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OriginTrail

Decentralised Knowledge Graph protocol turning data into verifiable Knowledge Assets for AI, supply chain, and enterprise use. Best tokenomics in DeAI, named enterprise adoption.

A
Quadrant
Best of both
60
Freedom
/100
C
66
Returns
/100
C
Verdict · Sovereignty and returns

The quiet achiever of DeAI. Best tokenomics, named enterprise adoption, unique category. Eight years of building with unquantified revenue.

Strengths
  • + Clean supply profile: 500M fixed cap, zero inflation, vesting complete; the ~10.5% non-circulating is staked, not unvested
  • + Named enterprise traction: Walmart award, Oracle integration, BSI advisory, GS1 working group membership
  • + Publishing fees paid in TRAC distributed to node operators: usage-funded yield, not inflation
Risks
  • − Revenue is a black box: publishing fees exist but total is not publicly tracked or on DeFiLlama
  • − Narrative pivot fatigue: supply chain → Web3 → AI across eight years of building without a breakout
  • − DKG contracts not audited by a major firm despite iterating through V10
Independent verification 7 checks · none corrected · checked on-chain · as of 2026-09-23
Our call on each · 6 freedom · 5 returns
See OriginTrail in the integrity board →
Freedom Score
C60/100?

OriginTrail is one of the most mature open-source projects in DeAI — 8 years of operation, 99.96% supply circulated, and genuine enterprise adoption. The DKG architecture provides real data sovereignty through verifiable Knowledge Assets. However, governance is limited, data is not encrypted, and the exact degree of node decentralisation is unclear.

Freedom Score 60/100 (C) reflects strong foundations with room for improvement in governance and privacy.

Infrastructure decentralisation12/20

DKG Core Nodes distributed globally — anyone can run one with 50K TRAC stake. Multi-chain deployment (NeuroWeb, Base, Gnosis) provides infrastructure redundancy. V8 Edge Nodes extend the network to lightweight devices. However, exact node count not publicly available. NeuroWeb depends on Polkadot parachain slot. Core team (Trace Labs) controls protocol development direction.

Governance decentralisation8/20

NeuroWeb has Polkadot-style parachain governance with NEURO token. TRAC governance for the DKG protocol itself is less documented. RFC repository exists for protocol proposals but formal governance process is unclear. Trace Labs controls development decisions. Score reflects partial governance via NeuroWeb but limited DKG-level governance.

Token distribution fairness11/15 Established

50% sold in ICO (pre-sale + crowd sale), an unusually high public distribution. Close to 90% circulating after 8 years, fully vested with no remaining insider overhang; the rest is DKG staking locked on NeuroWeb rather than pending unlocks. ICO investors at $0.10 have roughly 3.5x ROI, a rare positive outcome. 23% insider (founders 18% + team/advisors 5%) is moderate and fully vested. Among the most mature supply profiles in DeAI.

Our independent check
We measured

Once staking and bridge contracts are set aside, TRAC's top ten holders hold a moderate share of supply, led by two large unlabelled wallets. Ethereum TRAC top-10 holders = 51.6% raw, but ~24.8pp is infrastructure: a staking-hub proxy (EternalStorageProxy 12.9%), a bridge/deployment proxy (L1ChugSplashProxy 7.1%), other proxies, and Kraken. Infra-excluded top-10 is ~28% of total (~32% of circulating), D1 'moderate' under the rubric. The remaining concentration is two large unlabelled EOAs (12.0%, 8.2%); it does not reach D0 (>50%). sources/holders.py: top holders + is_contract + public labels, classified holder/infra/cex/burn; concentration = raw balance / total_supply (decimals cancel). Infra-exclusion drops contracts + labelled CEX + burn.

Our call

Established Re-check item: if either large unlabelled EOA (12.0% / 8.2%) is an exchange or a founder wallet, the read shifts. The infra-excluded figure rests partly on addresses Blockscout does not label, so a change in how many sit in the top ten is a signal to re-trace by hand.

evidence → signed · as of 2026-09-23 · how it’s signed
Censorship resistance9/15 Established

Knowledge Assets are anchored on-chain — once published, they cannot be easily censored. Multi-chain deployment (NeuroWeb, Base, Gnosis) provides redundancy. However, data is stored off-chain on DKG nodes — if nodes go offline, data availability depends on replication. Node operators can choose what data to store. No privacy features for stored data.

Our independent check
We measured

The TRAC token contract's owner is a single externally owned key, and the contract has no pause, proxy or public freeze getter. TRAC answers owner() with an externally owned account, so a single private key holds whatever onlyOwner guards. There is no pause, no proxy and no public freeze getter, so transfers cannot be halted and the logic cannot be replaced. Direct RPC read of the token contract's control surface: owner(), paused(), the two EIP-1967 proxy slots, Safe getThreshold/getOwners and TimelockController getMinDelay on whatever the owner resolves to, plus five public freeze getters. Shared implementation with npm run watch:control-surface, so the fact a human authors from and the fact the watcher re-reads are the same read. THE FREEZE PROBE IS A POSITIVE SIGNAL ONLY: FLOCK carries an admin-gated blacklist that every one of those getters reverts against, because its map is private, so a null there means no PUBLIC GETTER and never no blacklist. Scope is the token contract, not the project's off-chain services.

Our call

Established The anchoring and replication argument for censorship resistance concerns the DKG and is outside this read. An EOA owner on a token with eight years of history is a key that has to keep being safe.

evidence → signed · as of 2026-09-23 · how it’s signed
Data sovereignty9/15

Knowledge Assets are owned by their creators (ERC1155Delta). W3C DID-compliant identifiers. Verifiable data provenance through on-chain anchoring. Users control their knowledge graph data. However, data stored on DKG nodes is not encrypted — it's verifiable but not private. No privacy-preserving computation for knowledge graph queries.

Open source transparency11/15 Established

83 repos on GitHub, 584 total stars. Core DKG engine, SDKs (JS, Python), NeuroWeb parachain all open source. Active development through 2026, with DKG V10 shipping across the v10.0.x line. elizagraph (AI agent integration) is a notable recent addition. Smart contract audit documents publicly available. However, DKG V10 contracts have not been audited by a major firm.

