Drivers paid in seconds. No platform in the middle.
Open-source ride-sharing that settles on a public chain: riders and drivers sign on their own devices, and no operator ever holds the money. Alpha: the mainnet is live as a capped pilot, and a public testnet is open for experiments.
Ride receipt
testnet, example fare
Settles in about 1 second. Your wallet keeps your keys.
Clutch in 15 seconds
A ride request, an offer, an acceptance and a payment. Each step is a transaction on the Clutch chain.
15 seconds, with music.
What is Clutch?
- What it is
- Clutch Protocol is an open-source ride-sharing blockchain. Passengers and drivers send ride requests, offers and payments as transactions on its own chain,
clutch-node. - How apps use it
clutch-hubhas the Hub API, a JavaScript SDK that signs on the user's device, and a reference app for passengers and drivers.clutch-explorershows the blocks and transactions.- Money and servers
- Rides are paid in CLT, a token fully backed by USDT, and
clutch-treasurygives CLT for USDT and pays USDT back.clutch-deployruns the public testnet and the mainnet. The mainnet is live as a capped pilot: top-ups and withdrawals are open.
Try the network
The mainnet pilot with small amounts, or the public testnet with test money — no install required
Mainnet pilot
- Open app.clutchprotocol.io, choose passenger or driver and connect your wallet (MetaMask, Trust Wallet or TronLink). The app never holds your keys
- Open the menu and choose Wallet, then the Top up tab, then send USDT (TRC-20, on Tron) to the address it shows — the treasury mints the same amount of CLT to your wallet
- As passenger: request a ride on the map. As driver: view requests and submit an offer. Rides settle in CLT on the Clutch mainnet
- Optional: add Clutch to MetaMask or Trust Wallet to see your CLT there and send it from the wallet
Real money, alpha software, small limits: up to $100 per top-up and $200 per day. A network fee is taken from each top-up: $4.00 the first time and $2.00 after. The relay charges less today ($3.00 and $1.50); the difference is not refunded and stays in the reserve as backing. Withdrawals are open: $25 to $50 each, with a $2.00 fee. Use only what you can afford to lose. Details in the docs.
Testnet quick start
- Open app-stage.clutchprotocol.io
- Choose passenger or driver and connect your wallet (MetaMask, Trust Wallet or TronLink)
- Open the menu and choose Wallet, then the Top up tab, then send Nile testnet USDT to the address it shows — the treasury mints the matching CLT to your wallet
- As passenger: request a ride on the map. As driver: view requests and submit an offer
Testnet: test money only, no real value. You can use a wallet with a throwaway account.
Endpoints
- Mainnet app: app.clutchprotocol.io
- Mainnet Hub API: api.clutchprotocol.io
- Mainnet wallet network: RPC
https://api.clutchprotocol.io/rpc, chain ID 20770, currency CLT - Testnet demo app: app-stage.clutchprotocol.io
- Testnet Hub API: api-stage.clutchprotocol.io
- Testnet wallet network: RPC
https://api-stage.clutchprotocol.io/rpc, chain ID 20771, currency CLT - Docs: Environments guide
- SDK: clutch-hub-sdk-js on npm
- App rewards: Earn CLT as an app builder
What exists today
Built for riders, drivers, and developers — alpha quality
CLT economics
CLT is a micro-dollar: 1 USD = 1,000,000 CLT, fully reserved. Drivers keep most of each fare, referrers earn up to 4% (default 2%+2%) on RidePay, and validators are paid a flat $0.001 fee per transaction rather than a block reward.
On-chain payments
Passengers pay drivers in CLT via RidePay transactions. Partial payments are supported until the fare is covered.
Transparent and secure
Private keys stay in your own wallet. Every ride step is a signed transaction recorded on-chain and auditable.
Developer tools
clutch-hub-sdk-js on npm, GraphQL Hub API, WebSocket subscriptions, and docs at docs.clutchprotocol.io. Build apps on the network and earn CLT via on-chain referrer fees when users complete rides on your Hub deployment.
Multi-node chains
Aura consensus with three validator nodes on the mainnet pilot and on the stage testnet. Run the full stack locally with clutch-deploy.
Stack
Open-source components you can run, read, and contribute to
Clutch Node
Blockchain core — Aura consensus, custom RLP transactions, WebSocket JSON-RPC. Rust.
Clutch Hub SDK
JavaScript/TypeScript SDK for signing, queries, and subscriptions. Published on npm.
Demo App
Reference React app with passenger and driver flows, map UI, and live updates.
Clutch Explorer
Block indexer, REST API, and web UI for blocks, transactions, and accounts.
CLT economics
Implemented on-chain in clutch-node (alpha)
Move the fare. See who gets what.
