Doxxed is a common short form for ‘dropping documents’, but in crypto, it refers to the act of revealing the real-world identity of an individual who chose to be anonymous or used a pseudonym. Despite crypto’s roots in anonymity, “doxxing” has evolved into a key marker of trust.
The term originated in 1990s hacker culture, but it became a staple of the crypto lexicon around 2020 and 2021 during the DeFi and the NFT boom. Because the space was filled with anonymous developers launching new projects, investors began demanding transparency as many such projects turned out to be scams. So, now in crypto, being doxxed is usually seen as a badge of transparency.
If a project founder is doxxed, it means their name, face, and professional history are public. Here are a few instances of how this term may be used. A new project might advertise itself as having a “Fully Doxxed Team.” This tells potential investors that the creators are willing to be held legally and socially accountable if something goes wrong. Alternatively, they may come under scrutiny during rug pull investigations. The community then tries to dox the developers in-charge to report their identity to the authorities.
Simply put, in a world of digital avatars, a doxxed person is simply someone who has stepped out from behind the curtain to say, “This is who I really am.”
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