Our independent check
We measured

OriginTrail's node software is public under Apache-2.0, and the TRAC token contract source is verified on Etherscan. TracToken contract source-verified on Etherscan; github.com/OriginTrail/ot-node Apache-2.0, not archived, 234 stars. Active development in OriginTrail/dkg (V10, 2026). coldstart github source (ot-node: Apache-2.0, last push 2026-03-27) + Etherscan-verified TracToken source. NOTE: the tool sampled ot-node (older V6-era node); the actively-developed repo is OriginTrail/dkg (V10 shipped mid-2026), so 'active development' holds. Audit report not confirmed by this run.

Our call

Established Active development sits in the OriginTrail/dkg repository (V10, 2026); the older ot-node repo was the one sampled. A published audit report is not confirmed here. Watched daily since 2026-09-18.

evidence → signed · as of 2026-09-23 · how it’s signed
Returns Score
C 66/100 ?

Overall returns potential is moderate at 66/100. Strongest dimension: supply dynamics (18/20). Weakest: revenue sustainability (8/25).

Token utility16/20

Required for publishing Knowledge Assets, node staking (50K-5M TRAC), delegated staking, data integrity collateral. Token is structurally essential.

Value accrual13/20

Publishing fees paid in TRAC distributed to nodes as yield sourced from usage, not inflation. Direct utility-based accrual. Revenue not publicly tracked.

Supply dynamics18/20 Verified

500M fixed cap, vesting complete, zero inflation. ~89% circulating per CoinGecko; the remaining ~10.5% (~52.7M TRAC) is staked in DKG node operations, not unvested supply.

Our independent check
OriginTrail says

“The non-inflationary token” source →

We found

TRAC (TracToken, Ethereum 0xaa7a…) is a 2018 OZ MintableToken whose mint() is gated by canMint (require !mintingFinished); mintingFinished() reads true on-chain, so minting is permanently disabled and no code path can raise the 500M total. Transfers themselves require mintingFinished, corroborating the flag. eth_call the mintingFinished() getter (selector 0x05d2035b) -> true; read the verified source (mint() has onlyOwner+canMint; transfer requires mintingFinished). Confirms a hard cap enforced in code, not merely a current-total match.

Our call

Verified The cap is enforced in code: mintingFinished() reads true, so the mint entrypoint is permanently locked and the EOA owner cannot inflate supply. Watched daily since 2026-09-18, with source verification read from Blockscout and the returned contract name as a control.

evidence → signed · as of 2026-09-23 · how it’s signed
Revenue sustainability8/25 Established

OriginTrail reports 1B+ Knowledge Assets; enterprise partnerships (Walmart, Oracle, BSI, GS1). Revenue unquantified, no public dashboard.

Our independent check
We measured

OriginTrail's publishing-fee contracts on Base and Gnosis are deployed but hold no TRAC and have 15 accounts between them. OriginTrail's own contract-addresses page says DKG V10 is live on Base and Gnosis mainnet and that NeuroWeb 'is not yet selectable'. On those two chains the demand-side rail is deployed and empty. PublishingConvictionStorage, PublishingConviction and DKGPublishingConvictionNFT all hold 0.00 TRAC on both chains, and the DKGPublishingConvictionNFT reports 4 accounts ever created on Base and 11 on Gnosis, 15 in total. Meanwhile 93.74% of TRAC on Base and 94.38% on Gnosis sits in ConvictionStakingStorage. So TRAC on the live chains is almost entirely staked, and the publishing-fee rail that is supposed to pay those stakers has fifteen accounts and no committed funds. The docs index was enumerated from llms.txt rather than guessed, which is how the contract-addresses page was found and with it the statement that NeuroWeb is not a V10 network. Every contract read was checked with eth_getCode first and returns between 4,911 and 23,780 bytes, so a zero balance is an empty contract and not a mistyped address, and the NFT was asked for its own name(), which returns DKGPublishingConvictionNFT. Balances measure funds at rest and cannot see pass-through flow; the PCA model commits funds for a billing window, so a used rail should hold a balance, and the account count is carried beside the balance for exactly that reason. Ingestion only, verdict human-set.

Our call

Established V10 shipped to mainnet in late June 2026, so fifteen accounts is an early number, and V8 service agreements may still carry fees this read does not cover. The Knowledge Asset count describes the protocol's history; the rail that converts publishing into revenue is three months old.

evidence → signed · as of 2026-09-23 · how it’s signed
Liquidity & access11/15 Established

Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitstamp, Crypto.com, Gate.io, HTX and Upbit (KRW/BTC/USDT, listed 18 May 2026). No Binance, and Bitget lists no TRAC pair. Good tier-1 coverage across about 26 venues, though Upbit can carry close to half the daily flow.

Our independent check
We measured

TRAC trades on a broad spread of exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Upbit, with no Binance (global) or Bitget listing, but the lead venue swings: no venue topped 30% of volume on 6 September 2026, while Upbit carried about 47% of 24h volume on 25 September 2026. 30 tickers on 24 venues, re-read 2026-10-13 (26 tickers on 2026-10-07). Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitstamp, Crypto.com, Gate, HTX and Upbit all list TRAC, and Binance's global exchange does not; Binance US quotes one ticker at negligible volume. Bitget lists no TRACUSDT pair, re-confirmed 2026-10-13 against Bitget's own spot symbols endpoint, which returns "does not exist" for TRACUSDT while the same call resolves GLMUSDT. Concentration moves with the lead venue: HTX had 39.8% and Upbit 19.1% of 24h volume on this read, against HTX 27.9% and Upbit 24.8% on 7 October and Upbit alone at 46.9% on 25 September. Turnover is a 3.05% 7-day median. Paginated the CoinGecko ticker set, summed 24h volume per venue, then queried Bitget directly for the pair that did not appear rather than reading an aggregator gap as a delisting.

