Sign is a multi-faceted blockchain project that began as the decentralized electronic signature application EthSign and evolved into a broad infrastructure provider. The project now encompasses two primary initiatives: Sign Protocol, a universal, omni-chain attestation layer for creating and verifying any type of digital information, and S.I.G.N. (Sovereign Infrastructure for Global Nations), a framework designed to help governments implement national-scale systems for digital currency, identity, and capital markets. ^{[1] [2]} The ecosystem is powered by its native utility and governance token, SIGN. ^[3]​

Overview

Initially conceived as a Web3 alternative to centralized e-signature services like DocuSign, the project expanded its vision beyond electronic agreements. The rebranding from EthSign to Sign reflected this evolution, shifting focus from a single application to a foundational, permissionless "evidence layer" for the internet. ^[1] This underlying technology, the Sign Protocol, is designed to be a universal source of truth, enabling users and applications to create verifiable, on-chain attestations for any piece of data, from social connections and reviews to legal contracts and credentials. ^[4]​

Leveraging this core technology, Sign also developed S.I.G.N. (Sovereign Infrastructure for Global Nations), an initiative described as an "operating system for nations." ^[5] This framework provides governments and sovereign entities with the technical blueprints to build and operate their own blockchain-based systems. The primary focus areas are programmable money (including Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs), digital identity through verifiable credentials, and the tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWAs) for sovereign capital markets. ^[2] The project has established partnerships with several nations, aiming to provide a resilient and transparent layer for critical public services and economic functions. ^[6]​

The entire ecosystem is designed around open standards and interoperability. It includes a suite of products such as the original EthSign application, the TokenTable platform for token distributions, and SignScan, a universal explorer for attestations. ^[4] To support the complex logic and settlement needs of its applications, the project has also developed Signchain, a dedicated Layer 2 application chain. ^[7]​

History

The project's origins trace back to the ETHWaterloo 2 hackathon in 2019, where the initial concept for EthSign was developed. ^[7] The company, Sign, was officially founded in 2020. ^[5] The first version of EthSign launched on the Ethereum mainnet in the third quarter of 2020, followed by EthSign V2, known as "EthSign Smart Agreements (ESA)," in the second quarter of 2021. ^[7]​

The project secured its initial funding with a 12 million seed round was announced in February 2022, co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Mirana Ventures. ^[1] In February 2023, the project published the Sign Protocol whitepaper and officially rebranded from EthSign to Sign, signaling its expanded mission to become a foundational protocol. ^[7] This was followed by an investment of an undisclosed amount from Animoca Brands. ^[8]​

Sign Protocol V3 launched in the third quarter of 2023, and a public testnet became available in October 2023, attracting over 400,000 unique addresses who processed 1.2 million testnet attestations. ^[1] The native SIGN token was launched and listed on various exchanges in February and May 2024. ^[7] In January 2025, the project raised an additional $16 million from YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs). ^[8] During 2025, the company's esports team also participated in the Esports World Cup in the Overwatch 2 competition. ^[5]​

A statement by co-founder Potter Li explained the evolution from the initial product:

"We started with signatures because contracts are the most direct and explicit form of attestation... But an attestation can be anything. It could be a 'like' on Twitter, a five-star review on Yelp, or a connection on LinkedIn. We are building the infrastructure to bring all these real-world agreements and social contexts on-chain, verifiably." ^[1]

Technology and Architecture

Sign's infrastructure is a multi-layered stack composed of an attestation protocol, a sovereign framework, a dedicated Layer 2, and an AI agent.

Sign Protocol (The Attestation Layer)

Sign Protocol is the technological core of the ecosystem, functioning as an omni-chain "evidence layer" for the internet. It allows for the creation, retrieval, and verification of structured, verifiable records called attestations across different blockchain networks. ^[4] Its key features include:

• Core Primitives: The protocol is built on two main components: Schemas, which are reusable templates defining the structure and data types for information, and Attestations, which are portable, cryptographic proofs that bind a statement to an issuer. ^[4]
• Omnichain Functionality: It is designed to be chain-agnostic, supporting deployments on various EVM-compatible networks like Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base, enabling cross-chain verification. ^[1]
• Data Placement Flexibility: The protocol allows data to be stored fully on-chain for maximum decentralization, fully off-chain (with an on-chain anchor) for privacy or large files, or in a hybrid model. ^[4]
• Privacy and Revocability: It includes privacy-enhancing features like Zero-Knowledge (ZK) attestations. A crucial feature is revocability, allowing issuers to invalidate attestations that are no longer accurate or valid. ^[1]

S.I.G.N. (Sovereign Infrastructure for Global Nations)

S.I.G.N. is a high-level blueprint that uses the Sign Protocol to build national-scale digital infrastructure. It is structured around three foundational systems unified by a common evidence layer. ^[4]​

• New Money System: A sovereign digital currency rail for CBDCs and regulated stablecoins, featuring real-time settlement and programmable policy controls. ^[4]
• New ID System: A national identity layer based on W3C Verifiable Credentials (VCs) and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) for privacy-preserving identity verification. ^[2]
• New Capital System: A framework for compliant and auditable capital distribution, such as social benefits and grants, with identity-linked targeting. ^[4]

The framework is built on principles of privacy by default, lawful auditability, strict operational control, and interoperability, and can be deployed in public, private, or hybrid modes. ^[4]​

Signchain (Layer 2 Settlement)

Signchain is a sovereign Layer 2 application-specific chain (appchain) that functions as the settlement layer for the Sign ecosystem. It is purpose-built to handle the complex, state-intensive logic of agreement automation that would be too costly on a general-purpose blockchain. The chain is built using the OP Stack (Optimism's technology) and utilizes Celestia for data availability to reduce transaction costs. The SIGN token serves as the native gas token for transactions on Signchain. ^[7]​

Signie (AI Agent)

Signie is an AI-powered agent designed to act as a personal contract assistant. It is integrated into the user experience to help with drafting agreements from natural language prompts, analyzing terms during negotiations, managing agreement lifecycles with alerts, and assisting in dispute resolution processes. The goal of Signie is to democratize access to contractual expertise. ^[7]​

Ecosystem and Products

Several products have been built on top of Sign's foundational infrastructure.

