tea is a decentralized protocol secured by reputation and incentives. tea enhances the sustainability and integrity of the software supply chain by allowing open-source developers to capture the value they create in a trustless manner. 

Proof of Contribution is the novel consensus mechanism of the tea Protocol designed to quantify the impact of all projects across all open-source systems. Proof of Contribution assigns a dynamic score, referred to as a project’s teaRank, based on each open-source project’s orientation within, and utilization from the broader open-source ecosystem over time.

This approach benefits foundational software far removed from the application layer (which tends to be the most visible layer to the public and attracts most of the interest) and extends the reward mechanism to ensure that all components of a project – from the top of the tree, all the way to its base, are rewarded for their contribution.

The TEA token serves as the access key to certain parts and designated features of the tea protocol. Holders of TEA tokens have the ability to:

• Register their packages
• Support packages by staking TEA tokens to specific packages
• Contribute to the security of the software supply chain by challenging packages and conducting reviews to report bugs and/or vulnerabilities

Ultimately, the value captured by the tea Protocol accrues back to token holders as the community scales, creating a feedback loop that further incentivizes participation.

Early 2024. Join the waitlist today to learn more about key milestones and get started with tea.