Why Ethos
“You are your actions”
The web3 and crypto space suffers because people are detached from their long term reputation. We aim to provide that link without sacrificing the benefits of pseudonymity. It’s time for people to put their reputation on the line. In the not-so distant future, we assume other participants won't take you seriously until you have a credible Ethos profile.
Don’t take our word for it (establishing credibility is the whole point here). Ask yourself these questions:
If you come across a new coin, protocol, or dApp - how legit do you assume it is?
How would you currently try to assess if it’s real? How does that compare to web2 or tradfi?
If there was a web3 crypto-native equivalent, what would it need to look like?
We believe:
Crypto and web3 are in the “Wild West” phase. Trust is low. Having morals is expensive. Scams abound. Reputation is easily thrown away in favor of profits.
We currently try to estimate credibility on imperfect indicators, like x.com followers, wallet holdings, and transaction history. Compare this to TradFi with credit reports and Consumer Reports; or web2 with TrustPilot, Yelp, etc.
If you could check a credibility profile for people you interact with, you could avoid expensive mistakes and determine, even increase, trustworthiness for every single person you meet online.
These answers shape a potential solution in the following ways:
A legible record
An “at a glance” profile must summarize the most impactful events from a growing history of online behavior. In order to collect that record, incentives drive participants to review and vouch for other’s positive actions. Whistleblowers' accusations are verified by a trusted community. In Ethos, a credibility score represents all this succinctly.
An independent profile
In order for anyone to check a profile, it must be independent of any social network, app, protocol, or owner. It must exist as a foundational layer that other apps can reference. For this reason Ethos is an independent, decentralized platform that provides APIs to apps and sites, simply leveraging attestations to social networks as opposed to depending on them.
Inviting to everyone
Everyone should be able to join, and thrive, by using Ethos while they are building their reputation and wealth. Joining Ethos should accelerate both those pursuits. Ethos rewards participation regardless of funds, and funds cannot be used to “pay to win.”
Skin in the game
Durable long-term credibility requires balancing financial and social incentives. Ethos is designed so that a great reputation encourages investment; earnest rewards from investment build a great reputation.
Trustworthy
To sustain long term fairness, Ethos itself intends to avoid over-centralized ownership. Decentralized governance of the score is planned as part of the protocol design and corporate structure. The creators have not taken on institutional venture capital to limit outsized control of token distribution. Early angel investors had a strict maximum equity offering.
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