Reddit to Discontinue Blockchain-Based Community Points Program

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In a bid to prioritize scalable reward programs, Reddit is terminating its blockchain-based Community Points program, a decision that has garnered significant attention in recent days, according to Techcrunch. The system, conceived to incentivize positive engagement among users, will cease operation by early November 2021.

Program Overview

Launched in 2020, Community Points were awarded to users who actively contributed to certain subreddits, thereby encouraging enriched content and dialogue. The points, essentially Ethereum tokens, were stored in Reddit’s Vault, a designated cryptocurrency wallet. Once rewarded, these points were immutable, neither Reddit nor moderators could revoke them. Points could be spent on exclusive features such as memberships unlocking distinctive badges and animated emojis.

Post expenditure, points were “burned” and showcased alongside usernames in the corresponding subreddits as a reputation marker. The blockchain foundation of the program facilitated users to exhibit their “reputation” virtually anywhere online, embedding it on other platforms or apps. Even if users faced a ban on Reddit, their points remained intact on the blockchain, albeit losing access to their Vault, rendering the points futile.

Scaling Hurdles

Reddit initially utilized the Ethereum platform for the pilot program. However, the high transaction costs and limited bandwidth of Ethereum posed significant challenges. The official Community Points page mentioned, “Putting all Reddit users on the main Ethereum network, for example, would be infeasible and prohibitively expensive.” Consequently, in 2022, Reddit transitioned Community Points to Arbitrum Nova, a layer built atop Ethereum, aiming for enhanced scalability