Blockchain and ERC-20 tokens, community ingredients for Reddit

The popular forum Reddit is experimenting with a new mode of community governance based on blockchain, possibly Ethereum. Users would benefit from " Community Points Based on ERC-20 tokens.

Finance does not have a monopoly on blockchain. This technology is also tested in voting systems, to manage loyalty programs, but also for governance, of communities for example.

Communities are the heart of the very popular American forum Reddit. The platform could thus in the future deploy a blockchain solution to manage life within its communities.

Points managed by the communities themselves

According to information from a user, confirmed by the company, a system of " Community Points Is under study. These points would reward the users, giving right to advantages to the most committed.

We are continually exploring ways to support communities on Reddit. In this case, we're working with a community to test a feature that represents a user's involvement in a community. We are collecting community feedback and continuing to explore features that engage our users and communities, ”said a spokesperson for the site.

Reddit do not release technical details at this time. However, there are indications that these Community Points could rely on the blockchain Ethereum and tokens ERC-20, a standard.

These points would differ from "Karma", the internal point system controlled by Reddit. It is thus the communities themselves that would retain control over these points, distributed through tokens.

Tokens stored in a mobile wallet connected to Ethereum

These tokens could therefore be used to access different benefits or to acquire services, for example the use of certain emojis or GIFs. A Reddit user would also have weight in votes and polls correlated to his point capital.

But as a source, MagoCrypto specifies, these community points "are entirely controlled by the people who own them", that is, the communities themselves. "They live on the Ethereum blockchain, the same technology as Bitcoin to secure property rights and control. Even Reddit can't remove them, ”he adds.

Tokens are stored in a wallet, one of the features of the Reddit mobile app. This wallet thus constitutes "a means of accessing the Ethereum blockchain". The company does not confirm these aspects, however.

The co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, however, has never made a secret of his interest in the blockchain, and in particular Ethereum. In 2019, he invested in Horizon Blockchain Games, a Canadian startup that is developing an online trading card game on Ethereum.