Category: Reddit

Categories
Blockchain NFTs Polygon Reddit Social media

Reddit Launches NFT Avatars, But Won’t Call Them NFTs

Popular social media platform Reddit will launch a new NFT avatar collection in the coming weeks leveraging the Polygon blockchain – however, it has avoided any reference to non-fungible tokens, instead exclusively using the term “collectible avatars”:

As well as being blockchain-based, the new collectible avatars’ primary difference from Reddit’s existing avatars is that they’ll be available for individual sale – all other Reddit avatars are either free or are made available when a user subscribes to Reddit Premium.

And despite their being blockchain-based, Reddit users will not need to have any cryptocurrencies or a crypto wallet to buy and store the new avatars.

There has been speculation as far back as October 2021 that Reddit may be planning to launch its own NFT platform when it posted a job ad for a senior backend engineer with NFT expertise. Since then, Reddit has added other NFT-based features, such as the ability for users to change their profile picture to an NFT, which launched in January of this year.

Reddit’s ‘Collectible Avatars’ Created by Artists

Reddit’s new avatars will be created by some of the platform’s most passionate independent artists. Participating artists will receive payment each time one of their avatars is purchased and will also be entitled to royalties from secondary sales of their avatars on external NFT marketplaces.

Purchasers of the new NFT-based avatars will acquire usage rights to the artwork both on Reddit and outside of the platform. 

Reddit also says users who purchase one of the new collectible avatars will receive unique benefits on the platform, however the only specific benefit mentioned in the announcement was owners’ profile pictures having a “glow-like effect” when they appear in the comments section of posts.

Potential Benefits in Blockchain Tech

Reddit says it chose to use the Polygon blockchain for its new NFT-based avatars because of the network’s relatively low transaction costs and stated commitment to sustainability measures.

Reddit users will be able to use their local fiat currency to purchase the new NFT-based avatars and they’ll be able to store them in Reddit’s built-in crypto wallet, which is known as the Vault. 

Using blockchain technology to power its new avatars provides several benefits, Reddit says, writing in its announcement:

Right now, blockchain technology provides purchasers with ownership and portability of their collectible avatar, and provides artists with a way to have their work live beyond the virtual walls of Reddit (and be compensated for future sales of their art).

Reddit team

It also sees blockchain as a technology with potential to further empower communities built on its platform:

We see blockchain as one way to bring more empowerment and independence to communities on Reddit. Reddit has always been a model for what decentralisation could look like online; our communities are self-built and run, and as part of our mission to better empower our communities, we are exploring tools to help them be even more self-sustaining and self-governed.

Reddit team
Categories
Crypto News Hackers Reddit Scams Security Social media

Redditor Issues Warning After Phone’s Predictive Text Guessed His Seed Phrase

An IT professional from Germany has warned fellow Reddit users after discovering that his mobile phone’s predictive text feature enabled it to correctly predict his entire recovery seed phrase after typing in the first word.

Complete list of 2048 BIP-39 Seed Recovery Phrase Words
Example of BIP-39 recovery seed phrase list. Source: Bitcoin Safety

Guessing Seed Phrases: Impossible?

Seed phrases, a random selection of 2048 words originating from Bitcoin Enhancement Protocol (BIP) 39, enable users to back up or recover access to their crypto holdings. The prospect of correctly guessing the correct 12- or 24-word seed phrase is virtually impossible, even with quantum computing. To give a sense of how low the probability is, one Reddit user ran the numbers.

Imagine then the surprise of Andre, also known as u/Divinux on Reddit, when he noticed that his phone accurately guessed the 12–24 word seed phrase, in the right order. “First, I was stunned. The first couple of words could be a coincidence, right?” he said, adding:

This makes it simple to assault, get your fingers on a telephone, begin any chat app, and begin typing any phrases off the BIP39 record, and see what the telephone suggests.

u/Divinux on Reddit

However, being IT literate and recognising the risk, he decided it would be best to put word out to the community.

Different Keyboards, Different Results

To properly assess the risk, Andre decided to evaluate how a range of different keyboards performed. His findings revealed that Google’s GBoard was the least vulnerable, since it did not predict every word in the correct order. However, both Microsoft and Samsung’s keyboards were able to predict the seed phrase word-for-word by default.

He then proceeded to issue a warning to fellow crypto enthusiasts:

Not your keys not your coins, do your own research, don’t FOMO, never invest more than you are willing to lose, always double-check the address you are sending to, always send a small amount beforehand and disable your PMs in settings.

u/Divinux on Reddit

Perhaps more pertinently, he concluded that users should “do [themselves] a solid [favour] and prevent that [predictive text guessing the seed phrase] from happening by clearing [their] predictive type cache”. Others however, such as u/babaossa77, thought even that didn’t go far enough: “If you typed your seed phrase into your mobile phone I’d already consider that seed as unsafe and wouldn’t use it for any bigger funds, even after clearing the cache.”

