 Ecosystem health is the missing link to blockchain’s long-term success 
2025-01-23
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Opinion by: Anoop Nannra, co-founder and CEO of Trugard Labs. 
The blockchain world has always been about fighting scams. For decades, traditional financial systems created huge wealth gaps, eroded trust, and — as we saw in the 2008 financial crisis — gave us shady, complicated investments with zero accountability. 
Blockchain and Web3 were supposed to fix all that, but here we are, and scams like rug pulls and shady smart contracts are still what everyone talks about regarding trust and safety.
But here’s the thing: We’re looking in the wrong place. Most efforts today are about catching scammers, tracking transactions for Anti-Money Laundering and flagging risky smart contracts. 
These tools help people avoid losing money, but they’re not solving the real problem. 
They’re just putting out fires. Scams keep popping up because the more significant issue — the ecosystem’s health — is being ignored. Bad actors will always find a way if the foundation isn’t strong.
Instead of focusing only on spotting scams, we need to zoom out and ask: Is the ecosystem healthy? 
Are we attracting the right builders, tools and communities? Because if the system itself isn’t solid, we’re just patching leaks, while the whole plumbing is falling apart.
Why ecosystem health matters
Blockchain networks are more than the sum of their projects. They’re living ecosystems of developers, tools, users and the rules they all follow. A healthy ecosystem attracts good projects and talented builders that strengthen the network. Developers work together; tools get better; and everyone benefits.
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On the other hand, an unhealthy ecosystem is a magnet for scammers. If a network has weak rules, poor developer tools or a reputation for hosting shady projects, it won’t attract the kind of builders who want to build lasting, legitimate work. 
Instead, it becomes a breeding ground for fraud, which drives out good projects and weakens the ecosystem. This vicious cycle hurts users and damages trust in blockchain as a whole. 
Worse, these networks have been the proving grounds for exploits and scams before being distributed to other networks.
Take Ethereum, for example. Over the years, it has built a strong ecosystem with open-source tools, transparency and high developer participation. 
We have an environment where innovation can flourish and scams, while present, struggle to prevail. Compared to networks with low-quality projects and malicious actors, the difference is clear: Ecosystem health matters.
To improve blockchain networks, we need to measure their overall health, not just the number of scams they host or the total value locked and liquidity they attract. 
We need a framework to measure quality and reliability like those developed in the manufacturing or cybersecurity industries. 
In blockchain, we must look at transparency, developer reputation, security practices, and community engagement. 
If most smart contracts on a network do not have publicly reviewable source code, how can we trust that contracts are secure and safe? Open-source code allows the community to verify what’s happening and catch potential risks before they become problems. 
Of course, this differs from the hundreds of millions of lines of open-source code available in Web2 projects. In Web3, while we celebrate transparency, less than 1% of smart contracts deployed have source code available to review. 
A strong and active community can make a big difference. Users who are engaged, participate in governance, demand transparency, and hold developers accountable create an environment where scams can’t take hold. 
While we see this in spades for legitimate projects, the reality is that it’s far too easy and cheap to pull together a bot network to fool people into thinking they are engaging with a real community. 
Building a better tomorrow
Ecosystem health isn’t just about stopping scams — it’s about building a future for blockchain. Healthy ecosystems don’t just survive — they grow, innovate, thrive and attract trust. They give developers the tools to succeed and users the confidence they’re part of something reliable and secure.
We’re almost not collaborating at all. Protocol teams, developers and security platforms must come together to set standards everyone can follow before rules are drafted for and without us. 
Transparency also needs to be a top priority. Open source needs to be the norm, not the exception. While we can’t expect all projects to publish their intellectual property, proof technologies have come a long way and should be explored and utilized for safety and security. 
Security must be baked into the development process, not added as an afterthought. Communities must hold projects accountable so bad actors can’t operate without checks and balances. Trust is necessary for even the best tech to succeed. We can have safer, more resilient, innovative and sustainable networks by focusing on ecosystem health. It’s time to move beyond scams and look at the bigger picture for blockchain.
Opinion by: Anoop Nannra, co-founder and CEO of Trugard Labs. 
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.