# Ethos Overview **Ethos measures credibility and reputation onchain.** ### The Story So Far

“Having morals in crypto is expensive”

-- anonymous quote

The biggest problem in crypto is that financial incentives are misaligned - fraud, grift, exit scams, and rug pulls continue to extract time and money directly. We are in the “Wild West” still, and believe that we must solve this problem in order to move the space forward. Ethos aims to create a more trusted environment, increase participation in the crypto economy, and "modernize" crypto society. Modern society runs on credibility. Outside of crypto, one gets a job with a resume, checks reviews to choose a doctor, or anonymously gets matched with a 5-star Uber driver based on their own reputation. Easily referenced, legible credibility is missing in crypto and Ethos fills that gap. Ethos provides a credibility score with a backing profile, akin to a credit report but with open protocols and onchain records. Ethos incentivizes ethical behavior via social Proof of Stake; a decentralized consensus-based validation mechanism driven by human values, judgement, and actions. ### A New Credibility Platform A credibility platform provides this capability without locking users into a single experience. A platform becomes part of the entire crypto infrastructure, not limited to one distributed app (dApp). The intent is that existing interfaces (Chrome plugins, Metamask snaps) and dApps may integrate and build on top of a shared foundation that we refer to as the Ethos "protocol." ### Mechanisms By adapting consensus mechanisms Ethereum relies on today, Ethos can help solve the problem of “social validation” - what does it mean to be reputable? What does it mean to be trusted? Who is reputable and trusted, and how much? The Ethos protocol provides the following set of interlocking mechanisms. Together these form a common platform, incentivize ethical behavior, and generate a credibility score.

Review

Ethos provides the standard rate and comment interface. Reviews provide the ability to develop a reputation outside of financially backed stakes.

Vouch

Participants may vouch $WHUF, the network's native token, in other people. This is the highest credibility signal on Ethos and is closest to traditional staking in Proof of Stake systems. Active vouchers earn contributor rewards from a fixed pool.

Slash

If a participant acts in bad faith, anyone who vouches them is able to pledge $WHUF or credibility score as a bond to propose a slashing. If "validators" confirm unethical actions, slashing removes a percentage of staked $WHUF from the offender's value locked in the Ethos contract. Rejected slashings will penalize the proposer by redistributing their pledged $WHUF instead.

Invite

Users must first be invited by an existing Ethos profile before participating in Ethos. Invitations are not automatically added to a user's profile, and are inherently limited. Invitations create credibility score bonds between inviters and invitees, discouraging users from inviting bad actors or themselves. This helps Ethos maintain a sybil resistant network.

Attest

To reflect authority, reputation, and influence from other sources, one may attest other social network profiles to connect them a single Ethos profile.

Credibility Score

By interpreting social interactions generated by the above mechanics, Ethos generates a single numerical credibility score.

Ethos Profile

The profile highlights the credibility score and provides corroborating details. From the profile you can ascertain allies and enemies, praise and gaffes, kept and broken promises, etc.

