The Trust System

Bitcointalk's trust system is its most important defensive layer. It's also its most misunderstood. Most newcomers think it works like Reddit upvotes. It doesn't.

The three kinds of feedback

When someone leaves you trust feedback, it comes in three flavors:

• Positive (green) — "I had a good experience with this user."
• Neutral (grey) — "I have something to note about this user (positive, negative, or informational) but it's not strong enough to be positive/negative."
• Negative (red) — "I had a bad experience or have strong evidence this user is unsafe."

Every feedback should include:

• A reference (link to thread, screenshot, or transaction)
• A specific reason

Feedback without evidence gets challenged publicly — though only its author can actually edit or delete it.

How it appears

Your default view shows feedback from people in your default trust list (DT) and the people they trust. Random anonymous accounts' feedback is not shown unless you opt in to broader views.

This means:

• A DT user's negative feedback on you appears in the trusted summary for most viewers, because most people browse on the default list
• A random newbie's negative feedback on you is shown as untrusted rather than trusted — readable, but not counted in the trusted summary
• The system is designed so trust signal compounds through known-good accounts

What red trust does to you

A documented red trust from a DT member:

• Shows on your profile to most viewers
• Often gets corroborated by other DT members reviewing the case
• Leads most campaign managers, service buyers and counterparties to decline — it does not block you from posting or trading, but few people will want to
• Cannot be removed by complaint — only by resolving the underlying issue

What positive trust earns you

Positive trust from active DT users signals safety to other DT users. There is no count that flips you to "trusted" — people read the feedback itself, so a few detailed, verifiable entries are worth more than many vague ones.

It compounds slowly. There's no shortcut.

Your trust list

Your "Trust list" is who you trust. By default, you trust DT. You can:

• Add specific users to your trust (positive)
• Add specific users to your distrust (negative — their feedback won't show to people who use your list)
• Customize what feedback you see when reading other profiles

For newcomers, leave it on default. Curating a trust list is a long-game activity.

How to leave good trust feedback