We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Karma, a leading reputation and accountability platform for Web3 ecosystems like Celo, Arbitrum and Octant. Today, Karma is integrating Self Protocol’s zk-powered identity verification into their full suite of products: Karma GAP and Karma Gov.

Together, we’re advancing a shared vision––to enable users to prove who they are without revealing more than they need to.

Why Identity Matters in Web3 Funding & Governance

As public goods funding grows in Web3, ecosystems face a persistent challenge:

How to verify that someone is real without demanding personal data?

Projects, DAOs, and funders all want to support real builders and hold contributors accountable for onchain impact. Traditional methods often require builders sharing private, personal information which clashes with the core values of privacy, decentralization, and user sovereignty.

That’s where Self Protocol comes in. Our zero-knowledge approach allows users to prove facts about themselves (age, location, humanity) without sharing personal data. And now, this capability is coming to Karma.

Use Case 1: Human-Verified Builders in Karma GAP

Karma GAP is a product that helps funders track grantee progress, manage project milestones, and distribute rewards. In the age of AI agents, that trust starts with one essential question:

Is this builder a real human?

With Self Protocol, Karma GAP users can now:

Verify that builders are human—without KYC

• Prevent Sybil attacks and duplicate claims

• Enable compliant airdrops and reward distributions

• Support global contributors without needing sensitive data

This makes funding emerging projects safer, more trustworthy, and aligned with privacy-preserving principles.

Use Case 2: Delegate Integrity in Karma Gov

DAOs and communities use Karma tools to seamlessly onboard contributors, track their contributions (e.g., voting history, voting patterns, communication), and take actions to increase engagement and accountability.

In DAO governance, accountability is everything. Ensuring delegates actively participate in governance decisions is crucial for the sustainability and longevity of an ecosystem. But proving identity to maintain this accountability has often come at the cost of privacy—until now.

By integrating Self, delegates on Karma Gov can now prove they’re real humans and meet DAO-specific criteria (e.g., regional rules or age limits). 

This allows DAOs to enforce participation rules, prevent Sybil attacks, and build trust in their delegate ecosystem without compromising privacy.

A Shared Commitment to Privacy & Trust

Karma’s integration of Self Protocol brings zero-knowledge identity into mission-critical parts of the Web3 ecosystem: capital allocation and governance.

This model serves as a powerful example for the future of Web3, a world where users don’t have to choose between being private and being trusted.

We’re proud to power this capability for Karma and look forward to working with more projects that value decentralized identity with zero compromise.

Explore Karma’s products and reach out to them here.