SOST TALK

Community Rules

Five rooms. One moderation bot. Hard non-custodial invariants. The rules below define what SOST Talk is, what it is not, and the discipline that protects users in the OTC / P2P Board and OTC Reputation rooms.

// JUMP TO
// SOST TALK

What is SOST Talk

A moderated community space for SOST miners, traders, developers and participants.

Six rooms:

  • General — broad protocol discussion.
  • Miners — mining setup, troubleshooting, hardware.
  • DEX / PoPC — PoPC contracts, gold-backed positions, DEX questions.
  • OTC / P2P Board — user-to-user voluntary buy/sell offers. Non-custodial.
  • OTC Reputation — community-curated experiences with past counterparties. Unverified.
  • Bugs / Feedback — bug reports, feature requests.
// MODERATION

Moderated by SOST Sentinel

SOST Sentinel is the chat-moderation bot. It moderates spam, scams and abuse — not criticism.

Sentinel detects pressure patterns (release-first, hurry-up, move-to-DM, screenshot-as-proof, fake admin claims), advance-fee fraud, wallet-verification phishing, seed-phrase requests, screen-share scams, lookalike-domain typosquats. Messages matching these patterns are flagged or blocked automatically.

Sentinel never seizes funds, decides disputes, or blocks trades. It warns. The user runs the trade.

// CONDUCT

Allowed & Not allowed

✓ ALLOWED
  • Criticism (including harsh criticism).
  • Bug reports (including repeated ones).
  • Questions (including basic ones).
  • Skepticism and debate.
  • Technical discussion.
  • Negative feedback.
  • Feature requests.
⚠ NOT ALLOWED
  • Spam and flooding (rate limit: 5s between messages, max 5/min).
  • Scam solicitations ("send me coins", "guaranteed returns").
  • Phishing links.
  • Impersonation of admins, founder, or officials.
  • Malicious links or malware.
  • Repeated copy-paste spam.
  • Abusive flooding.
// IMPORTANT

Important reminders

  • Admins will NEVER ask you to send funds. Anyone claiming to be an admin and asking for funds is a scammer.
  • Only trust the official domains: sostcore.com and sostprotocol.com. Any other domain is impersonation.
  • Report suspicious behavior via the report button.
  • Identity required to post (prevents anonymous spam). Identity is a SOST Talk pseudonym, not KYC.
// AUTO-RESPONSES

Sentinel auto-responses

SOST Sentinel provides helpful auto-responses for common issues:

  • Sync problems → bootstrap / rebuild instructions.
  • Wallet issues → wallet generation guide.
  • DEX issues → DEX unlock steps.
  • Memory errors → swap file instructions.
// OTC / P2P BOARD

OTC / P2P Board Rules

The OTC / P2P Board is a community discussion room where users may post buy/sell offers between each other. It is not an exchange, not an escrow service, not a trading desk, and not a liquidity guarantee.

Hard invariants

  • SOST Protocol does not intermediate trades. Every post on the board is between users, at the users' own risk.
  • SOST Protocol does not custody funds. No SOST address holds buyer or seller balances on behalf of a counterparty.
  • SOST Protocol does not provide escrow. Anyone claiming to be "official escrow", "admin escrow", or "SOST escrow" is a scammer.
  • Admins never DM first. Real moderators never initiate private messages asking for funds, wallet credentials, or test transfers.
  • Use small test transactions first. Especially when trading with a counterparty for the first time.
  • Report suspicious behaviour via the report button; SOST Sentinel flags obvious scam vocabulary automatically.

What is allowed on the board

  • Neutral offers in plain wording, e.g. WTB 100 SOST at 0.0001 BTC each, WTS 50 SOST, accept BTC or USDT, escrow via mutually-agreed third party.
  • Community discussion of price, liquidity, available counterparties.
  • Reviews and reputation discussion of past traders (without doxxing).
  • Coordination of in-person or off-platform settlement.

What is NOT allowed

  • Claims of "official" buyer, seller, escrow, liquidity, or trading desk.
  • Asking another user to send funds first without a mutually-agreed third-party escrow.
  • "Guaranteed return / risk-free profit / double your SOST" patterns (these are scams by construction).
  • Phishing links disguised as wallet verification, airdrop claim, or trade confirmation.
  • Impersonation of NeoB, SOST admins, or any SOST team member.
  • Spam and flooding (same rate-limits as other rooms apply: 5 s between messages, max 5 per minute).

Liability

Posts on this board are user content. SOST Protocol, its contributors, and the moderation bot are not parties to any trade arranged here and are not liable for losses arising from such trades. Trade at your own risk and use independent escrow when the counterparty is unknown to you.

// TACTICAL SAFETY

OTC / P2P Tactical Safety Rules

The three NOT invariants (non-custodial, no escrow, no intermediation) are necessary but not sufficient. The board hosts the conversation; the user runs the trade. Most OTC scams collapse if the user follows the rules below.

Three rules that stop most scams

  1. Screenshots are NOT proof of payment. A screenshot the counterparty sends you can be edited, faked, or come from a different account. Until the money is in your bank or wallet, you have not been paid.
  2. Verify funds DIRECTLY in your bank or wallet — log in and check the balance/transaction yourself. Do NOT trust SMS notifications, email alerts, or push notifications alone (they can be spoofed and they lag the actual settlement).
  3. Beware payment methods with chargeback risk. Wait the FULL clearing window before releasing SOST:
    • PayPal Friends & Family — reversible up to 180 days.
    • SEPA / instant bank transfer — reversible up to 8 weeks.
    • Wise / Revolut instant — reversible on fraud claim.
    • Cash in person — irreversible. Safest fiat method.
    • USDC / USDT settled on-chain — irreversible after confirmations. Safest crypto-vs-crypto method.

