VeriBloc

Introduction

Veribloc transforms how research data is collected and used worldwide. Our platform connects researchers with a global network of data contributors. We use blockchain to ensure secure, anonymous, and fast transactions.

Inspiration

Representing diverse populations in scientific studies is crucial for accuracy. Often, scientific studies mainly use samples from a specific group of people, known as WEIRD - Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. This group mostly includes college students from the US and Europe, which doesn't represent everyone. One big challenge in getting a more diverse group of people for studies is the complex process of handling payments and paperwork across different countries.

What it does

VeriBloc leverages blockchain technology to enable nearly instantaneous global payments and drastically reduces the need for cumbersome paperwork. This streamlines the entire process, making it easier and faster for researchers and participants alike. Our platform operates as a two-sided marketplace powered by blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, offering a novel solution to the challenges of data integrity and participant diversity in research studies.

For researchers, VeriBloc provides the tools to break this pattern and streamline the research process. Using our platform, researchers set data requirements, receive global submissions, and get faster, reliable results. VeriBloc improves research quality and makes findings more universally applicable.

For study participants, VeriBloc introduces a compelling incentive model. By compensating contributions with cryptocurrency, it ensures anonymity, security, and swift payment, common concerns around privacy and accessibility.

How the Smart Contract works

The contract serves as a platform where researchers can set up studies, participants can join these studies, and payments are managed securely through escrow until all conditions are met. The contract also incorporates mechanisms to handle disputes and verify the authenticity of study results.

Study Management:

Researchers can create studies by specifying a budget and the number of participants they aim to engage. Each study has funds allocated per participant, determined by dividing the total budget by the target number of participants.
Participants can join open studies if they haven't reached their capacity and are still active. Their participation is recorded on the blockchain.

Escrow Payment System:

The contract holds the funds for each study in escrow, ensuring that participants are only paid once the study is verified as complete and accurate.
Payments are released to participants automatically if the study is verified successfully without any disputes.

Verification and Completion:

Completion and Payment: Once a study reaches its participation target, the contract triggers an event to request verification. If the study doesn't meet the participation target by a deadline, the remaining funds are returned to the researcher.
Automatic Payouts: Upon successful verification, the contract disburses payments to all participants.
Verification Trigger: When the participation target is met, the smart contract emits an event that signals the need for verification.
Verification Process: An off-chain system, implemented on a centralized server, receives the trigger and performs the necessary checks to ensure the responses are genuine and meet the study's standards. This involves checking for duplicate entries, verifying IP addresses against geolocations to prevent bots, and assessing the quality of textual or data input to ensure it is meaningful and not random or autogenerated.
Verification Result: Once the verification is complete, the off-chain system interacts with the smart contract to confirm the authenticity of the study results. This is done using a callback function or through a transaction signed by a trusted server that communicates the results to the smart contract.

Dispute Resolution:

If there are concerns about the study's integrity or the results, participants can file disputes. The contract allows disputes to be resolved by the owner or an appointed arbitrator.
Depending on the resolution, the study can either be marked as resolved (with payments proceeding to participants), or funds can be refunded to the researcher if the dispute is found in favor of the study's validity being compromised.

How we built it

Front-end: React, Tailwind CSS
Back-end: Python, Rest API
Blockchain: Solidity (And a lot of brain power)

Challenges we ran into

A teammate backed out last minute :(
Making smart contracts!
Too many ideas, too little time
1st blockchain project - EVER
We hardcoded everything on our own - we were able to deploy everything, but had difficulties with connecting the smart contract into the system (but I promise you it worked very well!)