$WHUF

The native token of the Ethos protocol. Every economic mechanism, vouching, fees, markets, bonds, and rewards, runs through $WHUF. Supply is fixed at 10,000,000, no minting function exists, and all protocol fees are burned.
### Impact We believe that the crypto economy thrives when everyone can readily ascertain each other's credibility. A score comprised of a reputation of vouches, reviews, and connections should be sufficient to form a qualified understanding of social signals. This way Ethos helps everyone evaluate their trust with everyone they are working with or talking to, without breaking pseudonymity. Ultimately the entire space will mature when everyone will expect a meaningful amount of credibility to fund a new project, have a trusted voice, or exchange goods for tokens. # 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: 1. If you come across a new coin, protocol, or dApp - how legit do you assume it is? 2. How would you currently try to assess if it’s real? How does that compare to web2 or tradfi? 3. If there was a web3 crypto-native equivalent, what would it need to look like? We believe: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. # Vision and Mission ### Vision: increase ethical profits A rising tide lift all boats. We all prosper when we can exchange goods and services reliably. Unethical behavior is a drain on markets, increasing risk, reducing participation, and making us all poorer in the end. With Ethos, opportunities will flow towards those with a long standing ethical history. Scammers, grifters, and the unethical will find it expensive, risky, and time consuming to fake these signals. Ethos increases investment in the ethical and increases expenses for the unethical. ### Mission: crypto participation requires credibility > Trust is essential for society to function—our civilization would collapse completely without it—and the fact that we don’t think about it is a measure of how well that trust works. > > \-- Bruce Schneier, [Trust and Society](https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2013/02/trust_and_society.html) Everyone wins when checking credibility is universal. A lack of credibility evidence will be suspicious. It should be so easy, so commonplace to build and maintain a reputation onchain that there will be no excuse not to do so. When it's so automatic that we barely think about it, the crypto market will mature to the point where scams are rare and obvious. In the not-so distant future, we assume nobody will take you seriously until you have a credible Ethos profile. # Principles ### Credibility is collective > Society runs on trust. We all need to trust that the random people we interact with will cooperate. ... If too many people steal or too many people don’t pay their taxes, society no longer works. > > \-- Bruce Schneier, [Trust and Society](https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2013/02/trust_and_society.html) No one authority can define credibility. It's a balance of personal judgement and group norms. Signs and signals will evolve with our culture. Principle: any credibility score needs to adapt to collective input. ### Algorithms are convenient However, standard credibility assessments provide market efficiencies. Few have time to perform deep due diligence on every transaction. Traditional market (tradfi) institutions like the SEC and credit report bureaus ensure a minimum threshold via licensing, regulation, and monitoring. Meanwhile ratings and reviews allow web2 consumers to "check for themselves" but still rely on centralized systems. Principle: a credibility score needs to be legible and concise. ### Credibility is power High credibility brings financial rewards. Defining credibility in a market grants influence. How that power is used depends on incentives. Market makers (Uber, eBay) benefit from trust in sellers and buyers. Some, like Amazon, extract fees from sellers to hijack credibility via paid reviews and ad-based placement. Others, like Yelp and Glassdoor, repeatedly face accusations of extorting businesses by suggesting paid plans may help dispute low ratings. Principle: avoid centralized incentives to tamper with credibility for profit. ### Algorithms change behavior People will shape their behavior according to what a credibility algorithm rewards. People's livelihood depends on how a centralized algorithm ranks their credibility. When these algorithms are centralized and owned by organizations, obtuse changes can alter careers and fortunes. For example, YouTubers are in a constant cat-and-mouse game reverse engineering the monetization algorithms. Principle: one must have the ability to influence an algorithm that impacts their livelihood. ### Algorithms will be abused > "the optimal amount of fraud is greater than zero." > > \-- Patrick McKenzie, [Bits about Money](https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/optimal-amount-of-fraud/) Any summary will omit details, so credibility scores can't fully represent the truth. This wiggle room allows abusers to optimize to the point where it defeats the original purpose. Centralized management historically fails; there is no way to perfect the algorithm or police all fraud. Instead, rely on the people most impacted to define the trade-offs between usefulness and abuse. Principle: collective governance will ensure a credibility score reflects effective trade-offs between usefulness and abuse. # $WHUF Token Economics for Decentralized Reputation {% embed url="" %} # Review Reviews convey credibility opinions succinctly. ### Rate and comment Ethos reviews follow a negative, neutral and positive rating standard. Because it's so universal, it's easy to embed in any context without confusing anyone. It's second nature. It also provides both quantitative and qualitative feedback. ### Sybil Who? Ethos requires that you have a valid Ethos profile (and thus invitation to Ethos) before one can leave reviews. This has the benefit of reducing spam and sybil attacks. Reviews are not anonymous; they include who left the review. ### Impact on Credibility Reviews influence the credibility score. The extent to which they adjust