Our call

Established Bitget was queried directly rather than reading an aggregator gap as a delisting.

evidence → signed · as of 2026-09-23 · how it’s signed
Quadrant A — Best of both ?
Price
$0.419
Market Cap
$187.5M
FDV
$209.6M
24h Change
+10.8%
+10.8%

Not financial advice. Scores are opinions, not recommendations. Crypto is high-risk – you could lose everything you invest. Full disclaimer.

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Own Your Mind rating: Freedom C 60/100, Returns C 66/100

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Token Details
TRACNeuroWeb (Polkadot parachain), Base, Gnosis, Ethereum (ERC-20)
· Updated
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Value Loop

Knowledge Asset fees, DKG proofs, real-yield staking

Publishers mint Knowledge Assets (ERC1155Delta tokens) and pay TRAC publishing fees. DKG Core Nodes store and serve those assets, posting V8 Random Sampling proofs in response to epoch-based challenges. Publishing fees are distributed back to Core Nodes — real yield, not inflation. Delegators lock TRAC (50K–5M per Core Node) to bond operators and share fee revenue. 500M TRAC fixed cap, ~99.96% circulating.

TRAC Value Loop Knowledge Asset fees, DKG proofs, real-yield staking PUBLISHERS MINT Knowledge Assets pay TRAC publishing fees CORE NODES store + serve assets V8 Random Sampling proofs TRAC TO NODES fees distributed by proof real yield, no inflation DELEGATED STAKE 50K–5M TRAC per node non-custodial, auto-compound VERIFIABLE DATA Knowledge Assets anchor on-chain, stored off-chain on DKG nodes, fees flow back as real yield. PROTOCOL DESIGN 500M TRAC MAX SUPPLY → ~447M circulating today 99.96% circulating, zero inflation CHAINS NeuroWeb · Base · Gnosis TRAC ERC-20 on Ethereum PROOF SYSTEM V8 Random Sampling epoch challenges, batched minting YIELD SOURCE publishing fees no emissions, no token printing DKG Decentralised Knowledge Graph RDF Resource Description Framework TRAC OriginTrail utility + stake token ownyourmind.ai/projects/origintrail Independent DeAI Research

What it does

OriginTrail is a Decentralised Knowledge Graph (DKG): a protocol that transforms data into structured, verifiable, discoverable “Knowledge Assets” anchored on-chain and stored across a decentralised network of nodes.

A Knowledge Asset is a structured data object. It could represent a supply chain event, a company registration, an MLMLMachine Learning. The branch of AI where systems learn patterns from data instead of being explicitly programmed with rules. Modern AI (LLMs, image generation, recommendation systems) is almost entirely machine learning.Like teaching a child to recognise dogs by showing them thousands of pictures of dogs, instead of writing down a precise rulebook for what makes a dog. The child learns the pattern from examples rather than from instructions.ML in the glossary → dataset, a product provenance record, or an IoT data stream. Each Knowledge Asset is represented by an ERC1155Delta tokenTokenA digital unit of value or access rights tracked on a blockchain. Tokens can represent ownership in a project, a right to use a service, a share of future revenue, or simply a tradable asset with no underlying claim.Like a physical poker chip a casino issues. The chip itself has no value. What makes it worth something is what it lets you do at the casino, what the casino has promised, and how much other people will pay you for it.Token in the glossary → on-chain, creating a verifiable ownership and provenance layer. The data itself is stored off-chain on DKG nodes, with cryptographic hashes anchored on-chain for integrity verification.

The network uses semantic web standards: RDF (Resource Description Framework), SPARQL (queryPromptThe text you give an AI model to tell it what to generate. A prompt can be a simple question, a long instruction, a chunk of context plus a task, or a conversation history the model uses to produce its response.Like a brief you give to a junior designer. A vague brief gets a vague result. A detailed brief with context, constraints, and examples gets something usable. The quality of the output depends heavily on the quality of the brief.Prompt in the glossary → language), JSON-LD, GS1 EPCIS (for supply chain), and W3C DIDs (decentralised identifiers). It’s a credible knowledge graph infrastructure that uses blockchain for anchoring and verification.

Two node types operate the network. DKG Core Nodes provide the infrastructure: they store Knowledge Assets, respond to queries, and earn publishing fees. They require a 50,000-5,000,000 TRAC stake. DKG Edge Nodes (introduced in V8) are lightweight nodes for phones, laptops, and IoT devices.

V8 launched on mainnet in June 2025, with V8.1.0 following on 23 June 2025 bringing the Random Sampling proof system live across all chains. Random Sampling replaces the previous per-asset on-chain proof modelModelA trained neural network that takes inputs (text, images, audio) and produces outputs (more text, classifications, generated content). In DeAI the model is the thing that actually does the work.Like a very experienced apprentice who has spent years watching thousands of masters make furniture. They can't explain how they know when a joint is right, but they can make a chair that looks and functions like a Chippendale. The training is invisible. The output is what matters.Model in the glossary → with epoch-based randomised challenges. Core Nodes submit a proof within a short window (e.g. 30 minutes) in response to a random challenge, rather than proving every asset individually. This reduces on-chain transactions by orders of magnitude, and OriginTrail reports a 100x+ throughput improvement over V6, which peaked at 100,000 Knowledge Assets per day. Batch minting now enables hundreds of Knowledge Assets in a single transaction. The network then iterated through V8.2.x releases, with V8.2.5 shipping in December 2025.

DKG V10 launched on mainnet in late June 2026 on Base and Gnosis. NeuroWeb is still marked pre-deployment in V10’s own network config, and OriginTrail’s contract-addresses page says NeuroWeb mainnet “is not yet selectable” (both checked 4 October 2026). V10 reframes the graph as agent-native memory in three layers:

  • Working Memory: private, local, free. Agents draft and stage knowledge with no cost or coordination.
  • Shared Working Memory: gossip-replicated between selected peers, also free. Agents share context without touching a chain.
  • Verifiable Memory: anchored on-chain and cryptographically provable.

Only the Verifiable layer costs TRAC, so the token’s publishing-fee role now sits where knowledge becomes provable rather than at every write. The V10 codebase moved to a new repository (OriginTrail/dkg) and patched steadily across the v10.0.x line through its first weeks, and Google’s Open Knowledge Format now carries provenance on the DKG.

