Wrapping Up Phase 1

Po.et is building the verifiable web: the decentralized protocol suite for content attribution, discovery, monetization and reputation.

In April, we announced the beginning of our “Connecting the Dots” milestone. The goal of this milestone was to take the basic concept of “Proof of Existence” and introduce support for more complex relationships between content and the claims made about it. By the end of the first phase, our goal was to add three new pieces of general functionality to the Po.et protocol:

• Allow for all types of content, not just text
• Expand the vocabulary of metadata that we can use in the protocol
• Create additional ways to connect claims to each other

Support For Binary File Types

Adding support for more file types was by far our most requested feature. This was the main focus of the first sprint and we delivered this along with an updated Works Explorer UI to accommodate the new use cases.

The ability to upload binary files was the first premium feature on the Works Explorer which required the user to prove ownership of at least 1000 POE. We implemented this as a rate-limiting measure to keep storage costs low, as the foundation has been subsidizing all storage costs to date.

Expanded Schema Options

With the new file types, we needed an expanded schema to describe content with as much context as possible. Therefore, we added support for over 100 properties to describe CreativeWork, VideoObject, AudioObject, and ImageObject from schema.org.

Additional Claim Types

Most recently, we have released two additional claim types: claims about claims and claims about multiple objects.

In tandem with the new claim types, we have updated the Works Explorer UI to reflect the new changes and better illustrate the concepts that underpin the Po.et protocol. Content is represented by the file icon, and claims made about content are represented by the circle.

Above is an example of a relatively complex set of claims made about 2 different files.

• The file on the left is a version of the Bitcoin whitepaper released by Craig Wright, and pointing to it is a claim that says Craig Wright was the author of the paper.
• The file on the right is the original whitepaper released by Satoshi Nakamoto with a claim pointing to it that says Satoshi Nakamoto was the original author.
• The claim on the far left is a “relationship claim” that links the 2 documents together claiming that they have similar or related content.
• The highlighted circle is a claim about the Craig Wright claim signaling that Craig Wright is not the actual author of the original whitepaper and that the claim it is referencing is false.

Like all first iterations, this one will need much improvement. We’d love if you could give it a try and leave some feedback for us in our Telegram channel.

We are very excited about our progress to date and hope you are too! Stay tuned for more information on what’s next for Po.et.