Trust Score Breakdown of Popular Projects: BTC, ETH, SOL, DOGE

In crypto’s wild west, trust is the one thing investors crave. After all, 95% of trading volume on some exchanges has been shown to be fake. With markets swinging violently, trust scores act as a cheat-sheet for safety. So which projects deserve your trust the most? A trust score measures a crypto project’s credibility by combining factors like network security, development transparency, and liquidity into one simple metric. Below we break down the trust components of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin – and show what each project’s strengths and weaknesses mean for investors.

Key Takeaways:

• Use trust scores to compare fundamentals: Bitcoin’s enormous hashpower (976 EH/s) makes it extremely secure, while Dogecoin’s unlimited supply and anonymous origins hurt its credibility. 
• Watch development and risk events: Ethereum’s active developer base and high staking rate (30% of ETH locked) bolster its score, whereas Solana’s multiple outages underscore vulnerabilities. 
• Use trust scores as one tool in your toolkit: they simplify relative risk, but never rely on them alone. Always combine trust scores with fundamental research and risk management. 

What is Trust Score and How is it Calculated?

A crypto trust score is essentially a composite credibility rating – think of it like a credit score for blockchain projects. It typically runs on a 1–100 (or 1–10) scale and aggregates many signals of project health into one figure. In practical terms, trust scores look at things like network security (consensus mechanism strength), governance and dev transparency (open code, active teams), market behavior/liquidity, on-chain usage, and a project’s track record (incidents or exploits). For example, CoinGecko’s Trust Score (for exchanges) explicitly factors in liquidity, trading activity, and past incidents, and crypto project trust scores use similar ideas for each coin.

Good projects typically have clear whitepapers, open-source code, and regular updates. They undergo third-party audits and bug bounties. High trust scores come from transparent teams and healthy usage, whereas low scores often signal red flags like anonymous founders, unchecked token issuance, or known hacks. In short, a trust score gives you a one-glance sense of how much you can trust a coin – but remember it’s just a guide. For a deeper look at the methodology, you can read our deep dive on how trust scores work.

A Review of the Bitcoin (BTC) Project Trust Score

Bitcoin’s trust profile is best-in-class. As the original crypto, it has the most robust security: the Bitcoin network’s mining power recently surpassed 976 exahashes per second. In plain terms, its hashrate is so large that a 51% attack is virtually impossible and constantly rising. This record-high computational power makes Bitcoin “the most secure digital asset on the planet”. Its Proof-of-Work consensus remains decentralized (thousands of miners worldwide) and self-regulating; when hashpower jumped to 820 EH/s in 2025, Bitcoin’s security was at an all-time high.

Development & Governance

Bitcoin’s code is famously conservative and well-audited. There’s no centralized leader – improvements happen slowly via community proposals (BIPs). This means bugs are rare, but also new features (like Taproot or Lightning) undergo years of review. The upside is extreme stability. Transparency is high: all Bitcoin development is open-source and documented. (In fact, Bitcoin’s anonymous founder Satoshi was an anomaly – the project’s long-term reliability built trust over time.)

Market & Liquidity

Bitcoin has the largest market cap by far (typically ~40–50% of the crypto market) and massive trading volume. It’s listed everywhere and has deep liquidity (Galaxy Research noted a $10B+ trading volume in 24h, dwarfed by Doge’s $15B in 2021 but still enormous). In volatile markets, BTC’s role as a “digital gold” often makes it a flight-to-safety asset.

On-Chain Activity

Bitcoin’s transaction count (around 250k/day) is steady, though it lacks the high-speed contracts of newer chains. This conservative usage means lower utility but also fewer failure points.

Historical Incidents

Bitcoin’s chain has never been hacked; no coins have been stolen by bugs in the protocol. (Notably, even the Mt. Gox exchange hack didn’t compromise Bitcoin’s core chain.) The main risks in BTC’s history have been forks and scaling debates, but each crisis resolved without breaking the network. In short, Bitcoin’s trust score is extremely high – it sets the bar for security and reliability in crypto.

Ethereum (ETH) Trust Score: Tips and Parameters

Ethereum’s trust score is very strong but comes with different trade-offs. Network Security: Since the Merge in 2022, Ethereum runs on Proof-of-Stake. It now has thousands of independent validators securing the chain – 30% of all ETH is staked as of mid-2025. Staking encourages honest behavior, economically securing the network. As ConsenSys explains, “staking ensures the Ethereum blockchain … maintains its integrity” and keeps the chain “secure and decentralized”. In practice, this means an attacker needs to control a huge slice of the staked ETH (unlikely when so many participants lock coins).