The network operates across three chains: NeuroWeb (a Polkadot parachain with its own NEURO governance token), Base (Coinbase’s L2L2Layer 2. A blockchain that runs on top of an L1 to provide cheaper or faster transactions while inheriting the L1's security. L2s batch many transactions and post compressed proofs back to the L1.Like an express lane built on top of a busy motorway. The express lane handles its own traffic at high speed, but it still feeds back into the main motorway and uses the motorway's bridges and tolls for security.L2 in the glossary →), and Gnosis chain. TRAC is an ERC-20 on Ethereum.

Founded in 2017 by Tomaz Levak (CEO), Ziga Drev (COO), and Branimir Rakic (CTO, MS Electrical/Computer Engineering, University of Belgrade). The development entity is Trace Labs Ltd, registered in Hong Kong with operational headquarters in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Dr. Bob Metcalfe (inventor of Ethernet and 2023 Turing Award winner) sits on the advisory board.

Token launched 25 January 2018. The ICOICOInitial Coin Offering. A token sale where a project sells tokens directly to the public, usually before any product exists. ICOs dominated 2017-2018 funding and are now mostly replaced by airdrops, IDOs, or fair launches.Like a company selling shares to the public before going public, except with no SEC oversight, no audited financials, and often no product at all. The 2017 ICO boom showed why those guardrails exist in traditional finance.ICO in the glossary → raised $22.5 million and sold out in approximately 20 minutes.

Value proposition

Verifiable data for AI

Knowledge Assets stored off-chain with on-chain cryptographic anchoring. Semantic web standards throughout.

Enterprise traction

Walmart award for food safety. Oracle blockchain cloud integration. GS1 EPCIS working group membership. BSI advisory.

Usage-funded yield, not inflation

Staking rewards come from publishing fees paid in TRAC, not emissions. OriginTrail reports 100x+ throughput from V8.1 Random Sampling.

Verifiable data for AI. That is the thesis, and it is increasingly relevant.

Large language models hallucinate. AI systems are only as good as the data they are trained on. If the data is unverifiable, the AI output is unverifiable. OriginTrail’s knowledge graph provides structured, semantically rich, cryptographically verifiable data that AI systems can query with provenance guarantees. Each answer comes with a verifiable source chain.

The enterprise traction is documented. Walmart awarded OriginTrail for food safety traceability. Oracle integrated with their blockchain cloud service. The British Standards Institution (BSI) has Dan Purtell on the advisory board. OriginTrail is a member of the GS1 Global EPCIS & CBV 2.0 Working Group, the international standard for supply chain data exchange. Those are integrations with enterprise data standards bodies, well past the press-release stage.

OriginTrail reports over 1 billion Knowledge Assets have been created across the network. By OriginTrail’s account, V8.1’s Random Sampling proof system has delivered a 100x+ throughput improvement over V6, with the architecture designed to scale further towards 1,000x as network usage grows.

The counter-narrative: revenue is a black box. Publishing fees are paid in TRAC and distributed to node operators. This is usage-sourced revenue, not inflationary rewards. But the total amount is not publicly tracked. There is no revenue dashboard and no DKG protocol adapter on DeFiLlama; DeFiLlama does list NeuroWeb as a chain, but its on-chain fees are negligible (on the order of cents per year, with roughly 200 monthly users) and reflect NeuroWeb gas rather than DKG publishing, so there is still no way to assess whether the 1 billion Knowledge Assets translate to meaningful economic activity. Enterprise partnerships are named but the depth and ongoing revenue from each is unclear.

The other concern is narrative pivot fatigue. OriginTrail started as supply chain traceability (2018), pivoted to Web3 knowledge infrastructure (2021), and now positions as AI-ready data (2025). Each narrative is legitimate and builds on the previous one. But eight years of narrative evolution without a breakout moment raises the question: is the project ahead of its time, or perpetually searching for product-market fit?

For the sovereignty thesis, verifiable Knowledge Assets provide data provenance: you can prove where data came from and that it hasn’t been tampered with. The multi-chain deployment provides infrastructure redundancy. However, the data itself isn’t encrypted, so it remains verifiable rather than private.

Tokenomics

TRAC has a fixed maximum supply of 500 million tokens. Zero inflationInflationThe annual rate at which new tokens are created and added to the circulating supply. Most networks use inflation to pay validators, stakers, and infrastructure providers from freshly minted tokens rather than real revenue.Like a landlord who raises the rent every year. If your salary goes up at the same rate, you break even. If it doesn't, you get poorer without noticing, because the number on your payslip hasn't changed but the ground under it has shifted.Inflation in the glossary →. No emissionsEmissionsNew tokens created and distributed by a blockchain protocol over time as rewards to validators, stakers, or miners. Emissions fund network security and participation at the cost of diluting existing holders.Like a company that pays employees partly in newly printed shares. Every year the total number of shares goes up, which means existing shareholders own a slightly smaller slice of the same company unless the company grows faster than the printing.Emissions in the glossary →. No token printing. This is as clean as tokenomics gets.

The ICO (January 2018) distributed 50% via public sale: pre-sale at $0.08 (125 million tokens) and crowd sale at $0.10 (125 million tokens). No lock-up on either. Total raised: $22.5 million. The remaining 50% was allocated to development pool (20%), founders and early contributors (18%), liquidityLiquidityHow easily a token can be bought or sold without moving the price. High liquidity means you can enter or exit large positions quickly at the quoted price. Low liquidity means even small trades can swing the market.Like the difference between selling a house and selling a share of Apple stock. The house might be worth more on paper, but finding a buyer at that price takes weeks. The Apple share converts to cash in one click.Liquidity in the glossary → (5%), team and advisors (5%), and sale facilitators (2%).

