A combined explainer for new beta testers: where credits come from, how to multiply them, and how to graduate from new-scout (5%) to trusted-scout (100%), either by being invited, granted by an admin, or earning it organically.
Part 1: How to Earn EA Credits on First Context
EA Credits are First Context's beta currency. They track every piece of context you contribute during the pre-launch window, and they convert to permanent credits when the platform exits beta. Here's exactly how they work.
What are EA Credits?
EA stands for Early Access. They're not a token, not a coin they're a record of contributions during beta. The point of them: when First Context goes to full launch, the earliest scouts who built the network shouldn't get lapped by latecomers. EA Credits will convert to permanent First Context credits at a ratio announced before transition, weighting beta contributions heavier than equivalent post-launch ones. This way there is more of an incentive to become an early adopter of this tech.
The four levers that change your earnings
1. The Content Catch Itself (base credits)
When you Catch content either via a single URL paste via the Thoughts on chain section, or batch via using the Catch Content bookmarklet, you earn credits based on how fresh the content is:
Content age when you catch it | Base credits |
|---|---|
Under 5 minutes old | 3 |
5–60 minutes old | 2 |
1–24 hours old | 1 |
Older than 24 hours (via bulk catch) | 0 |
The two top tiers (the 3 and the 2) only apply on in-demand creators meaning a creator at least one other scout already follows on First Context. The first scout to a creator doesn't get the speed bonus on day one - once anyone else subscribes, future fresh catches start earning the speed bonus. This is intentional: it rewards the act of covering creators that already have an audience watching.
2. The Signal Bonus (+50%)
When you catch, the yellow⚡Add Signal button is optional.
Click it, fill in all five fields:
What kind of content is this? (original post, repost, thread, podcast clip…)
Is it authentic? (genuine signal, satire, ad, AI-generated…)
How important? (notable, major, breaking)
Best timestamps (up to 3 deep links into video content)
Why it matters (one or two sentences in plain language)
Fill all five and your earnings on that catch jump by 50% minimum +1 credit. So a 3-credit fresh catch + full Signal becomes 5 credits. A 1-credit same-day catch + Signal becomes 2 credits.
The reasoning: anyone can click a button. Adding structured context turns raw catches into something the next scout (or the next reader) can actually use. We pay for the effort.
3. Your trust multiplier (the gate)
Every credit you earn gets multiplied by your account's trust score:
New scouts start at 0.05× until they graduate.
Verified scouts earn at 1.0× (full credits).
Beta testers (invited cohort, role-based) earn at 1.0×.
Manually granted trust by an admin: 1.0×.
Throttled accounts (caught gaming): 0×.
Until you graduate, your catches earn 5% of what they would at 1.0×. Part 2 below covers exactly how the trust gate works and how to clear it.
4. Your Thoughts on Chain (a different reward path)
Posting a Thought on Chain is your interpretation of a piece of content, written and signed via Hive Keychain. This doesn't pay EA Credits directly. It pays you in Hive instead: your comment lives on the Hive blockchain, earns upvotes from the Hive community, and pays out in HBD/HP via the standard Hive curation rewards system.
Long-term, this is the bigger reward. EA Credits track your beta contribution; Hive payouts compound forever. Beta scouts who write thoughtful Thoughts on Chain are building a Hive reputation, not just a credit balance.
Anti-gaming you should know about
Sybil dampening: 10 accounts catching the same URL don't earn 10× rewards. The system fingerprints catches and merges duplicates within a 24-hour window.
Coverage saturation: once a creator has plenty of scouts watching, marginal catches earn less. Rewards shift to creators who need coverage.
Old content cap via bulk: bulk-catching an entire archive of a creator's old content earns 0 credits per item. Bulk catch is for fresh timelines, not history mining.
Quick reference card
Maximize your earnings: catch in-demand creators within 5 minutes > of publish + click ⚡ Add Signal + fill all 5 fields = 5 credits per catch at full multiplier.
Minimum viable earner: any same-day catch = 1 credit at 1.0× multiplier (or 0.05 at new-scout multiplier earn 3 approved sources to graduate).
Bonus path: Thoughts on Chain comments earn Hive payouts directly, not EA Credits. Hive payouts are the long game.
Where EA Credits go from here
When First Context exits beta, EA Credits convert to permanent credits at a ratio announced ahead of time. Beta scouts who built the catalog get weighted heavier than post-launch contributors. The exact perks unlocked by permanent credits are priority slots, governance weight, potential revenue share access.
