Crypto Etiquette: The Unspoken Rules of Web3

Anonymity, speed, and decentralization—the pillars of Web3—are redefining how we interact. It’s no surprise that the formal etiquette of the 20th century doesn’t translate in crypto and blockchain circles. 

However, that doesn’t mean there are no rules. In fact, the more freedom the space allows, the more distinct its culture becomes. 

A new kind of culture.

Why Web3 Needs Its Own Etiquette

Traditional etiquette once relied on eye contact, tone of voice, and polite behavior, expressed in restaurants, offices, and waiting rooms.

In contrast, Web3 etiquette surfaces through usernames, profile pictures, and the content of your posts. You encounter it (or its absence) in Discord chats, Telegram channels, and on-chain conversations across social platforms.

When identity is masked, respect and accountability become the clearest signals of integrity.

So, what can unravel a virtual community almost overnight?

• Toxicity 
• Evasion of responsibility
• Arrogance

Even a token collapse can be less damaging than unethical conduct from founders or community leaders.

That’s why Web3 etiquette has become a vital ingredient in project resilience.

When Toxicity Erodes Trust

Web3 doesn’t forget and it rarely forgives a lack of respect or tolerance toward community members. 

Several high-profile incidents clearly show how quickly trust can unravel.

1. The DOGE Scandal: How Toxicity Shatters Credibility

In early 2025, the Web3 community reeled from a controversy involving Marko Elez, an official at the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Elez was exposed as the author of racist and extremist posts on social media. Among the most inflammatory: “Normalize Indian hate,” “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” and open endorsements of eugenics.

Following a public exposé, Elez resigned. The matter seemed settled—until he was reinstated with support from Elon Musk and Vice President J.D. Vance. Nevertheless, his standing in the Web3 community took a significant hit. His X account (@nullllptr) was permanently deleted, with no option for recovery.

2. The Collapse of FG Ape Nation

The NFT project attempted to enter the fighting game space, but failed to acknowledge or respect the culture it was trying to join. The founders announced a collection of NFTs tied to a game called Ape Fight Club, featuring AI-generated ape characters, each with a unique fighting style and the ability to speak 27 languages. 

However, the gaming community saw it as an opportunistic move to cash in on NFT hype, with little regard for the mechanics or standards of the genre. When players flagged gameplay flaws, the developers ignored the criticism. The backlash was immediate. The community launched a coordinated protest on Twitter, effectively dismantling the project overnight.

3. Milady Maker and the Founder’s Dark Past

In 2022, NFT project Milady Maker became embroiled in a scandal after its founder, Charlotte Fang (real name Krishna Okhandiar), admitted to operating an anonymous online persona “Miya.” The account was linked to racist, homophobic, and antisemitic content, as well as ties to an online cult known as System Space that promoted suicide-related themes. 

Fang stepped down shortly after the revelations, but the fallout was swift. Milady Maker NFTs plunged by more than 65%, leaving the community in shock. 

The controversy deepened when several Milady Maker NFTs were found to feature disturbing imagery, including T-shirts emblazoned with “Treblinka,” the name of a Nazi concentration camp. Developers claimed this was the result of random generation, but the damage was done. Trust in the project collapsed.

The bottom line? 

Even in a space where avatars replace faces, values and intent are still visible. In Web3, reputation remains more valuable than the commercial promise of any project.

Reputation as the New Standard in Web3

In blockchain, no one asks for references. Instead, your reputation is your digital footprint: 

• How you voted
• How you contributed
• Who you backed
• What you published

But can you truly trust someone who hides behind a pseudonym?

To answer this question, a new generation of projects is building the infrastructure for trust:

• Proof of Humanity. This project helps communities verify that they're dealing with real people, not bots or sock puppets. In a space where identity is fluid, trust can’t grow without confidence that the other person exists.
• BrightID. This identity system verifies users through social connections, without revealing personal data. It’s a step toward reputation models where authenticity gives value to a pseudonym.
• Colony. A platform where users earn reputation through meaningful contributions to tasks and projects. What matters here isn’t the size of your crypto wallet—it’s what you’ve done.
• SourceCred. This system awards “karma” points for constructive activity like coding, community discussions, and idea generation. Reputation is built through tangible actions, not empty claims.
• Karma. An app that tracks and displays DAO member activity. While some simply hold tokens, others actively move the project forward. And it's the latter who earn the community’s trust.

These initiatives help Web3 communities foster trust in a world where crucial aspects of collaboration, like a firm handshake or eye contact, simply don’t exist. And yet, even in the digital realm, reputation can become both tangible and verifiable.

Buterin on the Reputation Challenge in Web3

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has long wrestled with a core dilemma: how to preserve freedom online without tipping into the chaos of total permissiveness. In his essays and initiatives, he’s repeatedly emphasized one idea: decentralization without responsibility is a mirage.

Back in 2022, Buterin proposed the concept of soulbound tokens (SBTs), unique, non-transferable tokens linked to a specific individual. These tokens are designed to record accomplishments, community affiliations, and reputation—everything that defines a person’s role in a digital society.

More on these identity-bound assets and their potential: Soulbound Tokens: The Ultimate Ownership Solution.

In Buterin’s view, these mechanisms could one day replace traditional trust systems from the offline world: 

• Résumés
• Letters of recommendation
• Reputation 

With soulbound tokens, you’re not just an anonymous address on the network—you’re a living record of your actions and accomplishments.

Buterin admits the pace of development in this space has been slow. Still, he believes that digital reputation will eventually become a core part of our online identities. 

In Web3, mutual respect is emerging as the new currency. 

• Toxic behavior tears communities apart. 
• Civility and accountability hold them together. 

Where applause at conferences once marked someone as a “good actor,” today that status is verifiable through the distributed ledger.

The blockchain remembers everything: your achievements, your failures, and how you treat others. The only question is what kind of trace you want to leave behind—one of disruption or one of contribution.

In the end, your reputation in Web3 is your true digital signature.