Provide a concise narrative that clearly states each of (a)–(e) below.
Response
Onchain activity is pseudonymous and trust is illegible: users have no reliable way to know who is credible, and scams, spam, and sybil behavior thrive as a result. Ethos solves this by making trust financially legible. Participants stake value in vouches for people they trust, backed by slashing risk, producing a public credibility score anyone can verify before they interact.
Ongoing development is funded through a layered structure. Ethos Network, Inc. (the US development company) is paid in fiat under a services agreement with the Ethos Foundation and holds no protocol fee revenue. The Foundation directs long-term protocol support through dedicated allocations: 5% of supply for ecosystem development, 10% for treasury (8% on a 12-month cliff with 24-month linear unlock, 2% available at TGE for liquidity), and 5% for bounties. Proceeds from the token sale are held by Ethos Token Ltd under a board-approved treasury policy, with reserves managed conservatively. Contributor incentives are self-sustaining by design: an 18% rewards pool is emitted by smart contract on a continuous decay model and requires no ongoing revenue source, and all protocol fees are burned rather than collected.
Ethos is an onchain reputation protocol, live on Base since 2024. Users build credibility through vouches (staked endorsements of other users), reviews, and attestations, which feed a public Ethos score that anyone can check before interacting with a counterparty. Validators attest to humanity with slashable bonds, and reputation markets let participants take positions on profile trustworthiness. The $WHUF token makes this economy native: vouches are staked in $WHUF, every protocol fee is burned, and contributor rewards are emitted by smart contract from a fixed pool. Supply is fixed at 10,000,000 with no minting function.
The token has five primary functions. (1) Vouching: staking $WHUF in another user's profile as a public, slashable endorsement, the core input to the credibility graph. (2) Protocol fees: actions that write to the reputation graph (reviews, attestations, vouches, verification) carry small fees paid in $WHUF, all of which are burned on receipt. (3) Contributor rewards: 18% of supply is emitted by the EthosRewards contract to active vouchers on a continuous decay schedule. (4) Reputation markets: trust and distrust positions on profiles are denominated in $WHUF. (5) Human verification bonds: validators back humanity attestations with three-year slashable $WHUF deposits. The token does not confer governance rights over a DAO and carries no claim on revenue or dividends.
The protocol relies on a limited set of control surfaces. Contract upgrades and critical parameters require a 3-of-5 owner multisig, allocation funds sit in dedicated 3-of-5 Safe multisigs, and the contributor rewards emission rate is Foundation-adjustable within a contract-enforced ceiling. No minting function exists and all protocol fees are burned by contract, so neither supply expansion nor fee capture is possible through any control surface. Token contract control keys are held under multisig and timelock arrangements pursuant to a board-approved treasury and custody policy, with material changes requiring formal director resolutions. There is no current plan to transition to a DAO; any material evolution of the governance or control model would be publicly disclosed in advance.
For each existing entity: Labs/DevCo (e.g., Founder, CEO, CTO, COO), Foundation (e.g., President, Executive Director, CFO, COO), and DAO / onchain governance leadership (if applicable) list the:
For any non-existent entity, explicitly mention it does not exist. External links may be included but they will not factor into the score.
Response
Full Name | Official Title | Prior Experience |
|---|---|---|
Trevor Thompson | CEO, Co-Founder | 12-year product leader; ex-PM at Atlassian incubator; Director of Product at HCP; first hire at M.io (YC W16); Managing Partner at 0x5f Capital, a liquid crypto trading hedge fund |
Benjamin Walther | CTO, Co-Founder | 16-year engineer focused on identity, trust, and security systems; two-time founding engineer; first engineering hire at StackRox (acquired by Red Hat); O’Reilly author; previously at FINRA building fraud detection systems |
Full Name | Official Title | Prior Experience |
|---|---|---|
Dzidzai "Shaun" Musuka | Director | Chief Legal Officer at Steakhouse Financial, a crypto-native financial advisory firm; previously specialized in capital markets and crypto at Latham & Watkins; member of MakerDAO's Strategic Finance Core Unit, contributing to its real-world assets program; former Head of Research at African Crypto Research |
Full Name | Official Title | Prior Experience |
|---|---|---|
N/A | No DAO exists | Ethos does not operate a DAO or onchain governance body; protocol stewardship rests with the Ethos Foundation |
Provide a structured description of the DAO's governance, powers, and economic rights. If a DAO does not exist, state so for each sub question. Even if there is no DAO, there must be an answer to (d). Address the lettered items below.
