Attention ETHGlobal Hackathon Participants. We have a $1000 Bounty available for best integration of Merits. The basic requirement is to incorporate Merits (Blockscout Points) into your application in some way. Users can earn Merits through different activities in your app and you can distribute them via the API. Below you will find more info on the program and the API for checking user Merits, distribution, and login processes.

What are Blockscout Merits?

Merits are digital rewards collected by interacting with Blockscout and Blockscout-related apps and by participating in various activities (like contests, X participation, telegram participation, app participation and more). Merits are chain agnostic and can be incorporated into any application. For more details see the Merits section of the docs.

Using Merits as an activity incentive

Merits are used to incentivize different activities within the Blockscout universe. For example:
  • Blockscout explorer basics: Earn Merits by signing up for the program. Once you are signed up, you can earn additional Merits by completing a daily claim. You can also share your referral code and earn Merits when new users sign up with that code.
  • Telegram mini app. The telegram Blockscout Merits Bot allows for direct communication with subscribers. Users who download the bot receive extra Merits -> https://t.me/blockscout_merits_bot
  • Swapscout swapping app. Merits are incorporated in the app so that users can view their balance and earn Merits for their swaps. https://swap.blockscout.com/. This is a good example of an external app that incorporates Merits.
  • Revokescout app. Merits are used to incentivize users but there is no sign in or interface. We simply check addresses that use the application and distribute Merits to those addresses.
  • Blockscout campaigns. Participants in time-gated campaigns such as rating Dapps or Twitter(X) contests receive additional Merits. We collect the Ethereum addresses of winners and distribute Merits manually.
  • Partner campaigns. Merits are allocated to users of other protocols as an additional incentive for use. Partners provide us with a list of addresses and tasks they completed and we distribute accordingly.

Integrating Test Merits into your application

Merits can be integrated in different ways into your application. Ideas may be to include Merits as a reward for user interactions with your app or a general reward for any activity. Merits can be distributed to users via the API. Users can have the ability to sign up for Merits through your app and/or login to their Merits account. You can also display individual Merits balances and leaderboard balances within your application. However, these are optional integrations. To qualify for the bounty, you simply need to provide Merit incentives for certain activities, and then distribute those merits appropriately. As long as you have the participant’s Ethereum address you can distribute Merits.
Note: You can retrieve basic data without an API key, but for interactivity purposes you will need to request one via our Discord channel. See below.

Getting started

  1. Request your API key at: https://ethglobal.com/discord in the #partner-blockscout channel
  2. API hostname (and test merits dashboard): https://merits-staging.blockscout.com
A full list of endpoints is available on our swagger page here: https://blockscout.github.io/swaggers/services/merits/main/index.html

Get basic Merit info for a user

GET https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/api/v1/auth/user/\{address} Returns user information by address Path parameters
address
string
required
The blockchain address of the user
Responses
GET /api/v1/auth/user/{address} HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Accept: */*
200 User Information
{
  "exists": true,
  "user": {
    "address": "0x813399e5b08Bb50b038AA7dF6347b6AF2D161338",
    "total_balance": "981",
    "referrals": "5",
    "registered_at": "2024-10-21T13:21:20.529Z"
  }
}

Get leaderboard ranking for a user

GET https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/api/v1/leaderboard/users/\{address} Returns the leaderboard information for a specific user Path parameters
address
string
required
The blockchain address of the user
Responses
GET /api/v1/leaderboard/users/{address} HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Accept: */*
200 User leaderboard information
{
  "address": "0x813399e5b1102950b038AA7dF6347b6AF21102828",
  "total_balance": "981",
  "referrals": "5",
  "registered_at": "2024-10-21T13:21:20.529Z",
  "rank": "1",
  "users_below": "71569",
  "top_percent": 0.01
}

Partner balance and distribution information

When you request an API key you become a partner! You will receive a balance of test Merits which can then be distributed to your users. * Requires API Key - Add the assigned API KEY in the Authorization header to see your information. GET https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/partner/api/v1/balance Returns the balance and distribution information for a partner Responses
GET /partner/api/v1/balance HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Accept: */*
200 Partner balance information
{
  "name": "partner-1",
  "api_key": "4VF6LDF7RC64CNGWXOECF8J1LJ62W5HS",
  "valid_since": "2025-05-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "valid_until": "2025-06-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "rate": "0.1",
  "balance": "1234.5",
  "total_distributed": "100",
  "updated_at": "2025-04-16T11:26:31.757Z"
}