Just two weeks ago, MetaMask issued a phishing attack notice to its users, suggesting that when it comes to security, it’s ultimately a matter of degree since one can never be truly immune to the risk of a breach.

Categories
Crypto News NFTs Reddit Social media

Reddit Allows Users to Change Profile Pic to an NFT

Following Twitter’s lead earlier this month, Reddit is testing a new feature that would allow its 450 million users to set any NFT they own as their profile picture. And it’s not just limited to Reddit’s own Ethereum-based NFTs called “CryptoSnoos“, which the company released in limited number last year.

However, details regarding how Reddit’s support for NFTs would work have not yet been decided, much less revealed.

Reddit Expands its NFT Reach

Reddit has explained that the particular NFT test is still in the very early stages and has not yet been made available to public users on the site. According to company spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt, “We’re always exploring ways to provide value for users and communities on Reddit. At the moment we’re testing the ability to use NFTs as profile pictures (avatars) and [to] verify ownership.”

Rathschmidt added that it was still a small internal test and that no decision had been made regarding rolling out the feature’s capability.

This is not the first time Reddit has explored the NFT space, having set up a dedicated page for NFT-related activities at nft.reddit.com. At the moment, the page mainly focuses on CryptoSnoos, of which only four have have been released so far.

Reddit also recently launched a new Ethereum-based community points reward program to even more of its subreddits. Currently, the program is only available on two subreddits.

The news comes only a couple of months after a job posting for a senior backend engineer was posted to the site, fuelling speculation that the social media giant was building its own NFT platform.

CryptoSnoos already in existence. Source: Reddit

Users Not Entirely Convinced of Reddit’s Efforts

While many users are thrilled at the notion of Reddit testing out NFT profile pictures, many remain unconvinced or are downright angry about the venture, describing the expansion into NFTs as “idiotic”, “a gimmick”, among other far less complimentary terms in Reddit’s comments section. Others also displayed their concerns over the high prices associated with collectibles that currently exclude many people from the ecosystem:

Some are even calling it a Ponzi scheme:

And even a scam:

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum Reddit Social media Tokens

Reddit Launches New ETH-Based Community Points Rewards Program

After picking Arbitrum to scale its Community Points program available currently on only two subreddits, Reddit is now looking to add Community Points to even more subreddits.

After its valuation shot up earlier this year, Reddit intends to expand its Community Points beta, allowing any subreddit to request the ability to create its own token. Reddit released a waitlist for subreddits who wish to do so and has provided additional information regarding its Community Points on its website.

Subreddits Can Have Own Points, Name, Symbol and Token

Reddit Community Points are handed out as rewards for active users in the community and can be given based on the number of upvotes a member receives within a subreddit, whether for a post they had made themselves or a post made on somebody else’s. The expanded Community Points programs will allow each subreddit to have its own Community Points, with a custom name, symbol and token.

Points can have value too and may be sold for other cryptos. The crypto points have value within each respective community/subreddit and can be used to purchase features or engage in community governance. Additionally, the points can also potentially be swapped for other cryptos or tokens at exchanges, or used for external purposes.

Tokens Retain Community Ownership

Reddit adds: “Community Points are the first step towards a different future for online communities … these tokens live on the blockchain, which means they are truly owned by the community. Over time, your community will benefit from even greater control and independence -on and off of Reddit.”

Currently, Community Points run on a test net version of Ethereum, but Reddit is working with Ethereum layer two scaling solution Arbitrum to see if it can run a version of that instead. As it stands, Reddit offers Community Points in the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit, called Moons, and in the r/Fortnite subreddit, called Bricks.

Reddit adds that the goal of introducing tokens to Reddit is that they can be used to incentivise good behaviour or content creation without a specific community. Community Points can also potentially be used in the future to run a community itself – a theme that some users are not entirely happy with.

Reddit Makes More Moves in Crypto

The news of tokens to additional subreddits comes during a welcome time as Reddit busies itself in the crypto world. In October, Reddit fuelled speculation it was getting into the non-fungible token (NFT) craze. A new job posting for a senior back-end engineer even had many wondering whether the social media giant might be building its very own NFT platform.

Categories
Crypto News NFTs Reddit

Is Reddit Building an NFT Platform for its 450 Million Users?

A new job posting for a senior backend engineer has many speculating whether social media giant Reddit might be building its very own non-fungible token (NFT) platform. If so, Reddit will join a host of companies that have recently announced native NFT marketplaces, such as Coinbase and FTX.US.

