Bringing Repute On-Chain: Can Ethos Community Enhance Belief and Credibility in Crypto? – Decrypt

Within the Wild West of crypto, the place scams and fraud stay widespread, one workforce is betting on a novel answer: bringing fame on-chain. Ethos Community, a platform designed to determine credibility and belief within the crypto area, is gaining traction because it tackles one of many business’s most persistent issues—dangerous actors.

The brainchild of Trevor Thompson (aka Serpin Taxt) and Ben Walther, Ethos was born out of frustration with rampant scams plaguing the area.

“I used to do lots of buying and selling in crypto, and I witnessed lots of the crime, fraud, and scams which have grow to be extra obvious in current cycles,” Thompson instructed Decrypt. “I felt impressed by the chance to unravel a few of that.”

The thought crystallized after Thompson’s expertise with Buddy.tech, the since deserted social platform the place customers purchase and promote “keys” tied to Twitter accounts. Whereas Buddy.tech launched the idea of tying on-chain actions to social identification, it fell in need of addressing belief and credibility.

“Buddy.tech was by no means making an attempt to unravel fame, but it surely felt prefer it was the primary perception,” Thompson mentioned. “What if we might tie somebody’s on-chain actions to who they’re as an individual, and doc that on-chain?”

Walther, Thompson’s co-founder and Ethos Labs CTO, has been combating fraud, scams, and cyberattacks since 2006 in his function as a safety professional. The 2 beforehand labored collectively at information safety startup, Atlassian; Thompson later approached Walther along with his thought for Ethos, sparking a recent collaboration between the 2. Walther had additionally beforehand bought Thompson’s Buddy.tech key and flipped it shortly thereafter for a 2x achieve.

Since then, they raised a $1.75 million funding spherical led by 60 Web3 group angel traders together with 0xQuit, Dingaling, Sighduck, Dragos, 0xMakesy, and Zeneca.

From idea to actuality

Ethos, which launched in January, goals to create a “proof of credibility” system, straight documenting belief by way of a vouching system. Customers can vouch for others by staking cash towards their fame. The stakes may be withdrawn at any time

The Ethos web site places it merely: “Contribute and earn by constructing your fame, backing others or penalizing dangerous actors. Use the Ethos credibility rating to raised perceive who you possibly can belief and who to keep away from.”

Ethos individuals are assigned “credibility scores” primarily based on how reliable they’re, akin to credit score scores however targeted on social standing. The rating is decided by the platform’s most engaged and respected members.

“Buddy.tech’s bonding curve muddied the info about who trusts whom,” Thompson defined. “We needed to create a system the place belief is straight documented and economically safe, with out the pointless monetary draw back.”

The platform has drawn comparisons because the Price My Professors or Yelp for crypto. Thompson usually agrees, however sees it as one thing extra.

“Take into consideration how you purchase merchandise or select docs immediately—evaluations and fame matter. In crypto, we’re all impartial companies working with one another, and belief is crucial. With the ability to vouch actually provides weight to it.”

One early criticism of Ethos is the potential for a “circle jerk” impact, the place customers vouch for one another to inflate their credibility scores. Thompson acknowledges this danger, however argues that it’s a part of the method.

“You need folks to vouch for one another—that’s the purpose. The objective is to boost the bar for fame and separate credible folks from bots and scammers.”

He addressed criticism for the “(3,3)” mannequin, often known as “vouch for vouch,” in an X put up, writing that unfavorable evaluations and slashing mechanisms exist to punish dangerous actors who attempt to manipulate the system.

The slashing mechanism is impressed by proof-of-stake blockchain networks, permitting customers to suggest slashing somebody’s credibility rating by staking their very own fame. If the bulk agrees, then the goal loses credibility factors.

“It’s a technique to maintain folks accountable and make sure the system stays truthful,” Thompson mentioned.

Constructing for the longer term

Ethos remains to be in its early levels, with round 1,000 customers and a workforce of six builders. The platform is at the moment invite-only, a choice the founders say is intentional.

“We need to develop it at a sustainable price,” mentioned Thompson. “If we simply open it for everybody, then everybody would possibly be part of after which we’d not retain any of these folks—after which they simply will not take part sooner or later. It occurs quite a bit in Web3 with hype cycles.”

Wanting forward, the workforce is exploring options like evaluations constructed with zero-knowledge or ZK tech, which might enable customers to go away nameless evaluations whereas nonetheless proving their credibility. “This might assist folks share trustworthy suggestions with out concern of backlash,” Thompson mentioned.

The platform’s long-term imaginative and prescient extends past crypto, too. “Think about a world the place fame is moveable and verifiable throughout platforms—whether or not you’re hiring a contract copywriter, or making a peer-to-peer transaction,” Thompson mentioned. “That’s the longer term we’re constructing towards.”

As Ethos continues to develop, it faces the problem of balancing openness with integrity. However for the workforce, the mission is evident: to create a system the place fame is clear, verifiable, and on-chain. That is achieved by way of “backing fame by way of monetary safety, making fame itself inherently precious and capable of be instrumented, measured, and rewarded.”

“The fact is, folks aren’t interested by the implications of their actions but,” Thompson mentioned. “However over time, as extra information is saved on-chain, the reality will prevail.”

When requested the million-dollar query of whether or not or not Ethos is planning on launching a token, Thompson answered ambiguously, however assured that they’re working to reward customers indirectly.

“I can inform you that our XP system is designed to tell us in the way forward for how we’d reward folks past simply XP,” Thompson mentioned. “It helps us perceive the fitting incentive mechanisms. and be certain that individuals are following these incentive mechanisms, balancing these incentive mechanisms.”

Token or not, in an area the place belief is commonly briefly provide, Ethos is betting that fame—backed by blockchain—would be the final foreign money.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor’s notice: This story was up to date with extra context about Thompson and Walther.