the score depends on the credibility consensus. A few of the ways reviews have impact include: * High credibility reviewers will have more impact, per-review * Reviews may be normalized per reviewer; someone who only leaves positive reviews may have less impact. Same for someone only leaves negative reviews * The age and volume of reviews * Reviewers vouching you, or vouched by you, have more impact This will be thoroughly documented and transparent through our [Credibility Score](/ethos-mechanisms/credibility-score). Reviews also require skin in the game; reviews that are left for users who are slashed are subject to misplaced endorsement penalties. #### Fees With the $WHUF transition, actions that write to the reputation graph, including reviews, may carry a small $WHUF fee. Fee amounts are per-action parameters in the smart contracts and may be set to zero at launch. Whenever a fee is non-zero, 100% of it is burned; fees are never collected as revenue. See the $WHUF Token Whitepaper. ### Philosophy Reviews are fast and inexpensive. Thus they are a weaker but earlier signal. They may be a fluke or provide an early warning sign. Reviews provide a lightweight way to provide feedback, even publicly denounce someone, before progressing to actions with financial stakes such as vouching, unvouching or slashing. One should be able to earn a reputation before one has substantial funds or a large network. Reviews facilitate that. ### Under the hood The review interface is intentionally simple and adaptable. Apps can add tags, keys, or text for capabilities customized for specific markets or audiences. Stay tuned for additional details on how you can integrate reviews into your own product. # Vouch **Vouching** indicates a high degree of trust. In Ethos you vouch by staking $WHUF, the network's native token, in an Ethos profile, a wallet address, or a social attestation. This fundamental core mechanism is how Ethos captures a network of trusted relationships. It represents the extent to which you are supported by allies and supporters, and thus strongly impacts credibility. {% hint style="info" %} Ethos operated with ETH as the sole vouching asset from launch through the introduction of $WHUF. Existing ETH vouches were not reset or unwound by the transition: they continue to count toward credibility scores, and the Ethos app provides a conversion flow that lets a voucher move an ETH vouch to a $WHUF vouch while retaining the vouch's standing and score impact. No staked ETH is moved or converted without the voucher initiating it. See the $WHUF Token Whitepaper for details. {% endhint %} ### Financial Stakes Vouching, unlike [Review](/ethos-mechanisms/review), requires a backing asset: staked $WHUF. This forces you to choose how you would allocate your trust and in what amounts and ratios. Does your entire network get equal trust, or would you vouch for some more than others? The amount staked represents the magnitude of the trust placed in you. With $WHUF vouching, the score contribution from vouching is distribution-based: it is determined by a voucher's standing among all vouchers rather than a fixed curve, which keeps the credibility signal independent of market movement and prevents whale abuse. 100 vouchers staking a small amount for the same person have an outsized impact compared to 1 whale staking the same total. However, the person you vouch DOES NOT HAVE DIRECT CONTROL over the backing asset. They cannot withdraw, spend, or re-allocate those staked funds. ### Impact on credibility score In the Ethos webapp, credibility score is earned through vouching over time, as opposed to instantaneously. That credibility is currently earned over a 6 month bond. #### Contributor Rewards Active vouchers earn contributor rewards in $WHUF, emitted by smart contract from a fixed pool (18% of total supply) on a continuous decay schedule. Rewards are proportional to the amount a user has actively committed through vouching. Because the work vouchers perform, identifying who is trustworthy, is essential to the network, the protocol pays for it in ownership. Details in the $WHUF Token Whitepaper. ### Mutual Respect When you vouch someone and they vouch you back, Ethos notes your mutual stake. This is commonly referred to as a (3,3) relationship. Credibility and rewards for both of you are magnified. However, defecting from a mutual stake represents a greater indication that you might be untrustworthy; why would you turn your back on a friend who vouched for you? ### Slashing Slashing provides a mechanism by which unethical behavior may be identified, socially validated, and punished via fines and reduced reputation. Slashing can induce penalties of one's total stake in Ethos. Details in [Slash](/ethos-mechanisms/slash). ### Unvouch You may withdraw your staked funds at any time by unvouching. You may also decrease the amount staked in an existing vouch without withdrawing it entirely. When unvouching, you're given the option to mark the unvouch as "healthy" or "unhealthy" to signal to the network if the vouch ended on poor terms. Note for token sale participants: unvouching or decreasing a vouch permanently forfeits the price guarantee on the unvouched or decreased amount. See the $WHUF Token Whitepaper for the full guarantee terms. ### **Philosophy** A long standing mutually beneficial relationship is the single best indicator of trust. People make mistakes. Penalties should be proportional; not everything is a “completely ruin your reputation” event. However, explicit deceit and defection *for the purposes of financial gain* should have the potential to prompt strong financial disincentives. In the case where unethical behavior is sufficient to completely destroy one's reputation, all stakers will withdraw their funds and credibility will drop. This is the social equivalent of bankruptcy. Because Ethos is pseudonymous, it is always possible to start a new profile from scratch. # Slash **Slashing** fines unethical behavior. ### Social Validation In the Ethereum Proof of Stake consensus protocol ([Beacon Chain](https://ethereum.org/en/roadmap/beacon-chain/)), with sufficient staked Ethereum (currently 