What Is Proof-of-Developer (PoD)?

Proof-of-developer (PoD) is a process that seeks to connect a blockchain project with its real developer or developers. The process prevents fraudsters from taking over a project, especially the funding, without delivering the final product to investors. Proof-of-developer is common with cryptocurrency-based projects.

PoD started in 2014 when crypto investors suffered losses emanating from pumps and dumps. These are scenarios in the digital currency space where a coin’s developers or malicious investors artificially inflate the prices. When their holdings attract a good ROI, they “dump” or sell them, causing the price to tank and resulting in other investors incurring losses.

Proof-of-developer was launched at a time when initial coin offerings (ICOs) were gaining momentum. Some ICO issuers were only out to defraud unsuspecting investors. PoD enables investors to look beyond the glittering ROI values and see whether an ICO project has, in fact, living and real developers.

Additionally, proof-of-developer assists in unearthing individuals who are simply copy-pasting other crypto codes and marketing them as their own original projects with the intention of attracting investments.

The PoD mechanism stores developers’ names, countries of origin, individual social media handles and personal email addresses. Moreover, the process involves verifying the details and ascertaining the developers’ education level and GitHub page.