Circulating supply Live · CoinGecko · 20 Oct 2026
447.3M
Circulating
89.45% of total
500.0M
Total supply

All vestingVestingA schedule that locks up tokens allocated to insiders, investors, and team members, releasing them gradually over months or years. Vesting prevents insiders from dumping on public buyers immediately after launch.Like a new employee's stock options at a startup. You don't get all the shares on day one. They unlock over four years so you stick around and do the work rather than cashing out and leaving.Vesting in the glossary → is complete. CoinGecko counts roughly 89.45% of supply as circulating; the remaining ~52.7 million TRAC sits in DKG staking contracts on NeuroWeb (staked in node operations, not unvested supply, and so excluded from the circulating count). With zero inflation and no token printing, there is no dilution overhang. This is the most mature supply profile in DeAIDeAIDecentralised AI. An umbrella term for blockchain-based projects that build AI infrastructure (compute, data, inference, models, agents) without a single central provider controlling the system.Like the difference between streaming a movie from Netflix and sharing it via BitTorrent. Netflix is fast and polished but one company controls what you can watch and what you pay. BitTorrent is messier but no single operator can shut you out.DeAI in the glossary →.

ICO investors who bought at $0.10 are at approximately 3.5x ROI after eight years, one of the few positive ICO outcomes in crypto.

Staking on usage-funded yield, not inflation

A Core Node needs at least 50,000 TRAC staked, and a node can hold at most 10 million TRAC in total, delegationsStakingLocking up a cryptocurrency to help secure a blockchain network, usually in exchange for rewards. The locked tokens act as a security deposit that can be taken away if the staker misbehaves.Like putting down a large rental deposit for an apartment. You get the money back if you behave, you earn interest while it's locked, and the landlord takes it if you trash the place.Staking in the glossary → included (the minimumStake and maximumStake parameters on Base and Gnosis, read 27 September 2026). Critically, staking rewards come from publishing fees, not inflation. The design is usage-funded: when someone publishes a Knowledge Asset, they pay TRAC, and that TRAC is distributed to the nodes storing and serving that asset. There’s no fixed APY because returns depend on network usage. Rewards auto-compound.

V10 replaced V8 delegation with conviction staking. Each stake is an NFT position behind one node, and its lock sets a reward multiplier: no lock at 1x, then 30 days at 1.5x, 90 at 2x, 180 at 3.5x and 366 at 6x, per the tier table in the deployed ConvictionStakingStorage contract on Base and Gnosis. The multiplier weights your share of a node’s fees and mints no TRAC, and the hub owner can add or retire tiers while existing positions keep their terms. Staked TRAC sits in DKG contracts, not with node operators.

V10 has no unbonding queue. A no-lock position withdraws at any time, and a locked one once it expires. OriginTrail’s docs say V8 reward distribution paused at the migration snapshot, and its migration tool moves V8 stakes into V10 without the old 28-day cooldown.

TRAC is listed on Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitstamp, Crypto.com, Gate.io, and HTX, with Upbit adding KRW, BTC and USDT pairs on 18 May 2026. Binance is the notable absence. The token is 90% below ATHATHAll-Time High. The highest price a token has ever reached. ATH is usually quoted as a reference point for how far the current price has fallen (or risen) since the peak.Like the record lap time on a racetrack. It tells you what the car has been capable of at its absolute best, not what it will do today. Whether that record gets broken again depends on conditions that may or may not come back.ATH in the glossary →; ICO buyers ($0.10) remain one of the few positive ICO outcomes in crypto history at approximately 3.5x ROI.

How to participate

Beginner
Delegate TRAC
Intermediate
Publish Knowledge Assets
Advanced
Run a DKG Core Node

Run a DKG Core Node. Stake at least 50K TRAC, with a 10M cap on each node’s total stake. Store and serve Knowledge Assets and earn publishing fees from the publishers who create them. V10 runs on Base and Gnosis. Technical skill: intermediate.

Delegate TRAC. Stake to an existing Core Node without running your own, choosing a lock from none (1x, withdraw any time) to 366 days (6x). Rewards come from publishing fees, weighted by stake and lock, on Base and Gnosis. Technical skill: basic.

Build on the DKG. Publish Knowledge Assets, query the knowledge graph via SPARQL, integrate with AI systems via ChatDKG or elizagraph (ElizaOS integration). SDKs in JavaScript and Python. Technical skill: advanced.

Honest assessment

Freedom Score: 60/100

OriginTrail is one of the most mature open-source projects in DeAI with demonstrable data sovereignty features, but governance and privacy gaps exist.

Infrastructure Decentralisation: 12/20. DKG Core Nodes distributed globally; anyone can run one with 50K TRAC. Multi-chain deployment (NeuroWeb, Base, Gnosis) provides redundancy. V8 Edge Nodes extend to lightweight devices. V8.1’s Random Sampling proof system has meaningfully improved network scalability. On-chain proof requirements reduced by orders of magnitude. However, exact active node count isn’t publicly available. NeuroWeb depends on Polkadot parachain slotSlotA fixed time interval during which a single block can be produced on a Proof of Stake blockchain. Slots are the smallest unit of consensus time and group together to form epochs.Like a 12-second window in a relay race during which exactly one runner is supposed to be on the track. If the runner shows up and completes their leg, the race continues. If they're absent, the slot is empty and the next runner starts the next slot.Slot in the glossary →. Trace Labs controls protocol development.

Governance Decentralisation: 8/20. NeuroWeb has Polkadot-style parachain governance via NEURO token. TRAC governance for the DKG protocol is less documented. RFC repository exists but formal governance process is unclear. Development decisions controlled by Trace Labs.

Token Distribution Fairness: 11/15. 50% sold in ICO, an unusually high public distribution. Vesting complete with zero inflation; ~89% circulating per CoinGecko (the remainder staked in node operations, not unvested). ICO investors have positive ROI after 8 years. 23% insider allocation is moderate and fully vested. Best supply maturity in DeAI.

Censorship Resistance: 9/15. Knowledge Assets are anchored on-chain; once published, they can’t be easily censored. Multi-chain deployment provides redundancy. However, off-chain data availability depends on node replication. Node operators can choose what data to store. No privacy features for stored data.

Data Sovereignty: 9/15. Knowledge Assets are owned by creators (ERC1155Delta). W3C DID-compliant identifiers. Verifiable data provenance through on-chain anchoring. However, data on DKG nodes isn’t encrypted: verifiable but not private. No privacy-preserving computation for knowledge graph queries.

