POAP

Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) is a blockchain-based protocol for creating and distributing NFT collectibles that serve as verifiable records of attendance at physical and virtual events. ^[1]

Developed by POAP Inc., the protocol enables individuals and communities to preserve memorable experiences as on-chain digital collectibles.

In 2026, POAP entered maintenance mode before the project was later wound down as the team shifted its focus to building open collectibles infrastructure. ^[14]

Overview

The Proof of Attendance Protocol provides a framework for event organizers (issuers) to create and distribute cryptographic records of attendance to participants (collectors). ^{[6] [2]} These records exist as unique NFTs that function as digital souvenirs, community-building tools, and components of a user's on-chain identity. ^{[7] [8]}​

Issuers use the platform to create POAPs for events ranging from large-scale conferences and product launches to private celebrations and virtual gatherings. ^[5] For collectors, accumulating POAPs creates a verifiable digital history of their experiences, interests, and community involvement. ^{[9] [2]} While the NFTs are technically transferable and can be traded on secondary markets, the project's ethos emphasizes their value as personal and commemorative rather than speculative financial assets. ^{[3] [9]}​

According to POAP Inc., the company's vision is a world "where the memories we make are truly ours, and everyone has the opportunity to be a part of history." ^[1] The protocol seeks to make memories durable, which it suggests has implications for community organization and fostering a sense of belonging. ^[2]​

History

The concept for the Proof of Attendance Protocol was conceived in 2019 and first implemented at the ETHDenver hackathon in February of that year. ^{[2] [8]} The initial goal was to reward the volunteer hackers participating in the event and demonstrate a novel use case for the Ethereum blockchain. ^[10] Around 100 POAPs were distributed to participants who connected to the hackathon's Wi-Fi network to access a specific minting link. ^{[2] [3]}​

Initially, POAPs were minted on the Ethereum mainnet. However, due to high gas fees that created a barrier for widespread adoption, the project migrated its minting and distribution contract to the xDai sidechain (now Gnosis Chain) in October 2020. ^{[10] [8]} This move enabled rapid, low-cost transactions, allowing POAPs to be distributed for free to collectors. ^[11]​

The company POAP Inc. was formally established in 2021 to support the protocol's development and build out its ecosystem. ^[1] In January 2022, POAP Inc. announced a $10 million seed funding round co-led by Archetype and Delphi Digital. ^[7] Other participants in the round included Sapphire Sport, Collab+Currency, 1kx, Libertus Capital, Fabric Ventures, and notable angel investors. ^[8]​

Technology and Mechanics

POAPs are non-fungible tokens that conform to the ERC-721 standard, ensuring that each digital badge is unique, non-replicable, and individually ownable. ^{[2] [6]}​

Blockchain Infrastructure

POAPs are primarily minted on the Gnosis Chain (formerly xDai), an Ethereum-based sidechain. ^[2] This infrastructure allows for fast and inexpensive minting, with the minimal transaction costs being subsidized by POAP Inc., making the process free for collectors. ^[8] While minted on Gnosis Chain, POAPs are fully compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem. A collector can choose to pay a gas fee to migrate their POAP to the Ethereum mainnet for trading on major NFT marketplaces or for use in other Ethereum-based applications. ^[10]​

How It Works

The process of creating and collecting a POAP involves three main steps for issuers and collectors: ^[1]​

1. Creation (Mint): An event organizer (issuer) submits their event details, including a custom image, to the POAP platform. ^[3] To be recognized as an official POAP, the NFT must be minted via the official POAP smart contract, be associated with a specific event and date (lasting no longer than one year), and contain an image. ^[10]
2. Distribution (Drop): Upon approval by the POAP Curation Body, the issuer receives a set of unique minting links or QR codes to distribute to attendees. ^[7] Distribution methods vary depending on the event type and can include displaying a QR code at a physical venue or sharing a hyperlink during a virtual event. ^[2]
3. Collection (Claim): Attendees scan the QR code or click the link to access a claiming page. They can then mint the POAP NFT to their Ethereum wallet address. ^[3] To lower the barrier for newcomers, the platform also allows users to reserve a POAP with an email address and mint it to a wallet at a later time. ^{[2] [12]}

Each POAP contains unique metadata, including the event's name, date, location, a custom image, and a serial number indicating the order in which it was minted. This information is stored immutably on the blockchain. ^[9]​

Ecosystem and Products

POAP Inc. has developed a suite of applications and services for issuers, collectors, and developers to interact with the protocol.

• POAP App: A mobile application for iOS and Android where collectors can view, manage, and display their POAP collections. ^{[1] [12]}
• POAP.scan / collectors.poap.xyz: An explorer tool that allows users to view their own POAP collections and those associated with any other public Ethereum address or ENS name. ^{[5] [9]}
• POAP.gallery: A public portal for exploring the wider universe of all POAP collectibles that have been created. ^[5]
• POAP.collections: A tool that enables users to create and display curated collections of their favorite POAPs. ^[5]
• POAP.fun: A platform for creating raffles and prize giveaways using POAPs as entry tickets. ^{[5] [8]}
• POAP.chat: A token-gated messaging application where access to specific chat rooms is granted exclusively to holders of a particular POAP. ^{[7] [8]}
• POAP.vote: A platform for gasless community polling and governance, where holding a specific POAP can signify eligibility to vote. ^[8]
• Developer Platform: POAP provides documentation and tools for developers to integrate the protocol into their own applications. ^{[1] [5]}

These tools and platforms are designed to serve the three main user groups of the ecosystem: issuers, collectors, and builders. ^[5]​

Use Cases and Adoption

POAP has been adopted for a wide range of applications, primarily focused on community engagement and digital identity.

