Popular social media platform Reddit is releasing two new Ethereum-based tokens. These currencies will be granted to Reddit users who create appropriate or stellar content.
Reddit Is Working in the Crypto Space
The tokens will be known as $MOONS and $BRICKS. They’ll be issued to the subreddits of both “Fortnite” and cryptocurrency, respectively. They are part of a new “Community Points” program in which users are ultimately rewarded for posting material.
A Reddit spokesperson explains:
We continuously run experiments to explore features that engage our users and communities. With Community Points, we’re working exclusively with two communities to test this feature and gather feedback from our users.
The situation raises a lot of questions, the first one being, “Does the crypto space really need two more Ethereum tokens?”
As it stands, if the tokens are going to be based on Ethereum, they’ll likely be built atop the Ethereum blockchain and require its technology. There’s a problem here in that Ethereum is already seriously overstuffed. It seems every developer within the crypto arena has looked to build their new tokens or projects atop the Ethereum network over the past few years, which has resulted in serious traffic and congestion. The ETH network is now swamped with slow transaction times and heavy gas fees.
Vitalik Buterin – the co-creator of Ethereum – says that his “baby” is no longer scalable as a result, and that he hopes the introduction of Ethereum 2.0 can somehow put these problems to rest once and for all. With all this in mind, two additional tokens based on Ethereum are just going to make things that much harder.
The second thing we can notice is that Reddit is a top social media platform. Is it potentially looking to compete with Facebook and Libra somehow? One social media platform builds a cryptocurrency, so now another one must as well. Is that the idea?
Libra, while not used for rewarding people or their content, is designed to bank the unbanked and give populations a chance to access goods and services through Facebook. Libra is backed by several stable currencies, though the asset has caused heavy controversy since first emerging nearly a year ago. Is Reddit looking to cement its presence in the crypto community the way Libra has with new tokens?
Nothing Wrong with Competition
In addition to these new assets, Reddit is also introducing a new “Vault” system that allows people to manage their tokens over time. The Vault page explains the process:
Community Points are currently in beta (through summer of 2020). During that time, they will be on the Rinkeby test net, and balances, transactions and memberships may be reset. After the feature leaves beta, Community Points will be migrated to the Ethereum main net. Points balances will be carried over (though will need to be reclaimed).