Questions we actually get.

Every project is scored on the same public 100-point framework — 14 sub-criteria across security, transparency, on-chain health, and legal standing. The full framework, with point values, is published in the methodology and versioned like software (currently v3.2).

No. Rating fees are flat, published, and result-independent — they buy the review, never the result. A refused or low rating doesn't refund the fee, and no paid product (API, ads, marketplace) touches a score. Our revenue mix is disclosed quarterly in Disclosures.

Certified (85–100), Verified (70–84), Listed (50–69), Provisional (0–49). A tier is a score band plus minimum requirements — 94 points with an unverified entity is still not Certified. Thresholds change only with a methodology version.

We rate projects that apply or that our desk selects for coverage. Absence means "not yet reviewed" — it is never a judgment. You can suggest a project from its category page.

Material events: unresolved audit findings, misrepresented facts, exploits, entity changes. Every case publishes the evidence, dates, before/after score, the project's response — or its documented silence — and the reviewer who signed it. See the public ledger.

Yes — by resolving the case. Reinstatements are published with the same detail as downgrades. Removal is reserved for falsified materials or unrecoverable harm, and removed projects keep their public record.

Projects get a response window before publication except where user funds are at active risk. Their response (or non-response) is part of the case file.

No. Every rating, case, methodology section, and article is public with no wallet and no email. A wallet is needed only to write — reviews, applications, watchlist follows.

Your address, nothing else. Sign-in is a gasless signature (never a transaction), ENS resolves automatically, and you can disconnect anytime. Onyx stores no password.

We check the reviewing wallet's on-chain history with the project. Real usage earns the verified-user mark. Reviews never move the score either way; one review per wallet per project.

4–6 weeks desk review after a ~20-minute wallet-signed application. $4,800 initial (includes the first annual review), $2,400 annual re-review. Full details on the pricing page.

Nothing optional is compulsory. Missing items render as "Not provided" — they never block a listing and never subtract points. Only the framework's scored criteria affect the number.

Yes — every rating ships with an appeal window. Appeals are reviewed by a different analyst than the original, and the outcome is noted on the rating's review record.

Every app passes automated checks plus a human desk review against the listing standard (v1.4) before it appears — permissions verified, contracts checked on-chain. Delisted apps stay queryable with the reason attached.

Because paid placement never hides anything. If a developer is on the watchlist, the warning shows on the ad too. Sponsored slots are flat labeled pills — they share no shape language with earned seals.

No — same numbers at every tier. Plans gate volume, not content. Responses are Ed25519-signed so you can prove what we published and when. Start at API & data or the developer docs.

Yes, with attribution ("Data: Onyx", linked) and the whole picture — if a project has an open case, you must surface it alongside the score. Reselling raw feeds requires an Enterprise license.

Six fenced slots, all labeled, priced publicly in the media kit. Never on ratings, methodology, watchlist, disclosures, or search results. No purchase reorders an organic result.

Rating fees (~61%), API subscriptions (~24%), and capped advertising (~15%, policy max 30%). No investor holds rated tokens; staff wallets are screened monthly. The full picture is in Disclosures.