Kleros Court
V2 Kleros Court is a decentralized dispute resolution protocol that provides arbitration services for smart contracts and decentralized applications. It works by randomly selecting jurors from a pool who are incentivized to resolve disputes honestly through a crypto-economic mechanism based on game theory. Think of it as a decentralized judiciary for Web3. When a dispute arises, jurors are randomly drawn, they review evidence, vote on the outcome, and the majority decision is enforced—all without centralized intermediaries.Looking for V1 documentation? See Court V1 (Legacy).
Key Capabilities
Random Juror Selection
Jurors are randomly drawn from stakers, weighted by their PNK stake
Crypto-Economic Incentives
Honest voting is rewarded; incoherent votes result in stake slashing
Hierarchical Courts
Specialized courts for different dispute types with appeals to parent courts
Modular Dispute Kits
Pluggable resolution mechanisms including ranked choice and privacy voting
Cross-Chain Support
Disputes from any EVM chain resolved on Arbitrum via Vea bridge
Trustless Execution
Rulings are enforced automatically by smart contracts
How It Works
At its core, Kleros works through a simple yet powerful process:Dispute Creation
An application encounters a contentious situation and creates a dispute in Kleros, paying arbitration fees.
Juror Selection
Jurors are randomly drawn from those who have staked PNK in the relevant court. Selection probability is proportional to stake.
Evidence & Voting
Jurors review evidence submitted by both parties and cast their votes during the voting period.
The Incentive Structure
The system is designed so you don’t need to trust anyone:- Jurors are incentivized to vote honestly (or lose their staked PNK)
- Disputants pay fees only for resolution, with no protocol commission
- Appellants can challenge rulings by funding additional rounds
Core Components
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| KlerosCore | The main arbitrator contract that coordinates disputes and enforces rulings |
| Sortition Module | Handles juror selection using a three-phase system to prevent manipulation |
| Dispute Kits | Modular resolution mechanisms (Classic, Shutter, Ranked Choice, etc.) |
| Vea Bridge | Enables cross-chain dispute resolution from foreign chains |
Who Uses Kleros Court?
- DeFi Protocols resolve oracle disputes, liquidation challenges, and governance conflicts
- Prediction Markets settle market outcomes with decentralized arbitration
- Escrow Services release funds based on impartial third-party rulings
- DAOs handle contributor disputes and proposal challenges
- Insurance Protocols adjudicate claims without centralized authority
- NFT Marketplaces resolve authenticity and ownership disputes
V2 Improvements
Kleros Court V2 represents a significant evolution from V1:| Feature | V1 | V2 |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Ethereum Mainnet | Arbitrum (lower gas costs) |
| Cross-Chain | Single chain only | Multi-chain via Vea bridge |
| Dispute Kits | Single mechanism | Modular, pluggable kits |
| Vote Privacy | Basic commit-reveal | Shutter encryption (in testing) |
| Staking | PNK stays in wallet | PNK transfers to contract |
| RNG | Single source | Enhanced with fallback mechanisms |
Kleros V2 is currently in beta with 100+ disputes successfully processed. The system is undergoing internal review and preparing for external audits.
What’s Next?
How It Works
Deep dive into the dispute resolution process
Court Hierarchy
Understand the court structure and specialization
Appeals
Learn how appeals and escalation work