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Reddit is getting rid of its crypto-powered “Community Points” reward tokens. The tokens were first launched three years ago in an effort to reward Reddit users for making high-quality contributions to the social media platform, but the site plans to fully phase them out by November 8, TechCrunch first reported.
Reddit’s Community Points are ERC-20 tokens that were initially minted on the Ethereum network, but later moved to scaling network Arbitrum Nova. The tokens could be redeemed for different perks on Reddit, like badges, emotes, GIFs, and other features.
Holders have been selling off the two tokens—MOON and BRICK—causing prices to nosedive. MOON (from the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit) is down 84% today to a current price of $0.035, while BRICK (from r/FortniteBR) has plunged about 59% over the past 24 hours to a current price of $0.041, per CoinGecko.
Why is Reddit, which saw millions of users mint its Collectible Avatar NFTs, suddenly backing away from one of its core crypto integrations?
“The resourcing needed was unfortunately too high to justify,” Reddit Director of Consumer and Products Communications Tim Rathschmidt told TechCrunch.
“The regulatory environment has since added to that effort,” Rathschmidt added, likely referencing unclear crypto guidance in the United States. “Though the moderators and communities that supported Community Points have been incredible partners—as it’s evolved, the product is no longer set up to scale.”
Similar language can also be found on an explanation for sunsetting the program on the FortNiteBR subreddit.
When reached for comment, Rathschmidt told Decrypt that he didn’t have additional details to share about the Community Points program shutting down, but he confirmed that the “Collectible Avatars initiative continues.”
Redditors with plenty of Community Points in their pockets have mixed feelings on the platform’s decision. While many Redditors expressed indifference about the decision, others applauded the choice.
“The way people acted on the sub[reddit] changed quite drastically after the points appeared,” wrote one pseudonymous user in the FortNite BR subreddit. “Maybe this change will have a positive impact and users who were here just for the points will slowly leave. I would rather see less users on the sub than thousands who farm.”
“Crypto shills are finally gonna go and maybe some good posts will start to appear,” wrote another in response to the news.
While Reddit is abandoning some of its blockchain plans, it looks like Redditors can be rest assured that at least their NFT avatars will remain on the blockchain—for now.
Edited by Andrew Hayward