KnowledgeSwap: Learn.. Share.. Gain

Project Name: KnowledgeSwap
Project Track: Web3
Team Name: Knowledgeable Developers
Team Member(s): 2:
@the_omar undergraduate in CS
@farukkandemir585 undergraduate in CS
DevPost URL: KnowledgeSwap | Devpost
Project Whitepaper: KnowledgeSwapTokenWhitePaper.pdf - Google Drive
Project Website: https://knowledgeswap-app-btt-testnet.vercel.app/
Project Intro Video: KnowledgeSwap HackaTRON Demo - YouTube
Project Info: Meet KnowledgeSwap, the solution to all the problems stated above and many more. In essence, KnowledgeSwap is a decentralized application in which users can ask questions, solve asked questions, and learn by viewing previously asked questions on the blockchain. Whenever a user creates an inquiry, a bounty of KnowledgeSwap Tokens (the token of the platform) is attached to that specific inquiry. The most compelling answer (which is determined by the inquirer) is awarded that bounty; this in return, incentives users all across the blockchain to share information in the most compelling and engaging way, creating a self-sustaining decentralized platform.

Project Goals:

  • KnowledgeSwap intends to be the first Web3.0 decentralized platform in which users who know information and can communicate it clearly by answering questions on the application are actively rewarded. In other words, a massive incentive to teach other users is established within the frameworks of the platform. By creating an enormous supply of answered questions and inquiries, KnowledgeSwap intends to become a large online platform for homework help, bug catching, useful tips/advice, studying for exams, and sharing all important knowledge. With such an extensive amount of information in many fields of education, KnowledgeSwap will be a student’s best friend regarding homework and studying.
  • Not only will this incentive to share information become an extensive library and compilation of data, but KnowledgeSwap will also undoubtedly accelerate the speed of learners. Since users can attain all sorts of information on the same platform, this will save time compared to the traditional learning method, in which learners would have to go to multiple centralized platforms to acquire content. In this regard, a decentralized platform in which all users can access data globalizes the access to information, helping dismantle centralized institutions of education that unfairly favor one group or region over another.
  • A large user base on a Web3.0 application will mean that, at the same time, KnowledgeSwap supports the migration to Web3.0. Users are given the best flavors and splendors of decentralization of the internet, as those who share information are guaranteed rewards through smart contract(s). Furthermore, those who receive information will own it and have full rights over it. In essence, KnowledgeSwap is a decentralized application centered around education that also implements the newest technologies of blockchain and Web3.0.

Project Test Instructions:

  • Add BitTorrent Chain Donau to your wallet provider and switch to it [network configurations: BTTC Faucet ]
  • Get some testnet BTT for transaction fees from BTTC Faucet
  • Go to the app’s page, scroll down and click on the add symbol that shows a plus sign in the bottom right corner to get some free KS test tokens to be able to do actions on the application [Our app: https://knowledgeswap-app-btt-testnet.vercel.app/ ]
  • Enjoy asking, solving, or learning questions! Good luck on your journey and have fun!
  • Side Notes: when you ask a question it does not go to the learning feed until enough time has passed relative to how much bounty was placed on the question, you can immediately find it in solve, or find it on my questions when you click on your wallet on the top right corner.
  • IMPORTANT: Make sure to switch to BitTorrent Chain Donau (BTTC test net) before using the application.

Project Details: Please check Devpost and the whitepaper for significantly more details. You can also click here.

Why use the classic knowledge-sharing apps like stack overflow or math stack exchange when you can get paid for doing the same thing on knowledge swap? Not only can you get paid in bounty, but through credibility airdrops!

  • This will help underpaid teachers and academics all over the globe!
  • Average Transaction Fee is ~18 BTT, which means answering 100,000 questions will cost you about 1 dollar in transaction fees!

we are waiting to hear your feedback, thanks :slight_smile:

47 Likes

Not bad at all. Beginning i thought, teachers or educators of different field can sign up on the platform, give their qualifications and area of expertise in their profile and students who are seeking help from these qualified personnels can contact them.

