“Reality check: Reddit’s decision to terminate the Crypto Community Points project and switch to cash rewards reveals the evolving landscape of digital currencies and highlights the need for stability and practicality in the crypto world.”
According to a post on Reddit by a member of its Community team, the social platform will put an end to its cryptocurrency project, Community Points, due to difficulty scaling it.
The post on r/CryptoCurrency by the user u/cozy__sheets mentioned that the regulatory environment has added to scalability limitations. The decision to sunset the Community Points beta, including Special Memberships, was made recently and will be effective by November 8, 2023. After that date, users will no longer see Points in their Reddit Vault nor earn any more Points in their communities. The post mentioned that there was no path to scale Community Points broadly across the platform.
Community Points, launched in 2020, is a reward program built on the Ethereum blockchain that allows users to earn points for contributing to the community. These points are in addition to Karma points that users receive for their longevity and popularity on the platform. The points are digitally represented as tokens on the blockchain, with one Community Point on Reddit mirrored by one Community Point on the Ethereum blockchain.
In specific subreddits like r/Cryptocurrency and Ir/FortNiteBR, the points are known as Moon tokens and Bricks, respectively. The system was also integrated on Layer 2 scaling solution Arbitrum back in 2021.
Reddit will now focus on scaling several products that accomplish what the Community Points program aimed to achieve, while being easier to adopt and understand. One example mentioned is the new Contributor Program, which will allow eligible users to earn cash based on the karma and gold they’ve earned on qualifying contributions. Other features that were originally part of the Community Points beta, like subreddit karma and gifs, will also be made available to all communities.
The moderator stated that the decision to sunset Community Points was made as they realized that it wouldn’t migrate well to the updated reddit.com experience without an outsized commitment to resources. They believe that the time and efforts spent on Community Points can now be directed to more scalable programs, like the Contributor Program, which can provide value to more redditors.
As of November 8, 2023, the Community Points product, including Special Memberships, will be sunset. Points in community tanks will be burned by the end of 2023.
Reddit is one of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, with millions of daily and monthly active users. It was valued at $10 billion in 2021, with advertising revenue contributing $350 million.
In conclusion, Reddit’s decision to end its cryptocurrency project, Community Points, is due to difficulty scaling and regulatory limitations. The platform will focus on scaling other products that achieve similar goals while being easier to adopt and understand.