Governance & Dev Transparency

Ethereum has a large, visible developer community (the second-largest open-source ecosystem after Solana). The core team (Ethereum Foundation, Consensys, etc.) regularly publishes specs and roadmaps (e.g., upgrades like Shanghai/Shapella). Moves like the Merge and upcoming upgrades were well-communicated. The downside: more frequent changes mean more complexity and risk (e.g. audit needs). Still, community engagement is high, and major upgrades like the Merge proceeded smoothly, boosting confidence in Ethereum’s process.

Market & Liquidity

ETH is the #2 coin by market cap and extremely liquid. It powers most DeFi, NFTs, and smart contracts – more on-chain activity than any other chain. Recent data shows Ethereum’s on-chain transaction volume hit $238 billion in July 2025 – a 70% month-over-month jump – with daily transactions peaking near 1.88 million. This high usage suggests strong real-world utility and demand. For investors, Ethereum’s liquidity remains deep across exchanges, though its prices (like all crypto) are volatile.

On-Chain Activity

Active is an understatement. DeFi platforms, token launches, and NFT mints constantly push Ethereum’s utilization near capacity. Fortunately, Layer-2 rollups (Arbitrum, Optimism) are easing congestion, keeping fees moderate (around $0–$4 per tx). For trust, this vibrant ecosystem is a plus – it shows real adoption and developer interest – but also means more vectors for bugs or exploits.

Historical Incidents

Ethereum’s mainnet has never suffered a catastrophic failure, but there have been notable events: the 2016 DAO hack (which did lead to a contentious chain split, creating Ethereum Classic) and various smart contract exploits on DeFi platforms (e.g. funds stolen from dApps). These, however, are usually external (dApp) issues rather than Ethereum’s core code. The takeaway: Ethereum gets high trust for its resilience (so far!) and transparent fixes, but its rich functionality does carry additional risk.

Overall, Ethereum tends to score high for credibility due to its mature ecosystem and strong team, but slightly lower on pure safety metrics compared to Bitcoin (since it’s newer and more complex). Investors should watch Ethereum’s development velocity and security efforts closely (for example, broad participation in staking has actually strengthened its security baseline).

A Review of the Solana (SOL) Trust Score

Solana’s trust score is more mixed. It shines in performance but trails on reliability.

Network Security & Decentralization

Technically, Solana’s network is fairly decentralized. A 2024 analysis found 4,514 Solana nodes (1,414 validators) running globally. No single validator holds more than 3.2% of the stake, and Solana even supports multiple client implementations (Agave, Firedancer) like Ethereum, which is unusual for an L1. However, critics point out that stake is somewhat concentrated (major hosting providers and exchanges control large shares). Overall it’s decentralized enough for now, but not as battle-tested as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Governance & Dev

Solana Labs (the main development foundation) has been adding devs and resources. The ecosystem boasts the second-largest developer community in crypto (about 2,500 monthly active GitHub devs). In 2023, Solana developer retention jumped from 31% to over 50%, indicating growing commitment. On governance, Solana uses an open SIMD process for core changes, and the Solana Foundation oversees grants and stability. In short, developer energy is high. But caveat: Solana’s leadership hasn’t built the track record of decentralized consensus in the face of stress (yet).

Market & Liquidity

Solana’s market cap (often #5 or #6) and trading volume are solid but lag behind BTC/ETH. SOL is liquid enough for institutional trades, but still a smaller pool. Its low fees and high throughput made it a DeFi darling early on. Today, Solana has many programs and stablecoins moving volume – though total capital is dwarfed by Ethereum’s DeFi hub. Its tokenomics include a fixed inflation that decays, similar to an easing supply inflation.

On-Chain Activity & Reliability

Here is where Solana shows its biggest weakness. By design, Solana can process 65,000 TPS with Proof-of-History, but in practice it often chokes under real-world stress. Since 2021, Solana has suffered multiple long outages: for example, a 17-hour blackout in Sept. 2021 triggered by a token sale’s bot transactions, and a 7-hour halt in Jan. 2022 from record-breaking congestion. The network has also rebooted due to config bugs (Oct. 2022) and an upgrade failure (Feb. 2024). These events are well-documented; in fact, Solana’s co-founder has publicly acknowledged “flow control” bugs behind the downtime.

So, while Solana’s speed is a promise, its history of instability drags its trust score down. Recent infrastructure improvements (e.g. the new Firedancer validator, RPC rate limits) aim to fix these issues. But investors must still watch Solana for single points of failure: e.g., a single rogue program or a spike in bot transactions can halt the chain.

