How OriginTrail solves the data fragmentation problem for AI
What is OriginTrail?
OriginTrail is an open, decentralized protocol that combines blockchain technology with a knowledge base*. Essentially, a blockchain network acts as a "distributed database." Besides transactions and related information, decentralized networks can store a wide range of data, including supply chain details and intellectual property information.
The goal of the OriginTrail ecosystem is to create a reliable data infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI), addressing one of the primary challenges of the digital era: misinformation and data inaccuracy.
OriginTrail developers have already implemented some initiatives used by real companies in fields such as supply chain management, international trade, and media. For example, the news platform Blockchain Wire integrated OriginTrail's AI to combat misinformation in the media through so-called "verifiable press releases."
*A knowledge base is a semantic network storing information about various entities (or nodes) and the relationships between them.
How is OriginTrail technology used?
The OriginTrail team has released its large language model (LLM), called DKG, which acts as a "provider of unlimited data." DKG enables well-known AI models, such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT, to connect and complement each other, forming a unified, open ecosystem.
According to OriginTrail's official website, the DKG model is already used by the British Standards Institution (BSI), the SCAN Association, and the World Federation of Hemophilia, as well as the Layer-0 blockchain Polkadot.
The OriginTrail team also launched its chatbot called ChatDKG, which is currently operating in test mode. The ChatDKG chatbot answers user questions on the social network X (formerly Twitter) and runs on OriginTrail's decentralized knowledge base.
OriginTrail token
The OriginTrail team issued their token, TRAC, at the beginning of 2018 — the asset was also listed on exchanges at that time. Initially, TRAC was released as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, but later, developers added support for the Gnosis Chain sidechain.
A total of 500 million TRAC tokens have been issued, with nearly all currently circulating in the cryptocurrency market. However, there is no maximum supply cap for TRAC tokens, meaning additional tokens could be issued in the future.
TRAC tokens are used within the OriginTrail ecosystem for various purposes:
- Payment for network node services: TRAC supports a staking system to reward those securing the network;
- Governance: TRAC holders can vote on proposals to improve the OriginTrail ecosystem;
- Payments: TRAC tokens serve as a payment method for companies exchanging data on the decentralized OriginTrail network;
- Access to specific features of the OriginTrail ecosystem.
Right after its release, TRAC was heavily impacted by the well-known "crypto winter" that followed the ICO boom; its price dropped from $0.24 at listing to a historic low of $0.003 by March 2020.
However, during the DeFi and NFT boom in 2021, the TRAC token price rose to an all-time high (ATH) of $3.87 in November, 16 times higher than its 2018 listing price.
As of May 2025, with a market capitalization of $212 million, the TRAC token price is $0.42, nearly 90% below its historical maximum. By market cap, TRAC ranks 189th among all cryptocurrencies.
What's Next?
The OriginTrail team presented a detailed roadmap for developing their ecosystem, with a key milestone being the so-called "Metcalfe phase," which commenced in 2023 and is expected to continue through 2025.
During the Metcalfe phase, OriginTrail developers aim to achieve an ambitious goal: to create the world's most extensive verifiable knowledge base for AI training, comprising 100 billion units of knowledge. According to the developers, this will increase the scalability of AI models by a factor of 100,000.