Distribute Merits

* Requires API Key - Add the assigned API KEY in the Authorization header to add your distribution information. Notes:
  • id must be unique per each API KEY, so it’s recommended to include date or time period describing the distribution period.
  • distributions
    • Max 1000 wallets per distribution.
    • Amounts less than 0.01 per address are not allowed.
    • Amounts can be in decimals, max 2 decimal digits precision is recommended.
  • create_missing_accounts
    • true: allows distributions to not yet registered Merits accounts.
    • false: only allow distributions to users that are already registered.
POST https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/partner/api/v1/distribute Distributes merits to specified addresses Body
id
string
required
Unique ID for the distributionExample: ethglobal_rewards-2025/05/01
description
string
required
Human readable description of the distributionExample: Extra rewards from ProjectX for using Blockscout during ETH Global
distributions
object[]
required
List of wallet addresses and amounts (max 1000 wallets)
create_missing_accounts
boolean
required
Allow distribution for non-registered accounts if trueExample: false
expected_total
string
required
Total distribution amount (must equal sum of all amounts)Example: 100.00
Responses
POST /partner/api/v1/distribute HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: */*
Content-Length: 270

{
  "id": "ethglobal_rewards-2025/05/01",
  "description": "Extra rewards from ProjectX for using Blockscout during ETH Global",
  "distributions": [
    {
      "address": "0x813399e5b08Bb50b038AA7dF6347b6AF2D161338",
      "amount": "10.50"
    }
  ],
  "create_missing_accounts": false,
  "expected_total": "100.00"
}
200 Distribution results
{
  "accounts_distributed": "1",
  "accounts_created": "0"
}

Login and Registration Flow - Get User Token

Use the following flow to get a User Token
  1. Get Nonce from Backend
GET https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/api/v1/auth/nonce Returns a nonce for authentication Responses
GET /api/v1/auth/nonce HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Accept: */*
200 Authentication nonce
{
  "exists": true,
  "user": {
    "address": "0x813399e5b08Bb50b038AA7dF6347b6AF2D161338",
    "total_balance": "981",
    "referrals": "5",
    "registered_at": "2024-10-21T13:21:20.529Z"
  }
}
  1. Ask for a signature from a user with a predefined message
// Formatted message example


merits.blockscout.com wants you to sign in with your Ethereum account:
0x813399e5b08Bb50b038AA7dF6347b6AF2D163328

Sign-In for the Blockscout Merits program.

URI: 
https://merits-staging.blockscout.com
Version: 1
Chain ID: 1
Nonce: 4MCWIDlddqsmJAZOZ
Issued At: 2025-03-18T12:23:51.549Z
Expiration Time: 2026-03-18T12:23:51.549Z
  1. Send data to get a user token
POST https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/api/v1/auth/login Authenticates a user with a signed message Body
nonce
string
required
Authentication nonce received from the serverExample: 4MCWIDlddqsmJAAAZ
message
string
required
The message that was signedExample: merits.blockscout.com wants you to sign in with your Ethereum account: 0x813399e5b08Bb50b038AA7dF6347b6AF2D161338 Sign-In for the Blockscout Merits program. URI: https://merits.blockscout.com Version: 1 Chain ID: 1 Nonce: 4MCWIDlddqsmJAAAZ Issued At: 2025-03-18T12:23:51.549Z Expiration Time: 2026-03-18T12:23:51.549Z
signature
string
required
The signature of the messageExample: 0xb11b582a6ef196a3f20fa9c84443a92c9f456c9da2ce8ceea2bcf4ce2b936e35767ac2ff56a1de635b7a5f4bcb5da89c4297efb2b4ce559123891202731752661c
Responses
POST /api/v1/auth/login HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: */*
Content-Length: 518

{
  "nonce": "4MCWIDlddqsmJAAAZ",
  "message": "merits.blockscout.com wants you to sign in with your Ethereum account:\n0x813399e5b08Bb50b038AA7dF6347b6AF2D161338\n\nSign-In for the Blockscout Merits program.\n\nURI: https://merits.blockscout.com\nVersion: 1\nChain ID: 1\nNonce: 4MCWIDlddqsmJAAAZ\nIssued At: 2025-03-18T12:23:51.549Z\nExpiration Time: 2026-03-18T12:23:51.549Z",
  "signature": "0xb11b582a6ef196a3f20fa9c84443a92c9f456c9da2ce8ceea2bcf4ce2b936e35767ac2ff56a1de635b7a5f4bcb5da89c4297efb2b4ce559123891202731752661c"
}

API Calls Requiring a User Token

*Requires User Token: put the user token in the Authorization header GET https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/api/v1/user/balances Returns the detailed balance information for the authenticated user Responses
GET /api/v1/user/balances HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Accept: */*
200 User balance details
{
  "total": "2426.61",
  "staked": "0",
  "unstaked": "2426.61",
  "total_staking_rewards": "0",
  "total_referral_rewards": "20",
  "pending_referral_rewards": "0"
}
GET https://merits-staging.blockscout.com/api/v1/user/logs Returns activity logs for the authenticated user Query parameters
page_size
integer . int32
Number of items to return per page
page_token
string
Token for pagination
Responses
GET /api/v1/user/logs HTTP/1.1
Host: merits-staging.blockscout.com
Accept: */*