As the NFT market continues to grow at an explosive rate, more and more are joining in on the craze. Among other things, Reddit’s job posting said:

[We are] a new and exciting, rapidly growing team that aims to build the largest creator economy on the internet, powered by independent creators, digital goods, and NFTs. We are looking for strong engineers and leaders to help us seed the team, set its strategy, and build for the future.

Reddit job posting for senior backend engineer

With over 450 million monthly visitors coming to the site for news updates and discussion threads, Reddit needs to keep up the interest level. The news of a potential NFT marketplace comes soon after the company’s valuation shot up to US$10 billion following a Series F round funding.

Reddit is an important platform in the crypto world, allowing its users to vent their frustrations and generally share their views on cryptos. Its stated intention is to use the capital infusion to improve product features and upgrade the platform for newcomers to understand and explore.

According to the posting, the social media giant is looking for someone who can “design, build and ship backend services for millions of users to create, buy, sell and use NFT-backed digital goods”.

There is No End in Sight

Many thought NFTs would be a short-lived craze, but surely nobody can deny the phenomenon has solidified itself in the cryptosphere. Reddit concurs that the future growth of NFTs cannot be ignored:

With every new NFT project, a vibrant community of owners pops up with it. Fans of today’s biggest creators and brands are now flocking to buy digital goods directly from them – to support them, to gain exclusive access, and to feel a greater sense of connection with them. Over time, we believe this will only grow, and NFTs will play a central role in how fans support their favourite creators and communities.

Reddit job posting

Bestselling author and “new wave” entrepreneur Daniel DiPiazza tweeted his views on Reddit and NFTs, making no secret as to where he stands:

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum Reddit

Reddit Now Worth $10 Billion Following Fund Raise to Push Ethereum Token Rewards

Reddit is making big plays in securing capital this year with another whopping round of funding driving up its value. The online community has announced a valuation of US$10 billion as it continues to expand its engagement in the crypto world.

Reddit has announced that it has raised US$410 million in a Series F round of funding led by Fidelity Management and Research LLC. Following this round, the valuation of Reddit goes up from US$6 billion, which it achieved six months ago, to an impressive US$10 billion. The company expects existing investors to take part in this round, bring the total amount raised to US$700 million.

Funding Not Planned

Steve Huffman, co-founder and chief executive of Reddit, said in an interview that the funding was not planned, but “Fidelity made us an offer that we could not refuse”. He went on to say that the capital will offer it more time to decide how and when it would go public.  

We want to build what is best for new users, because over time it will be best for everyone.

Steve Huffman, Reddit CEO

The discussion board platform said it intends to use the capital to improve product features and wants to make the platform easier for newcomers to explore and understand.

Reddit, which makes most of its money from selling advertising wishes to enhance video products. Advertisements appear in the feeds of users who browse the topic-based forums, known as “subreddits”.

The company, with 52 million daily users, operates in the shadows of digital giants such as Twitter and Facebook. Twitter, with a valuation of US$52 billion, and 206 million monetisable daily users, and Facebook with a value of US$1 trillion and two billion daily users, dwarf the site, making this round of funding crucial for Reddit.

The platform also intends to expand internationally as most of the site is US-centric.

Things are beginning to look up for Reddit. The company surpassed US$100 million in quarterly revenue for the first time in the second quarter of this year, up 192 percent from the same period in 2020.

Keeping Users Happy

Further enticing users on its platform, Reddit is expanding its Community Points crypto reward initiative. Reddit users will be rewarded with Community Points if they post quality content on the platform. The Ethereum-based token can then be used to unlock additional features on the site, or can be swapped for other cryptocurrencies on an exchange.

Community Points are currently offered on only two of the 100,000 subreddits. Moon tokens (RCP) are available on r/CryptoCurrency and Brick tokens are available on r/FortNiteBR. Moon tokens currently trade at US$0.28 and Brick tokens at US$0.05.

Reddit also recently announced it will be using layer-2 scaling solution Arbitrum to scale Bricks and Moons. Arbitrum is just one of the many “rollups” currently being developed on Ethereum. The solution will take a large number of transactions first conducted on a different blockchain and will then roll them up into a single Ethereum block. This will reduce overall transaction fees massively.

The company has not yet announced when it will be expanding its Community Points into other subreddits.

The first priority on the product is just making Reddit awesome.

Steve Huffman

By Jana Serfontein, Crypto News Australia Guest Author

Categories
Bitcoin Blockchain Crypto News Reddit

Elon Musk Pumps Bitcoin, Tweet Recorded in Bitcoin Blockchain For Eternity

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen some impressive gains this year, rising by a massive 25 percent in just the first week of January alone. However, nothing quite compares to the massive pump seemingly instigated by Elon Musk this morning when he changed his Twitter profile to the simple hashtag #Bitcoin, sending a strong endorsement of the world’s leading cryptocurrency to his 43.7 million followers. 

