The PUMP.NETWORK experiment: using gambling to calculate trust
by nthglsn | 2025-11-13 03:58:03+00:00
In 1998, Larry Page introduced PageRank, a network-based algorithm that measured the importance of web pages by analyzing how they linked to one another. It was a breakthrough: instead of relying on keyword matching alone, PageRank treated the web as a graph of endorsements. That idea became the foundation of Google and reshaped how information is organized online. Over time, PageRank evolved far beyond search. Variants of the algorithm now support spam detection in Gmail and Outlook, Sybil resistance in social networks like Instagram and Facebook, and many other systems where reputation, trust, and network structure matter. PageRank proved that when you can map relationships, you can measure credibility at scale.

>The Web3 Challenge: Pseudonymity and the Rise of Sybil Attacks In Web3, and on Solana in particular, pseudonymity is a double-edged sword. It enables open participation, but it also makes scams, fake identities, and Sybil attacks easy to execute. A single actor can spin up thousands of wallets, manufacture artificial community signals, or launch multiple fraudulent projects in minutes. As the Internet Capital Market trend grows and capital moves faster, the demand for legitimacy is clear. Investors want real projects, not vaporware. Builders want a way to prove trustworthiness without doxxing themselves. Communities want signals that cannot be faked.

>A New Opportunity: PageRank for Solana This creates space for a powerful opportunity: a decentralized trust graph for Solana, inspired by PageRank, that evaluates how trustworthy a developer, team, or project is without requiring any personal identity or private information. Instead of links between web pages, each participant in the network would receive a unique token representing their node. Trust flows through the graph from node to node as they invest in or support one another. These directed edges form an economic relationship graph that can be analyzed with a PageRank-style algorithm. By observing where capital moves, how projects choose to back each other, and which connections attract follow-on investment, the network can compute a dynamic trust score that is hard to manipulate and easy to interpret.

>The PUMP.NETWORK Experiment This is why we created pump.network, a prototype designed to test this approach. Once released, users will be able to invite their friends and help expand the graph until we reach a critical volume of nodes. After that, we will implement an invest to vouch mechanism that computes a trust score for each participant. Trusted nodes will then be able to surface projects they believe are viable and trustworthy, giving the ecosystem a powerful signal layer that can grow organically.

>Why This Matters Such a system would act as infrastructure for legitimacy in Solana's emerging capital markets: Investors could instantly filter out low-trust or suspicious projects. Builders could establish reputations without revealing identities. Ecosystems could reduce fraud and improve discovery of high-quality teams. Users could navigate Web3 with confidence rather than fear. Just as PageRank transformed how the world found reliable information, a trust algorithm for Solana could transform how the ecosystem identifies reliable people and projects, bringing order, signal, and credibility to a space where pseudonymity and speed currently favor bad actors.

It is the natural next step: a trust protocol for a trustless world.