OriginTrail

OriginTrail (TRAC) was founded in 2011 by Tomaž Levak, Žiga Drev, and Branimir Rakić. Initially, it was created as a traceability platform for food products, addressing trust and interoperability issues in food supply chains. The founders developed a decentralized solution utilizing blockchain technology, which was launched through an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017, raising $22.5 million from investors.

Since its inception, OriginTrail has received public funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program for various innovation experiments related to food safety, smart agriculture, and the circular economy. The project has also partnered with notable organizations such as GS1, Oracle, and Parity, the core Polkadot development team.

OriginTrail has won several awards, including the Food Safety Innovation Spark Award in 2017, the Open Data Incubator for Europe Winner in 2016, and the Food+City Challenge Prize Winner in 2017. The project has also been involved in the European Union’s Smart Villages Initiative, highlighting the potential of blockchain technology in agriculture.

Today, OriginTrail is a web3 infrastructure project combining a knowledge graph and blockchain technologies to create a neutral, inclusive ecosystem. The platform enables trusted data sharing among different supply chain stakeholders, ensuring transparency and compliance with regulations and standards.

OriginTrail (TRAC) is a blockchain-based platform designed to provide a decentralized and secure way to share data, ensuring data integrity and trust across various industries, particularly in supply chain management. Here's how it works:

Data Sharing and Integrity

OriginTrail enables data sharing in a neutral, decentralized, and open-source protocol. The network is comprised of nodes that hold and share data, ensuring that data is immutable and tamper-proof. This is achieved through the use of cryptographic hashes that are stored on the blockchain, allowing for the verification of data without modification.

Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG)

The DKG is a data layer built on the OriginTrail Parachain, which is a Layer 2 (L2) equivalent network. This layer allows for the creation of the world's first trustless graph database, enabling the tokenization of reliable and verifiable knowledge. The DKG is designed to be network-agnostic, meaning it can interact with multiple blockchain ecosystems, including Polkadot, Ethereum, and others.

OriginTrail Decentralized Network (ODN)

The ODN is a middle-layer protocol that connects the blockchain to off-chain data. It is flexible and can support interactions with various blockchain platforms. The ODN ensures that data is aligned efficiently, even when taken from multiple sources, including older legacy systems and newer blockchain systems. This alignment is done in accordance with global standards such as GS1 and W3C, promoting interoperability.

Node Roles and Incentives

Anyone can become a data creator node, which is responsible for validating the state of the network and transactions. These nodes are incentivized through passive rewards and are tasked with timely data delivery. When a user requests data, the network randomly selects a node to provide the data, and that node earns rewards for its actions.

TRAC Token

The TRAC token is an ERC-20 utility token used to power the entire OriginTrail ecosystem. It was pre-mined with a fixed supply of 500 million tokens and is non-inflationary. The token serves several functions, including:

• Publishing and updating information: TRAC is used to incentivize the creation and sharing of knowledge assets.
• Improving keyword ranking: TRAC can be used to enhance the visibility of knowledge assets.
• Earning rewards: TRAC holders can stake or delegate their tokens to DKG nodes to earn rewards.

Multichain Approach

OriginTrail's multichain approach ensures that knowledge assets and their functionalities can be accessed across multiple blockchain ecosystems. This allows for greater flexibility and adoption across different platforms.

Security and Trust

The OriginTrail protocol incorporates various security measures, including zero-knowledge proofs to protect sensitive data and ensure data validity. Additionally, the use of AI and oracles helps monitor activities and maintain the integrity of the network.

Overall, OriginTrail (TRAC) provides a robust and decentralized platform for trusted data sharing, ensuring the integrity and security of data across various industries.

OriginTrail (TRAC) has several strengths that make it a notable project in the blockchain and supply chain management space:

1. Data Integrity and Transparency: OriginTrail ensures data integrity by providing a secure, transparent, and decentralized manner of sharing data. This eliminates the need for third-party verification and ensures trust in the data shared.

2. Supply Chain Efficiency: OriginTrail optimizes supply chain efficiency by streamlining data sharing and communication. This leads to faster and cheaper operations compared to traditional methods.

3. Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG): The DKG is a key component of OriginTrail, allowing for the creation of a trustless graph database. This enables the tokenization of reliable and verifiable knowledge, making it a powerful tool for data management.

4. Interoperability: OriginTrail's multi-chain system allows for interoperability between different blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, xDai, and Polkadot. This enables seamless data sharing and integration across various platforms.

5. Privacy-by-Design: The platform incorporates privacy features such as zero-knowledge proofs and data expiration, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected.

6. Staking and Incentives: The TRAC token incentivizes network participants through staking, which helps reduce the number of tokens in circulation and drives up demand and value. Staking also rewards users for their contributions to the network.

7. Real-World Adoption: OriginTrail has already been adopted by major firms like Home Depot, Walmart, and Target, as well as the US Department of Homeland Security, demonstrating its practical applications and potential for widespread use.

These strengths position OriginTrail as a robust and versatile platform for managing data and supply chains in a secure, transparent, and efficient manner.

OriginTrail (TRAC) carries several risks associated with investing in crypto assets. These include:

1. Volatility Risk and Liquidity Risk: TRAC's value can fluctuate significantly, and liquidity issues may make it difficult to buy or sell the token quickly enough to respond to market changes.

2. Short History Risk: TRAC has a relatively short history, which can make it harder to predict its long-term performance.

3. Demand Risk: The success of TRAC depends on its rate of adoption by users and partners. If adoption is slow, the token's value may suffer.

4. Forking Risk: The possibility of a fork in the blockchain could impact the token's value and functionality.

5. Code Defects: Bugs or security vulnerabilities in the code could compromise the integrity of the network and the token.

6. Regulatory Risk: Changes in laws or regulations could negatively impact the use, transfer, or value of TRAC.

7. Electronic Trading Risk: Technical issues or security breaches in electronic trading systems could affect TRAC's value.

8. Cyber Security Risk: Hacking or other cyber attacks could compromise the security of the network and the token.

Additionally, TRAC has a high risk assessment due to its potential for manipulation by limited trading activity.

Here are the key team members behind OriginTrail (TRAC):

• Žiga Drev: Co-founder of OriginTrail, involved in developing the platform since its inception in 2017-2018.
• Tomaž Levak: Co-founder of OriginTrail, instrumental in creating the platform’s vision and architecture.
• Branimir Rakić: Co-founder of OriginTrail, contributed to the development of the platform’s core technology.
• Dr. Bob Metcalfe: Advisor to OriginTrail, renowned for inventing Ethernet and his work on Metcalfe’s Law, which is being applied to predict the value of linked data in the OriginTrail Knowledge Graph.
• Dan Purtell: Advisor to OriginTrail, Group Director of Innovation at BSI, providing guidance on deploying the Decentralized Knowledge Graph in diverse industries.
• Ken Lyon: Advisor to OriginTrail, Managing Director of Virtual Partners Ltd, with extensive experience in the transportation industry and supply chain logistics.
• Greg Kidd: Advisor to OriginTrail, early investor in several notable companies, advocating for portable and user-owned identity credentials.
• Aaron Bradley: Advisor to OriginTrail, Structured Content Architect at Telus, assisting in evangelizing the Decentralized Knowledge Graph to developer communities.
• Cristina Ventura: Advisor to OriginTrail, focusing on blockchain, consumer tech, and sustainability, particularly in Asia.

These individuals have played significant roles in shaping OriginTrail’s vision, technology, and partnerships.