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Show HN: Ethereum address reviews, similar to Yelp
Hi HN,
Excuse me if the formatting sucks, this is a first time post.
I want to introduce to you vrfd.info. A place where you can openly view and influence the reputation of any Ethereum address. Think of it as Yelp but for Eth.
Addresses are classified as either verified or flagged on-chain through soulbound NFTs. A type of NFT that has no trade value as it cannot be sold. Once minted, it is stuck to the given address. The metadata of the NFT contains either information to verify the address with, this could be a social account for example. Or in the case of flagged addresses, the metadata contains proof of wrong-doing.
Users can search the classification status of any address on the web app. Additionally, users can apply to either verify or report an address, provided proof. In the case of reports, users stand a chance to be rewarded. Finally, users can up or down vote other addresses.
I made this tool after suffering one to many scam without having an open source library where addresses can be reported or their credentials verified.
It's still a bit clunky, but the core concept works fully integrated on the Testnet. I'm shipping a big update this week to make it more responsive.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please give me any feedback as I am looking to improve everywhere I can.
- 5350-uiop-1130 3y agosending 0.0000000344545784592138 Eth to 0x0008457459dfdfn384676880dsfd Crypto transactions and address are not human readable in general imo. With reviews there is issue with the triviality of creating a new address and/or mixing transactions. A tool like this could be useful if it was integrated directly into a wallet, but even then it doesn't resolve above issue for now.
- WernerVdM 3y agoThe Ethereum naming service aims to make it more readable. One should try and name all addresses. That would help a little. But yes you are right. We try to mitigate that problem by having addresses be verified before they are allowed to review others. Yes integration like that is the most valuable way this can be used. My dream is to be able to partner up with others to make things like that possible. And yes it doesn't completely eliminate the problem, but it does mitigate it. And I'd be happy knowing I prevented at least one other person from suffering a scam like I have before.
- 5350-uiop-1130 3y agoGood luck, i hope you succeed.
- pcthrowaway 3y agoCongrats on picking the most unreadable font I've ever seen. I can't interact with this page meaningfully even if I wanted to, because I can't read a thing.
- WernerVdM 3y agoOof... sorry. Thanks for the feedback. Guess the retro tech font is lost on you. Are your referring to the application forms or the web page font? I'll change it to something else then The footer is in Ubuntu font at least... :/
- newswasboring 3y agoSo the font is atrocious, you should definitely change that. But regardless, how do I check why something was flagged?
- WernerVdM 3y agoOkay noted xD. Lot's of people hate the font. I thought it was cool at first. Like the nostalgia of retro tech. But I guess function over form. Gonna look at reverting it now into something better. We attach the reason for a flag as metadata on the NFT itself. So it is in metadata.json Right now the frontend does not display this but we will be adding it soon.
- newswasboring 3y agoI don't think there is any point to this if you don't let people read the reasons
- KomoD 3y agoThe navbar font is unreadable, you're using the default vue favicon, 2 of the links in "view top addresses" go to the same place. And what stops someone from just blasting negative votes at addresses?
- WernerVdM 3y agoDamn lot's of complaints about the font. Sorry, I'll change it. Thought the retro tech look was cool but I'll restrict it to digits only. Noted. I'll update the favicon. Yeah CRTFD temporarily redirects to the same page as VRFD as it is still under construction. It's intended to just be showing off the next feature, I'll fix sorry. Users may only vote once, furthermore they must be verified to be able to vote.
- mike503 3y agoEtherscan has had comments for years. I.e. https://etherscan.io/address/0x1f9090aae28b8a3dceadf281b0f12828e676c326#comments https://etherscan.io/address/0x1f9090aae28b8a3dceadf281b0f12... Can be spammed and gamed, but an address with a lot of complaints is likely going to be scammy.
- WernerVdM 3y agoOh yeah of course. And it has been super useful to view them. My idea is not to replace this but rather amend this. Specifically by tracking the transactions of these scammy address to also then report all subsequent ones, i.e. the ones they try to launder the money through.
- kkielhofner 3y agoI spent a year working on an NFT/crypto anti-fraud solution[0]. The most important thing I learned was that crypto is based on fraud and criminality. If that sounds overly reductive or sour grapes I’d like to tell you about the many, many scenarios where I was literally told “Why would we want this? We make our money on fraud”. I am not kidding, and I am not exaggerating. It is without question the sleaziest and most repulsive ecosystem I’ve ever encountered. I applaud the attempt to do something with integrity in this space but your time and talents are better spent elsewhere. [0] - https://fnftf.io/ https://fnftf.io/
- WernerVdM 3y agoYeah it sucks that the space is the way it is... But I am still optimistic that the blockchain itself carries invaluable utility in the way everything is openly verifiable. And for poor countries it offers a very much needed escape from failed currencies. For that reason my goal is to rather cherry pick the real, i.e. credible and authentic, people who want to use the blockchain for transaction from this sea of scams. Maybe my time is waste. But at least I'll learn more from it.
- WernerVdM 3y agoThanks everyone for the invaluable feedback. Changing the font ASAP xD
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- gemestone 3y ago[dead]
- WernerVdM 3y agoRoast me/it please
- can16358p 3y agoLooks nice, though it would be great if it supported ENS (and perhaps UD) domains, as they are getting increasingly common.
