Karma

Karma is reshaping how the crypto ecosystem addresses grant management and DAO governance by introducing a set of open, verifiable protocols and tools that empower communities to function more transparently and effectively. The project was born from a recognized need within the industry: millions of dollars in grants are distributed annually without a standardized method to track their usage or measure real impact. By addressing the problem of limited visibility, fragmented data, and poor accountability, Karma positions itself as a foundational layer for onchain reputation systems and governance tooling.

At its core is the Grantee Accountability Protocol (GAP), a permissionless onchain system where grantees create comprehensive project profiles and record milestones, updates, and impact reports. These are verified through the Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS), ensuring all data is immutable and trustworthy. This onchain visibility helps weed out “grant farming” behaviors, where teams seek funding without meaningful delivery. In addition, GAP enables cross-DAO reputation portability—so a grantee’s record can follow them across the ecosystem, unlocking new opportunities and funding.

For DAOs and tokenholders, Karma Gov provides Delegate Dashboards that aggregate delegate data like voting history, forum participation, and onchain contributions. These dashboards empower DAOs to make compensation decisions based on performance, and help tokenholders delegate their voting power more effectively. With over 60,000 delegates indexed and 300,000+ activity metrics tracked, Karma is already supporting top-tier ecosystems.

What sets Karma apart is its commitment to being 100% onchain and community-centric. Every part of the GAP data structure—from project profiles and grants to milestones and updates—is publicly accessible and supports interoperability. DAOs and contributors are encouraged to build on top of Karma using its SDKs and APIs. Beyond the core products, Karma also maintains a Grant Program Registry curated by the Cartographer Syndicate, providing a centralized resource for discovering funding opportunities.

Notable platforms that utilize Karma’s tools include Arbitrum, Optimism, Gitcoin, ENS, and Idle Finance. While competitors such as Clr.Fund, and Boardroom provide governance tools or funding management systems, Karma uniquely integrates reputation systems with grant tracking and delegate dashboards under one open protocol.

Karma provides numerous benefits and features that make it a standout platform in the onchain governance and grant management space:

• Grantee Accountability Protocol (GAP): Enables grantees to post updates and milestones onchain, building verifiable reputations and securing future funding.
• Delegate Dashboards: Helps DAOs monitor, compensate, and reward delegates based on quantifiable activity and behavior.
• Cross-DAO Reputation Portability: Contributors can use their onchain resume to prove credibility across different DAOs and ecosystems.
• Data Integrity via Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS): All updates are stored immutably using EAS schemas, ensuring security and openness.
• Open APIs and SDKs: Allows developers to build custom interfaces and tools using Karma’s infrastructure.
• Grant Registry: A curated directory of available grants across leading Web3 communities, enabling builders to find relevant funding opportunities.
• Community-Driven Governance Tools: Supports contributor dashboards, role assignment automations, governance statistics, and more to streamline DAO operations.

Karma offers a seamless onboarding process for grantees, delegates, and DAOs looking to integrate accountability and governance tools into their workflow:

• Create a Wallet: First, ensure you have a compatible crypto wallet like MetaMask or WalletConnect.
• Register on Karma GAP: Visit Karma’s official website and register your project through the GAP interface.
• Build Your Project Profile: Add details such as your mission, social links, description, and challenges you're solving. This serves as your public resume.
• Link Grants: Associate any existing or new grants with your project and define milestones to track your work.
• Post Milestones & Updates: Use the GAP dashboard to post updates. Each milestone can include detailed proof-of-work and will be publicly verifiable through EAS.
• Gain Visibility: DAO contributors, grant managers, and the community can view your activity, improving your reputation and chances for future funding.
• Use Delegate Dashboards: If you're a DAO member or tokenholder, explore the delegate dashboards to analyze, delegate, or reward high-performing DAO delegates.
• Join the Community: Stay informed through Twitter, and Discord.
• Explore Documentation: Learn more through the GAP Docs and API Documentation.