Catch fresh content. Add Signal. Get verified early. The next scout you onboard might be your future curator.
Part 2: How to Become a Trusted Scout
A trusted scout earns at the full 1.0× multiplier instead of the 0.05× new-scout floor (a 20× difference on every catch). Trusted scouts can also flag bad content and sources. There are three ways to get there: invitation, admin grant, and organic graduation.
Path 1: Beta tester invitation (the fast path during beta)
If you've been personally invited to the beta via DM, the Hive launch post, or a direct Keychain handshake with the team you'll be assigned the beta tester role at signup. This skips the organic graduation path entirely: from your first catch onwards, you earn at 1.0× without needing to prove yourself first.
Beta testers do not get admin powers. The role is purely an economic boost — you're trusted enough to earn full credits and flag content, but you don't get to approve creators, resolve flags, or assign roles. Those remain with admins and seed-admins.
To request beta-tester status: DM the team on Hive and provide your Hive handle. We'll confirm and apply the role to your account.
Path 2: Admin manual grant
A super-admin can call grant-trust on any user account directly, regardless of role:
Grant sets manual trust status to 'granted'so the multiplier locks at 1.0× regardless of catches/sources.
Revoke sets revoked so the multiplier drops to 0.05× even if the user organically met the threshold (used for misbehavior that doesn't quite warrant a throttle).
Clear wipes back to null so user falls back to organic evaluation.
This is the same primitive used for case-by-case decisions (e.g. a returning scout from a previous platform with established credibility, or a known Hive personality joining the network). Admin grants and the beta tester role both result in 1.0× (they're parallel paths, not competing ones).
Path 3: Organic graduation (no admin needed)
Most scouts will graduate organically. Two simultaneous conditions clear the gate:
trustScore >= 0.6
sourcesApproved >= 3
Until both are true, multiplier sits at 0.05× (organic-not-yet-verified). Once both are true, multiplier jumps to 1.0×.
How trust score builds
Trust score isn't built by catches, it's built by source
suggestions. When you suggest a creator's account on a platform (e.g., a YouTube channel ID or Twitter handle for an existing creator), an admin reviews:
Approved counts as 1.0 toward your reputation
Modified (admin tweaks then approves) counts as 0.5
Rejected counts against you
The "chainTrustBoost" (capped at +0.3) is awarded by on chain endorsements from already-trusted scouts who upvote your scout-catches with valuable signals, so the network amplifies high-quality scouts independently of admin review.
Auto-throttle (the downside guard)
If you accumulate 3+ rejected sources AND your trust score is below 0.2, the system auto-throttles you so the multiplier drops to 0, hard stop. This is automatic, so no admin action needed. Throttled accounts are manually reviewed before being un-throttled.
Priority order (what wins what)
If multiple conditions apply, the resolver checks in this exact order:
Throttled flag 0 (admin kill-switch — always wins)
Manually revoked 0.05 (admin revoke beats role + organic)
role = "beta tester" 1.0 (pre-launch invitee fast path)
Manually granted 1.0 (admin grant beats organic)
Organic predicate met 1.0 (trustScore ≥ 0.6 AND sourcesApproved ≥ 3)
Otherwise 0.05 (new scout)
Throttle and manual revoke always beat the beta tester role meaning bad-faith beta testers can be cut off.
Practical TLDR
A scout becomes trusted in three ways: an admin grants it, you got the beta tester role from invitation, or you earn it.
To earn it: submit at least 3 source suggestions an admin approves, and keep your trust score above 0.6.
Most scouts hit verified within their first week of active catching.
Beta testers get the boost from minute 1. DM the team to be added.
Together: How to maximize your beta earnings
Get verified fast. Either request beta-tester status, or submit 3 high-quality source suggestions in your first week.
Catch fresh. Stay subscribed to creators you actually follow, click Scout Catch within minutes of new content dropping.
Add Signal every time. The +50% multiplier compounds with the speed bonus. Full Signal on a fresh catch on an in-demand creator is the maximum-credit play (5 credits per catch at 1.0×).
Post Thoughts on Chain. EA Credits are the beta record; Hive payouts are the long game. Both grow together.
Stay clean. Don't game it. Sybil dampening, coverage saturation and the auto-throttle all run quietly in the background. Content Catches that look gamed earn nothing or get reversed.
The earlier you get verified, the bigger your beta record when EA Credits convert to permanent credits at launch.