Social media giant Reddit seems to be experimenting with Community Points in the form of Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens.
In a first of its kind, users of Reddit can now convert their Reddit time into tokens called Reddit Community Points. The launch of Community Points represents ownership of a subreddit, on Ethereum.
A video on April 11 by posted Reddit user, MagoCrypto explains how the system will work based on an FAQ copy:
UPDATE: Reddit’s blockchain-based points system confirmed to be on Ethereum, and lot more! from CryptoCurrency
The video goes on to explain the new “community point” system. Reddit initially will release a record of its users and their karma on a monthly basis.
Meanwhile, Co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin confirmed on twitter:
My favorite proposal for a simple meaningful ethereum integration @reddit could do was one of @virgilgr's ideas: they should allow subreddits to set an arbitrary smart contract address as their moderator This would allow unbounded experimentation in DAO-like moderation policies. — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) April 10, 2020
Unlike Reddit’s previous points system Karma, the new “Community Point” system will operate completely outside the Reddit ecosystem. After that, the list would be signed off and the users would be able to claim their community points.
The document further goes on that the Reddit’s points will include various utilities such as purchasing premium memberships and voting in polls.
It is relevant to note that this is still in an experimental stage. Initially, there is a plan to release 50 million Community Points based on the Karma that is already acquired in the subreddit.
While an additional 50 million points will be issued in the first year, distributions will decline over time as the number of points issued approaches a total of 250 million.