The crypto-to-fiat exchange platform, FTX, has reached a deal with Reddit to bring over swap features to the platform. This is part of the exchange’s recent shots at a massive buying spree.
FTX’s integration with Reddit and Arbitrum is aimed at allowing users to pay gas fees on Reddit’s “Community Points” tokens using fiat. Community points are blockchain-based Reddit tokens that enable users to distribute rewards and interact with the social platform.
Reddit is an excellent platform for retail crypto investors; crypto was the platform's most-viewed topic in 2021. Arbitrum won a contest to build an Ethereum rollup for Community Points in July 2021, and the rollup is now live on Ethereum's mainnet, the company announced Tuesday.
Subreddits can use Community Points to reward active members and make governance decisions. Community Points transactions, similar to all Layer-2 rollups, are settled on Ethereum, and Reddit partnered with the forward-thinking FTX to allow users to pay Ethereum transaction fees in fiat.
In an email, Amy Wu, head of FTX ventures, says, “Users need Eth for gas fees to transact with their Community Points on-chain, and FTX Pay allows them to do that.”
For the time being, Community Points are only available in the r/cryptocurrency and r/fortnite subreddits, though Reddit has a waitlist. Reddit airdrops points to active users in the same way that users earn "Karma" for upvoting posts.
FTX intends to tap into Reddits’ billion users to bring them over to the blockchain. According to Goldfeder, “How do you get a billion users on a blockchain?" It will be done by tapping into existing communities and bringing them to the blockchain."