Ranking of these teachers and educators will be solely based on the feedback and remarks by the students on how well their tutoring has empower them to overcome some of their learning difficulties.

But i think that is not the plan here, so if that be the case, how will you be able to rate an answer as very compelling. Cos some questions are subjective and not objective.

Thank you and wishing you the best in this season 3

10 Likes

Thank you for your constructive feedback. Our team loves your input, and we are actually trying implement it in a decentralized manner. Right now we implemented an early version of what you are mentioning; it known as KnowledgeSwap Credibility Tokens. As for your inquiry, we believe that the user asking the question should have full rights over determining which answer was the most helpful, since they are the ones putting a bounty on it. As can be seen on our What’s Next section on our Devpost, we are planning to implement an upvote system, which will further attach credibility to a response.

3 Likes

That is quite impressive.
My next question. How are you going to check cheaters in these instance.

For example; student A post a question, user B comes around to answer the question and another user say C also comes to answer that same question and so is user D.

Student A thinks the answer given by user D is the most useful and ends up rewarding user D the bounty.

Now here comes the twist, user D is actually student A but with a different account trying to cheat the system. So in the end he gets the answer he/ she was looking for from user B and User C, but ends up selecting himself as the winner of the bounty.

How is the system designed to catch people who will try to cheat it.

Its a very serious project for which i might be using, I wouldn’t want my effort to be taken for granted by anyone. Thank you :blush:

5 Likes

@Nana66419
Aha! That’s the question our team spent the most time-solving. So this will have multiple measurements against it.

  • Number one is a user cant give award himself the bounty or credibility token.
  • Number two is by decreasing the number of times someone can sign up with his wallet, which will be done through staking. To learn, ask, and solve, there will be a minimum amount of tokens that you have to stake; hence if you are planning to make two wallets, you will need double the capital! But there are people out there that will still do it, which leads to prevention method three.
  • Number three, we are planning to add a zero-knowledge proof authentication. We, of course, will maintain our decentralized characteristics since a zero-knowledge proof authentication will just ensure that there is a secret verified phone number linked to a wallet, and hence you need two phones to cheat the system.
  • But we know that is not enough! So number four we will limit the amount of time someone can award another person with his question bounty and credibility; although it will relatively be high it will prevent those whose goal is to acquire fake credibility to be more eligible for credibility airdrops and to also prevent them from cycling tokens to themselves.
  • It does not stop there! If a wallet gets an extreme bad downvote/upvote ratio, the wallet will go through the knowledge swap DAO to be voted out, which bans both the wallet and the phone it’s verified on, which will make it extremely tough for someone to fake that process. Also it’s important to note that again that “verified phone” is shown to no one since it will use zero knowledge authentication, yet the blockchain will confirm it’s validity.

I love the inquiries, Thank you so much, don’t hesitate to ask more!

5 Likes

More Project Details, For those intrigued by the idea:

Inspiration

Sometimes, information must be received immediately with no strings attached. Even though the Internet has made attaining information much easier, this process is filled with a multitude of issues. For starters, when you create an inquiry that hasn’t been asked before, it can take a very long time to get an appropriate and engaging response. This is simply because users on the internet are simply not incentivized to answer your inquiry and the inquiry hasn’t reached many users who may be willing to offer input; there is no way to guarantee your inquiry will reach all corners of the globe. Additionally, individuals seeking to ask a sensitive question may feel intimidated since their identity is attached to the question; there is no guaranteed anonymity when asking for such information.

Since blockchain technology and implementation guarantees a framework in which decentralization, self-sustainability, and global reach is at the forefront; we determined that building a new and better way to build an application around sharing and receiving information should implement the blockchain and embrace decentralization. Additionally, BTTC unlocks further outreach and network safety due to its compatibility with three major blockchains (TRON, Ethereum, and Binance). With realities in mind, we set out to develop KnowledgeSwap.