Response
No DAO exists. Protocol IP, including codebases and trademarks/brands, is owned by the Ethos Foundation (Cayman Islands), which stewards it for the long-term benefit of the network. The development company (Ethos Network, Inc.) builds under a services agreement with the Foundation. No DAO owns or controls any IP.
There is no DAO or governance executor. Administrative authorities and limits: (1) contract upgrades and critical protocol parameters require a 3-of-5 owner multisig (super-majority of signers); (2) allocation treasuries sit in dedicated 3-of-5 Safe multisigs; (3) the contributor rewards emission rate is adjustable by the Foundation within a contract-enforced ceiling (it can never exceed 100% of the remaining pool per year); (4) token contract control keys are held under multisig and timelock arrangements, and signer or threshold changes require formal director resolutions under board-approved policy. Hard limits no authority can override: no minting function exists, and protocol fees are burned by contract and cannot be redirected.
Staking exists in the form of vouching, but it confers no governance rights. Vouching stakes $WHUF in another user's profile: staked tokens become eligible for contributor rewards, feed the vouched user's credibility score, and, for token sale participants, maintaining vouches is a condition of the contractual price guarantee. Vouched or locked tokens carry no voting or decision rights. Tokenholders cannot decide protocol parameters, treasury allocations, or upgrades; those authorities rest with the multisig arrangements and Foundation described in (b).
Tokenholders hold no governance rights. They have no rights over treasury actions, fee-routing (100% of protocol fees are burned by contract and cannot be routed), or protocol-controlled resources, and there is no buyback program. Two presently operative economic arrangements exist: (1) contributor rewards accrue mechanically to actively vouched tokens from the fixed 18% pool emitted by the EthosRewards contract; and (2) token sale participants who maintain qualifying vouches hold a contractual price guarantee against Ethos Token Ltd, as disclosed in the sale terms. Neither arrangement confers any decision-making authority.
There is no current plan to transition to a DAO or to materially change the control model. Administrative control is expected to remain with the existing multisig arrangements (3-of-5 for contract upgrades, critical parameters, and allocations) under board-approved treasury and custody policies. Any material evolution of the governance or control model would be publicly disclosed in advance.
No DAO exists, so there is no DAO dissolution authority. The legal entities are companies: the Ethos Foundation (Cayman Islands) and Ethos Token Ltd (BVI) can each be wound up only by board/director resolution in accordance with Cayman and BVI law respectively. The protocol's smart contracts are deployed onchain and their operation does not depend on the continued existence of either entity.
For the Primary Foundation do the following independently. If a Foundation does not exist, state so for each sub question. Items (a)–(f) apply only if that entity exists; state explicitly that the entity doesn't exist. Definition: The primary Foundation can be explained as the entity which is directly involved in the issuance of the native token at launch.
Response
Ethos Foundation, a Cayman Islands foundation company (registration number 434955). It is memberless with a sole director, holds the protocol IP, and wholly owns Ethos Token Ltd, the BVI company that conducts issuance of the native token at launch.
The Foundation owns and controls the protocol IP: the Ethos smart contracts and codebases, and the Ethos trademarks and brand. Development work performed by the DevCo under the master services agreement is owned by or licensed to the Foundation. Its sole mandate is the long-term neutrality and availability of the reputation protocol.
There is no DAO. The Foundation's current powers: it directs the Ecosystem Development (5%), Bounties (5%), and Treasury (10%) allocations, exercisable only through their dedicated 3-of-5 Safe multisigs; it can adjust the contributor rewards emission-rate parameter within a contract-enforced ceiling (never above 100% of the remaining pool per year); and, through its subsidiary Ethos Token Ltd, it administers the token sale price guarantee program. It cannot mint tokens, cannot collect protocol fees (100% burned by contract), and cannot act on protocol contracts outside the 3-of-5 owner multisig.
The Foundation holds no equity in and has no board representation at the DevCo, which is owned by its stockholders. Its influence is limited to its contractual rights as counterparty under the master services agreement (scope of services, deliverables, and payment). It cannot direct the DevCo's corporate decision-making.
