Why not tokenize the forum?

[deisik]

This is just a thought which seems to me worthy of discussion here

If you are a regular visitor to such news outlets as Cointelegraph, Forbes, and their likes, you probably know that many companies the world over are now tokenizing their goods. Here's the recent piece about the Russian mining and smelting giant Nornickel that is now testing their blockchain platform for trading the stuff they produce (namely, metals). Even European soccer clubs like Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are going this way by creating fan tokens that allow their holders to "participate in voting and polling"

So why not tokenize bitcointalk.org in a similar way? For example, every Legendary member (or just any member with earned merits) could receive a certain amount of tokens (think of them as an extension of merits) that would allow them to extend their authority in some way beyond the forum (since the platform should be conceived as an extension of the forum itself into the outside world to be of any use). The possibilities are virtually limitless, and many of them cannot be thought of right now (or even dreamed of, for that matter)

Please share your opinions below. Also, be sure to read the following:

It is ironic how people see only what they want to see

I wrote about using the forum blockchain as a backup option and received a feedback that it is not an optimal solution. I wrote about tokens being used as digital passports to prove one's identity (okay, forum membership beyond the forum) and was instantly accused of trying to promote the creation of yet another shitcoin. Then I write about earned merits and get a reply that it doesn't mean a shit since it is a meritocracy. What the fuck, really?

Isn't a backup option supposed to be used in case no optimal solution is currently available (read, the forum has been taken down or over)? What do authentication tokens have to do with shitcoins (or just any coins, for that matter)? Aren't earned merits a representation of a meritocracy incarnate (as even the word itself suggests), while their amount an assessment of one's usefulness and value to the forum?

So before you jump to conclusions keep in mind that tokenization in general is not limited to creating a new coin as it goes way beyond that (read, this topic is not about creating another shitcoin)

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[suchmoon]

I'm sure theymos already has this on his agenda right after KYC implementation.

I'll get right on that, just as soon as hell freezes over.

[PrimeNumber7]

This sounds like a sure fire way to corrupt the merit sources and change merit from being a reward for making posts the forum needs more of to something with monitory value. 

[TryNinja]

Blockchain is great and all, but you do know that we don’t need to tokenize or blockchainize everything right? What would even be the point of doing that with merits when its clearly a centralized system? It works better in a SQL database.

We have that many shitcoins because people think we need a token for every single aspect of our life and society. Dentists, horses, toilet coins, etc... there is no point.

[coupable]

Ok , then after a while , i would suggest to create a private coin for each local board which can't be spent in other boards.  A coin for Meta board will be the most expensive one and we name it "Merit-Coin" or "The one above all" . 

The forum has its own token already , it's bitcoin .

[alani123]

There's absolutely no need to tokenize everything and put all that you can on the blockchain. A forum has too many centralized components and too many trust-based relationships. We've yet to cover a reliable client-server infastracture to proceed to decentralized hosting, why even bother tokenizing the forum. And what's to tokenize? Ownership? Profit rights? Maybe access to features?

And why tokenize it in the first place? If it can't run autonomously then what's the advantage over regular stocks? Or what's the advantage over maybe running virtual stocks with crypto on a centralized exchange? Maybe that tokens won't be seized? But it's still trust based that owners of the forums are going to allow for token-holders to preserve their rights, so what's the point?

So many questions. I'd just say stick to the fundamentals and steer away from the idea that anything can be tokenized. By doing so you lose trustlessness and therefore not utilizing the main purpose of the blockchain.

[malevolent]

The primary motivation behind a tokenization is the transfer of wealth from the clueless to the clueful. Bitcointalk.org/theymos has more than enough bitcoins saved up to sustain the forum for a very long period of time, even if the forum got rid of the few unintrusive ads it displays and the price tanked by 90% it would still last for quite a while.

[deisik]

You don't get it guys, seriously

But mentioning merits (in the context of tokens) was probably a mistake on my part as it seems to be utterly misleading. The forum blockchain in the form of a bitcointalk.org client (like Bitcoin's client) is to be run by the forum members, and its purpose is to extend the forum into the world (as I wrote in the OP). You could do fancy things on it

As such, it won't affect the forum itself from the inside (read, everything here will remain as it is, merits included). Think of it as bitcointalk.org taking over the world beyond what it has already done (and taken), as a further expansion. The idea, if done right, is certainly worth it. You will remember me when someone implements it elsewhere

[suchmoon]

The forum blockchain in the form of a bitcointalk.org client (like Bitcoin's client) is to be run by the forum members, and its purpose is to extend the forum into the world (as I wrote in the OP). You could do fancy things on it.

We can do those blockchain-y fancy things with Bitcoin (or any of the 1000s of shitcoins if we're so inclined).

And even if you could find someone in the "outside world" who would care that you made 20k posts on some forum, I doubt that a token would make any difference.

[kawetsriyanto]

For example, every Legendary member (or just any member with earned merits) could receive a certain amount of tokens (think of them as an extension of merits)

Then they can sell the tokens?
Well, this will trigger another drama [problem]. People will assume that gaining Merit is for money.  

Merit => Money

[malevolent]

But mentioning merits (in the context of tokens) was probably a mistake on my part as it seems to be utterly misleading. The forum blockchain in the form of a bitcointalk.org client (like Bitcoin's client) is to be run by the forum members, and its purpose is to extend the forum into the world (as I wrote in the OP). You could do fancy things on it

What sort of fancy things?

As such, it won't affect the forum itself from the inside (read, everything here will remain as it is, merits included). Think of it as bitcointalk.org taking over the world beyond what it has already done (and taken), as a further expansion. The idea, if done right, is certainly worth it. You will remember me when someone implements it elsewhere

No one's stopping you from creating such a token yourself. I just doubt theymos will want to get involved himself in this initiative.