Community & Innovation

On the plus side, Solana’s community is enthusiastic. Regular hackathons (Hyperdrive, etc.) have launched thousands of projects and over $600M in funding. New tooling and professional dev events suggest Solana remains a hotbed of innovation. The ecosystem’s strength is a trust point: lots of real work is going on, not just hype.

In sum, Solana’s trust score is moderate: high marks for developer momentum and throughput potential, but lower for historical resilience and decentralization maturity. Its “scorecard” will improve as recent network upgrades take hold, but right now downtime is a clear red flag for risk-conscious investors.

Analysis of the Dogecoin (DOGE) Trust Score

Dogecoin sits in a category of its own. Born as a meme, its trust score is largely powered by community and hype.

Network Security

Dogecoin uses merged proof-of-work (with Litecoin’s miners via Scrypt), so its chain security is tied to Litecoin’s hashrate. That means it’s moderately secure for a joke coin, but far from Bitcoin’s level. There was never a famous DOGE 51% attack, but its security is only “as good as LTC”. Notably, Dogecoin’s supply is unlimited – 5 billion new DOGE are minted each year with no cap. This inflationary policy means long-term holders risk dilution, which hurts Dogecoin’s “store of value” case.

Governance & Development

Dogecoin has virtually no formal dev team or governance today. Its founders famously left by 2015, and development is community-driven. The Dogecoin Foundation was disbanded early on, and updates to the code come from volunteer contributors. The upside is that it’s truly decentralized (no one “runs” Doge), but that also means no roadmap or audits. Compare that to Ethereum or Bitcoin, and Doge scores low on transparency and innovation.

Market & Liquidity

Dogecoin’s liquidity is surprisingly high for a “joke” coin. At its peak in 2021, Doge was the 4th largest crypto by market cap and often features among the top traded coins. Daily volumes can exceed tens of billions during hype days. This liquidity earns it some trust points (it’s easy to trade DOGE quickly). However, this flows both ways – high liquidity is largely driven by speculation. Dogecoin’s price surges have been led by memes and celebrity tweets (hello, Elon Musk), not network fundamentals.

On-Chain Activity

Real usage of Dogecoin is minimal. It was never designed for smart contracts; it’s mainly used for tipping, charity drives (Jamaican bobsled team was famously funded in DOGE), or as a speculative vehicle. Transaction fees are low and blocks come fast (1-min blocks), which theoretically suits micropayments. But outside of the Reddit crowd and social media fervor, Dogecoin’s on-chain demand is negligible.

Incidents & Red Flags

Technically, Dogecoin has no famous hacks or bugs in its core (it’s a simple fork of Litecoin). The main “incidents” have been wild price swings and pump-and-dumps. Notably, Dogecoin’s infinite supply and speculative nature are often cited as flaws. Critics point out: “Dogecoin lacks a clear practical use case, and its price is highly speculative.” That essentially sums up Doge’s trust score shortcoming. It’s a cultural phenomenon more than a project with fundamentals.

In practice, Dogecoin’s trust score tends to be the lowest among these four. Its strength is a huge, loyal fanbase (subreddits, Twitter communities) and meme-driven liquidity. Its weaknesses are inflationary economics, unclear purpose, and reliance on charismatic individuals. Investors who consider Doge must recognize: you’re trading on sentiment more than security or tech.

Comparison of Trust Scores: BTC vs. ETH vs. SOL vs. DOGE

Below is a side-by-side look at key trust components for each coin:

Factor	Bitcoin (BTC)	Ethereum (ETH)	Solana (SOL)	Dogecoin (DOGE)
Network Security	Unmatched PoW hashpower (≈976 EH/s as of 2025); 51% attack practically impossible.	PoS with ~30% of ETH staked; thousands of validators; solid cryptography.	High-performance PoS/PoH but fewer nodes; no validator >3.2% stake (decent decentralization).	Scrypt PoW merged-mined with Litecoin; moderate hashpower; infinite supply raises risk.
Dev/Governance	Conservative, open-source development; few big changes (high stability).	Active core team and community; rapid upgrades (Merge, Shapella); very transparent.	Steady core team (Solana Labs); growing dev base (2.5k monthly devs); formal proposal process.	No formal team; updates by volunteers only; original founders anonymous/left.
Liquidity/Market	#1 coin by cap; deepest liquidity across exchanges.	#2 coin; large liquidity; drives most DeFi and NFTs (>$238B monthly volume).	Top-10 by cap; good liquidity in active moments; used in DeFi and stablecoins.	Top-10 by cap at peak; very liquid on hype (billions traded daily) but driven by speculation.
On-Chain Usage	Moderate (~250k tx/day); mostly value transfers; no complex contracts.	Very high (record ~1.8M tx/day in Aug 2025); heavy DeFi/NFT use.	High potential throughput; actual usage variable; many projects (DeFi, NFTs) but also network spam.	Low; mainly tips/charity; used by community (e.g. social media tipping bots); not real-world app usage.
Historical Issues	No chain hacks; rare forks (e.g. Bitcoin Cash split); very stable history.	Past fork (DAO event), high-profile DeFi hacks (external protocols). Generally resilient.	Multiple network outages: e.g. 17h in Sept 2021, 7h in Jan 2022; some bridge hacks (e.g. Wormhole).	No major security incidents in chain; criticized for hype-cycles and infinite inflation.

