tea is a decentralized technology protocol that enables open-source developers to be rewarded for their software contributions. It uses blockchain technology to enable the automated and near-instant distribution of digital tokens including a protocol-supported token known as ‘tea’.

Today, we are excited to announce the tea Testnet. In an effort to stress test the network’s reliability, operations, and performance prior to mainnet launch, tea is offering tea testnet points to qualifying participants for their contributions. Complete challenges, earn points!

*Testnet points are not redeemable and simply show the loyalty level of a tea participant. Testnet points are planned to become redeemable by eligible persons for blockchain tokens and/or other benefits at a later time, solely at the discretion of tea.

The tea token, “TEA”, is woven directly into the fabric of the protocol’s framework, acting as a bridge between diligent efforts and tangible rewards, ensuring that developers and contributors receive more than just acknowledgment for their skills and time. Instead, they are incentivized in a manner that fosters continued participation and innovation.

In the tea ecosystem, the token has multiple key use cases:

• Gas fees: TEA tokens are a fundamental requirement for conducting transactions on tea, encompassing a range of essential activities. These include establishing an open-source software (OSS) project treasury, staking, allocating teaRank points, and distributing donations or grants.
• Restricted access: A project must hold and stake TEA tokens to create its own DAO treasury and earn points from the protocol. These staked tokens serve the dual purpose of incentivizing security researchers to report vulnerabilities responsibly, and motivating project maintainers to expeditiously address the reported vulnerabilities.
• Governance: TEA holders can propose non-financial critical parameter adjustments to tea and delegate their vote to the open-source packages of their choice by staking them.
• OSS Project Security: Network users can privately report bugs or vulnerabilities to OSS project maintainers by staking TEA tokens along with their reports. If the reported bug or vulnerability is resolved within a specified timeframe, the reporting user receives a reward from the TEA staked by those who supported the package.
• Staking:  TEA tokens can be staked on any OSS project integrated into tea to earn points. These staking points are emitted from a pre-allocated pool of TEA tokens.

For users, TEA introduces a world of possibilities, enabling active participation in project growth and reaping benefits from it. Whether it's through governance, transactions, rewards, or staking, TEA ensures users are meaningfully involved in the ecosystem. For the project, TEA is the heartbeat of the ecosystem, driving engagement, securing the platform, and ensuring a sustainable model that propels growth and fosters innovation.

The timeline is subject to change at the sole discretion of tea

The tea Testnet welcomes participants of all background types to join, including devs and non-devs. Participation in the testnet is straightforward and hassle-free, without the need for KYC verification or any hardware requirements. Additionally, there are no limitations on the number of participants. To join, simply create an account on the app, and participants are ready to begin testing.

Please note that certain jurisdictional limitations apply (i.e. participants must be non-U.S./Canada and OFAC compliant), as outlined here.

Users will have the opportunity to earn points through tea’s incentive algorithm that applies across every qualifying entry in the tea registry. These points will be proportional to their ecosystem-wide contributions. Project maintainers can track their contributions to the ecosystem through their project's teaRank which is determined through Proof of Contribution. The Proof of Contribution algorithm achieves key goals for tea:

• Quantifies the impact of an OSS project based on the project’s orientation within, and utilization by, the software ecosystem over time;
• Assigns each project a dynamic score—referred to as the project’s teaRank

Points are earned for the following activities that contribute to the project's teaRank:

Challenge 1: Oolong

Challenge 2: Jasmine

Challenge 3: Earl Grey

Challenge 4: Chamomile

Challenge 5: Pu-erth

Testnet points are not redeemable and simply show the loyalty level of a tea participant. Testnet points are planned to become redeemable by eligible persons for blockchain tokens and/or other benefits at a later time, solely at the discretion of tea.

Tea revolutionizes the open-source landscape by addressing a critical issue: the lack of tangible rewards for the dedicated efforts of open-source maintainers and contributors. tea's protocol not only acknowledges the invaluable contributions of developers but also introduces a trustless system for them to capture the value they create.

The value of tea is that it creates a fully composable open-source ecosystem. It allows seamless interaction between projects and their communities, encouraging transparent linkages between project dependencies and dependents, driving cross-collaboration amongst core contributors. It also assigns each project a universal score to quantify its impact and orientation within the broader open-source ecosystem. Project maintainers can track their contributions to the ecosystem through their project’s teaRank which is determined through Proof of Contribution.