Open Source Transparency: 11/15. 88 public repos with 495 stars between them (GitHub API, 24 September 2026), active development through 2026 with DKG V10 live across the v10.0.x line. Core engine, SDKs (JS, Python), NeuroWeb all open source. Smart contractSmart ContractA program stored on a blockchain that runs automatically when its conditions are met. Smart contracts are how blockchains do anything beyond just transferring tokens — DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and DeAI infrastructure all run on smart contracts.Like a vending machine. You put in the right input and it produces the expected output, no human operator required. The rules are fixed in the machine itself, anyone can use it, and nobody can stop a transaction in the middle.Smart Contract in the glossary → audit documents publicly available. However, DKG V10 contracts haven’t been audited by a major firm.

Returns Score: 66/100

Token Utility: 16/20. TRAC is structurally essential: required for publishing Knowledge Assets (fee payment), node staking (50K-5M), delegated staking, and data integrity collateral. You can’t use the DKG without TRAC. Multi-chain deployment expands utility surfaces. V8.1’s Random Sampling and automated reward distribution have reduced friction for delegators, strengthening the staking utility loop. Strong utility design with verifiable usage requirements.

Value Accrual: 13/20. Publishing fees paid in TRAC are distributed to node operators: a direct utility-based accrual mechanism. Staking rewards from network usage, not inflation. One of the few actual usage-funded yield models in DeAI. Score limited because total fee revenue isn’t publicly tracked and there’s no burnBurnPermanently removing tokens from circulation by sending them to an address that no one controls. Burns reduce total supply, which (all else equal) makes each remaining token worth more of the network's value.Like a company buying back its own shares and shredding them. The company's total value stays the same, but each remaining share now represents a slightly bigger slice of that value.Burn in the glossary → mechanism.

Supply Dynamics: 18/20. 500M fixed supply, zero inflation, all insider vesting completed years ago. Core Node staking locks 50K-5M TRAC per node; roughly 10.5% of supply (~52.7M TRAC, August 2026) sits in staking contracts and is excluded from circulating, which CoinGecko reads at ~89%. That lock-up is supply-positive, not a dilution overhang. Best supply dynamics profile of any project reviewed.

Revenue Sustainability: 8/25. OriginTrail reports 1 billion+ Knowledge Assets, a figure that describes the protocol’s whole history. Enterprise partnerships (Walmart, Oracle, BSI, GS1) suggest commercial traction. Publishing fee model is sound. However, total revenue is not publicly reported. Not on DeFiLlama. Commercial scale isn’t proven.

The V10 fee rail is still close to empty. On 21 September 2026 the publishing-fee contracts on Base and Gnosis held no TRAC and had 15 accounts between them, while about 94% of TRAC on those chains sat in staking storage. V10 only shipped in late June 2026, and V8 service agreements may still carry fees this read doesn’t cover.

Liquidity & Access: 11/15. Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitstamp, Crypto.com, Gate.io, HTX, and Upbit (KRW/BTC/USDT, added 18 May 2026, opening Korean-won access). Strong tier-1 exchange coverage across about 26 venues, though the lead venue swings: Upbit carried about 47% of 24h volume on 24 September 2026. Not on Binance, and Bitget carries no TRAC pair either (confirmed against Bitget’s own spot symbols endpoint). Volume adequate for most position sizes. Re-scored +1 at the July 2026 review (10 to 11) on the durable Upbit KRW/BTC/USDT plus Coinbase access upgrade; the post-listing volume spike has since mean-reverted toward baseline, so the bump reflects the permanent venue add, not sustained turnover.

Quadrant: B (High Freedom, Moderate Returns)

OriginTrail sits in Quadrant B/C: a unique category play with named enterprise adoption and the best tokenomics in DeAI, but unquantified revenue limits both scores.

Key risks

  • Revenue is a black box. Publishing fees exist but total revenue isn’t tracked publicly. Impossible to assess sustainability without data.
  • Small developer community. The active V10 repository, OriginTrail/dkg, lists 13 contributors (GitHub API, 24 September 2026), a lean team for a protocol with enterprise ambitions.
  • Token down 90% from ATH. Despite positive ICO ROI, market enthusiasm has waned.
  • DKG contracts not audited by a major firm. The protocol has iterated through V10 without a published audit from a recognised firm, and V10 shipped new contracts. This is a growing gap given the value locked in staking contracts.
  • Narrative pivot fatigue. Supply chain (2018) → Web3 (2021) → AI (2025). Legitimate evolution or searching for fit?
  • Knowledge graph adoption is niche. Decentralised knowledge graphs compete with centralised alternatives (Google, Neo4j) that have larger ecosystems.
  • No Binance listing. Limits retail discovery and liquidity.

