A New Infrastructure for Trust-Based Trade
As centralized systems falter, FOAF helps communities exchange value directly. No banks. No middlemen. No cash required.
What Is FOAF?
FOAF (Friend of a Friend) is a decentralized protocol for value exchange rooted in trust. It is not a marketplace or an app—it is the infrastructure that powers them. FOAF enables people to trade goods, services, and credit through personal networks, using social trust instead of money.
How FOAF Works
- Post something you offer or need
- It spreads through your contact network
- Credit flows across trust paths, and the app keeps track
No public listings. No wallet setup. Most users never touch tokens. FOAF works quietly in the background, making trusted trade possible.
Why Now?
- Rising costs and economic instability are pushing people to find alternatives
- Trust in institutions is eroding
- Volunteer-run exchange networks burn out and fade
- Communities need tools built for resilience and continuity
FOAF is designed to fill the gap left by systems that no longer serve us.
Why It Matters
- Enables peer-to-peer trade without fiat currency
- Leverages social trust through friend-of-a-friend networks
- Removes dependence on centralized platforms and corporate intermediaries
- Starts with surplus food — expands into full community-scale economies
Our Mission
FOAF Foundation is building protocol-level infrastructure for peer-to-peer value exchange rooted in trust, privacy, and mutual credit. As a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), we ensure that decisions are made transparently and remain accountable to our communities through token-weighted governance.
FOAF is not a product or a company — it is infrastructure for cooperation.
Who It’s For
- Developers — Build tools and apps on the FOAF protocol
- Funders — Support a resilient foundation for future economies
- Community leaders — Bring FOAF into your local network
First Use Case: GrowOperative
GrowOperative is the first live app powered by FOAF. It helps gardeners share their surplus food through trusted social networks. This is just the beginning. FOAF can support any kind of trade—tools, skills, services, and more.
Core Principles
- Local-first: Built for neighborhoods and bioregions
- Consent-based visibility: Listings are visible only through direct or second-degree contacts
- Credible neutrality: FOAF is infrastructure, not a brand or marketplace
- Forward-compatible: Starts with food, expands to services, logistics, and credit
Get Started
Explore GrowOperative — our first live application
Learn about FOAF and RHEO tokens — governance and utility layers
Read the FOAF Whitepaper — the full vision and economic model
Get involved — fund, test, or pilot with us