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Reddit Plans To Convert Its Karma Points To ERC-20 Tokens
When tokenized, Karma points would become independent of Reddit, existing on community-controlled blockchains.
A series of now-deleted Tweets by Reddit engineer Rahul Kothari has recently revealed that the social media site is planning to start converting user’s Karma points into ERC-20 tokens.
“When we all pull this off, we would onboard 500M web2 users into web3 and then there is no going back. Let me say that again — 500 million new crypto users” wrote Rahul in his Tweet.
Currently, Karma points are supposed to reflect how much individual users contribute to the community, and they are earned for posting, commenting, and receiving or giving awards.
When tokenized, Karma points would become independent of Reddit, existing on community-controlled blockchains. Reddit calls such points Community Points, and two subreddits already use them: r/CryptoCurrency and r/FortNiteBR.
While r/CryptoCurrency calls its Community Points Moons, r/FortNiteBR uses the name Bricks. In both cases, Community Points reward posters, commenters, and moderators for their contributions, and they are distributed on a monthly basis.
One cool feature enabled by Community Points is weighted voting, where members get one vote for every Point they have, making it possible for the biggest contributors to influence voting the most.
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Community Points can also be traded just like any other token with a sizable user base. At the time of writing, one Moon is worth roughly $0.20 and one Brick nearly $0.10. By attaching a monetary value to Reddit contributions, Community Points change the game quite dramatically, and many Reddit users, including those involved in crypto, are not thrilled by this.
“Once they started passing out moons the sub’s quality content dropped, the bots showed up, and now they have votes seemingly every month to tweak how the moons are handed out and what is banned from the sub. It’s ridiculous,” commented u/goofytigre in the r/Ethereum subreddit.
Considering that Reddit is already criticized for being an echo chamber, it will be interesting to see the effect of the tokenization of its Karma points on the community.
News
Checkout.com Set To Launch Card Issuing In The UAE
The payment service provider’s expansion is a first-of-its-kind investment and could reshape digital transactions across the region.
Checkout.com is laying the groundwork to become the first global payments platform to introduce card issuing in the United Arab Emirates — a move that could reshape how businesses in the region manage financial transactions.
The company plans to roll out its domestic card issuance offering in the UAE by 2026, subject to regulatory approval. The launch would give businesses the tools to issue both physical and virtual branded cards. This, in turn, opens up new ways to reward customers, streamline expense processes, and handle B2B payouts efficiently.
Checkout.com’s CEO and Founder, Guillaume Pousaz, revealed the plans during Thrive Abu Dhabi, the firm’s debut conference in the Emirates. Joined on stage by Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA, Pousaz presented to an audience of over 150 partners and merchants at Saadiyat Island. Also in attendance was H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications.
Abbondandolo highlighted the strategic importance of the announcement: “As a global business, we focus on bringing products to markets that our customers want and need. Today’s announcement is proof of our commitment to the MENA region and its rising influence in the digital economy. The appetite for innovation here is real, and we’re proud to be building the infrastructure that powers it”.
One early adopter of Checkout.com’s UAE acquiring services is Headout, a travel experiences marketplace, which recently named the payment provider as its main partner in Europe. The company has already begun card issuing there and is keen to expand that offering into MENA once approval is granted.
The expansion of services in the UAE and beyond builds on Checkout.com’s track record in the region. It was the first global payments firm to secure a Retail Payment Services license from the UAE’s Central Bank and was instrumental in rolling out Mada and Apple Pay in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
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The firm has also been rolling out new products: One of the latest is Flow Remember Me, currently in beta testing. It allows shoppers to store their card information once and access it across Checkout.com’s entire network, potentially cutting checkout times by up to 70%.
Earlier this year, Checkout.com also introduced Visa Direct’s Push-to-Card solution in the UAE, enabling both domestic and international payouts. Its collaboration with Mastercard has grown as well, making it easier for businesses to send funds directly to third-party cards securely and quickly.
With regional tech ambitions on the rise — spurred by initiatives like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the UAE’s 2031 Agenda — Checkout.com sees its role as one of a key enabler. “Our mission is to help ambitious businesses navigate the complexity of payments, so they can move faster, go further, and make the most of every opportunity,” said Abbondandolo. “In MENA, performance is personal. It’s local. It’s built on trust. And when payments perform, businesses thrive”.
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