Scammer vs honest counterparty

⚠ SCAMMER
  • Sends a screenshot and pressures you to release fast.
  • Wants to move chat to Telegram / Signal / WhatsApp / DM.
  • Claims "I'm verified", "I'm an admin", "I work with SOST".
  • Asks YOU to send SOST first ("I'll send mine after").
  • Urgency: "release fast", "order expiring", "hurry up".
  • Price MUCH better than market.
  • Pays via reversible methods + "you can release now".
  • Claims an "official SOST escrow" exists.
✓ HONEST COUNTERPARTY
  • Tells you they paid; lets you verify at your pace.
  • Continues on the public OTC / P2P Board chat.
  • Makes no special claims.
  • Agrees to a small test tx OR mutually-trusted third-party escrow.
  • Respects your verification timeline.
  • Price close to market.
  • Uses irreversible settlement (cash in person, on-chain stablecoin).
  • Knows SOST does not provide escrow.

Pre-trade checklist (the modal in SOST Talk shows this)

Before posting or replying in the OTC / P2P Board, confirm:

  1. SOST Protocol does NOT intermediate, custody, or escrow my trade.
  2. I will verify any payment DIRECTLY in my bank/wallet.
  3. I know payment methods with chargeback risk and will wait their clearing window.
  4. I will not move chat to private DMs with someone I do not already trust.
  5. I will use small test transactions for any new counterparty.
  6. Admins NEVER DM first. Claims of "official escrow" / "verified buyer" / "guaranteed liquidity" are scams.

The checklist appears once per browser (localStorage) the first time the user opens the OTC room. Clearing localStorage re-shows it.

What SOST Sentinel auto-flags

In addition to the existing scam patterns (guaranteed return, official escrow, send funds first, etc.), Sentinel also flags the common OTC pressure patterns:

  • "release first / send first / I'll send after" patterns.
  • "order is about to expire / hurry up / release fast".
  • "let's move to telegram / DM me on signal" patterns.
  • "I sent the screenshot, look at the screenshot" patterns.
  • "trust me / I'm verified / I'm an admin / I work with SOST".
  • Advance-fee fraud ("activation fee" / "unlock fee" / "pay small fee first").
  • Wallet-verification phishing ("verify your wallet to trade", lookalike domains).
  • Seed-phrase requests (the cardinal sin).
  • Screen-share / TeamViewer / AnyDesk pressure.
  • Friend's-account / temporary-address redirection.

Sentinel cannot stop all scams. The first line of defence is the user reading and following the rules above.

// OTC REPUTATION

OTC Reputation Room Rules (community-curated, unverified)

The otc-rep room is an opt-in space where users may share their experiences with past OTC / P2P counterparties.

Hard invariants

  • SOST Protocol does NOT verify, attest, or endorse any reputation claim posted in this room. A positive review is not a SOST guarantee. A negative review is not a SOST accusation.
  • Reputation in a non-custodial board is community-curated, not platform-attested. SOST has no identity system to anchor these claims against.
  • Fake reputation is itself a scam pattern. Scammers can create multiple identities and post fake positive reviews about themselves (Sybil attack). Cross-check before trusting any single thread.
  • No doxxing. Do not post the counterparty's real name, address, phone, ID, employer, or any other personal data. Counterparty handles only.
  • The OTC / P2P Tactical Safety Rules apply identically here.

Suggested posting format (voluntary)

A useful reputation post is one another user can cross-check:

[REP+] or [REP-] — counterparty handle: @handle
Trade size: X SOST  /  Y fiat
Payment method: <method>
Date: YYYY-MM-DD
Outcome: delivered / partial / undelivered / scam
Evidence (if available): txid, block explorer link, screenshot of
  on-chain payment (NOT a private chat screenshot)
Lesson: (one sentence)

The more verifiable detail, the more useful. Vague "this user is a scammer" with no evidence carries little weight and may itself be a smear-campaign tactic.

Sentinel applies

Sentinel's scam-pattern flags apply in this room too. A post that itself uses scam vocabulary ("release first", "guaranteed buyer", "DM me on Telegram") will be flagged regardless of whether it claims to be a "reputation" post.

What this room is NOT

  • NOT a SOST-curated trader directory.
  • NOT a SOST-issued reputation score.
  • NOT a SOST-arbitrated dispute log.
  • NOT enforceable evidence against anyone.

It is a community noticeboard. Read it. Cross-check it. Decide for yourself.

← Back to OTC / P2P Board Open SOST Talk →

© SOST Protocol — sostcore.com

🎮

SOST OTC / P2P disclaimer. SOST Community OTC / P2P Board is a user-to-user discussion area for voluntary SOST offers. SOST Protocol does not intermediate trades, custody funds, provide escrow, guarantee counterparties, or guarantee liquidity. Admins never DM first. Use small test transactions and verify all addresses independently. No direct founder sale is currently active. SOST Protocol is not a broker, exchange, trading desk, escrow service, market maker, or official liquidity program.