[JeromeTash]

That would be against the initial purpose of the forum. Why tokenize it when Satoshi himself created it mainly to discuss bitcoin. I am very sure the new "token" would destruct people from the real purpose of the forum

[tbct_mt2]

Let's dig back at the root purpose of the forum.

Are there any financial incentives to join the forum as initially planned and always managed by some generations of admins?
No. The forum is the place for discussions, for talking about bitcoin, ideas, and so forth.

There are some ways to get jobs and get money here but the forum was not born because of financial reasons, and it has never played as an exchange (even people still use the forum as a channel to exchange, buy and sell something).

If we look at the forum this way and consider it solely as a place for idea discussions, there is no good reasons to tokenize the forum.

This forum exists to provide a platform for the free (but ordered) exchange of ideas. If you have an idea to express, then it is probably possible to do it here as long as you follow the rules.

This one is the closest with your idea.
Bitcointalk.org collectible coin ideas & vote

[TheNewAnon135246]

The world needs Bitcoin, not blockchain.

[deisik]

For example, every Legendary member (or just any member with earned merits) could receive a certain amount of tokens (think of them as an extension of merits)

Then they can sell the tokens?
Well, this will trigger another drama [problem]. People will assume that gaining Merit is for money

Metatokens are not for sale (one metatoken per forum member)

They will be digital passports of the forum members in the world beyond the forum. So when someone wants to deal with a forum user in the forum-related matters, he can see if a certain person is really the one who he claims to be. This won't violate privacy since you can always choose not to respond if someone sends you a message first, otherwise all info is already available in the forum account details. But if you want to reach out to someone as a forum member, it handles the issue of proving you are the one. Simply put, the forum blockchain will open the forum to the world in the way that can be useful both to the forum and to the world outside the forum

[Heisenberg_Hunter]

^
The concept is pretty much confusing and doesn't seem to serve any good purpose and as others said, the total token drama will be too much centralized with only certain people having the tokens!

...snip...

Pretty much this.

Many of us or probably 90% of us (the forum members) doesn't even know what a forum is actually I think. I am not complaining people who came here to ask doubts or discuss about things related to Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, but who signed up here for the sole purpose of earning money/extracting the best out of this forum even after knowing the sole purpose of a forum and subsequently contributing lesser than what they get paid.

I am not sure if I have shared this already but, I have been a Torrenter for quite a long time (maybe the time we people started using emule or similar stuff) and I have uploaded TBs of data worth of movies and TV-Shows for the welfare of other downloaders. I do this out as an hobby and even today I do this when time permits. None paid me for what I did, and you shouldn't demand for that as well! But that doesn't seem to be here, many of us are for earning through bounties and signatures which isn't the purpose of our forum.

P.S : There is an ERC-20 token in the name of bitcointalk   : https://etherscan.io/token/0xfc3dd0b1808ed23ab7f1657264dd6c9d0cb38782

You should better come up with another name or a separate blockchain for bitcointalk if you really need to.  

[hugeblack]

They will be digital passports of the forum members in the world beyond the forum. So when someone wants to deal with a forum user in the forum-related matters, he can see if a certain person is really the one who he claims to be.

Do you mean something like https://www.bitrated.com/ ^*? Or, in a broader sense, how can we solve the problem of trust in a decentralized manner? Is that what you mean?
Extending the blockchain concept to many areas that require a third person may not be very successful.
In fact, the most prominent success of this technology in financial transactions. If you can find a way to use it optimally in financial terms, this will be a real achievement.

* for more read ---> https://www.bitrated.com/faq

[deisik]

They will be digital passports of the forum members in the world beyond the forum. So when someone wants to deal with a forum user in the forum-related matters, he can see if a certain person is really the one who he claims to be.

Do you mean something like https://www.bitrated.com/ ^*? Or, in a broader sense, how can we solve the problem of trust in a decentralized manner? Is that what you mean?

Something to that tune at the root of it

If you wish, you may link your Bitrated account to your other online accounts. This could be used as a mechanism to help verify your real-world identity, or as a way to link other pseudonymous accounts that you gained reputation with, but which are not attached to your real identity

However, it is not about reputation as such

If you have a record on the forum distributed ledger (represented by your digital token), you can prove you are a certain member of the forum (reputation and merits included). This is a bare minimum but in and of itself it is pretty much useless unless it serves as a foundation for other things which can be built on this blockchain, for example, smart contracts for jobs, escrow, etc. It is not possible to say right now what you can build on it but if you read in the linked piece above what Nornickel is trying to do, it makes sense

Extending the blockchain concept to many areas that require a third person may not be very successful

Voting and polling are two other areas where the idea of a distributed ledger fits perfectly

[mu_enrico]

I remember reading a similar topic and getting some response like these (if I remember it correctly):
- "We already have a coin, and it's BTC;"
- "This forum name is Bitcoin-talk."
- etc.

*I tried to search it but couldn't find it though.

Therefore, I think adding tokens will not be beneficial for us. If the problem is about governance, then we must solve it by the governance point of view, not with tokenizing everything.

[deisik]

Therefore, I think adding tokens will not be beneficial for us. If the problem is about governance, then we must solve it by the governance point of view, not with tokenizing everything

What about running the entirety of the forum on its own dedicated blockchain?

For example, as a backup option? Say, we have the full nodes which keep the copy of the forum database (some part thereof) and the lite nodes which are used only for posting? The concept seems viable, even though it would mean giving up certain rights over the forum to the forum community. It is not about tokenizing the forum for its own sake but rather for making things more decentralized while the forum itself more open to the world