What it does

Summary → Meet KnowledgeSwap, the solution to all the problems stated above and many more. In essence, KnowledgeSwap is a decentralized application in which users can ask questions, solve asked questions, and learn by viewing previously asked questions on the blockchain. Whenever a user creates an inquiry, a bounty of KnowledgeSwap Tokens (the token of the platform) is attached to that specific inquiry. The most compelling answer (which is determined by the inquirer) is awarded that bounty; this in return incentives users all across the blockchain to share information in the most compelling and engaging way, creating a self-sustaining decentralized platform.

Users Interested in Learning: Users interested in acquiring new knowledge by analyzing past answered inquiries can do so in the learning feed. A minimum of 1000 KnowledgeSwap Tokens is required to enter the learning feed. Once there, users can view every single answered inquiry on the application to expand their knowledge.

Users Interested in Solving: Users interested in teaching and answering inquiries can do so in the solving feed. Users can pick any question they would like to answer; they have complete freedom of choice when selecting which questions they intend to answer. The answer the user who asked the question selects as the most valid is rewarded with a bounty attached to that specific inquiry. Hence, individuals who want to share information in that particular inquiry will be competing against time and each other to see who can come up with the most optimal response.

Users Interested in Asking: Users seeking new knowledge and intending to ask educational questions can do so in the asking feed. A minimum of 300 KnowledgeSwap Tokens is required to start asking questions in the feed. Placing higher bounties is recommended if users want faster and more compelling answers to their inquiries. In this way, the demand to solve their questions would be greater. Nevertheless, the final choice in which solution will be rewarded with the bounty is up to the user who asked the question; users seeking new knowledge have complete freedom in deciding which solution to grant as most valid.

KnowledgeSwap Credibility Tokens: KnowledgeSwap Credibility Tokens are awarded to users whose solutions have been granted as most valid by the user asking the question. As a result, users with more KnowledgeSwap Credibility Tokens are considered more reliable and credible on the application. Every time the solution posted by the user is granted as most valid, that user gains 1 KnowledgeSwap Credibility Token. Unlike, KnowledgeSwap Tokens, KnowledgeSwap Credibility Tokens can not be bought, traded, or sold.

Use Cases

The application can be used in the following but not limited to cases of utilization:

  • Anyone who needs a quick, engaging, and thoughtful reply to an inquiry.
  • College students seeking homework help or assistance.
  • Tourists who need quick information from locals whilst on vacation.
  • Individuals seeking information or anecdotal experiences about odd medical conditions or experiences.
  • University students preparing exams by either asking or viewing answered inquiries.
  • Developers intending to solve bugs quickly to save time on writing or refining code.
  • Users who intend to ask sensitive questions whilst also wanting to remain completely anonymous, or users who just wish to remain anonymous in general.
  • Individuals who are knowledgeable or experts in certain fields looking for a quick side gig.
  • Entrepreneurs, developers, or creative thinkers aspiring to generate a multitude of ideas on an upcoming project or development.

How we built it

We utilized HyperText Markup Language, Cascading style sheets, and React JS for our application front end. We established NextJS as our framework to organize our web application structure. We administered the backend with NodeJS, Metamask, Ethers, and Hardhat.

Challenges we ran into

  • We also ran into many challenges regarding making the app have a successful business model. For example, how to always keep high incentives for users to answer inquiries, prevent users from not rewarding the correct answer, and ensure that the user will not cycle tokens to himself or gain fake credibility. All those issues were addressed and solved either live or in the what’s next section.
  • We ran into multiple challenges when it came to integrating all the functionalities into a straightforward and user-friendly user interface that runs smoothly. We also ran into many problems that reduced the simplicity of the user experience. We were able to overcome all the difficulties we have run into so far.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

  • We are very proud of completing this significant progress in a brief period, and with this rate, we can push the product to a great level as time goes on.
  • We are proud that our self-sustaining application can still dodge many problems that prevent it from succeeding. Still, we were able to come up with ideas and creative solutions that would make the app as viable as possible.
  • We are incredibly proud that we created a decentralized protocol solution that solves many significant problems and unlocks global access to knowledge.