• EthSign: The project's flagship and original product, EthSign is a decentralized electronic signature platform. It allows users to send, sign, and verify contracts and agreements on-chain, providing a tamper-proof record of consent. The platform has recorded over 800,000 contracts signed by more than 2,000,000 users. ^[9]
• TokenTable: A smart contract-based platform for token management, allocation, and large-scale distribution. It facilitates transparent and automated handling of activities like airdrops and team/investor vesting schedules. TokenTable serves as the official token distribution platform for the OKX ecosystem. ^{[6] [5]}
• SignScan: A universal explorer for the Sign ecosystem. It functions as an "Etherscan for attestations," allowing anyone to query, look up, and verify public attestations made through the Sign Protocol across all supported chains via REST and GraphQL APIs. ^[4]

Tokenomics (SIGN)

The SIGN token is an omnichain asset central to the project's utility and governance. It was minted on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token with cross-chain compatibility. ^[6]​

Overview and Utility

The SIGN token has a total supply of 10 billion. Its primary utilities are:

• Gas Token: Used to pay for transaction fees on the Signchain Layer 2 network.
• Payment: Serves as the means of payment for services and premium features within the Sign ecosystem, such as advanced capabilities of the Signie AI agent or enterprise-grade solutions.
• Governance: Grants token holders the right to participate in the decentralized governance of the Sign Protocol, including voting on protocol upgrades, fee structures, and treasury fund management.

All three token utilities are detailed in the project's documentation and research reports. ^[7]​

Token Distribution

The total supply of 10 billion SIGN tokens is allocated as follows:

• Ecosystem Fund: 35%
• Private Sale: 20%
• Team: 20%
• Foundation: 20%
• Airdrop: 5%

This allocation plan was outlined in a Binance Research report. ^[7]​

Vesting Schedule

The tokens allocated to different groups are subject to vesting schedules to align long-term interests:

• Private Sale: 5% unlocked at the Token Generation Event (TGE), followed by a 6-month cliff and 30 months of linear vesting.
• Team: 12-month cliff, followed by 36 months of linear vesting.
• Ecosystem Fund: 5% unlocked at TGE, with the remaining 95% vested linearly over 48 months.
• Foundation: 12-month cliff, followed by 48 months of linear vesting.
• Airdrop: 100% unlocked at TGE.

The vesting schedules ensure a gradual release of tokens into the circulating supply. ^[7]​

Key Figures and Team

The project was co-founded by Potter Li, Xin Yan, and Jack. ^[1]

• Xin Yan serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). ^[5] He is credited as the technical lead, holding a Ph.D. in Computer Science with a background in distributed systems and cryptography. ^[1]
• Potter Li leads product and operations. He studied at the University of Southern California and previously worked in investment roles before co-founding the project. ^[1]
• Jack leads engineering and front-end development, focusing on user experience and product implementation. ^[1]

The wider team consists of 11-50 employees, including experts in cryptography and computer science from universities such as Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and UC Berkeley. The company is headquartered in Singapore. ^[5]

Partnerships and Adoption

Sign has pursued a dual strategy of securing sovereign-level collaborations while also fostering a broad ecosystem of technology partners. The project aims to onboard 300 million people by 2028. ^[2]​

Sovereign Collaborations

• Kyrgyz Republic: Sign was selected as the primary technology partner for the nation's digital transformation initiative. The partnership includes a strategic collaboration with the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic to develop "Digital SOM," the country's CBDC, and to deploy infrastructure for modernizing state administration. ^{[5] [2]}
• Sierra Leone: The project signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Communications, Technology and Innovation to build national blockchain infrastructure, focusing on a digital ID system and stablecoin-based payment solutions. ^[2]
• Abu Dhabi: Sign formed a strategic partnership with The Blockchain Centre Abu Dhabi to help the public sector manage digital records using its technology. ^[2]

Ecosystem and Technology Partners

The project has integrated with numerous entities in the Web3 space.

• BNB Chain: Sign is scaling its national blockchain infrastructure on the BNB Chain, a move supported by an investment from YZi Labs. ^[2]
• OKX: The crypto exchange's ecosystem uses Sign's TokenTable as its official platform for token distributions. ^[5]
• Chainlink: Sign has collaborated with Chainlink to integrate its oracle services for bringing off-chain data into on-chain attestations. ^[1]
• Other Partners: Over 50 teams are reported to be building on or integrating with Sign Protocol, including collaborations with Linea for on-chain attestation activities. ^[1]

Funding and Investors

Sign has raised over $54 million across several funding rounds from a wide range of venture capital firms and angel investors. ^[8]​

• Seed Round (Feb 2022): Raised $12 million, co-led by Sequoia Capital India and Mirana Ventures. Other participants included Circle Ventures, HashKey Capital, and Draper Associates. ^[7]
• Strategic Round (Jan 2025): Raised $16 million from YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs). ^[8]

Prominent institutional backers include all three branches of Sequoia Capital (US, India, and China), YZi Labs, Circle, Amber Group, Animoca Brands, and Draper Associates. ^{[8] [5]} The project also attracted notable angel investors such as Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO of Coinbase) and Sandeep Nailwal (co-founder of Polygon). ^[8]​