Core concepts
Proof of Judging
How JudgeNod utilizes cryptographic hashing and Solana's immutable ledger to create an audit trail for every evaluation.
The Proof-of-Judging Cycle
The core problem in hackathon judging is the "black box" – where winners are announced without any technical accountability. JudgeNod solves this through a three-stage verifiability cycle:
1. Deterministic State Hashing
When a judge opens a repository, the CLI immediately generates a SHA-256 hash of the codebase state. This is unique to that specific commit. Any subsequent changes to the repository after evaluation will cause the hash to mismatch.
sha256(repository_files + judge_id + timestamp)2. Cryptographic Attestation
The judge's scores are combined with the repository hash and signed using the judge's Ed25519 private key. This signature is verified by the Solana smart contract before any data is written to the ledger.
3. On-chain Settlement
Once verified, the score is settled on-chain. This creates a permanent, timestamped record of the evaluation. Results are no longer stored in centralized databases that could be manipulated.
Data Integrity Features
- Anti-Collusion: The contract ensures that judges cannot see other scores for the same project until the judging period is officially closed.
- Role-based Weights: Organizer wallets have the ability to set different weighting for specialized judges (e.g., Security experts vs UX experts).
- Immutable Metadata: The raw JSON representing the scoring rubric is stored in a dedicated Solana Account, ensuring the rules of the hackathon aren't shifted post-submission.