Overview
IQ.wiki (formerly Everipedia) is a decentralized knowledge platform that functions as a blockchain-based encyclopedia. Founded in 2015 as an alternative to Wikipedia, the project pivoted to blockchain infrastructure in 2018 by launching the IQ token on EOS. The platform has since migrated significant operations to Polygon and Ethereum for broader DeFi integration.
The platform hosts thousands of articles focused primarily on cryptocurrency projects, blockchain personalities, and Web3 concepts. Contributors earn IQ tokens for creating and editing articles, with a staking mechanism (HiIQ) that provides governance rights and boosted rewards. The project also developed BrainDAO, a treasury management entity that holds crypto assets including staked ETH.
IQ.wiki has found a genuine niche as a crypto-focused knowledge base — many crypto projects and personalities have IQ.wiki pages that serve as neutral reference points. However, the platform has not achieved mainstream encyclopedia status, and the broader vision of replacing Wikipedia with a token-incentivized model has not materialized at scale.
Technology
The technology stack spans multiple chains. The original EOS-based infrastructure handled on-chain article edits and token rewards. The migration to Polygon improved transaction costs and DeFi composability. Articles are stored using IPFS for decentralized content hosting, though the editorial interface and curation layer remain centralized.
The HiIQ staking system uses a vote-escrowed model (similar to Curve's veCRV) where users lock IQ tokens for up to four years to receive HiIQ, which provides governance power and boosted rewards. BrainDAO manages a treasury that includes ETH staking positions and other crypto assets, effectively making IQ a partial claim on a diversified crypto treasury.
The AI integration initiative — using language models to assist article generation and fact-checking — is a logical extension but raises questions about content quality and the diminishing role of human contributors in a token-incentivized system.
Security
IQ.wiki's security profile is moderate. The token contracts on Ethereum and Polygon are standard ERC-20 implementations. The HiIQ staking contracts follow the well-tested ve-token model. BrainDAO's treasury management introduces custodial risk — the treasury holds meaningful assets that require secure multi-sig or governance-controlled access.
The content layer has different security considerations: article vandalism, misinformation, and spam are managed through editorial processes rather than cryptographic guarantees. The platform has not experienced significant smart contract exploits, though the relatively modest TVL in staking has limited the economic incentive for attacks.
Decentralization
Decentralization is partial. Content creation is open, but editorial curation and platform governance are concentrated among core team members and large HiIQ holders. The migration from EOS (already centralized) to Polygon improved infrastructure decentralization but the editorial process remains substantially centralized.
BrainDAO's treasury decisions are governed by HiIQ holders, providing some decentralized control over assets. However, the concentration of HiIQ among early investors and team members limits the practical decentralization of governance outcomes.
Adoption
IQ.wiki has established itself as a recognized reference source within the crypto ecosystem. Many projects link to their IQ.wiki pages, and the platform appears in search results for crypto-related queries. The focus on crypto knowledge rather than general encyclopedia content was a pragmatic narrowing that improved relevance.
However, adoption metrics remain modest compared to the vision. Article views, contributor counts, and token holder numbers are small relative to Wikipedia or even centralized crypto data platforms like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. The token incentive model has not attracted the contributor army needed to compete with established knowledge platforms.
Tokenomics
IQ token economics center on the HiIQ ve-token model. Locking IQ for longer periods provides greater governance weight and reward share. The BrainDAO treasury adds a backing component — IQ effectively has a floor value based on treasury assets per token, though this is diluted by the large circulating supply.
The token faces persistent sell pressure from contributor rewards and limited organic demand drivers. IQ is not required to access the encyclopedia (articles are free to read), which undermines the core demand thesis. The DeFi integrations (liquidity mining on Fraxswap, treasury yield) provide some utility but are insufficient to offset the structural demand weakness.
Risk Factors
- Competition: Wikipedia, CoinGecko, and AI assistants provide free knowledge without tokens
- Token demand weakness: IQ is not required to use the platform, limiting organic demand
- Content quality: AI-generated content may reduce the need for token-incentivized human contributors
- Narrow niche: Focus on crypto knowledge limits the addressable market
- Treasury risk: BrainDAO treasury is exposed to crypto market volatility
- Contributor incentive decay: Token rewards decrease in value as price declines, creating a negative spiral
Conclusion
IQ.wiki has built a functional blockchain encyclopedia that serves a genuine role in the crypto ecosystem as a neutral knowledge reference. The HiIQ staking model and BrainDAO treasury add DeFi composability to a knowledge platform. The technology works, the content has value, and the niche positioning in crypto knowledge is defensible.
The fundamental challenge is that knowledge wants to be free — Wikipedia proved that volunteer contributors and donation funding can outperform token-incentivized models. IQ.wiki's 4.5 score reflects a working product with real utility, constrained by weak token demand fundamentals, a narrow addressable market, and competition from established platforms that don't require token economics to function.