Whenever a company or project issues its own token, there is always a question of whether or not there is a need for more currencies. In most cases, that answer is a clear no. The EthTrader subreddit is looking to issue its own token, but it will derive its value in a different way from most. These tokens will be used as a way to establish a reputation, rather than generate value out of thin air. There will not be an ICO either, which is a good thing.
EthTrader Tokens are Being Considered
In the world of cryptocurrency trading, there is no real way to build up a solid reputation whatsoever. People can post their analyses and predictions across social media, yet it is very difficult for others to reward them for their hard work. That may soon be changing for members of the EthTrader subreddit, whose moderators are looking to introduce a new sort of reputation system. More specifically, they aim to distribute native tokens based upon various factors and user statistics.
By using these tokens as reputation points, things are bound to get a lot more interesting in this particular subreddit. Tokens will be used to evaluate and rate ICOs and Ethereum projects, tip users, and potentially identify account holders, among other things. All of these ideas are well worth exploring, especially when it comes to rating ICOs. Since these tokens will be distributed based on user karma (reputation points), behavior, and longevity of accounts – among other undisclosed factors – there should be a fair distribution when everything’s said and done.
More importantly, this idea by the EthTrader moderators does not involve a traditional ICO model. No money will change hands whatsoever, as this is not about making money. Too many projects get blinded by greed when issuing their tokens, rather than focusing on actual use cases. The EthTrader token will serve its purpose and offer no intrinsic monetary value whatsoever. That doesn’t mean people won’t try to buy and sell tokens to influence particular ratings, though, but that is a problem that can be tackled later on.
While this concept sounds great on paper, there are still some aspects of it which need to be ironed out. For example, it is unclear how many tokens will be distributed initially and whether or not “spent” tokens will be burned automatically. There also should be some form of smart contract registry to map users and their Ethereum addresses. After all, these tokens need to be issued on the blockchain in one way or another and be sent to ETH addresses in the end.
Furthermore, it appears there will be a browser plugin for the EthTrader subreddit. This plugin will have its own overlay of the subreddit to let users take advantage of their tokens in the future. Said plugin will need to pull information from the registry and associated smart contracts. This does not mean the regular /r/EthTrader experience will be affected in any way, mind you. It is a very interesting concept, but there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard.
For now, the concept is still in the idea stage and nothing has been set in stone just yet. Regardless, it is good to see the moderators thinking along these lines, as it would certainly validate the concept of Ethereum-based tokens as a whole. There are a lot of concerns regarding the functions of these tokens, though, as many individuals will look for ways to monetize their Reddit accounts in the future. It will be interesting to see whether this project ever comes to fruition, and if so, how well it will work.