Score change log

DateScoreChangeReason
2026-10-04DataN/AReconciled: the 2026-08-04 row’s NeuroWeb listing for V10 is superseded. OriginTrail’s contract-addresses page and the dkg repo’s NeuroWeb config (pre-deployment) show V10 live on Base and Gnosis only. Scores unchanged.
2026-09-27DataN/AStaking rewritten for V10 conviction staking from the deployed Base and Gnosis contracts (lock tiers, 10M node cap, no unbonding queue); V10 is on Base and Gnosis, not yet NeuroWeb. Scores unchanged.
2026-09-25DataN/ARevenue rationale no longer cites “on-chain usage evidence”, since the 1B+ Knowledge Asset figure is OriginTrail’s own; the liquidity finding now records Upbit near 47% of volume instead of “no venue above 30%”. Scores unchanged.
2026-09-24DataN/AThroughput and Knowledge Asset counts attributed to OriginTrail; added the empty V10 publishing-fee rail finding; repo, contributor and venue-share figures refreshed from GitHub and CoinGecko. Scores unchanged.
2026-09-23DataN/AReplaced an unverified “best in DeAI” superlative on supply with a plain description. Scores unchanged.
2026-09-23DataN/AIntegrity records re-cut: 2 claims now quote OriginTrail’s own pages verbatim and 5 are our own measurements. Scores unchanged.
2026-09-07DataN/AWS3b censorship rail: TRAC answers owner() with an externally owned account, with no pause, no proxy and no public freeze getter. An EOA owner on an eight-year-old token is a key that has to keep being safe. Censorship Resistance 9/15 held.
2026-09-06DataN/AWS3b liquidity rail: Bitget lists no TRACUSDT pair, confirmed against Bitget own spot symbols endpoint while the same call resolves GLMUSDT, so it is removed from both venue lists. The other eight venues confirm and the no-Binance claim is correct. Liquidity & Access 11/15 held.
2026-08-15DataN/ACirculating supply de-hardcoded into the live <CirculatingSupply /> component; the ~52.7M staked-and-excluded figure stays as the structural point. No score change.
2026-08-10DataN/AWS3 holder-source: authored token_distribution_fairness (match, onchain). Raw top-10 51.6% is ~half infrastructure (EternalStorageProxy staking hub, L1ChugSplashProxy bridge, Kraken); infra-excluded ~28% = D1 moderate, consistent with the 50%-ICO / fully-vested / 11-of-15 framing. No score change.
2026-08-10DataN/AWS3 coldstart run added two claim-spine verdicts: supply_dynamics (match) confirming the hard cap in code (mintingFinished()==true, mint permanently disabled, so “no token printing” holds) and open_source_transparency (match, Apache-2.0 + verified contract). The tool’s ABI mint flag was a soft-cap candidate on-chain verification cleared. No score change.
2026-08-04DataN/ADKG V10 mainnet live late June 2026 (Base, Gnosis, NeuroWeb), verified against OriginTrail docs and the new OriginTrail/dkg repo (latest v10.0.11, 30 Jul 2026). Review updated V8.2.5 → V10: three-layer agent memory (Working / Shared Working / Verifiable), TRAC required only at the Verifiable layer. Scores unchanged; V10 agent-memory maturation flagged for monthly review.
2026-07-01Returns65 → 66Liquidity & Access 10 → 11. July monthly review resolves the June-deferred +1 candidate. The 18 May 2026 Upbit listing (KRW/BTC/USDT) plus existing Coinbase access is a durable tier-1 venue and Korean-won fiat-rail upgrade. Post-listing 24h volume has mean-reverted (~$3.6M, CoinGecko 2026-07-01) toward the pre-listing baseline after the ~$40M listing-day spike, so the bump reflects venue access, not sustained turnover. Does not cross a grade boundary (C).
2026-06-25DataN/ADefiLlama-harvest cross-check. Verified current market data still holds (TRAC ~$0.34, mcap ~$130-164M, ~90% below ATH). Precision fix: the review said “no DeFiLlama listing”, but DeFiLlama does track NeuroWeb as a CHAIN; its fees are negligible (~cents/year, ~200 monthly users) and reflect gas, not DKG publishing, which sharpens (not changes) the black-box-revenue point. The DKG’s publishing-fee revenue still has no protocol adapter anywhere. No score change.
2026-06-02DataN/AJune monthly review. Circulating reframed 99.96% → ~89.45% per CoinGecko: the ~52.7M TRAC gap is staked in DKG node operations on NeuroWeb (CoinGecko excludes the staking contract), NOT unvested supply. 500M fixed cap, zero inflation and completed vesting all still hold, so Supply Dynamics 18/20 unchanged. “FDV = MCap” softened (true only on CMC’s 100%-circulating basis). Upbit listed TRAC (KRW/BTC/USDT) 18 May 2026; logged as a Liquidity & Access positive, dimension re-score deferred to July.
2026-04-06DataN/AQ2 2026 review. V8.1 Random Sampling and automated rewards verified live. Throughput improvement confirmed (100x+ over V6). Scores unchanged.
2026-03-24DataN/ACore contributors 10 → 31 on dkg-engine. Verified against GitHub.
2026-03-12BothN/AMarch 2026 refresh. V8.2.5, Random Sampling live, V8.1 automated rewards. Scores unchanged; data updated.
2025-03-06BothN/AInitial publish. Freedom 60/100, Returns 65/100.

Score changes, new reviews, one editorial take every two weeks. No spam.

Team overview

Tomaz Levak CEO & Co-Founder doxxed

Project management background. Leading OriginTrail since 2017.

Ziga Drev COO & Co-Founder doxxed

Operations. Co-founding since 2017.

Branimir Rakic CTO & Co-Founder doxxed

MS Electrical/Computer Engineering, University of Belgrade. Leads protocol development.

Trace Labs Ltd (Hong Kong (registered), Slovenia (operational hub)) · ~25 people
Bits x BitesH-FARMAlpha Sigma CapitalFengshui Capital
Total raised: $22.5M
Round Amount Date Lead
ICO $22.5M 2018-01-18 --

Source: OYM Research · Last updated 2026-10-19

Technical snapshot

Decentralised Knowledge Graph (DKG) with off-chain data storage and on-chain hash anchoring. Knowledge Assets are ERC1155Delta standard tokens representing structured data entities. Two node types: DKG Core Nodes (require 50K-5M TRAC stake, provide infrastructure) and DKG Edge Nodes (lightweight, for devices). Random Sampling Proof-of-Knowledge consensus for data integrity. V8 (June 2025) claims 1000x throughput improvement over V6. DKG V10 (mainnet late June 2026, Base/Gnosis/NeuroWeb) reframes the graph as three-layer agent memory: Working Memory (local, free), Shared Working Memory (gossip-replicated, free), Verifiable Memory (on-chain, TRAC-paid). Supports RDF, SPARQL, JSON-LD, GS1 EPCIS, W3C DIDs.

Consensus Random Sampling Proof-of-Knowledge for data integrity. NeuroWeb uses Polkadot parachain consensus. ERC-20 on Ethereum for token.
Chain NeuroWeb (Polkadot parachain), Base, Gnosis, Ethereum (ERC-20)
Open source Yes
Licence Various open-source licenses
Languages Solidity, Rust (NeuroWeb)

Commit Activity

9,889 commits last 52 weeks -21% 4w trend
Nov Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct 1193/wk
Stars
144
Forks
14
Contributors
13
Last Commit
2026-10-15
dkg

Community

Telegram
5.2K

Audits

DLT Labs 2018-01-01

Scope: Smart contract code audit v0.2

Code audit of original smart contracts.