CLT is an integer micro-dollar — 1 USD = 1,000,000 CLT — so a $5.00 fare is 5,000,000 CLT. One RidePay, both referrers.
Referrer fees apply per RidePay installment, in basis points with floor rounding, and the driver's share is the exact remainder — the three always sum to the fare. Validators are not paid from fares at all: every non-exempt transaction pays a flat 1,000 CLT ($0.001) to the block author. There are no block rewards, because minting unbacked CLT to pay validators would break the 1:1 reserve. Details at docs.clutchprotocol.io.
For app developers
Deploy your own app with the SDK and Hub API, set your wallet as the ride referrer in Hub config, and earn up to 4% CLT per RidePay (default 2% request + 2% offer) when passengers pay drivers on your deployment. No separate grants — rewards come from real ride activity on-chain.
App developer incentivesRoadmap
Where the protocol is today and what is planned
Public stage testnet
Multi-node Aura testnet, GraphQL Hub API, SDK, demo app, and block explorer running on stage.
Mainnet pilot, fully-reserved CLT
Deposit USDT on Tron to mint CLT, burn CLT to redeem it back. Every CLT in circulation is backed 1:1 by off-chain reserve, and the chain pre-mints nothing at genesis. The mainnet pilot runs this with three validators, open to every account, with small limits ($100 per top-up, $200 per day) and the treasury's keys held on the server. Top-ups are open; withdrawals open once the payout wallet is activated.
Production mainnet
Independent validator operators, audited crypto, treasury keys behind a hardware boundary, and higher limits. No fixed date — see Mainnet readiness in the docs.
Status is alpha and subject to change. See the FAQ in the docs for what is and is not shipped, and Mainnet readiness for what stands between the pilot and a production mainnet.
FAQ
Quick answers — more in the documentation
Is Clutch a real, running blockchain?
Yes. A capped mainnet pilot is live: chain 1000, three Aura validators, open to every account, with small limits. Top-ups and withdrawals are open. An alpha public testnet runs beside it for experiments. Both are alpha software: APIs may change, and the mainnet has not been audited.
What does a mainnet top-up cost?
A network fee is taken from each top-up: $4.00 the first time and $2.00 after. The treasury takes the most the relay may charge, so that the reserve always covers the CLT it mints. The relay charges less today ($3.00 and $1.50). The difference is not refunded: it stays in the reserve as extra backing, and pays for the treasury's own network costs, such as the one-time setup of its payout wallet. The app shows the fee before you pay.
Which wallets work?
MetaMask, Trust Wallet and TronLink. A Clutch account is an Ethereum-type account, so the address of a MetaMask or Trust Wallet account is a valid Clutch address, and the wallet only has to sign a short text. A TronLink account is the same kind of key: the T… address that TronLink shows and the 0x… address that Clutch shows are one account. Clutch is not an EVM network: you do not add it to the wallet, and the wallet does not show your CLT balance (the app does). On a phone, open the app inside the wallet app's own browser. A phone wallet that scans a code shown on a computer (WalletConnect) is not built yet.
Why a custom chain instead of Ethereum or an L2?
Ride operations are first-class transaction types (request, offer, accept, pay, cancel) rather than generic smart-contract calls. This keeps the app surface simple but trades off EVM ecosystem composability.
How do drivers get paid?
Drivers receive CLT via RidePay transactions. Referrers earn up to 4% (default 2% request + 2% offer) per payment installment and the driver gets the exact remainder. Validators take no share of a fare — they are paid a flat $0.001 fee on every non-exempt transaction, credited to whoever authored the block.
Are private keys safe?
Users' keys never leave the user's wallet. The app holds none: MetaMask, Trust Wallet or TronLink keeps the key and signs after you approve, and the SDK only submits signed RLP hex to the Hub API. A wallet shows a short text that starts with clutch-, not the ride, so the app tells you what each prompt is for before it opens. The treasury has two server-side keys of its own: a mint key, which signs the Mint crediting a USDT deposit it has already verified on Tron, and a payout key, which pays USDT back. On the mainnet pilot both are plain keys on the server, not behind a hardware boundary, so someone who gets into that server could mint CLT or take the reserve. That is why the pilot's limits are small, and why putting those keys behind a hardware boundary is on the production-mainnet list.
Can I build an app and earn CLT?
Yes. Run your own Hub API with your wallet as the ride referrer, and you earn referrer fees on each RidePay when users complete rides on your deployment. No separate grants program.
More questions? Read the full FAQ or the introduction.
Community
Open source — issues, discussions, and pull requests
Source code
Eight public project repos — node, Hub API, SDK, demo app, explorer, deploy, docs, and this website.
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Ask questions, share ideas, and connect with other developers on GitHub.
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