Attestation-Based Dapp Rating System

[Maxservais]

Hey everyone,

Maxime from Ethereum Ecosystem here 👋

Just wanted to let everyone know we have been working on an onchain attestation-based review system for dApps. We should have an MVP ready by the end of the month!

Just to let you know, we've applied for a Builders grant aimed at developing several features, such as integrating with Farcaster to use social graph data for improving how reviews are displayed and their relevance. Additionally, we've applied for a Growth grant to encourage more people to leave reviews.

What is Ethereum Ecosystem?

Ethereum Ecosystem currently features over 1000+ web3 apps, curated for both web3 OGs and newcomers to find exactly what they need on Ethereum and its layer 2s (OP Mainnet, Base as well as other major rollups).

Why do we need onchain reviews?

Currently, our curation process relies on proxies like Twitter followers or Discord community size to gauge a dApp's popularity. While useful, these metrics can be manipulated and don't always reflect actual user satisfaction.

That’s why we are introducing a review system where users can rate dApps based on their personal experiences. This will shift our ranking criteria from potentially gameable proxies to genuine user feedback. The key innovation here is using the Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS) for these reviews. Instead of storing reviews in a traditional database, EAS will allow users to attest to their experiences with specific dApps on-chain.

This approach promises greater transparency and credibility, as attestations are tamper-resistant and verifiable. It aligns perfectly with the ethos of web3, offering a decentralized and user-verified method to assess dApps, ultimately enhancing the trustworthiness and utility of our platform for both new and experienced users.

Will it be open-source and composable?

Of course! The on-chain review system we are developing on top of EAS will not only be open-sourced but inherently designed for composability. It can be seamlessly integrated and utilized by various projects.

For example:

• Integration with dApps: If a dApp like Velodrome receives a high aggregate score from user ratings, they could display a badge on their website showcasing these reviews, similar to Product Hunt badges. This enhances trust and credibility.
• Usage in Wallets and Other Apps: A wallet like Zerion can incorporate these reviews and use those on-chain data to trigger warnings to end users if a dApp has a low score, enhancing user safety and informed decision-making.

This composability aspect ensures that our review system not only serves as a standalone tool but also enriches the broader Optimism ecosystem by providing valuable, user-generated insights into various projects.

In an era of so much AI content, having real people curate and recommend stuff is super important. It's like when you travel to a new city; sure, AI can give you tips, but you'd probably trust a travel blogger's real experience more. The same goes for web3 - before using a dApp, people want to hear from those who've actually used it. This kind of human touch in guiding users is really key.

Looking forward to your feedbacks!

[Maxservais]

Hello everyone,

We released an MVP earlier this week - you can now start reviewing dApps using onchain attestations from EAS!

Just go to the "review" section for an App you want to review, and follow the process. For instance, to review Velodrome, head over to https://www.ethereum-ecosystem.com/apps/velodrome-finance

Here is an example of a review I added:

Looking forward to your feedback!

Cheers,
Maxime

[Maxservais]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to post a quick update on our progress. Since our MVP release late April, we have continuously added new functionalities.

-> You can view the source code on Github and check out the demo app here.

User Interface

We designed a user-friendly interface specifically for dApp reviews. Users can view all reviews per project, sort by date, and filter by rating (from 1 to 5 stars).

Review Submission Flow Through Our Frontend

• Wallet Connection: Users connect their wallet (or create one with Coinbase smart wallet) and switch to the correct chain.
• ENS Check: We check if the user has an ENS set. If they do, we sponsor the gas fees, and the user only needs to sign the review using their wallet. If they don’t, they cover the gas fees themselves (usually about $0.02).
• Review Confirmation: Once the review is confirmed, it’s pulled into our PostgreSQL database, where we collect various data points about the reviewer to establish a credibility/reputation score. Criteria include Coinbase verification, POAP collection, Farcaster profile and followers, crypto assets, Gitcoin passport score, ENS name, etc.
• Reputation Score: Based on these data points, we assign a score. If it’s above a certain threshold, we display that the reviewer is highly trusted on our frontend.

Since we cannot prevent anyone (nor would we want to) from adding reviews onchain due to the permissionless nature of the blockchain, we have implemented checks to guide users on the trustworthiness of certain reviews. By pulling the data from the blockchain into our database, we can warn users on our frontend about the credibility of reviews based on a series of data points.

Discovering projects

Users can sort projects by number of reviews, overall review score, and alphabetical order. Although the current number of reviews is low, we expect this to become more effective as more reviews are posted.

Farcaster Frame

We used framejs to enable straightforward reviewing within Farcaster. Users can post a link to either a dApp on Ethereum Ecosystem or our demo app, which turns the link into a Farcaster frame, allowing users to leave a review without leaving e.g. Warpcast.

If you want to integrate this attestation-based rating system, please reach out - I would be more than happy to help out