View report
Hosho 2018-01-01

Scope: Smart contract follow-up audit

Including pause functionality review.

View report
Quantstamp

Scope: TRAC bridge contract (NeuroWeb-Ethereum)

Confirmed functional and secure.

Source: OYM Research · Last updated 2026-10-19

Tokenomics deep dive

Token utility

  • Publishing Knowledge Assets (fee payment)
  • Staking on DKG Core Nodes (50K-5M TRAC)
  • Delegated staking to node operators
  • Collateral for data integrity guarantees
  • Node operation requirement

Supply

Supply breakdown: Circulating 89.5%, Locked / Unmined 10.5% 89.45% circulating
Circulating 89.5%
Locked / Unmined 10.5%
Max supply Total supply Circulating Circ. %
500,000,000 500,000,000 447,274,118 89.45%

Allocation

Pre-Sale 25%
Crowd Sale 25%
Development Pool 20%
Founders & Early Contributors 18%
Liquidity 5%
Team & Advisors 5%
Token Sale Facilitators 2%

Method: ICO (pre-sale + crowd sale)

Category % Vesting Cliff
Pre-Sale 25% No lock-up None
Crowd Sale 25% No lock-up None
Development Pool 20% Used over time for ecosystem development None
Founders & Early Contributors 18% Fully vested (completed) None
Liquidity 5% None None
Team & Advisors 5% Fully vested (12.5% every 3 months for team, 6 months for advisors) None
Token Sale Facilitators 2% None None

Emissions

Model fixed
Daily emissions 0
Annual inflation 0%
Halving N/A — fixed 500M supply, no emissions
Burn mechanism None documented

Staking

Type Core Node staking + delegated conviction staking (V10: NFT positions with lock tiers)
Minimum stake 50,000
Lock-up V10 lock tiers: none (1x, withdraw any time), 30d 1.5x, 90d 2x, 180d 3.5x, 366d 6x; no unbonding queue. Read from ConvictionStakingStorage.getTier on Base and Gnosis, 2026-09-27
Risks: Rewards are utility-based (from publishing fees), not inflationary — variable returns; Locked tiers cannot withdraw before expiry; the tier ladder is mutable by the hub owner (existing positions keep their terms); Core Node requires 50K TRAC minimum (~$16K+ at current prices); Maximum 10M TRAC total stake per node (ParametersStorage.maximumStake, Base and Gnosis, 2026-09-27)
Slashing: Not explicitly documented in research

Virtually fully circulated (99.96%) with fixed 500M cap — no dilution risk. FDV equals market cap. ICO was 50% of supply with no lock-up — unusual transparency. Staking rewards are utility-based from publishing fees rather than inflationary — one of the few real-yield models in DeAI. Core Node requires 50K TRAC (~$16K+) which creates meaningful token lockup. ICO investors at $0.10 have ~3.5x ROI after 8 years — one of the few positive ICO returns in the space.

Source: OYM Research · Last updated 2026-10-19

TRAC Supply Simulator

Token: TRACSupply: 447.3MMax: 500MPrice: $0.3903Data: 19 Oct 2026

Scenario Parameters

Burn rate
Not adjustable
Inflation rate
Not adjustable
Staking ratioCurrent: 0% of supply staked
0% (current)
Time horizon
+0.0%
Net annual inflation
Emissions minus burns, annualised
+0.0%
Circulating change (2yr)
447.3M → 447.3M
+0.0%
Liquid change (2yr)
Circulating minus staked tokens
Month 1
Burn exceeds emission
Net deflationary from month 1
N/A
Revenue coverage
No revenue data

Circulating Supply Projection

438M443M447M452M456MM1M5M9M13M17M21M24
CirculatingEffective (minus staked)

Supply projections only. Token price held constant at $0.3903 (snapshot 19 Oct 2026). No burn mechanism. Real yield model: node rewards from usage fees, not inflation. This is not financial advice.

Participation at a glance

node operation intermediate

Run a DKG Core Node to store and serve Knowledge Assets. Requires 50K TRAC minimum; a node holds at most 10M TRAC including delegations. Earn publishing fees from knowledge asset creators.

Hardware Server with moderate requirements
Min. capital $16K
Est. returns Variable — based on publishing fees (utility-based, not inflationary)
Barriers: 50K TRAC minimum stake (~$16K+), Technical setup and maintenance, 10M TRAC maximum total stake per node
View guide →
staking basic

Delegate TRAC to Core Node operators as a V10 conviction position on Base or Gnosis (no V10 nodes on NeuroWeb yet). Share in publishing fee rewards, weighted by stake and lock tier.

Hardware None
Est. returns Variable — share of node operator's publishing fee rewards
Barriers: Node total stake capped at 10M TRAC, Longer locks earn more weight but cannot exit before expiry (30 to 366 days)
View guide →
building advanced

Build applications using the DKG — publish Knowledge Assets, query the knowledge graph via SPARQL, integrate with AI systems via ChatDKG or elizagraph.

Hardware None
Est. returns Value from knowledge asset creation and querying
Barriers: Understanding of knowledge graphs and semantic web standards, TRAC needed for publishing fees, Smaller developer ecosystem than major L1s
View guide →

Developer resources

SDK Available
API Available
Docs quality good
Grants Yes

Source: OYM Research · Last updated 2026-10-19

Community

Governance

NeuroWeb has its own governance via NEURO token (Polkadot parachain). TRAC governance for DKG protocol decisions is less documented.

Sentiment

Dedicated community with strong conviction in the knowledge graph thesis. One of the longest-running crypto projects (since 2018) with positive ICO ROI. Enterprise partnerships (Walmart, Oracle, BSI) provide credibility. Community-run resources (origintrail.club) suggest engaged but niche following.

Source: OYM Research · Last updated 2026-10-19

Sources consulted (20)

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