FOAM

FOAM, founded in 2015 by Ryan John King, Kristoffer Josefsson, and Katya Zavyalova, operates at the intersection of geospatial data and blockchain technology. The company is developing an open protocol to create a consensus-driven, crowdsourced map of the world, intended as a secure alternative to centralized services like GPS. The founders' backgrounds in architecture, urban economics, and blockchain development shaped FOAM's direction, which originated from a 2015 art installation called Foamspace that explored decentralized infrastructure.

The core of FOAM's offering is its Proof of Location protocol, which aims to provide a trusted mechanism for verifying an agent's position in time and space. This is broken into two main components. The first is a static proof of location system using Token Curated Registries (TCRs). In this model, users, known as Cartographers, stake FOAM tokens to add and verify geographic Points of Interest (POIs) on the FOAM Map. This crypto-economic model creates a financial incentive for participants to ensure the map's data is accurate and reliable, as they share in the value created. The second component, dynamic proof of location, is a more ambitious system designed to track moving objects. It utilizes a decentralized, permissionless network of radio beacons that synchronize their clocks to provide location verification independent of GPS. This network is designed to be censorship-resistant, privacy-preserving, and fraud-proof.

FOAM's business model is structured around its open-source protocol and the FOAM utility token. The company itself is a non-rent-seeking organization, meaning it does not collect centralized fees from protocol use. Revenue and ongoing development are supported by the FOAM Foundation, which was allocated a portion of the total token supply. The FOAM token is integral to the ecosystem's functionality. Users must stake tokens to participate in the network as Cartographers curating POIs, as radio beacon operators (Zone Anchors), or as Verifiers who check for fraud. This staking mechanism serves as a security deposit to ensure honest behavior. The protocol is built on the Ethereum blockchain, leveraging smart contracts to execute transactions and agreements in a transparent, permissionless manner. Potential applications span numerous industries, including supply chain management for verifiable product tracking, mobility services, location-based gaming, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Keywords: geospatial protocol, proof of location, decentralized mapping, blockchain technology, Ethereum, Token Curated Registries, crypto-spatial coordinates, location verification, radio beacon network, consensus-driven map, smart contracts, Web3, DePIN, geospatial data, secure location services, IoT, supply chain logistics, mobility services, GIS, cartography