32Ξ), one may act as a validator. Validators verify the accuracy and security of transactions and receive rewards for their efforts. Validators may act as a "[whistleblower](https://www.blocknative.com/blog/an-ethereum-stakers-guide-to-slashing-other-penalties)" and highlight an inaccurate or insecure transaction for extra validation, with various rewards and fees. ### When to use Slashing Slashing is intended to call out unethical behavior that the slashee has identified. This can be anything from rug pulling a project to failing to complete a previously agreed upon over-the-counter transaction. There is no binary definition to when to use slashing, and voters should vote on the ethics of the behavior as opposed to if something is slash-worthy or not. There is no such thing as "throwing a slash out" like you might a trial. Slashing is not a trial like in traditional judicial systems. It does not put someone in prison, is not used by government agencies, and does not have longstanding impacts to someone's livelihood. This means slashing does not require the same constraints and rigor that a traditional court system would. ### Slashing - Social Ethos users can also create "Social Slashings" where instead of actual capital risked, they risk their own social capital in the form of their credibility score. Whistleblowers request human validation by pledging a bond of their credibility score (subject to min/max based on difference between slasher and slashee's score). ### Slash voting mechanisms Users must have an Ethos score of at least 1600 to slash someone else. Financial slashing operates on staked $WHUF and can be used against other Ethos profiles, while Social slashing can be used on both Ethos profiles AND social accounts (like X.com). For token sale participants, any $WHUF lost to a slash is permanently forfeited from the price guarantee (see the $WHUF Token Whitepaper). Slashes occur over a 48 hour time period. Vote results in-app are blind as to prevent voter bias. Users are welcome to discuss during the voting period but discouraged from revealing their voting preference. #### Vote weighting Slashing uses weighted votes based on credibility score. This gives high credibility score participants more weight than new members who have less social proof. #### Cooldowns & timers To prevent spam and abuse, multiple cooldown timers are in place, such as * Maximum number of slashes available at a given point * A user may only slash one person at a time * A user may only be slashed once at a time * Users may not be slashed more than once in a given time frame # Invite An **invitation** is required to create an Ethos profile. Invitations create a bond between an inviter and the invitee's credibility score for the first 90 days. Invitations help us ensure a sybil resistant network where users risk their own social capital in who they invite. ### How invitations work An existing user may use the invite function of the Ethos protocol to invite another Ethereum address. Invitations are intended to be limited, and their initial distribution will be managed by the Ethos Labs team. Invitations from credible users increase new user's score significantly. Invitations can be revoked if they have not been accepted yet. ### The invitation bond There is a 180 day bonding period when someone accepts your invitation. During this time you will earn a percentage of their score, positive OR negative. This is intended to create some both upside and downside in your social capital by being selective in who you invite. If a user invites a bad actor, who's score drops dramatically in the 90 day bonding period, the invitee will lose some of their credibility score as well. This discourages people from inviting bad actors.. or potentially themselves. It encourages people to invite credible, reputable people as they will also earn credibility score from it. # Attest **Attestation** ensures people are who they say they are. In Ethos you attest by recording onchain the other ways you represent yourself (and your reputation) online. This can include digital identities, profiles, and wallets. Attestation is vital to prevent fraud and impersonation. ### Price and Costs Attestation is free; the price is nothing more than the required gas fees. Lying about your identity, however, is the most expensive action you can take on Ethos. Fraudulent attestation warrants Social Validation and Slashing (see: [Vouch](/ethos-mechanisms/vouch)), which costs both reputation and staked Ethereum. ### Mutually Exclusive No two Ethos Profiles can attest the same account or wallet. If one of your external accounts are already linked to another Ethos Profile, you may reclaim it automatically, without intervention or social validation. This action will be reflected as evidence on chain, which you can then use to "blow the whistle" on the fraudulent Ethos Profile pretending to be you. ### Account Verification Attesting external accounts requires demonstrating you have control over that account. Typically this requires emitting a message (tweet, post, etc) or updating a page (profile, commit) from that external account. Other times it means a trusted oracle (like Privy) verifies your identity on behalf of Ethos. Support for various external accounts (X.com, Facebook, Github, etc) will be added individually; this is not a blanket mechanism for attesting any link. ### Wallet Verification Attesting a wallet requires signing a request. Most wallet providers make this easy, as this is a standard Ethereum specification ([EIP-712](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-712)). Ethos plans to support wallets for blockchains beyond Ethereum & EVM. An Ethos profile can attest multiple wallets. This allows one to maintain security by keeping assets in different wallets with different keys, yet still represent all the assets within one Ethos profile. Any multi-sig wallets will require sufficient signing keys to sign the Ethos profile request, by definition. Ethos supports custodial and non-custodial wallets. ### Pseudonymity and Permanence There is no requirement that attestation includes real names or identities. Real names do not confer any