Reddit is getting rid of its “Community Points” reward tokens that run on cryptocurrency. The tokens were initially introduced three years ago in an effort to reward Reddit users for making valuable contributions to the social media network, but TechCrunch was the first to report that the site planned to completely phase them out by November 8.
The ERC-20 tokens known as Reddit Community Points were initially created on the Ethereum network before being transferred to the scaling platform Arbitrum Nova. The tokens could be used for a variety of Reddit features, including badges, emotes, GIFs, and more.
Prices of the two tokens, MOON and BRICK, have fallen as a result of holders selling off their holdings. BRICK (from r/FortniteBR) has fallen roughly 59% over the past 24 hours to a current price of $0.041, according to CoinGecko, while MOON (from the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit) is down 84% today to a current price of $0.035.
Why is Reddit abruptly abandoning one of its key cryptocurrency integrations after millions of users created Collectible Avatar NFTs?
“The resourcing needed was unfortunately too high to justify,” Reddit Director of Consumer and Products Communications Tim Rathschmidt stated.
Rathschmidt continued, “The regulatory environment has since added to that effort,” possibly alluding to ambiguous crypto guidelines in the US.
“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.”
The FortNiteBR subreddit’s reason for sunsetting the program uses terminology that is similar.
When contacted for a response, Rathschmidt said he was unable to provide any additional information regarding the cancellation of the Community Points scheme, but he did confirm that the “Collectible Avatars initiative continues.”
Redditors who have a lot of Community Points in their wallets are divided about the decisions made by the platform. Many Redditors expressed a lack of interest in the pick, while others praised it.
“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 fewer 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.
Redditors should rest easy knowing that, at the very least, their NFT avatars will continue to exist on the blockchain even though Reddit is abandoning parts of its blockchain aspirations.
Image: Wallpapers.com
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