This table highlights each project’s trust strengths and weaknesses. Bitcoin and Ethereum score highest: Bitcoin for bulletproof security and history, Ethereum for broad adoption and a proven upgrade path. Solana stands out for throughput and developer interest but is pulled down by its reliability incidents. Dogecoin’s score reflects its social popularity more than any technical merit.

Factors Affecting the Change in Trust Score

Trust scores aren’t static. They react whenever core metrics shift. Key events that can nudge a project’s score include:

Protocol Upgrades

Hard forks or changes (e.g. Bitcoin halving, Ethereum forks) can alter network dynamics. For example, when Ethereum’s PoS upgrade passed, staking participation soared, boosting security.

Security Incidents

Hacks or bugs (smart contract exploits, network attacks) immediately lower trust. Solana’s repeated outages knocked its score down, while Bitcoin’s all-time high hashrate lifted its score.

Regulatory News

Government actions can impact perceived legitimacy. Recent U.S. regulatory clarity on staking tokens coincided with more ETH being staked, which improved trust metrics. Conversely, exchange bans or negative rulings can dent scores.

Market Conditions

Extreme volatility or liquidity crunches (e.g. major exchange failures, a crash) may temporarily shake confidence. However, strong fundamentals (like robust liquidity) can help scores recover quickly after a crash.

Team/Leadership Changes

A key developer leaving or, say, a major investor dumping tokens can hurt trust. Conversely, new high-profile partnerships or audits can help.

In practice, trust scores should be refreshed regularly (perhaps monthly or after major news) to capture these changes. A single bad exploit or a big upgrade could move the needle for any crypto project.

How Can Trust Score Help Investors Make Decisions?

Trust scores simplify the complex evaluation of crypto projects into an at-a-glance rating. How can you use them? Think of trust scores as the start of your due diligence. For instance, before buying any coin, you might:

Run through a due diligence checklist

Examine the project’s security (audit reports, network resilience), team (transparency, track record), and market metrics (volume, volatility). The trust score highlights which areas need a closer look.

Size your investment

A high trust score (like Bitcoin’s) might justify a larger portfolio allocation if it fits your risk tolerance, whereas a low score (e.g. Dogecoin) would suggest caution.

Set monitoring cadence

If a project’s trust score dips after an incident, you might reduce exposure or revisit the project’s fundamentals. Conversely, rising scores (improved security or liquidity) could signal a good entry point.

Ultimately, trust scores are a guide, not gospel. As Forvest’s guide reminds us, “Never rely on Trust Scores alone – always do your own research”. Use them alongside market analysis and your own risk profile. And for a systematic approach, you can even download a trust score breakdown via the Forvest Trust Score analysis tool.

Conclusion and Final Recommendations

In the end, no single coin is perfect, but trust scores help us compare them on a level playing field. Bitcoin’s score is sky-high thanks to its unmatched security and longevity. Ethereum’s is strong thanks to its robust ecosystem and active development. Solana’s is middling – great when it works, but wobbly when it doesn’t. Dogecoin’s is modest, buoyed by community mania but weighed down by inflation and lack of clear use.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Prioritize fundamentals: Projects with proven security and transparency tend to have higher trust scores. For example, Bitcoin’s all-time high hashrate and Ethereum’s high staking participation are bulwarks of trust. 
• Stay vigilant around risks: Pay attention to the “what to watch” metrics. Solana’s downtime history or Dogecoin’s infinite supply are red flags. If an update or hack hits one of your holdings, re-check its trust signals. 
• Use trust scores sensibly: Incorporate them into your investment process (e.g. as part of a due diligence checklist) but combine with market research and risk management. As a rule of thumb, don’t bet more than you can afford to lose if a coin’s trust metrics are shaky.