A DefiLlama developer, @0xngmi accused Artemis of using DefiLlama’s proprietary data without proper attribution. The controversy that broke out on X has sparked a debate about data ownership and ethics within the Web3 and decentralized finance (DeFi) space.
DefiLlama is the largest DeFi data analytics platform, providing real-time data across various DeFi protocols. It has proven to be an essential tool for investors and researchers who need reliable metrics in DeFi.
Artemis used DeFiLlama’s data without attribution
In a tweet that went viral on crypto twitter, @0xngmi said, “i found out that one of our competitors, a vc-backed data site, was using our data without attribution.” Uploaded screenshots by @0xngmi show charts, which both have the source as “Artemis.”
@0xngmi explained in the tweet that they had noticed that the competitor’s data was exactly the same as what was in DeFiLlama’s DB, and in a bid to confirm this, they uploaded random numbers into the database of a dead protocol, and “Then those same artificial numbers appeared on their site, on a chart that had ‘Source: Artemis’.”
In response to the tweet by @0xngmi, Crystal Tai (@crystaltaixyz), an engineer at Artemis, claims that the attribution issue stemmed from a bug and that Artemis had accurately referenced DefiLlama in other places.
hey @0xngmi thanks for flagging this to us
apologies, this is a bug in our attribution system
we’ve attributed to defillama in other places but missed a few cases
we’ll work to get this fixed asap pic.twitter.com/kuT1pncEco
— Crystal Tai (@crystaltaixyz) February 12, 2025
Following this, Artemis posted a statement from its X page confirming that it sources certain metrics for certain assets from DeFiLlama. However, the team missed attributing some due to oversight. “We want to clarify that we source some metrics for certain assets from Defillama and have always aimed to properly attribute this data. We had missed attributing fees for a few assets – this was an oversight, which we’ve now corrected.”
Open-source projects are vulnerable to data misuse
DefiLlama, which is widely known for its comprehensive analytics, has become an essential tool for investors and analysts who need reliable metrics on decentralized platforms. The data it produces gives it a competitive advantage.
However, when another company like Artemis, a competitor that also provides real-time data and financial information services on digital assets, fails to acknowledge its use of such data, it strikes at the core of trust and collaborative ethics in the decentralized space.
The DeFi and crypto space thrives on decentralization and transparency. So, ethical data handling and use are paramount. Critics of the open-source model have used the rift between both data analytic platforms to revive their argument about how predatory competitors can use data without proper attribution.
However, Artemis insists this is only an oversight issue and without malicious intent, saying, “We value data transparency and proper attribution, and have verified all other sources are correctly credited.”