- WernerVdM 3y ago100% agree. ENS integration is days away. We have been working to get it out ASAP. It would be a great addition.
- kstenerud 3y agoHow would you explain it to someone unfamiliar with Ethereum?
- WernerVdM 3y agoIts like Yelp. You can openly view and search the reputation of businesses/freelancers/restaurants/individuals (but in the form of an eth address). Or you could add to the database of reviews, either through reporting someone (provided you give evidence) or verifying that they delivered on their promises (same goes).
- quickthrower2 3y agoWhat stops someone reporting innocent addresses?
- brunorsini 3y agoI have the same exact concern.
- WernerVdM 3y agoGood question, I answered it above. It is crucial that people not be falsely targeted.
- WernerVdM 3y agoNote that reporting someone does not actually classify it as reported just yet, all reports are reviewed and factual evidence must be provided for it to be considered a succesful report. Thereafter, the evidence is displayed publicly for users to make their own assumptions from it. Worst case scenario reports can still be revoked if new evidence comes to light.
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- anonymouskimmer 3y ago> Addresses are classified as either verified or flagged on-chain through soulbound NFTs. A type of NFT that has no trade value as it cannot be sold. Once minted, it is stuck to the given address. This should probably be called an "addressbound NFT". Is there anything that would prompt it to follow a bad user to a new address or wallet? I'm mostly cryptocurrency negative, and have never used any cryptocurrency. I presume you've thought of a variety of means your tool can be abused and have taken action to ameliorate that abuse in advance?
- WernerVdM 3y agoThe only reason it is coined soulbound is because that is what Vitalik named an untransferable token when he first envisioned it. Yes most definitely! It doesn't follow the bad user to a new address per say, but rather flags each consecutive address to which that user transfers funds. Yes abuse is my biggest fear. Especially for example someone who tries to falsify their reputation. The best way we can mitigate abuse right now is to enforce a strict verification process when on boarding users. ultimately the best way is to also do everything we do in a transparent manner, so that anyone can weigh in on their opinions.
- Sargos 3y agoYou are promoting this project as an Ethereum address service yet your sign up form asks for a BEP20 (Binance Chain) address. Is this an Ethereum project or BNB project? If this is indeed Binance Chain focused then you should lead with "EVM Address" instead as it's more technically correct.
- WernerVdM 3y agoIt is an Ethereum project. But I am just using the Binance test net to make sure it is working correctly before launching on the live net. The Ethereum test nets are not as user friendly and hard to get gas for. I want to migrate to Ethereum end of this month if I'm happy with the state of it. Noted, then I should use EVM address for the time being thanks.
- eimrine 3y agoSuppose the situation: I am going to buy something bad and see the dealer's address is here. What do I supposed to do? Is the address here just because of he sells something bad or because he is a scammer and not a seller?
- WernerVdM 3y agoYou would see there address here as one of two things: 1. verified, or 2. flagged. In the first, you would be reassured that the person has been verified by Open Info. And you would further be able to asses how many other verified users have seconded this. Giving you confidence to proceed with your sale. Tn the second, you would immediately question the validity of the seller and you would be able to review the claims made against them and asses for yourself whether or not you whish to proceed.
- slushh 3y ago1) The site has a nice design. Yet, the text in the buttons can be selected, but the hashes in the top lists cannot. 2) I cannot find one of the top hashes when searching for it. Shouldn't there be an entry? 3) Votes can be abused. Have you considered comments to add more depth? 4) What's your contingency plan? Who owns the data? Why should people build or defend their reputation on your platform? 5) The url for a searched hash is not compatible with forms Overall, it would be nice if there was another trust provider on the internet. Perhaps you can generalize the concept and offer trust for all accounts. E.g. there could be an independent evaluation of Twitter and ActivityPub accounts.
- WernerVdM 3y agoOh yeah thats the dream. To offer a 3rd party opinion on these generic forms of "verication". I mean whats the point of a twitter blue tick when you can simply buy them... And yes I do agree that it is in our interest to keep it generalized and domain unspecific. 1. Yes excuse my noob skills. I am still learning a lot. That's partly why I made it open source, so that other can contribute if they wanted. I'm still trying to get the UI polished. 2. The top addressses are from mocked data right now. Right now the only live features are registration, reporting and searching. Viewing top addresses in each category is the next feature I am finishing. Sorry if that was not clear, I'll add a disclaimer. 3. I don't want to add comments as this starts becoming a duplicate of Etherscan then. I'd rather focus on simplicity for now. We have it so that only verified users may vote, to partially stop votes from being abused. 3. The contingency plan against what exactly? Since the data is attached to a token and the token given to the user, I'd argue that the users owns their own data. We as Open Info do currently regulate the data though. But only initially. Once an address's status is determined, it is up to the community votes to second Open Info's classification Simply put, I would recommend someone build or defend their reputation on my platform as it can always be linked back to their Ethereum address. For people who use burner addresses, this tool would be useless. However, I personally would consider interacting with a burner address as a concern. I would prefer to interact with someone who has previous payment references to use as an indication of a successful delivery of goods. Closest comparisons to my goal with this platform would be certik. What differentiates this however is that it is aimed towards an individual using an address as payment for some service or product. 5. Once again, excuse my frontend skills. I'm not sure I understand though? Would you care to elaborate please and I'll try and improve it.