advantages to the [Credibility Score](/ethos-mechanisms/credibility-score) calculation. Attested accounts and wallets are recorded permanently onchain. Be careful. If you maintain separate identifies for operational security or privacy reasons, one slip up is enough to permanently "burn" that pseudonym. ### **Philosophy** Reputation stems from communities. A profile on LinkedIn, Tinder, and Reddit will have very different connotations. Ethos should augment, not compete with, social apps like these. Reputation is multifaceted. The same person may have distinct reputations in multiple communities. Public information can still be privacy-sensitive; even if both Tinder and LinkedIn use your real name, few people want them intertwined. Reputation is also much more than identity. Pseudonymity provides benefits towards innovation the same way limited liability corporations do; by not putting "everything on the line," we promote experimentation and risk-taking. Ethos promotes the benefits of pseudonymity while also curtailing the drawbacks. ### Under the hood Attestation is an open schema that is designed not to solely depend on Ethos infrastructure or smart contract. For linking accounts, an Ethos Oracle will validate an attestation link in a tweet, post, or profile. It will then send a transaction to the Ethos Smart Contract in an open format, list itself as a validator, and sign it. When linking wallets, anyone may submit a attestation payload to the Ethos Smart Contract signed by the wallet itself. The Ethos Oracle will provide a convenience function to sign and submit that payload using public wallet APIs and services (ex: [Metamask](https://docs.metamask.io/wallet/concepts/signing-methods/) signing). # Profile Each **Profile** aggregates credibility evidence. ### Credibility Hub One's Ethos Profile presents a summary of relevant credibility cues. Each cue represents on chain activity from Ethos protocol or linked wallets. It highlights the most high impact Ethos elements, including high stakes vouches, high profile reviews, and major financial holdings. The profile provides a launching off point to answer questions beyond what can be summarized in a single page. Drill down to identify what's most relevant. From the profile you can ascertain their social circles, allies, major praise and gaffes, kept and broken promises, etc. Profiles are hosted on by the Ethos Labs team, similar to a block explorer for a blockchain. Other dApps may also create their own views of Ethos Profiles. ### Credibility Score The Ethos [Credibility Score ](/ethos-mechanisms/credibility-score)attempts to summarize as much relevant financial and reputational elements into a single numerical value. This is similar to a how a credit report includes a [credit score](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score). Because this calculation depends on social norms and impacts people's livelihoods, the algorithm itself is determined by the [Broken mention](broken://pages/QlvHtVHwcNmthFXzWOrM). ### Ethos Web dApp The Ethos Profile provides a convenient user experience for vouching, attesting, and leaving reviews. However, the profile itself is stateless; it retrieves data from on chain, and facilitates transactions with the Ethos Smart Contract. The intent is that anyone may offer alternate profiles or applications that retrieve Ethos protocol data. Ethos provides a platform and record of credibility data; there are likely to be many useful ways to interpret it. ### Philosophy The Ethos vision includes being able to assess credibility for anyone you interact with online. The profile is the most substantial realization of that vision. Ideally other apps may reference elements of the profile contextually, without requiring the user to navigate to the profile page. # Reputation Markets ### First concepts #### The Ethos Market Each market is tied to an Ethos profile, which is connected to an Ethereum wallet. A market is intended to be attached to an identity that users want to speculate on the reputation for; it could be an individual user, a company or corporation, a DAO, or even an autonomous entity. Any Ethos profile is able to create a market for themselves by providing 0.1e of liquidity. #### Trust percentages Every market has a current Trust/Distrust score based on the current price of trust and distrust votes. This is intended to act as a proxy for how trusted or distrusted someone or something is. At the start, the market starts at 50:50. Buying trust votes increases the price of trust votes and the overall score. This also lowers the price of distrust votes to provide equilibrium to the market. {% hint style="info" %} **A pragmatic example might be:**\ You see someone highly credible like Vitalik at a trust score of 35%. You believe Vitalik is more trustworthy than 35%, so you buy trust votes because you believe his current market price does not correctly reflect his trustworthiness. You believe you can net a profit because his trust score will go up once the "trust market price" has been realized. {% endhint %} It's important to understand that these markets are **perpetual**, and do not resolve. This because trust can never truly be resolved at a point in time However, you can imagine derivatives markets that could exist in the future resolve at certain points in time, ie. Vitalik will be above 80% before the end of 2025. ### Implementation & liquidity Ethos Reputation Markets execute on an Automated Market Maker (AMM) smart contract, using a standard Logarithmic Market Scoring Rule (LMSR) algorithm to price two opposite positions. This is the same pricing algorithm used by Polymarket. As an automated market liquidity is managed algorithmically rather than via traditional bid/ask spreads. Ethos Reputation Markets used a fixed liquidity control per market. These markets will continue to 'swing' with the same amount of volume, no matter how many total assets are locked. This has the following benefits: * You are never "too late to the party." Your votes have the same impact as the first market participants. * Markets respond quickly to changing sentiment. It does not require those with the largest holdings to