new users, early adopters, and community event participants. Airdrops help raise awareness, drive adoption, and reward community support.

Economic Strategy

The economic strategy of the DEF Token is designed to maintain balance and stability within the ecosystem:

• Controlled Supply: The fixed total supply of 1 billion tokens helps prevent inflation and ensures that the token distribution aligns with the long-term objectives of the ecosystem.
• Incentive Alignment: The allocation strategy is designed to align the incentives of all stakeholders, from team members and investors to community participants and verifiers, ensuring everyone is motivated to contribute positively to the ecosystem.
• Buy-Back Mechanism: Revenues generated from Outdefine will be strategically used to buy back DEF tokens from the market. This buy-back mechanism will help stabilize the token price and reduce circulating supply, enhancing the overall value of the DEF token.
• Liquidity Pools: A portion of revenues generated from Outdefine will be allocated to purchase liquidity pools, ensuring sufficient liquidity for DEF token transactions and supporting a healthy and stable token ecosystem.