Core Concepts

Trust Bond

A Trust Bond is a novel financial primitive that represents a mutual trust relationship between two parties on the blockchain. Key characteristics include:

  • Equal Contribution: Both parties must contribute the same amount of tokens to form a bond
  • Mutual Access: Either party can withdraw the full amount at any time
  • Yield Generation: Bonded tokens are deposited into Aave to generate yield
  • Trust Quantification: The bond amount represents the level of trust between parties
  • Sybil Resistance: Integration with Gitcoin Passport ensures genuine user identities

Bond States

Active Bond

  • Both parties have matching deposits
  • Tokens are generating yield in Aave
  • Either party can initiate withdrawals
  • Bond details are tracked: partner addresses, amount, creation time, and last update

Broken Bond

When trust is violated or a relationship needs to end:

  • Either party can unilaterally break the bond
  • Incurs a higher penalty (4% break fee) compared to mutual withdrawal
  • Remaining funds are returned to the breaker
  • The bond relationship is permanently terminated

Economic Mechanisms

Fee Structure

The project implements different fee levels to incentivize positive behavior:

  • Withdrawal Fee (1%): Applied when both parties mutually agree to withdraw
  • Break Fee (4%): Higher penalty for unilateral bond breaking
  • Fees contribute to the community pool, supporting the project's sustainability

Yield Generation

  • Bonded tokens are automatically supplied to Aave's lending pool
  • Participants earn higher-than-market-average yields on their locked tokens
  • Yield serves as an incentive for maintaining long-term trust relationships

Social Reputation

On-chain Trust Network

  • Each bond creates a verifiable trust connection between addresses
  • Bond amounts indicate trust levels between participants
  • Network of bonds forms a map of trust relationships in the ecosystem

Identity Verification

  • Integration with Gitcoin Passport for Sybil resistance
  • Minimum score requirement (20) ensures legitimate participants
  • Combines off-chain identity verification with on-chain actions

Public Good Aspects

Non-excludable Access

  • Anyone meeting the minimum Passport score can participate
  • No privileged access or special permissions required
  • Open source and transparent implementation

Community Benefits

  • Creates a new primitive for establishing trust in Web3
  • Enables reputation building through verifiable actions
  • Supports coordination and collaboration in decentralized systems
  • Fee structure maintains system sustainability

Technical Safeguards

Security Measures

  • Pause mechanism for emergency situations
  • Access controls for administrative functions
  • Economic penalties to discourage malicious behavior
  • Score-based participation requirements

Smart Contract Integration

  • Seamless integration with Aave for yield generation
  • ERC20 token compatibility
  • Gitcoin Passport integration for identity verification