shift positions before the market adapts. * Nobody is required to add liquidity. There's no liquidity crunch as people exit the market. Despite offering a built in "short-like" position, these contracts cannot be short squeezed. For future upgrades, the Reputation Market contract implements a graduate function that allows adoption of future algorithms and implementations, with agreement from the market owner. It is currently not possible to graduate these markets today. Note that because Reputation Markets are not prediction markets and do not resolve, they are not "binary options" but lack a formal economic definition; then nearest would be a "binary perpetual." ### Impacts to Credibility Score Creating a market and thus allowing people to speculate on your reputation gives you an instant credibility score boost. Once created, a user's trust and distrust score directly impacts their credibility score; users buying distrust will have the ability to lower someone else's credibility score. Users with high trust holdings will earn significant boosts to credibility score. ## Acknowledgements & Contributors This concept was originally from a conversation we had with [@CL207](https://x.com/CL207), originally in late 2023 and then again in September 2024. Both CL and the Ethos team were inspired by what Friend.tech could be ([CL's thesis](https://www.egirlcapital.com/writings/181712053), [our thesis](https://x.com/0x5f_eth/status/1706341407672148477)) but it was missing one key part - you could only buy keys, you couldn't take the sell side. CL casually pitched the idea to us but wasn't sure how he would implement it, so we did. # Credibility Score **Credibility Scores** quantify credibility indicators. ### Calculation The Credibility Score algorithm will factor in a variety of weighted indicators. Indicators include relevant on chain actions, such as: * number of vouchers, mutual vouches, and amount vouched * mutual vouch duration and defection * credibility score of vouchers or reviewers * average rating of your contributions on Ethos * account ages of attestation Weights do not need to be linear. For example, having 100 positive reviews may provide 2x more credibility than 10 positive reviews. Indicators and weights may be added, removed, or adjusted as the scoring methodology evolves. The Ethos score is one interpretation of the underlying onchain data: the inputs are public and permissionless, and any third party can compute their own score from the same records. #### Vouched value under $WHUF With the transition to $WHUF vouching, the score contribution from vouched value uses a distribution-based model: it is determined by a voucher's standing among all vouchers, rather than by mapping staked value through a fixed curve. Whatever the token price does, relative positions are unaffected, so scores stay stable. The credibility signal comes from relative commitment, not absolute dollar value. Scores carried through the transition intact: reviews, attestations, vouch history, slashing events, and every other input to the score persist, and existing ETH vouches continue to be considered in the score. See the $WHUF Token Whitepaper. ### Range The range of the credibility score is currently 0 to 2800, with several different levels (subject to change)
RangeDescription
0 - 799Untrusted
800 - 1199Questionable
1200 - 1399Neutral
1400 - 1599Known
1600 - 1799Established
1800 - 1999Reputable
2000 - 2199Exemplary
2200 - 2399Distinguished
2400 - 2599Revered
2600 - 2800Renowned
All wallets and attestations start at the default 1200 score, "neutral." ### Usage Credibility scores are intended as an "at a glance" quick estimate of credibility across many domains. No single number can represent the complexities of one's reputation among that many groups and interactions. The score is simply a summary of sentiment as measured by social proof. Different communities' needs may warrant additional weights and calculations. Ethos open protocol allows other dApps to define alternate scores using the same onchain records. ### Under the hood The credibility score will be calculated using a combination of onchain Ethos data and offchain observations like existing social graphs. Eventually, the algorithm will be committed to the Ethos Smart Contract, with all details publicly verifiable. # Ethos XP The primary incentive model for Ethos {% embed url="" fullWidth="true" %} # Human Verification {% embed url="" %} # Contracts and Ownership ## Contracts and Ownership Smart contracts are managed by multisigs in a [Safe](https://app.safe.global/home?safe=base:0xB4a9bc5fb037eBd805a405F2b53cFadF4bCB4774). `0xB4a9bc5fb037eBd805a405F2b53cFadF4bCB4774` has owner permissions of the smart contracts and requires 3 of 5 signatures to manage the Ethos smart contracts | "Owner" wallets (3/5 multi-sig) | | -------------------------------------------- | | `0xF66F66Bd3f35dba8a49866e42A7A9666fcAf9e42` | | `0x2a721196C5ea068EE17Afe3A70ce68746171De0d` | | `0x88ADa959a9dA289abe667362caF02755F34C552D` | | `0xefa91bD0c7a608B41A300Ae1C3a9f0AA16A41726` | | `0x7437c2BC96e062C009B8885B7c9ACa8F77302682` | Ethos also uses an Admin permission and separate multisig for non-withdraw operations. This is also protected by a multi-sig [Safe](https://app.safe.global/home?safe=base:0x72F04d999E12D456FE7eE0Acaa345124A081018D) and requires 2 of 4 signatures to manage non-withdraw operations. The address for this Safe is `0x72F04d999E12D456FE7eE0Acaa345124A081018D` | "Admin" wallets (2/4 multi-sig) | | -------------------------------------------- | | `0xF66F66Bd3f35dba8a49866e42A7A9666fcAf9e42` | | `0x88ADa959a9dA289abe667362caF02755F34C552D` | | `0xefa91bD0c7a608B41A300Ae1C3a9f0AA16A41726` | | `0x7437c2BC96e062C009B8885B7c9ACa8F77302682` | Here is a list of all Ethos smart contracts: | Contract Name | Address | Basescan Link | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ContractAddressManager | `0xC31252d6bE0252018F1b12deF25f6582dB0f3E9a` | | | EthosAttestation | `0x27499D9A439D1c7B4538f247625cc7aA159D3c14` | | | EthosDiscussion | `0x2820b3aB3543ADB80810f11F2651f0DD9A04E801` | | | EthosProfile | `0x209820B843900Ef77BD639455cDE15F38A252a36` | | | EthosReview | `0x6D3A8Fd5cF89f9a429BFaDFd970968F646AFF325` | | | Reputation Market | `0xC26F339F4E46C776853b1c190eC17173DBe059Bf` | | | EthosVote | `0x89e6Ff2Ce8318433E011d848D8a35FbFeE60c2Ed` | | | EthosVouch | `0xD89E6B7687f862dd6D24B3B2D4D0dec6A89A6fdd` | | | InteractionControl | `0x0A31c99B8eDD563CDF01534a82956Eda5CDB4CE5` | | | SignatureVerifier | `0x78a32a705bFc1600e0A2E056316E44877BDa7f57` | | | EthosSlash | `0xB2C41DebA270E1eA6abBe0e2fA70432630634a59` | | | EthosBroker | `0x5fab43B6E906F05d5D5e9D4b0582dd7b4Eedc7E7` | | | EthosBond | `0x21380B24Ee8B4A8D809A5049D0a9Ac047828384A` | | | EthosProject | `0x8B92d27846559Abd7CEE0c01435a35f3d7731C35` | | | EthosListingPass | `0xADA5A6e455cB93e8A934D09eb564Ff465d923C54` | | | ReverseAuction | `0xD56695235933cE2d9de477467b44378322eCD194` | | ### $WHUF Token The $WHUF token contract is deployed on Base with a fixed supply of 10,000,000. No minting function exists. The contract includes pause and freeze functions, controlled by the 3-of-5 owner multisig under a board-approved key management policy. | Contract | Address | Basescan Link | | ----------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | $WHUF Token | `0xeeee77bC7e82c0d4166d52F58239D4c5Bf41eeee` | | #### $WHUF Wallets All $WHUF allocations and operational wallets are held in Safe multi-signature wallets on Base. Each requires 3-of-5 signer approval for any transaction. Contributor rewards are held and emitted directly by the EthosRewards smart contract (no multisig). | Wallet | Address | Basescan Link | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Token Sale | `0x88cE3F766d791A0F9e7e4d6101e79869815cC440` | | | Early Supporters | `0x41fcF710ebeC93163CE862D40b2Ea57DDe0c76ae` | | | Team | `0x0783Ee333a8605aAc39c5f523BB2474B2A1c5525` | | | Treasury (Foundation) | `0x26A866D3d3902b1df131ffc65eA8e8B972D61262` | | | Ecosystem Development | `0xB53422dC4A4B96CC26c15AceCCB03A326Aca8532` | | | Bounties | `0xb604624B6570204a3B1b6EE36A0A3b434F393A02` | | | Owner | `0xd75Ce41816424Afb648654A9C06B2cE6f315E5f8` | | | Admin | `0x4E55b1b7fEd60C97B2f92944dA00dCbCB4D7C26B` | | | Token Proceeds | `0x0d254983ebF8BE13001e278d8f98C5584524beB0` | | #### $WHUF Signers (3/5 multi-sig) | Signer wallets | | -------------------------------------------- | | `0x14B6a6c78EC346108e8268af9d31Be6E97Fa545b` | | `0x078793026a6C2DD1cCa5CEBb8a82E7fe3af652Bf` | | `0x68cd5144CCCA4Faca637a9c5315115aD7237C285` | | `0x21aDDD0C8E0c0A4c4f66a6500f5e0abe71E2aD53` | | `0x73f2de541449b81aa516e6914571e47ce1bed50d` | Allocation details and unlock schedules are documented in the $WHUF Token Whitepaper. # Smart Contract Audits ## Smart Contract Audits Ethos completed three smart contract audit competitions through Sherlock.xyz for Ethos.Network. The $WHUF token and sale contracts were separately audited by Guardian in 2026. | Audit | Date | Competition Link | Judging Link | PDF Report | | ----------------------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Ethos 1 (Social Contracts) | November 3rd, 2024 | | | | | Ethos 2 (Financial Contracts) | Dec 5, 2024 | | | | | Ethos 3 (Reputation Market) | Dec 30, 2024 | | | | ### Contract Upgrades Ethos deployed the following smart contract upgrades: | Change | Description | Audited | Transaction | | ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Update Vouch After Attestation (Vouch Contract) | If you vouch for a social identity, update the Subject Profile Id upon attestation. | Sherlock | | | Update Vouch After Attestation (Profile Contract) | If you vouch for a social identity, update the Subject Profile Id upon attestation. | Sherlock | | | Empty Array Check | Avoid attempts to pop() from an empty vouch tracking index. | Sherlock | | ### $WHUF Token & Sale Contract Audit The $WHUF token contract and token sale contracts were audited by Guardian in 2026. All critical and high severity findings were resolved prior to deployment. | Audit | Date | Report | | --------------------------------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | $WHUF Token & Sale Contracts (Guardian) | July 2026 | | # Bug Bounty ## Guidelines ### **Ethical Standards** **The Ethos bug bounty aligns with our mission to reward ethical behavior. Although we outline guidelines and rules, the ultimate consideration in our bug bounty program will be: did you behave ethically?** **We cannot foresee every possibility, and although security researchers are the best at breaking rules, we reserve the right to deny or reduce participation or benefits due to ethical concerns.** Specifically: * Adhere to ethical standards and legal guidelines. Any actions that compromise the integrity, privacy, or availability of systems beyond what is necessary for testing are strictly prohibited. * No harm: Ensure that your testing does not negatively impact users or infrastructure. * Do not threaten, blackmail, dox, or otherwise create a negative environment for Ethos staff or users. * Do not communicate with the Ethos staff or users outside of designated vulnerability reporting channels. * Bug bounty reward edibility is ultimately up to the discretion of Ethos staff and any bug bounty management services. ### **Scope and Testing Environment** **Web Services** * When possible, conduct tests in test environments. * Full Denial of Service attacks are prohibited against app.ethos.network. * Avoid testing with external dependencies and third-party systems not controlled by Ethos, such as: * Twitter / X * Cloudflare * Intercom * Alchemy * Moralis * Notify Ethos staff if you will be conducting tests that may lead to increased load. If your tests increase infrastructure costs or cause Ethos to hit API rate limits, then this is sufficient reason to disqualify any bug bounty rewards. | Service | Production ❌ | | ------- | ----------------- | | web | app.ethos.network | | echo | api.ethos.network | | markets | ethos.markets | **Smart Contracts** * Replicating tests on public mainnet is prohibited. All testing should be conducted on local forks of either testnet or mainnet. If necessary, notify the Ethos team before testing on base sepolia. ### **Responsible Disclosure** * Do not publicly disclose vulnerabilities before they are resolved. * Do