The Foundation exercises administrative authority only through threshold mechanisms: contract upgrades and critical parameters via the 3-of-5 owner multisig, allocation treasuries via 3-of-5 Safe multisigs, and the contributor rewards emission-rate parameter within a contract-enforced ceiling (never above 100% of the remaining pool per year). Foundation wallet and key actions are additionally governed by its board-approved Treasury, Custody and Key Management Policy, with director resolutions required for reserved changes. There is no governance executor and no unilateral veto; no minting is possible and fees are burned by contract.
The Foundation receives no protocol fees or revenue; 100% of fees are burned by contract. Formally adopted mechanisms: (1) genesis allocations under Foundation direction, comprising Ecosystem Development (5%), Bounties (5%), and Treasury (10%, of which 8% is subject to a 12-month cliff then 24-month linear unlock and 2% is available at TGE for liquidity); (2) the contributor rewards pool (18%), emitted programmatically by the EthosRewards contract to active vouchers; and (3) token sale proceeds held by its subsidiary Ethos Token Ltd under a board-approved treasury policy, backing the contractual price guarantee owed to sale participants. No dividends or distributions to equityholders exist; the Foundation is memberless.
For the Primary DevCo do the following independently. If an entity does not exist, state that explicitly across each sub-question. Items (a)–(f) apply only if that entity exists; state explicitly that the entity doesn't exist. Definition: The primary DevCo can be explained as the entity which is directly involved in the issuance of the native token at launch.
Response
Ethos Network, Inc. ("Ethos Labs"), a Delaware corporation (United States), is the primary development company. Note: issuance of the native token at launch is conducted by Ethos Token Ltd, a BVI company wholly owned by the Ethos Foundation, not by the DevCo. The DevCo builds the protocol and front-end under a services agreement and is not the token issuer.
The DevCo does not own the protocol IP. Protocol IP, including the smart contracts, codebases, and the Ethos trademarks and brand, is held by the Ethos Foundation. The DevCo develops software under the master services agreement with work product owned by or licensed to the Foundation, and it operates development repositories and a front-end in the ordinary course of that engagement.
None unilaterally. There is no DAO. The DevCo does not control treasuries, protocol revenue (there is none; fees are burned), token administration, or reward parameters. Its personnel may serve as individual signers on the protocol multisigs, but every action requires the applicable threshold (3-of-5 for upgrades and critical parameters, allocation Safes), and the reward emission parameter is exercisable only by the Foundation within the contract-enforced ceiling.
The DevCo cannot exert direct or indirect control over the Foundation's decision-making. It is a contractual service provider under a master services agreement, holds no board seat, no membership interest (the Foundation is memberless), and no Authorised Signer role over Foundation assets. Its influence is limited to making technical recommendations as the protocol's developer.
The DevCo holds no unilateral contract or admin powers. Pause/upgrade authority over protocol contracts requires the 4-of-7 owner multisig; allocation treasuries require their dedicated 3-of-5 Safe multisigs; there is no governance executor. No single signer, including DevCo personnel, can act alone, and the DevCo is excluded from custody or control of Issuer and Foundation assets under the board-approved treasury policies and the master services agreement.
The DevCo entity receives no protocol-controlled resources: it is compensated in fiat under the master services agreement, there is no protocol revenue (fees are burned), and no treasury assets flow to it. One formally adopted mechanism directs tokens to DevCo contributors as individuals: the team allocation (2,894,000 tokens, 28.94% of supply) is granted to employees and advisors under the DevCo's board-approved 2026 Token Incentive Plan, with four-year service-based vesting and a lockup releasing 25% on September 8, 2027 and the remainder daily through September 8, 2030. No dividends, repurchases, or other distributions to the DevCo have been adopted.
Response
Ticker | Date | Allocation Category Name | Recipient Type | Allocation % | Allocation Tokens | TGE Unlock % | TGE Unlock Tokens | Cliff Months | Cliff Unlock % | Linear Vesting Months | Cadence Months | Circulating Treatment | Notes on what each category is used for | If applicable: Contract / Wallet address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Token Sale | Public / Sale | 0.2 | 2000000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | Yes | Public English auction Sep 1-4 2026 via Sonar; tokens subject to 30-day lock from TGE, unlocking Oct 8 2026 | 0x88cE3F766d791A0F9e7e4d6101e79869815cC440 |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | XP & Referral Bonus Pool | Community | 0.02 | 200000 | 0 |
State the project's airdrop status plainly, and back it up:
Response
Never conducted and none planned for TGE. Ethos has not conducted an airdrop of $WHUF and does not plan one. For clarity: the bonus pools connected to the token sale (a combined 2% of supply, split between an XP/validator bonus and a referral bonus) are purchase-contingent bonuses paid only to auction participants whose bids clear at the final price; they are distributed at TGE under the same unlock terms as sale tokens and are not free distributions to non-purchasers.
