In brief
- Reddit has launched a new website and waitlist for its Ethereum-based Community Points rewards program.
- In July, the online discussion community picked Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum to grow the initiative.
Reddit first dabbled in Ethereum-based crypto token rewards two years ago but has charted a deliberate path towards scaling the program. Finally, the popular online discussion community appears ready to expand the initiative to a potentially much larger audience.
Today, the site launched a new website for its Community Points beta program and opened up a waitlist form, which lets users and moderators alike request the feature for their community, or “subreddit.”
Users can earn Community Points in eligible subreddits by posting and engaging in discussion. The crypto points have value within each respective community and can be used to purchase features or engage in community governance, but they can also potentially be swapped for other cryptocurrencies or tokens at exchanges, or used for other external purposes.
“Community Points are the first step towards a different future for online communities,” Reddit’s site reads. “These tokens live on the blockchain, which means they are truly owned by the community. Over time, your community will benefit from even greater control and independence—on and off of Reddit.”
It’s an ambitious project, albeit one with modest origins. Reddit first launched Ethereum-based Community Points in the r/ethtrader subreddit as ERC-20 tokens (Donuts) in December 2019, and then rolled out the program and points to just two other subreddits—r/Cryptocurrency (Moons) and r/FortniteBR (Bricks)—in May 2020 on an Ethereum testnet.
All told, there are more than 3 million subreddits today. Figuring out how to expand the program to reach more and more communities has been a multi-stage process for Reddit, which held a “Scaling Bake-Off” competition in August 2020 to find an Ethereum scaling solution. Ultimately, this past July, Reddit picked Ethereum layer-2 solution Arbitrum.
When Reddit will ultimately launch Community Points on Arbitrum and scale the program remains to be seen, but the waitlist is the first big step forward in months. Reddit is also working on building an NFT marketplace, if a detailed job listing from October is any indication.