not discuss (publicly or otherwise) any aspect of a submitted vulnerability before resolution. * Use private, official reporting channels to submit your findings. Ie, Ethos public discord does not qualify. * Never exploit a vulnerability or threaten to do so. * Do not attempt to rescue funds without explicit written consent. * Publicly known bugs or bugs reported in a previous audit are not eligible. * Do not try to cajole Ethos regarding severity or payment. * You may publish details about your submission after resolution or a maximum of 30 days. ## Report a Vulnerability | Scope | Managed By | Submit Via | | --------------- | ---------- | ----------------------------- | | Web Services | Ethos Labs | email | | Smart Contracts | Ethos Labs | email | Address urgent issues or questions to: Submissions must include: * Clear explanation of the vulnerability * Reproduction instructions or working Proof of Concept (PoC) * Impact assessment on users and platform * One vulnerability per report * English language only ## Rewards and Disputes ### Web Services | Severity | Maximum Rewards | | --------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | | Critical | $1,000 USD | | High | $500 USD | | Medium | $50 USD | | Low / Info | Positive Ethos Review | Severity and resolution are strictly determined by the Ethos team. Payment can be made in either FIAT or USDC/USDT. ### Smart Contracts | Severity | Maximum Rewards | | ---------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | | Critical - Contract Drain | 10% of contract value | | High - Financial Impact | $5,000 USD | | Medium - Data Integrity | $250 USD | | Low / Info | Positive Ethos Review | ## Eligibility and Scoring ### Web Services Critical severity findings include: * Disclosure of Ethos application Attestation signature private keys * Trigger transactions, intercept, drain, withdraw, or otherwise impact user funds High severity findings include: * Redirect users to invalid Ethereum addresses prior to submitting a transaction * Cause users to attest invalid social media or external accounts, or take over existing attestations (without compromising the underlying account) * Force users to vouch for you or others Medium severity findings include: * Claim XP for social media accounts you do not control * Force users to review you or others Low / Info severity findings include: * Anything that impacts the generation or calculation of score or XP The following issues are considered 'known' and ineligible for rewards.
Known Issues * Descriptive error messages (e.g. stack traces, application or server errors). * Fingerprinting / banner disclosure on common/public services. * Clickjacking and issues only exploitable through clickjacking. * Logout Cross-Site Request Forgery (logout CSRF). * Presence of application or web browser ‘autocomplete’ or ‘save password’ functionality. * Lack of Secure/HTTPOnly flags on non-sensitive Cookies. * Lack of "security speed bump" when leaving the site. * Weak Captcha / Captcha bypass. * Login or Forgot Password page brute force and account lockout not enforced. * Username enumeration. * Missing HTTP security headers, specifically (), e.g. * Strict-Transport-Security. * X-Frame-Options. * X-XSS-Protection. * X-Content-Type-Options. * Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Security-Policy, X-WebKit-CSP. * Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only. * Cache-Control and Pragma * HTTP/DNS cache poisoning. * SSL/TLS Issues, e.g. * SSL Attacks such as BEAST, BREACH, Renegotiation attack. * SSL Forward secrecy not enabled. * SSL weak/insecure cipher suites. * Self-XSS reports will not be accepted. * Similarly, any XSS where local access is required (i.e. User-Agent Header injection) will not be accepted. The only exception will be if you can show a working off-path MiTM attack that will allow for the XSS to trigger. * Vulnerabilities that are limited to unsupported browsers will not be accepted (i.e. "this exploit only works in IE6/IE7"). * Known vulnerabilities in used libraries unless you can prove exploitability. * Missing or incorrect SPF records of any kind. * Missing or incorrect DMARC records of any kind. * Source code disclosure vulnerabilities. * Information disclosure of non-confidential information * The ability to upload/download viruses or malicious files to the platform. * Email bombing * Request Flooding * Lack of rate limiting
### Smart Contracts Critical severity * Complete loss of contract balance funds without limitations or external conditions High severity * Definite and significant loss of funds without limitations of external conditions * Definite and significant freezing of funds for >1 year without limitations of external conditions Medium severity * Loss of user funds under specific circumstances * Freezing of funds for >1 month * Modification of user submitted data, such as review titles. Low/Info severity * Anything that requires special circumstances such as a rogue admin, long period of time, The following issues are considered 'known' and are ineligible for rewards.
Known Issues * Ethos Reputation Market vote purchase limitations when price reaches 0% or 100% * **EthosVouch — attestation claim.** When an attestation is claimed by a different profile, a direct vouch against the former profile can drop out of that subject’s voucher accounting; no principal is lost or frozen, and any voucher can withdraw their full stake at any time.
## Safe Harbor Ethos will adhere to "safe harbor" protections; we will not pursue legal action against known ethical security researchers ("whitehats") attempting to defend Ethos against active exploitation. To qualify for safe harbor protections, notify Ethos of your intent and what attack you are defending against by notifying us at and we will confirm safe harbor status. Note: without written acknowledgement from Ethos staff, safe harbor is not guaranteed. Ethos requires that you return 90% of recovered funds within 24 hours to qualify for Safe Harbor protections. Recovered funds may be transferred to [0x9C98258da66Ed095948CE4774e541C9FE978e946](https://etherscan.io/address/0x9c98258da66ed095948ce4774e541c9fe978e946)