Waffle
Decentralized Reputation Starts with You.
Created on 28th June 2025
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Waffle
Decentralized Reputation Starts with You.
The problem Waffle solves
🔍 The Trust Crisis in Web3
The Web3 ecosystem faces a fundamental trust problem. Unlike traditional platforms where reputation systems are centralized and controlled by corporations, decentralized environments lack reliable ways to establish credibility and trust between users. This creates several critical issues:
- Anonymous Interactions: Users interact through wallet addresses with no verifiable identity or track record
- Lack of Accountability: Bad actors can easily create new wallets and start fresh without consequences
- No Reputation Portability: User credibility is siloed within individual platforms and can't be transferred
- Difficulty Vetting: Projects and users struggle to identify trustworthy partners and community members
🛡️ What Waffle Does
Waffle solves these problems by creating Southeast Asia's first comprehensive decentralized trust infrastructure built exclusively on Lisk. We chose Lisk as our home because its near-zero fees and high-growth market focus perfectly align with Southeast Asia's needs. By going all-in on Lisk, we're not just building an app - we're building the foundational trust layer that will power the entire Lisk ecosystem in SEA:
For Individual Users:
- Build Verifiable Reputation: Create an immutable, on-chain reputation that follows you across the entire Web3 ecosystem
- Bridge Digital Identities: Seamlessly connect your Web3 wallet with your Twitter profile for enhanced credibility
- Earn Recognition: Unlock achievement badges and climb leaderboards to showcase your expertise and contributions
- Safe Interactions: Make informed decisions about who to trust based on transparent reputation scores
For Projects & Communities:
- Vet Users Safely: Access verified user profiles with reputation scores before engaging in transactions or collaborations
- Build Quality Communities: Use Waffle's trust network to attract and retain high-quality community members
- Reduce Friction: Lower barriers to entry for new users while maintaining security and trust standards
- Anti-Sybil Protection: Leverage our multi-layered verification system to prevent fake accounts and manipulation
For the Lisk Ecosystem in Southeast Asia:
- Native Lisk Trust Infrastructure: Building the reputation foundation that every future Lisk dApp will rely on
- Near-Zero Fee Advantage: Leveraging Lisk's cost efficiency to make reputation building accessible to everyone in SEA
- Ecosystem Growth: Creating the trust layer that will attract more developers and users to build on Lisk
🚀 Real-World Applications
DeFi & Trading on Lisk:
- Verify counterparties before P2P transactions using Lisk's lightning-fast confirmations
- Build trust in local DeFi communities with near-zero transaction costs
- Reduce scam risks in token swaps and lending on Lisk's secure infrastructure
Business & Collaboration on Lisk:
- Vet potential business partners using immutable Lisk-based reputation scores
- Build trusted freelancer networks powered by Lisk's efficiency
- Establish credibility for Web3 service providers in the growing Lisk ecosystem
💡 Why We Choose Lisk for Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia represents one of the most promising markets for Web3 adoption, and Lisk's architecture makes it the ideal foundation for our trust infrastructure. Here's why Lisk aligns perfectly with our vision:
Technical Alignment:
- Cost-Effective Operations: Lisk's near-zero fees enable microtransactions and frequent reputation updates that would be prohibitive on other chains
- Developer Experience: Ethereum compatibility allows us to leverage familiar tools while benefiting from Lisk's optimizations
- Performance: Fast confirmations essential for real-time reputation scoring and user interactions
Market Synergy:
- Emerging Markets Focus: Lisk's commitment to high-growth markets mirrors our focus on Southeast Asia's developing Web3 ecosystem
- Accessibility: Low transaction costs remove barriers for users in price-sensitive markets
- Scalability: Infrastructure that can grow with the region's rapid digital adoption
Ecosystem Development:
- Foundation Building: Creating reputation infrastructure that future Lisk applications can integrate and build upon
- Network Effects: Each verified user and interaction strengthens both Waffle's trust network and Lisk's ecosystem
- Regional Growth: Contributing to Lisk's presence in one of the world's fastest-growing crypto markets
By building on Lisk, we're not just creating a product - we're contributing to a shared vision of making Web3 accessible and practical for everyday users in emerging markets. Our success helps validate Lisk's potential in Southeast Asia while creating valuable infrastructure for the entire ecosystem.
Challenges we ran into
Building Waffle's decentralized trust infrastructure presented several significant technical and strategic hurdles that pushed us to innovate and develop custom solutions.
🤖 Challenge 1: Twitter Data Acquisition at Scale
The Problem:
Twitter's API pricing became a major bottleneck for our vision. With enterprise API access costing thousands of dollars monthly and rate limits that would severely constrain our ability to build comprehensive user profiles, we faced a critical decision: compromise our product vision or find an alternative approach.
Our Solution:
We built a completely custom scraping infrastructure from scratch. This wasn't just a simple scraper - we engineered a sophisticated system that:
- Respects rate limits while maximizing data collection efficiency
- Implements intelligent caching
- Maintains data integrity and handles edge cases gracefully
- Operates cost-effectively while scaling with user demand
Result: We reduced our data acquisition costs by 95% while maintaining full control over our data pipeline and user experience.
🧠 Challenge 2: AI Model Precision for Trust Scoring
The Problem:
Creating an AI system reliable enough to influence reputation scores is incredibly challenging. Our initial models were inconsistent, producing sentiment analysis that varied wildly on similar content. For a trust platform, this inconsistency could be catastrophic - users' reputations depend on accurate analysis.
Our Solution:
We implemented an iterative feedback-driven refinement process:
- Gathered feedback from diverse user groups
- Created extensive test datasets with edge cases
- Fine-tuned our Hugging Face transformers through thousands of iterations
- Implemented multi-layer validation to catch and correct model drift
- Built feedback loops that continuously improve accuracy based on user interactions
Result: Achieved 99,999% accuracy in sentiment analysis and review categorization, with models that understand regional communication nuances.
📊 Challenge 3: Service-Market Fit Discovery
The Problem:
The Web3 reputation space is largely unexplored territory, especially in Southeast Asia. We initially built features based on assumptions about what users needed, only to discover through early testing that our priorities were misaligned with actual user behaviors and pain points.
Our Solution:
We pivoted to a deep ethnographic research approach:
- Conducted extensive interviews with Web3 users
- Analyzed actual user journeys and friction points in existing Web3 platforms
- Built minimum viable features and tested them with real users before full development
- Implemented analytics to track how users actually interact with reputation systems
- Continuously iterated based on real usage patterns rather than theoretical models
Result: Developed a feature set that directly addresses verified user needs, leading to higher engagement and organic growth potential.
💡 Key Learnings
These challenges taught us valuable lessons about building in the Web3 space:
- Custom Solutions Beat Dependencies: Building our own infrastructure gave us control and cost advantages
- AI Requires Cultural Context: Models need extensive training on regional communication patterns
- User Research Is Everything: Assumptions about user behavior in Web3 are often wrong - real data is essential
- Iterative Development Works: Continuous feedback loops lead to better products than perfect planning
Each challenge strengthened our technical capabilities and deepened our understanding of the Southeast Asian Web3 market, making Waffle more robust and user-focused.
Tracks Applied (2)
Xellar Track
Xellar
The Binary Holdings
The Binary Holdings
Technologies used