Projects must disclose all material terms of market-making arrangements that affect token liquidity. If the project has no agreements or deals with market makers, state that explicitly. For each market maker, include in a table:
If no native tokens were loaned or allocated to market makers, state that explicitly; cash/fiat retainers or fees are not required for (b).
Response
Market Maker Name | Token Allocation Committed | Term Duration | Structure Name |
|---|---|---|---|
Wintermute | 1% of total supply (100,000 WHUF) loaned | 12 months | Token loan |
Arrakis Finance | No tokens loaned. Approximately $500K of WHUF from the 2% treasury liquidity allocation deployed into non-custodial vaults | Ongoing; no fixed term | Non-custodial liquidity management (self-custodial Uniswap v4 and Aerodrome vaults; 50% performance fee; no token loan) |
Projects must disclose all material terms of centralized or decentralized exchange listings that affect token liquidity. For each listing, include in a table:
If the project has no agreements or deals with CEX or DEX, state that explicitly; doing so earns full credit; cash/fiat fee amounts are not required for this item.
Response
Exchange Name | Token Allocation Committed | Term Duration | Native Token Listing Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
None. No CEX agreements or deals exist | None. No tokens allocated or committed for any listing | N/A | None paid or committed, in native tokens or otherwise |
Disclose all prior token sales by the Project — including fundraising rounds, any material OTC sales to investors, and any discounted market-maker sales. For each sale, provide:
If no prior sales occurred, state that explicitly (e.g., "No prior fundraising, OTC, or discounted MM sales have occurred.").
Response
Series Name | Investment Instrument | Date Of Sale | Number of tokens sold | Vesting Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-seed | SAFE ($10M valuation cap) with pro-rata early supporter token grant; $1,963,000 raised across 61 SAFEs | February-August 2024 | 800,000 WHUF (8% of total supply) | Fully vested (no service conditions); locked at TGE, 25% unlocks at a 6-month cliff, remaining 75% linear monthly over 18 months |
Seed | SAFE ($30M valuation cap) with pro-rata early supporter token grant, conducted via Echo; $2,295,000 raised across 11 SAFEs | May-August 2025 | 306,000 WHUF (3.06% of total supply) | Fully vested (no service conditions); locked at TGE, 25% unlocks at a 6-month cliff, remaining 75% linear monthly over 18 months |
If any, list prior exploits or incidents that directly affected the token, token supply, tokenholder balances, token contract, minting controls, burn mechanics, or custody of token supply. This question is not asking about general protocol, application, or smart contract exploits unless the incident directly affected the native token itself. If no prior incidents, state this explicitly (e.g., "No exploits affecting tokenholders or protocol funds as of YYYY-MM-DD").
Response
No exploits affecting tokenholders or protocol funds as of 2026-07-31. No incident has ever affected the token, token supply, tokenholder balances, the token contract, minting controls, burn mechanics, or custody of token supply on any chain. Security history: the protocol contracts passed three Sherlock audit competitions (Ethos 1, Social Contracts, November 2024; Ethos 2, Financial Contracts, December 2024; Ethos 3, Reputation Market, December 2024), all subsequent contract upgrades were audited by Sherlock, the token and sale contracts were audited by Guardian in 2026, and an ongoing bug bounty program is in place.
N/A. No incidents have occurred.
No loss of funds has ever occurred. N/A.
N/A. No incidents have occurred; no remediation has been required.
N/A. No incidents have occurred.
No incident post-mortems exist because no incidents have occurred. Audit references: https://github.com/sherlock-audit/2024-10-ethos-network-judging (Ethos 1, Social Contracts), (Ethos 2, Financial Contracts), (Ethos 3, Reputation Market); each repository contains the full PDF audit report. V2 of the smart contract audit reports can be found here
Describe material risk factors across the three categories below. Each category includes prompts to address at a minimum.
(a) Regulatory, Legal & Tax Risks — Describe how evolving laws and regulations could affect the project by answering, at a minimum, questions like:
Impact of Regulatory Change on TGE and Listings: (If applicable) How could evolving or conflicting laws and regulations affect your ability to complete the TGE, deliver tokens to purchasers, and list or maintain the token on trading venues in key jurisdictions?
