Reddit’s blockchain-based “Community Points” rewards crash after sunsetting

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Reddit's Community Points, a blockchain-based rewards system for quality posts, comments, and other contributions in a subset of subreddits, is going the way of many similar tokens launched during the crypto boom times: away.

As of November 8, coins like the "MOON" that r/CryptoCurrency used for tips, premium features, and even voting shares will be removed from users' Vaults. Noticing this, the value of most Reddit-based coins took a nearly straight drop on Tuesday after Reddit's announcements. MOON was trading just over $0.20 at 1 pm Eastern, shortly before the announcement in its subreddit. Shortly before 3 pm, MOON had dropped just below $0.02, a loss of more than 85 percent, with fellow Reddit currencies BRICK (r/FortNiteBR) and DONUT (r/EthTrader) seeing similarly precipitous plunges.

MOON's price, as seen on TradingView, during the day when Reddit announced its sunsetting of Community Points, such as MOON. (credit: TradingView)

While most people likely never noticed the loss of their Community Points, some who actively acquired them, or even bought more on the blockchain, are reporting losses of thousands of dollars. Conspiratorial claims of Reddit having "rugged" the currencies—pulling money from the system before a sudden shutdown—floated on social media.