Reactive Network Throws Weight Behind SmarTrust’s Web3 Escrow Solution—Because Freelancers Can’t Trust Moonboys With Their Paychecks

Web3 freelancers, rejoice—your payment nightmares might finally get a blockchain Band-Aid. Reactive Network just endorsed SmarTrust’s escrow system, aiming to cut out the ’trust me bro’ culture plaguing decentralized gig work.

No more praying a client’s shitcoin doesn’t tank before invoice day. The protocol locks funds in smart contracts, releasing payment only when deliverables meet code. Take that, ’rug pull’ freelancers.

Of course, this being crypto, someone’s probably already gaming the system. But hey—at least it’s not another NFT monkey JPEG.

Reactive Network at the core of SmarTrust

SmarTrust leverages Reactive Smart Contracts. Its event-driven infrastructure enables SmarTrust to work across several EVM-compatible chains and even to bridge logic and state across these chains. Emilijus Pranckus, Ecosystem Head at Reactive Network, explains the role Reactive plays in SmarTrust.

“SmarTrust is tackling a clear and pressing real-world problem. By placing Reactive at the CORE of their application, they are enabling trustless mechanisms between clients, freelancers, and adjudicators in a scalable way. This beautifully illustrates the value that a decentralized, events-driven IFTTT network brings to a wide range of smart contract-based applications,” Emilijus Pranckus, Reactive Network.

The global freelancing market is growing, both in terms of its workforce and revenue. Between 2020 and 2024, the number of freelancers in the United States increased by 90%, with the trend expected to continue.

By 2027, Statista projects that 86.5 million people in the US will be freelancing, which is more than half of its labor force. At the same time, the freelancing market will grow from the 2024 figure of $6.55 billion to $14.17 billion in 2029. A key factor driving this growth is the need for a more flexible workforce, enabling companies to adapt and scale faster.