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WTF is this new crypto scam on reddit? Karma is now on the blockchain???? (feddit.it)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I was searching info on a crypto scam and saw that now reddit has jumped on the crypto bandwagon too? Everything must be on a blockchain for some reason

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's not karma. Those are community points, which are subreddit-only points that have been on the blockchain for years.

If you're not on the crypto subreddits, you've probably been blissfully unaware they exist. But it sure gets the crypto subreddits excited, especially when they can announce that their pet coin is moving to a New And Improved Blockchain (tm).

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

I also believe they were used on the Fortnite subreddit. Because of course we need to be giving crypto to 10 year olds

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

This is the kind of content I'm here for.

Burn baby burn

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Disco inferno

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This isn't new though. It's been around for years

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No it hasn't?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Community points have been a thing since at least 2020 I believe. So, yes it has?

It's up to each community to use them or not, iirc.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Such a scam. Also completely believable - remember Reddit's NFTs?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

How does blockchain make karma more secure and useful? Isn't it just a count of upvotes stored in a database? Or is community points something different?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

By putting them on the blockchain it would at least make them a public database, where you'd be able to see if Reddit admins tried to do any tampering.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Except that if you control the majority of computers that said blockchain is stored on, you can just edit the chain. And now that's the "official" story.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, you can't just "edit the chain." You'd need to fork it with new rules to have it accept whatever arbitrary transaction you wanted to insert. Furthermore, even if the blockchain was set up in such a way as to make that easy, it would be obvious to everyone what had happened. The blockchain is a public database. Reddit's back end is currently a private database. If Reddit changes a karma score or whatever over on their current private database, how can you tell? How can you prove it? If they try to do something like that with a blockchain everyone will see it.

Assuming it even works - you speak of "controlling the majority of computers" as if it's something that's easy to do. Reddit's "Community Points" tokens are on the Ethereum blockchain. Under its current consensus algorithm you'd need to control 66% of the stake. The current amount staked is 21921671 Ether, which at current prices is 41.4 billion US dollars. You would have to buy on the order of 50 million Ether to overcome the existing stake, and there simply isn't that much available for sale so the price is literally incalculable. They've made it a very hard blockchain to break.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can edit a blockchain without introducing new rules. The most obvious way would be to already have rules that allow you to edit it. If someone made a comment containing illegal content, Reddit would need to edit that previous block, they can't just mark it as deleted in a new block since they would still be hosting illegal content in that case. Another way is a blockchain re-org. If you keep all signed transactions, you can rebuild the blockchain while excluding unwanted transactions. That's what a 51% attack is essentially used for.

Blockchains don't have to be public any more than any other databases have to be public. Git repositories are technically blockchains, and are often private.

If reddit made their traditional database public, it would be just as possible to tell any changes they made by comparing it to the previous state. A blockchain would make it a lot easier, but not any more possible.

I think he was talking about reddit keeping karma scores and comments on a blockchain, not about the community points. Just from a practical standpoint, Ethereum would not be able to handle the volume of reddits data even if 100% capacity was dedicated to reddit.

But coming back to the community points, I can nearly guarantee even without looking that it's a token on ethereum blockchain. Tokens are custom coded, they can and often do have functions for admins such as issuing tokens, removing tokens, freezing addresses and pausing all token transactions. They also very often include an "upgrade" mechanism where the token code can be essentially rewritten.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

If you don't want the blockchain you use to have those features then don't use a blockchain with those features in it. Ethereum doesn't. Token contracts or rollups don't have to have those features, and when they do have them they can be locked behind conditions that prevent unilateral changes. IIRC community points are on an Arbitrum rollup, which is currently in beta but which will be removing its own update functionality once it is mature.

I doubt anyone is seriously proposing to store the actual contents of posts or comments on the blockchain directly, blockchain space is far too expensive and inefficient for that. This is just about storing karma or community points, a simple numeric value for each user.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You'd have to own all of the ledgers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Actually, you just need 51%. That's it. With 51% you can out mine everyone else, and then write whatever you want to the blockchain.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why do worthless internet points need to be made more secure anyway?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So people can't trade it in for a fuck spez hat on the dark web or something like that maybe?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Aww maaaaan!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Community points are different. They are only used within a community, mainly in crypto communities.

The idea is that instead or in addition to worthless upvotes, you can send users a sort of tip for their comments and posts. The tip is a digital coin, and the recipient can give it to other users or sell it for real money (presumably to another user who will use it to give someone a tip).

Obviously if real money is involved then blockchain is preferable to trusting reddit admins. And the idea isn't totally stupid, IIRC there is/was a similar internet currency that you could use to "buy a coffee" for your favorite content creators in the pre-Patreon days. But I have no idea if the reddit version is implemented sensibly.

[–] planish 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The hell is a Community Point?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Here, have a Community Point, Friendo. 👍

[–] WheeGeetheCat 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

These motherfuckers went through all the trouble of integrating ethereum blockchain tech but they don't actually want to use it to pay anyone anything useful so they make up a stupid community coin instead of just letting people tip others in ETH.

It'd be interesting to do a REAL blockchain social network that did allow meaningful micropayments. Anyone aware of project like that either in progress or defunct?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No! Fucking why? What’s wrong with you

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I think the point is, if you're going to add crypto, you might as well add one that's actually valuable instead of some new proprietary nothing coin.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't know why every website is doing this now. Are they selling this new crypto they just invented? Why would anyone buy it?

I guess I really don't understand crypto regardless. Like I get it as a currency, it makes sense that way, but if that's what you want, you probably don't want to be creating a dozen new currencies every day. You probably want to condense them into maybe a handful that handle different use cases and pros/cons.

This just feels like exploiting people with gambling tendencies trying to get rich on the next crypto that randomly skyrockets in value for no tangible reason other than wild speculation.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It is because you are on a crypto subreddit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

More secure and useful, but network feed have to be paid

I would love a single example of how they're more useful or secure being on chain.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Hasn't it been a long-running complaint that admins can just edit karma and so forth however they want? By putting this on a blockchain it creates a public record that can't be tampered with without public awareness, and depending on how they do it it can't be easily tampered with at all.

Again depending on the technical details of how they implement this, the network fees may be trivial - small enough for Reddit to subsidize without the users having to worry about it at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

blockchain != crypto

the technology is no more the scam than eggs are a cake.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
  • Linked to Ethereum mainnet.
  • Earn and Spend points
  • Tips
  • Network fees

It's a crypto currency, and ethereum is a blockchain. Blockchains have little use outside of cryptocurrency. A cake mold to a cake would be a better comparison.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That is simply not true. Blockchain is a ledger and nothing more. Just like accountancy is more than just banking, blockchain is more than just crypto.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You're wrong there. The only use case of blockchain is cryptocurrencies .

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

false, as proven by the simplest of research such as provided in reply to my initial comment.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It isn't, as your link shows, no other successful use other than cryptocurrencies or things explicitly tied to cryptocurrencies exist. There's theoretical uses, sure, but nothing practical. Ipso facto it's just for cryptocurrencies.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And there goes that goalpost! Moves like the wind.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My goalpost is still there. The only practical use of blockchain is cryptocurrencies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

other than that isn't the statement you made which I refuted, sure.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Holy shit I assumed this was a joke

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

It is, but not like a comedy joke.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The joke is Elon actually paying people real money for this.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Deaddit

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Is this real?

[–] heavy 1 points 1 year ago

Ew

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

This sounds a bit like steem, (which appears to be mostly hindi and korean content now.) They tried a scheme where you essentially get crypto for upvotes and engagement.