Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin blockchain is built on a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust. Bruce Schneier, a Fellow, and Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School disagrees; he purports that Bitcoin is not a system that doesn’t rely on trust. It merely eliminates certain trust intermediaries, but you still have to trust Bitcoin - the organization and entity behind the chain.
Is it possible to trust solely in code?
Yes, as a verification system, blockchain can be trusted, but there are different levels and layers of trust in the blockchain space. Author of Blockchain and The New Architecture of Trust, Kevin Werbach, outlines four different trust architectures:
Peer-to-peer trust
Leviathan trust, which is institutional and involves contracts
Intermediary trust, like PayPal or credit cards that make a transaction work
Distributed trust, which is what blockchain enables — an emergent trust in the system without any individuals in the system trusting each other
Blockchain shifts the trust scale further over to the technology. Apart from the technology, trust in software, computers, networks, and the people who are making all of this work is needed.
Trust in technology only is difficult for humans - more difficult than trusting people. That is the reason community is so vital in the blockchain space and cannot be underestimated. If you have any doubt about the community’s importance, see some of our previous blog posts on the topics:
Truly Caring About the Community Will Sky-Rocket Your Project
3 Critical Steps to Building a Powerful Blockchain Community
How to look after the heart of your blockchain project -- putting your project community first!
AmaZix started its journey five years ago. We were a purely Community Management agency and have subsequently evolved into an agency offering a broader range of services that meet our clients and their community’s needs. Over the years, we can concur that one of the core elements of building a successful blockchain project is building trust within your community.
We understand that people choose to support blockchain and crypto assets or elements based on reputation. The blockchain and especially cryptocurrency space can be volatile, and this uncertainty requires research. Blockchain communities are not unlike typical consumers. Before investing time, energy, or currency in a project, users conduct research, and many times peer’s opinions are sought.
According to theEdelman Trust Barometer Special Report on Brand Trust, 70 percent say trusting a brand is more critical today than in the past – a shared belief among age groups, gender, and income.
For this reason, as a blockchain project, you must ensure you have covered all your bases in terms of reputation, and this means availability of information/content and engagement with audiences:
Are you actively engaged with your community in community forums like Telegram, Reddit, and Discord?
Are you transparent in your dealings with the community? Do you communicate your next move, and are you sticking to your roadmap? If not, why not?
Do you have a presence on social media, and are you following a content strategy that is informative and educational to followers?
Do you have partners or trusted affiliations that are obvious to potential investors?
Do your brand identity and website presence convey trust?
Do you write and publish content with a tone of voice that conveys trust?
Have you had due diligence conducted on your project to make sure you are legally compliant?
Is there easy access to your project information - is your website easy to search and find? Do you have a White Paper? How regularly do you produce and update content on your website?
Do the leading media and news outlets know about or have your project listed?
Do you have a Github presence that is regularly updated for coders and developers to investigate?
These are just some of the boxes you need to tick to build and sustain a robust and interactive blockchain community. At AmaZix, we specialize in ticking all of these boxes and putting your project on the map. Visit our Services page for more information or click the button below and let’s work together!