Entity-Level Regulatory Impact: (If applicable) How could regulatory or legal changes impact your core entities (Foundation, DevCo, DAO, affiliated service providers), including enforcement actions, licensing requirements, or forced changes to structure or operations?
Tokenholder Tax Treatment: (If applicable) What uncertainties exist around how tokenholders may be taxed, and make clear that tokenholders are responsible for understanding their own tax obligations?
Jurisdictional & User Access Restrictions: (If applicable) If the project restricts access for certain jurisdictions or user types (e.g., U.S. persons, sanctioned countries, retail vs. professional), what are those restrictions and what risks do they create for users and for the project?
(b) Protocol, Technology & Security Risks — Describe risks to network and contract reliability, correctness, and safety by answering, at a minimum, questions like:
Bugs and Design Flaws: (If applicable) What bugs, design flaws, or implementation errors could exist in your core protocol code, smart contracts, and any bridges, rollups, or oracles that you depend on, and how could these lead to loss of funds or disruption of the protocol?
Security Measures & Their Limitations: (If applicable) What security measures have you taken (audits, formal verification, bug bounties), and what types of failures might these measures still fail to detect or prevent?
(c) Token Economics, Unlocks & Incentive Risks — Describe how the token's economic design and supply schedule could affect holders by answering, at a minimum, questions like:
Critical Economic Assumptions: (If applicable) Which economic assumptions (e.g., staking yields, fee revenue, liquidity incentives, MEV capture, demand for blockspace) are critical for protocol security, utility, and governance, and what happens if those assumptions fail?
This Token Transparency Filing is provided for general informational purposes only. Blockworks reviews completeness only and does not verify or warrant the accuracy of individual answers. Ethos is solely responsible for the content, accuracy, and legality of its disclosures.
0 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
1 |
Yes |
Purchase-contingent bonuses for auction participants whose bids clear: 100K XP/validator bonus + 100K referral bonus; unlocks with sale tokens |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Early Supporters | Private / VC | 0.1106 | 1106000 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.25 | 18 | 1 | Yes | 72 pre-seed and seed SAFE holders; 6-month cliff unlocks 25%, remaining 75% linear monthly over 18 months; no tokens liquid at TGE | 0x41fcF710ebeC93163CE862D40b2Ea57DDe0c76ae |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Team | Insiders | 0.2894 | 2894000 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.25 | 36 | 1 | Yes | Founders, employees, advisors under 2026 Token Incentive Plan; 4-year service vesting; lockup releases 25% on Sep 8 2027 then daily (monthly approximation) through Sep 8 2030 | 0x0783Ee333a8605aAc39c5f523BB2474B2A1c5525 |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Ecosystem Development | Ecosystem | 0.05 | 500000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Conditional | Deployed at Ethos Foundation discretion; no fixed unlock schedule. Zeros in unlock fields denote discretionary release, not a permanent lock; tokens remain locked until deployed | 0xB53422dC4A4B96CC26c15AceCCB03A326Aca8532 |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Treasury (core) | Treasury | 0.08 | 800000 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 1 | Conditional | Foundation treasury; 12-month cliff (0% at cliff) then linear monthly over 24 months; sales at Foundation discretion | 0x26A866D3d3902b1df131ffc65eA8e8B972D61262 |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Treasury (liquidity) | Liquidity | 0.02 | 200000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | Yes | Locked through the 30-day guarantee period like all tokens; available Oct 8 2026 for DEX liquidity and market-maker arrangements. The 100,000 WHUF Wintermute loan (12-month term) is sourced from this allocation; Arrakis non-custodial vaults also draw from it | 0x26A866D3d3902b1df131ffc65eA8e8B972D61262 |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Bounties | Ecosystem | 0.05 | 500000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Conditional | Bounty programs at Ethos Foundation discretion; no fixed unlock schedule. Zeros in unlock fields denote discretionary release, not a permanent lock | 0xb604624B6570204a3B1b6EE36A0A3b434F393A02 |
WHUF | 2026-09-08 | Contributor Rewards | Emissions | 0.18 | 1800000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Conditional | Programmatic continuous-decay emissions to active vouchers via EthosRewards contract; Foundation-adjustable rate under hard contract cap (max 100% of remaining pool/year). Zeros in unlock fields denote programmatic release by smart contract, not a permanent lock; no fixed calendar schedule | EthosRewards smart contract (no multisig) |
Uniswap v4 (Base) — WHUF/USDC pool, seeded via Arrakis Pro non-custodial vault
Part of approximately $500K of WHUF deployed across DEX vaults, drawn from the 2% treasury liquidity allocation (200,000 tokens); vaults remain under Ethos Foundation control |
Ongoing; no fixed term. Liquidity is withdrawable by the Foundation at any time; deployment begins October 8, 2026 when the liquidity allocation unlocks |
None. No listing fees paid in native tokens or otherwise; Arrakis is compensated solely via a 50% performance fee on trading fees earned |
Aerodrome (Base) — WHUF/USDC pool, seeded via Arrakis Pro non-custodial vault | Same pool of capital as above — the ~$500K WHUF deployment is split across the two venues at Foundation discretion | Ongoing; no fixed term. Withdrawable at any time; deployment from October 8, 2026 | None |
Governance Control over Monetary Policy & Rewards: (If applicable) To what extent can governance change monetary policy, fee parameters, or reward allocations (e.g., inflation rate, treasury flows, incentive programs), and how could such changes adversely affect tokenholders?
