Proof of Developer (PoD)

Proof of Developer, or POD, refers to any evidence that showcases and proves that there’s an actual software developer behind a specific cryptocurrency or crypto project. This mechanism was designed to prevent cryptocurrency investors from falling victim to fraudulent claims by anonymous developers.

PoD was first implemented in 2014 as a way to help investors avoid incurring significant losses from “pump-and-dump” schemes in cryptocurrency projects. These usually take place when software developers or investors significantly inflate their coins’ prices, then sell them when they receive a sufficient ROI from the inflated prices.

Aside from this, PoDs also ensure that no other software developer can claim a cryptocurrency as their own and use it for fraudulent purposes. In this case, investors can quickly identify if the project they’re interested in is legitimate, since they know exactly who's behind it.

Some of the information included in Proof-of-Developer mechanisms are the names, nationalities, email addresses and social media profiles of a coin’s developers. PoDs also verify the information contained in developers’ educational credentials and GitHub pages.