Given the volatility of cryptocurrency and NFT markets, price is not the only factor that fluctuates; trust - arguably more elusive than any digital artwork - is increasingly under pressure.
As scams, misleading endorsements, and sudden project failures continue to drive users away from web3, a startup is attempting to impose a certain order: a verifiable, transparent way to track the credibility of cryptocurrencies.
The company is called Ethos, a credibility protocol launched earlier this year that allows users to publicly rate each other, vouch for others with small amounts of cryptocurrency, and view aggregated credibility scores from peer signals on the blockchain.
The system has been integrated with X (formerly Twitter) and OpenSea, aiming to build a decentralized layer of trust on Web3 platforms.
There is indeed a market for this service: According to data from the analytics company Chainalysis, scams and fraud resulted in over $9 billion in cryptocurrency losses globally in 2024 alone. Buyers may rely on social cues like follower counts, Discord chat history, or influencer tweets to determine which information and entities to trust; however, these signals can be fabricated.
Former Atlassian product manager Trevor Thompson co-founded Ethos to address the issue of lacking reliable credibility infrastructure. He describes it as a persistent blind spot in the cryptocurrency space: while blockchain design is transparent, there is almost no consensus on how to determine who is trustworthy and why.
Ethos attempts to solve this problem through public and traceable peer feedback. For instance, users browsing OpenSea can now not only see which NFTs are being bought and sold but also who the traders are and how the community rates their credibility.
In a recent conversation, Thompson discussed with OpenSea the risks of anonymity, the prospects of decentralized ratings, and why cryptocurrency may need a new type of trust architecture.
Note: This record has been edited for length and clarity.
OpenSea: What were you doing before Ethos? What about your background makes you so concerned about reputation in web3?
Trevor: My background comes from Web2 SaaS. I have worked at several different companies, primarily developing products for enterprises - just like in the traditional SaaS space, developing tools to help people do their jobs better.
But after the outbreak of COVID-19, I started trading cryptocurrencies from home. I achieved some success and eventually founded a hedge fund for accredited investors called 0x5f Capital, which is what propelled me into the professional cryptocurrency space.
OpenSea: Ah, so the risks have suddenly increased when trading with other people's money.
Trevor: Yes, what ultimately happened was that when I was trading on behalf of the fund, an application called friend.tech became very popular at the end of 2023. It caught my attention, and I felt it really showed us something important, like a Gutenberg moment where your publicly expressed opinions are directly related to what you do on the blockchain.
Often, people pretend, 'I said these things on Twitter,' but then do completely different things elsewhere. Frankly, this disconnect is one of the biggest problems in cryptocurrency. With friend.tech, we felt like we saw a tiny idea, and we started asking ourselves, 'Can we really solve the accountability problem in this space? Can we ultimately understand what people are doing besides what they say?'
I started doing some research and found that this disconnect causes $9 billion in losses each year. People get scammed every year because they trust the wrong people and lose money on foolish things. I have witnessed this firsthand - I have seen it happen where someone says on Twitter, 'Hey, go buy this; everyone is buying this.' Then you look and find they are using bots to reply, making it seem real.
OpenSea: Can you give an example?
Trevor: One problem we often encounter is what people call 'soft rug pull' - a project starts with a lot of hype, gains early support from the community, and then quietly loses momentum or is abandoned. Founders do not vanish overnight, but the initial vision and subsequent actions fade over time.
There are also some more obvious examples: some projects, after going live, attract attention through bot or artificially created interactions, and within days the founders vanish - sometimes even facing legal consequences. These teams fabricate credibility, mimic natural interest, and manipulate social signals to attract newcomers. This is precisely the core issue we are trying to solve; in the Web3 era, it is still too easy to fabricate trust.
OpenSea: So is Ethos's existence to make things harder?
Trevor: Exactly! We want to make it more difficult to fake credibility. Currently, new users enter this space looking for various signals - likes, comments, fake interactions - and then get scammed. They leave within the first week because they lost money buying things they shouldn't have.
We believe that a trustworthy environment will promote the overall development of cryptocurrency, and Ethos exists to make social capital observable and verifiable.
OpenSea: How exactly does Ethos verify credibility? What is the underlying mechanism?
Trevor: Most previous on-chain reputation systems only focused on what you did on-chain - for example, did you mint a CryptoPunk? Did you make a large DeFi loan? But that does not prove a person's character; it's like judging a restaurant based on its tax returns. What's missing is the insight from peers - the concept of five-star reviews that we rely on in real life.