Response
TGE and listings: evolving or conflicting laws could affect completion of the token sale and TGE, delivery of tokens, or the ability to obtain or maintain trading venues; no exchange has committed to list $WHUF. Sale registration includes eligibility screening, and persons in sanctioned or restricted jurisdictions cannot participate; these restrictions may limit access for some users and constrain distribution. Entity-level: the legal characterization of $WHUF and of the contractual price guarantee under securities, commodities, or consumer protection laws is uncertain across jurisdictions; adverse regulatory action against the Ethos Foundation (Cayman), Ethos Token Ltd (BVI), or Ethos Network, Inc. (US) could require changes to structure or operations. A MiCA-format whitepaper has been prepared in connection with EU availability. Tax: the treatment of purchases, bonus tokens, contributor rewards, burns, and price guarantee redemptions is uncertain and varies by jurisdiction; tokenholders are responsible for understanding their own tax obligations.
Bugs and design flaws: despite extensive review, undiscovered bugs or design flaws in the protocol contracts (vouching, slashing, rewards emission, reputation markets, verification bonds) or in the token and sale contracts could lead to loss of funds or disruption; the protocol also depends on Base, an Ethereum L2, so sequencer outages or rollup-level failures could interrupt operation. Contracts are upgradeable via a 3-of-5 owner multisig: compromise or loss of signer keys is a risk, mitigated by multisig thresholds, timelocks, and board-approved key management policies, but not eliminated. Security measures and limitations: three Sherlock audit competitions (2024), Sherlock-audited upgrades, a Guardian audit of the token and sale contracts (2026), and an ongoing bug bounty reduce but cannot eliminate the risk of vulnerabilities; audits are point-in-time reviews and may fail to detect novel attack vectors, economic exploits, or issues introduced by future upgrades.
Critical economic assumptions: the token economy assumes genuine network usage. Burns reduce supply only if the protocol is used; contributor rewards attract vouching only if the credibility graph is valuable; per-participant rewards compress as total vouched supply grows. If usage assumptions fail, the deflationary and incentive mechanics weaken. Float and unlocks: no tokens are freely tradable at TGE; all tokens are locked through the 30-day guarantee period, after which sale tokens (20%), bonus pool tokens (2%), and the treasury liquidity allocation (2%) become available on October 8, 2026. Team tokens unlock 25% on September 8, 2027 with the remainder daily through September 8, 2030, and early supporter tokens unlock 25% at a 6-month cliff then monthly over 18 months. Thin early float can amplify volatility, and unlock dates can create supply overhang. Price guarantee: the guarantee is a contractual obligation of Ethos Token Ltd capped at 85-90% of the original purchase price, conditioned on maintaining vouches (forfeited by unvouching, reduced by slashing), and backed by segregated sale proceeds under a board-approved treasury policy; it is not a market guarantee and depends on that entity's performance. Governance control over monetary policy: no new tokens can ever be minted and fees cannot be redirected (both contract-enforced); the only adjustable monetary parameter is the contributor rewards emission rate, which the Foundation can change within a hard contract ceiling, and changes could affect reward expectations.
