How do you short someone's reputation? Ethos has been working on this problem for well over a year. What started as a simple LMSR market has now evolved into Ethos Trade — Reputation Markets v2, launching today in Beta.

What We Learned From v1

The first version of reputation markets launched in January 2025 and taught us a lot:

• 🟢 A novel mechanism people want to trade

• 🟢 A helpful indicator of trust

• 🔴 Markets could only be opened for yourself

• 🔴 Traders wanted main characters, not randos

• 🔴 Limited liquidity

What's New in v2

The first major change: markets can now be opened for anyone — an X account, a GitHub repo, or a YouTube channel — handled permissionlessly once out of beta. Users can trade on ANY reputation.

The First Three Markets

The beta launches with three markets:

• @blknoiz06 (Ansem) - CT's most controversial character

• Anthropic - A renowned brand whose reputation is often in question

• Polymarket - Needs no intro

Skin in the Game

We believe reputation markets are the MOST pure form of reputation. Why? It's skin in the game. Markets will get further integrated into Ethos profiles — including significantly influencing Ethos scores, beyond what vouches and slashes do today.

Smarter Market Mechanics

The liquidity structure of the LMSR model has been modified to make trading more dynamic at all levels: when markets are small, prices swing more; as they grow, they stabilize. Early traders have significantly more impact on reputation.

What's Coming in Beta

• Perps - Leverage short and long the reputation of others

• Learning and tweaking - The beta is designed as a learning experience; the team will adapt as they learn what works

• $MMB test token - Each market is paired with MeowMeowBeenz, a worthless token used purely for testing

Trade on Trust

Reputation Markets v2 puts a price on trust — and lets you back your judgment with capital. The beta is live now.

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