Thus, at Ethos, we allow people to vouch for each other, which includes writing reviews and staking ETH (even as little as 0.01 ETH) to back someone's reputation, indicating 'I trust this person.' This brings economic assurance to trust, making it costly and time-consuming to fabricate credibility.
We will output a credibility score showing who trusts you, who vouches for you, and reviews about you. We have integrated this feature into Twitter and OpenSea, so when you browse tweets or projects, you can see whether reputable people hold or support them.
OpenSea: This is a graceful extension of OpenSea's use of verified accounts that began in 2021 and 2022. However, you must be frequently asked: How do you design this system without inadvertently recreating the dystopia of 'rating everyone' from (Black Mirror)?
Trevor: This is often mentioned; the biggest difference lies in centralization. In (Black Mirror) - and in real-world social credit systems - there is always a centralized authority. The design of Ethos is meant to be collectively owned, where everyone can see how scores are calculated, and everyone can participate in improvements.
Frankly, cryptocurrency is one of the few areas that truly needs this mechanism. Every conversation in Web3 is financial in nature; if I tell you I like a project and then you go buy it, that's a financial transaction - even if it feels casual. So yes, it sounds dystopian, but the risks are high, and we need accountability.
OpenSea: Moreover, causality has been more clearly present in the real world. If you behave poorly at a nearby coffee shop, you will eventually be kicked out.
Trevor: Yes! That's the difference. In Web3, there are no such situations - there is no local coffee shop that prevents us from accessing, but whether we admit it or not, in Web3, we are all in the same metaphorical coffee shop.
OpenSea: So how does the rating system work? What do you incentivize through ratings?
Trevor: The ratings mainly come from peer reviews and guarantees on Ethos, and we don't rely much on on-chain activities, such as wallet age or minting history - these factors, while important, do not prove credibility.
We do not directly incentivize reputation; reputation itself is an incentive. In the real world, your reputation can bring you jobs, opportunities, and clients. In Web3, we try to make the same social capital observable so that ultimately, you might gain early access to trading opportunities, get more exposure on Twitter, or simply earn the trust of your peers.
OpenSea: Is your rating system crowd-sourced, or was it developed by your team?
Trevor: My co-founder Ben and I built the first version, but we cannot be the ultimate gatekeepers. After people started trying to farm this system, we had to make adjustments. In the long run, we hope the community can guide the evolution of the algorithm - through a process similar to EIP, allowing people to vote on changes. I should not be the one defining 'credibility'; that should be collectively owned by everyone.
OpenSea: What areas do you currently see the most potential in? Are DAOs and markets leading this trend?
Trevor: Currently, it mainly exists in a peer-to-peer format, where people use Ethos to condemn bad actors, support friends, and evaluate projects they trust. It has little to do with businesses - at least for now. I thought the brands and platforms would be the most concerned about this, but the early focus is actually on grassroots communities.
That said, I think we will see a shift. As the market warms up, projects will want to prove their credibility to new users, and that’s where we come in.
OpenSea: What are the next steps? What are you most looking forward to in the next 12 months?
Trevor: There are mainly three things:
Bringing Ethos ratings everywhere. Last week, we launched our integration with OpenSea, and now you can view ratings for favorites and holders. We hope this feature can extend to all Web3 platforms - wallets, exchanges, and social platforms.
Helping users derive value from their ratings. If you have good credibility, what can it bring? Better access, greater visibility, higher trust, or perhaps it means you can gain whitelist access or be more valued by DAOs and investors.
Achieve more trustworthy interactions. Think about it: OTC trading, peer recruiting, freelancing - anywhere you need to know who to talk to and whether they are trustworthy. We want to be the infrastructure that makes Craigslist feel like eBay.
OpenSea: As a freelancer, I genuinely understand this last point. When articles are taken down from websites, we always face the risk of losing our work, and the idea of on-chain proof for creative works will be game-changing.
Trevor: That's the brilliance of blockchain; the on-chain proof that 'Megan wrote this article' is permanent. It proves that your work and reputation don't just vanish into thin air. This transparency is very helpful for freelancers, especially in the frequently changing Web3 era.
OpenSea: Trevor, your insights are truly enlightening! You have given me a lot to think about. To be honest, I have already seen how Ethos can add value for creators, collectors, and various communities.
Trevor: Yes, absolutely. Thank you for raising such interesting questions; it's really fascinating.
OpenSea: Me too, I'm looking forward to seeing your next release. I will definitely keep an eye on the ratings on OpenSea.
Trevor: Thank you, Megan, take care.
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