How to Earn with Idena

Idena is the first blockchain utilizing the “proof of person” consensus mechanism , which prioritizes people over tokens. Unlike systems that rely on money-based governance, Idena operates on the principle of “one person, one vote,” ensuring that power is distributed equally among all participants. This prevents a small group from gaining too much control.
Idena’s proof of person system uses a form of validation accessible to anyone. Validation does not require any personal information and allows participants to join the network without any investments. Users play an active role in mutual verification by challenging each other with AI-resistant “flip tests”. This process is done in a synchronous ceremony, which ensures that individuals cannot spoof multiple accounts.

A flip test is a sort of CAPTCHA that helps to determine whether a user is human. As opposed to a CAPTCHA, which is usually run by an automated service, a flip should be created by a human. And unlike a usual CAPTCHA, which is based on object recognition, solving a flip requires a semantic interpretation of the relationship between objects.
How to earn with Idena
Idena participants first receive rewards in $IDNA token for passing validation. Validated users can then install an Idena mining node on their laptop and mine even more $IDNA during the epoch while the node is online.
To be eligible to participate in the next validation, users need to create 3 flips of their own, then re-validate their account to keep mining coins.
To start earning on Idena:
- Create your account at https://app.idena.io/
- Pass the validation training and get a training certificate
Please note that Idena validations are invitation-only. Invitations can be issued by validated users. By providing the training certificate to your inviter you prove that you are familiar with flips and know how to solve them. - Ask for an invitation code in the Idena community (Telegram, Discord, Reddit)
Tip: your rewards for the first 3 validations depend on your inviter’s stake. The bigger their stake is, the more coins you get. Part of their rewards also depend on your success. That is why large stakeholders give out their invitations to those who can prove that they are committed and attend the validation. - Activate the invitation code and wait for the validation day.
- Login to https://app.idena.io/ at least 5-10 mins before validation
Tip: If you are on the go and do not have your computer at hand when validation starts, get your mobile phone ready for validation in advance– import your encrypted private key to app.idena.io on your mobile. Open app.idena.io on mobile at least 5-10 mins before validation starts. - Pass the validation and validate your crypto identity
After the first validation you get Newbie status. - Install the Idena desktop app on your laptop
- Migrate your account from the web app and turn on mining
- Create 3 flips to participate in the next validation
If your flips are qualified by other participants, you will get flip rewards as well. - Keep validating your cryptoidentity in the following validations and mine coins.
Newbie to human – developing your cryptoidentity
After passing several validations in a row, your identity’s status changes from “Newbie” to “Verified”, and then to “Human” (see more). Starting from Verified status, you are eligible to make extra flips and issue invitations, which can provide you with additional rewards.
Please note that while on “Newbie” status, missing or failing validation will result in your crypto identity being cancelled by the protocol and your stake being burnt.
Once you grow your crypto identity up to “Human”, the full stake protection gets unlocked. This means that if you miss or fail validation, your stake will not get burnt (see details).
The replenishment of your stake may increase your rewards significantly as mining rewards and most of the validation rewards depend on your stake. You can use the staking calculator to estimate possible earnings.
Idena staking and governance
Idena’s staking works differently to other proof-of-stake systems. Idena protocol utilizes “quadratic staking” to prevent large stake holders from dominating the network and encourage individuals to secure their identities with stakes, thus ensuring the democratic distribution of staking rewards.
In practice, this means that small stakeholders get a higher APY on their stakes than large stakeholders. This encourages more people to join in, while making Idena more decentralized and secure.
Moreover, Idena governance relies on the basic democratic principle of “one person, one vote”. The vote of small stakeholder is equal to the vote of large stakeholder. This distinguishes Idena from crypto projects that promise decentralization but end up being dominated by a small, powerful group of players.