• Event Mementos: The core use case is to serve as a digital souvenir or collectible, similar to a physical ticket stub, for events like conferences, concerts, virtual meetups, and community calls. ^{[3] [8]}
• Community Building and Governance: DAOs and other online communities use POAPs to reward participation in activities like meetings, voting on proposals, or contributing to projects. ^[9] They can also be used to grant voting rights in community polls, ensuring that only engaged members participate. ^[3] The Bankless DAO, for instance, used POAP holdings to identify and reward its most active members with larger token airdrops. ^[3]
• Token-Gated Access: POAP ownership is used to grant access to exclusive content, private Discord or Telegram channels, future events, or raffles. ^{[2] [10]}
• Digital Identity and Reputation: A user's collection of POAPs can function as a tamper-proof, on-chain résumé of their experiences, professional development, and community involvement. ^{[9] [6]}
• Brand Engagement: Numerous major corporations have utilized POAPs for marketing campaigns and to foster brand loyalty. Notable users include Adidas, Budweiser, Google Cloud, Porsche, Spotify, Cisco, and the US Open. ^{[1] [8]} For example, during NFT NYC 2023, Wrangler partnered with an artist to distribute a unique POAP via a chip-enabled patch on a custom jacket. ^[2] In June 2023, American Express distributed five different POAPs at the U.S. Open Golf Championship, which provided collectors with special merchandise deals. ^[5]

As of early 2026, over 7.5 million POAPs have been minted by more than 45,000 issuers. ^[1]​

Key Figures and Organization

POAP Inc. is the company that created and develops the Proof of Attendance Protocol. ^[1] The key figures associated with the project's founding and leadership include:

• Patricio Worthalter: Founder and CEO of POAP Inc. He is credited with originating the POAP concept at the ETHDenver 2019 hackathon. ^{[7] [8]}
• Isabel Gonzalez: A co-founder of the project and COO of POAP Inc., managing operations and strategy. ^[7]
• Lucas Verra: A co-founder and CTO, leading the technical development of the protocol. ^{[7] [9]}
• Mariano Rodriguez: Also cited as a co-founder of the project. ^{[7] [8]}

Challenges and Criticisms

The POAP protocol has faced several challenges and criticisms related to its design and operation.

• Centralization: The POAP issuance process relies on the POAP Curation Body, a centralized team within POAP Inc., to review and approve event submissions. This has drawn criticism from decentralization advocates who argue it introduces a single point of failure or control, which is contrary to Web3 principles. The team has stated that its long-term vision is to progressively decentralize this function. ^{[7] [8]}
• POAP Farming: Because minting is free and often accessible via public links, a phenomenon known as "POAP farming" has emerged, where individuals collect POAPs from events they did not attend. This practice devalues the "proof of attendance" concept and can dilute the significance of a user's collection. Organizers have employed countermeasures like time-limited claims and secret codes to mitigate this issue. ^{[7] [8]}
• Privacy Concerns: Since POAP collections are public and viewable on the blockchain, they create a permanent, on-chain record of an individual's movements, interests, and associations. This transparency raises potential privacy implications for users. ^{[9] [8]}
• Operational Scalability: While the move to Gnosis Chain addressed the issue of high transaction fees, the operational scalability of the manual curation and support teams has been a challenge during periods of high demand for POAP issuance. ^[7]

POAP Enters Maintenance Mode

On March 12, 2026, the POAP team announced that the platform would enter maintenance mode beginning March 16, 2026, following several years of operating as a digital collectibles platform for events and communities. ^[13]

The team explained that although POAP had been adopted by hundreds of communities and thousands of issuers to commemorate participation in hackathons, conferences, classrooms, and other events, the platform had remained a niche product and did not evolve into the broader infrastructure the team envisioned. As a result, active development of the existing platform would cease while resources shifted toward building a new foundation for open digital collectibles.

Under the maintenance plan, new issuers could no longer access POAP’s issuer interface after March 16. Existing issuers retained access to their existing tools, while previously minted POAPs, collector interfaces, APIs, and integrations continued to function. The team noted that operations could become slower as fewer resources would be dedicated to maintaining the platform. ^[13]

The announcement also introduced POAP’s next direction: developing an open collectibles standard and a new platform designed to support a permissionless ecosystem for creating and managing digital collectibles. The team stated that lessons learned from operating POAP would inform the design of this next-generation infrastructure, with the possibility that the existing platform could eventually connect to the new system. ^[13]

POAP Founder Announces Wind-Down of the Project

On August 3, 2026, POAP founder Patricio Worthalter announced that the project would be wound down after more than five years of operation.

Reflecting on the project’s history, Worthalter highlighted several milestones, including the minting of millions of digital collectibles across hundreds of communities, collaborations with organizations such as Coinbase, American Express, Warner Music Group, and Bayer, and large-scale activations including the distribution of more than 8,000 POAPs during Devcon.

He also pointed to initiatives such as the Airport Rally, which enabled collectors to earn POAPs at airports around the world.

Worthalter said that while POAP had become meaningful to many communities, the project struggled to become a sustainable business. He cited the funding cycles and token distribution dynamics of the cryptocurrency industry, together with the challenges of building on a rapidly evolving technology stack, as key factors behind the decision to wind down the company.

He added that maintaining a sustainable business without compromising the values and community ethos that defined POAP had ultimately proven difficult.

Looking back on the project, Worthalter identified three key lessons from POAP’s development: the long-term value of strong customer communities, the importance of fostering genuine human connection through technology, and the growing significance of brand trust and longevity in an increasingly AI-driven software landscape.

He concluded by thanking the communities, partners, and users who supported POAP throughout its history, while noting that he had not yet announced his next venture. ^[14]

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