The effect of the update by the world’s richest man saw Bitcoin rocket from $32,000 to near $38,000 in a matter of minutes. That’s an almost 20 percent price rise in less than an hour, driven by an incredible $20 billion increase in trading volume. While the price corrected soon after to below $36,000, Bitcoin’s trading volume continues to grow, reaching around $88 billion as more traders across the US begin waking up.

“It was inevitable.”

After changing his Twitter status to Bitcoin, Musk tweeting the phrase “In retrospect, it was inevitable.” The tweet is widely understood to signal that Elon has now bought some Bitcoin, although it may also signal his feelings about the recent GameStop (GME) and Robinhood debacle that exposed the true level of fraud on Wall Street.

Musk has been following the GameStop events as they unfolded this week, Tweeting on Tuesday this week “Gamestonk!”, with a link to the r/WallStreetBets Reddit channel that’s been driving these massive stock market short squeezes.

Documenting Bitcoin, a Twitter account dedicated to keeping a record of Bitcoin events, noted that somebody had embedded Musk’s tweet into the Bitcoin blockchain for eternity. According to this tweet, the entry was inserted by Coin Corner tech lead @zakkdev.

Bitcoin longs and shorts liquidated

As a result of Musk’s tweet, nearly $420 million worth of Bitcoin shorts were liquidated in less than an hour, followed by $120 million in longs liquidated soon after as the price rapidly corrected. On Binance alone, $57 million worth of shorts were liquidated in just the first 10 minutes of Musk’s endorsement.

Not only did Musk’s tweet help pump Bitcoin but potentially saved it from an extended bear market due to options expiring. Billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin futures options expired today, an event which could have otherwise pushed Bitcoin below $30,000 and into an even deeper rut.

Overbought Territory

While the move is undoubtedly good for the crypto market, it does mean Bitcoin has moved into overbought territory, signaling the potential for a trend reversal to the downside. However, as is common in the cryptocurrency market, the current revolutionary sentiment could continue to drive the price to the moon.

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News DeFi Ethereum Reddit

Reddit forms First-Ever Blockchain Partnership with Ethereum Foundation

The massive social media and news forum Reddit has announced a partnership with the Ethereum Foundation for the creation of scalable blockchain-based applications. The collaboration represents Reddit’s first-ever blockchain partnership and further solidifies its growing commitment to the technology.

According to the announcement posted by Reddit admin u/jarins on the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit, blockchain technology will allow Reddit to provide decentralized applications to its users, helping them to “create, govern, and grow their own communities.”

“Through this partnership, we will be increasing our commitment to blockchain, accelerating scaling and resources for the Ethereum ecosystem, and bringing the value and independence of blockchain technology to millions of Redditors,” states the post.

Reddit initially collaborated with the Ethereum Foundation in June last year when it hosted an Ethereum “Scaling Bake-Off“. The event invited Ethereum-based scaling projects to put forward proposals for how they could help the r/Cryptocurrency community ‘scale’. The scaling in question involves bringing Reddit’s Community Points onto a blockchain-based network, with the eventual goal of scaling to fit all of Reddit’s 430 million monthly users. Unlike traditional, centralized computer networks, the decentralized nature of blockchain makes scaling a particularly troublesome task.

The new partnership will help to further this goal and bring a wealth of new features to the platform. Further to the new partnership, Reddit is already hiring backend engineers and blockchain developers to help build the network and its applications.

Reddit’s Ethereum-based Moon Tokens

Reddit has long been a vocal support of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, with its popular r/Cryptocurrency subreddit recently introducing ‘Moon’ token rewards on the platform. Moon (RCP) tokens are built on the Ethereum blockchain and are now the official cryptocurrency of the r/Cryptocurrency subreddit. Users are rewarded with tradeable Moon tokens when they receive ‘Karma’ for posting unique and insightful content on the subreddit.

Ethereum Price Action

The good news has helped to push the price of Ethereum (ETH) tokens up by a considerable amount in the past 24 hours, although the cryptocurrency remains slightly down over the past 7 days. It’s been a tough few weeks for cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin (BTC) suffered a rejection at $42,000 earlier this month. Along with most other coins, Bitcoin has been steadily dropping since, hitting a low of $29,300 last week.

Some altcoins have managed to weather the storm though, particularly in the Defi market. Defi Oracles network Chainlink (LINK) is up 10% in the past week, with Defi protocols Uniswap (UNI) and AAVE up by 60% and 48% respectively.