In Crypto’s wild west, where scams and scams remain common, one team is betting on new solutions. A platform designed to establish trust and trust in the crypto space, Ethos Network is gaining attention as it tackles one of the industry’s most persistent issues: Bad Actors.
Ethos, the creator of Trevor Thompson (aka Serpin Tax) and Ben Walther, was born out of frustration with the scam that plagues the space and ramps.
“I used to do a lot of crypto transactions and have witnessed a lot of crimes, fraud and fraud that have become more apparent in recent cycles,” Thompson said. Decryption. “I felt inspired by the opportunity to solve some of them.”
This idea crystallized after Thompson’s experience with Thompson.Tech. This was the first time since users abandoned buying and selling “keys” linked to their Twitter accounts. friend.tech introduced the concept of linking on-chain action to social identity, but it failed to address trust and credibility.

Examples of mental profiles and scores. Image: Spirit
“Friend.Tech didn’t try to resolve the reputation, but I felt that was the first insight,” Thompson said. “What if you could document that on-chain by linking someone’s actions to who they are?”
Walther, Thompson co-founder and ETHOS Labs CTO, has been fighting fraud, fraud and cyberattacks in his role as a security expert since 2006. Thompson sparked a collaboration between the two, approaching Walther with the idea of the spirit. Their friendship first formed when Walter bought a friend of Thompson and then flipped it over soon after.
Since then, they have raised a $1.75 million funding round led by angel investors in 60 web3 communities, including 0xquit, Dingaling, Sigduck, Dragos, 0xmakesy and Zeneca.
From concepts to reality
Launched in January, Ethos aims to create a “proof of reliability” system, documenting trust directly through a guarantee system. Users can guarantee others by betting money against their reputation. Stakes can be withdrawn at any time
The Ethos website says, “We are contributing and making money by building a reputation, supporting others or punishing bad actors. Use Ethos’ reliability score to better understand who should trust and avoid them.”

The kind of feedback found in mental profiles. Image: Spirit
ETHOS participants are assigned a “reliability score” based on how reliable they are, similar to their credit scores but focused on social status. The score is determined by the most enthusiastic and highly regarded members on the platform.
“Friend.Tech’s bonding curves muddled data about who trusts who,” explained Thompson. “We wanted to create a system where trust could be directly documented and economically secured, without unnecessary financial shortcomings.”
It’s pretty crazy to see the difference between Kro and Alexis Ohanian’s @ethos_network scores
One has remained relatively fair, while the other thinks he sincerely pissed the entire crypto space…
wen digg nfts? lol https://t.co/edegpmdawp pic.twitter.com/a1waxdyd1s
– March 5, 2025
This platform depicts comparisons as my professor or Yelp speed. Thompson generally agrees, but he thinks that for something more.
“Think about how you can buy products today and how you can choose a doctor. Reviews and reputation are important. In cryptography, we are all independent companies working with each other, and trust is essential. What we can guarantee really adds weight.”
One of the early criticisms of the spirit is the possibility of a “circle jerk” effect, inviting users to guarantee each other and inflate their credibility scores. Thompson acknowledges this risk, but claims it is part of the process.
Sorry, @ethos_network doesn’t make sense.
The idea is great, but now it’s just a circle jerk by the same people.
Reputable people play vouch4vouch to play games of the system.
Seeing people with a “reputation” sell positive reviews.
It’s not this defeat…
– Zaimiri
“You want people to assure each other. That’s the point. The goal is to raise the bar to separate reputation and trustworthy people from bots and scammers.”
He tackles criticism of the “(3,3)” model, also known as “guarantees for guarantees,” and writes in X’s post that there are negative reviews and thrashing mechanisms to punish bad actors who try to manipulate the system.
(3,3) + cooperation is important for the success of Ethos & Crypto’s social landscape
…But it is largely misunderstood and misunderstood
Two people who support each other through round-trip reviews/guarantees are healthy and encouraged
What happens when it is mentally abused? pic.twitter.com/rkduqtjd85
– Ethos (@ethos_network) March 3, 2025
The thrashing mechanism is inspired by the blockchain network of proofs, allowing users to suggest that they can bet on their reputation and reduce someone’s reliability score. If the majority agree, the target loses its trust point.
“This is a way to hold people accountable and ensure that the system remains fair,” Thompson said.
Buildings for the future
Ethos is still in its early stages, with a team of around 1,000 users and six builders. The platform is currently only invitations and the founder is a decision to say it is intentional.
“We want to grow it at a sustainable rate,” Thompson said. “If we just open it for everyone, everyone might get involved and we might not hold any of those people. And they won’t take part in the future. A lot of things happen in Web3 in the hype cycle.”
Going forward, the team is exploring features such as zero knowledge and reviews built with ZK technology. This allows users to leave anonymous reviews while proving their reliability. “This could help people share honest feedback without fear of backlash,” Thompson said.
The long-term vision of the platform also goes beyond cryptography. “Imagine a world where reputations are portable and verifiable, whether you’re hiring a freelance copywriter or creating peer-to-peer transactions,” Thompson said. “That’s the future we’re building.”
As the mind continues to grow, it faces the challenge of balancing openness and integrity. But for the team, the mission is clear. It is about creating a system with a clear reputation, verifiable, and on-chain. This is achieved by “supporting reputation through financial security, ensuring that reputation itself is inherently valuable and can be measured, measured and rewarded.”
“The reality is that people are not yet thinking about the consequences of their actions,” Thompson said. “But over time, if more data is stored in the chain, the truth wins.”

Mental users are getting XP towards… something. Image: Spirit
When asked about a million dollar question about whether Ethos was planning to launch a token, Thompson answered vaguely, but assured him that he was working to reward users in some way.
“Our XP system can tell us that in the future, our XP system is designed to let us know how to reward people beyond just XP,” Thompson said. “It helps you understand the right incentive mechanisms, and make sure people follow these incentive mechanisms and balance these incentive mechanisms.”
In a space where trust is often lacking, whether token or not, Ethos bets that its reputation (backed by the blockchain) is the ultimate currency.
Edited by Andrew Hayward