What we learned

  • We learned that creating a new solution that beats existing products takes time and effort. But we also learned that this challenge could be overcome by using fresh, modern, and revolutionary technologies. In addition to utilizing new technologies, we also learned that you need to critically analyze and problem-solve all the unique issues that arise with your new solution, especially if it’s going to be decentralized; there will be a need to predict all possible forms of malicious activities and put prevention methods to it.

What’s next for KnowledgeSwap

  • Data compress all the replies so that the transaction fees of questions and replies are as little as possible. Potentially upgrade it so that it only holds a URI on the blockchain, and the URI will decentralized store it on IPFS, hence reducing cost.
  • A very comprehensive search system by topics, and link topics to questions to make it super easy to answer questions of your expertise.
  • Make a Staking contract, so that the user needs to have his tokens staked, thus one way to counter malicious behavior.
  • An upvote system that allows all wallet viewers to provide input on replies. The upvote system will also be linked to the credibility system. Even if your response is not selected by the inquirer as most valid, you can still be rewarded with KnowledgeSwap Credibility Tokens based on your upvote count. In return, this still encourages users to reply, even if they have not been rewarded with the bounty, creating more responsive and engaging threads.
  • Making the asker be allowed also to award multiple answers a credibility token rather than just the winner to incentivize repliers further to become more active.
  • Implementing zero-knowledge authentication to ensure solvers and askers are not forging fake credibility or acquiring tokens incorrectly or maliciously.
  • Bounty-splitting on problems, we want the asker to be able to split his bounty to multiple responses that he is satisfied with to encourage solvers further into responding, and thus, creating more responsive and engaging threads.
  • Add a KnowledgeSwap governance DAO, but unlike any other DAO, your power will be linked to both your KnowledgeSwap token and your credibility tokens. Hence, active users can have meaningful changes pushed to the platform, not just whales.
  • Reducing the number of times users need to wait for block confirmations by increasing code efficiency and the number of times users need to sign a transaction, to simplify the experience.
  • Developing a smart contract for the credibility airdrops and giveaways for people who have worked hard and earned many credibility tokens. This will decentralize the reward of credible replies.
  • Redesigning the smart contracts into safe, non-outside executable smart contracts and auditing them to ensure their total safety and self-sustainability.
7 Likes

Waw, this project is quite different from what I have been seeing so far, but is their any community that users can refer to, Incase there is need for it

3 Likes

Yes, absolutely!

  • We just started the forum here, and we also just started a discord server Knowledge Swap Community , we will be actively working on both.
  • We heavily believe in the power of active users to choose, so we will also create a general DAO governance community page related to the knowledgeSwap community.
  • In addition, the first step in our what’s next is developing a comprehensive topic system. For example, if you were to click the javascript developers topic, you would be directed to all questions relating to that topic. There will also be a general forum for a particular case to create a community-centric engagement by topic of interest or expertise.
3 Likes

@the_omar Love the concept behind this, with enough traction you would no doubt attract sponsors

Keep updating and good luck in the contest :clap:

3 Likes

Very unique project… Keep it up…

3 Likes

@Kelekele Thank you so much. If there is anything you think would be a cool and useful addition to the application, be to reach out to us!

3 Likes

Much obliged, thanks a ton. If there is any question you have about the concept and how it functions, do not hesitate to contact us!

3 Likes

Wow, a lot coming to this crypto space.
Learn, share and gain.
That’s great but please are you going to create your own token to reward users or use tokens like tron, turu… to reward your users. Thank you

3 Likes

Great concept and wishing them good luck
Will be happy to see them after the hackathon

3 Likes

@farukkandemir585 ok will do, one quick question is there a chance of seeing a test version we can try out soon?

3 Likes

@Simon
Of course!
Head here: https://knowledgeswap-app-btt-testnet.vercel.app/
Follow the Instructions above to test :slight_smile: .
Enjoy!

2 Likes

I love unique projects… Keep it up :+1:

4 Likes

Thank you, we appreciate the support a lot!

3 Likes

@Prince-Onscolo
Yes, it is KS tokens. Refer to the whitepaper for usage.

3 Likes

Alright thank you
I will check

3 Likes