Reddit Crypto Exchange Partnership with FTX

Reddit crypto involvement has expanded with the announcement of a collaboration with cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

The partnership allows users to manage community points. It also enables users to buy Ethereum cryptocurrency via integration with FTX.

FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange run by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, this week confirmed that Reddit users can now manage their blockchain-based community points via the company's payment system, FTX Pay.

As part of the partnership, FTX Pay will be integrated as a payment and cryptocurrency exchange service, enabling new benefits for Reddit Community Points.

Reddit Crypto Engagement

In 2020, Reddit introduced community points as a means to reward members for engaging with a community. These points are held in the "Vault," a user's blockchain-based wallet that also stores the collectible NFT (non-fungible token) avatars that Reddit unveiled last month. These community points are based on the Ethereum blockchain.

Reddit offers a variety of options to utilise community points, including earning community-specific memberships, voting on issues, recognising creators on the site, and submitting tips.

Community points are shown next to a user's username as a measure of their reputation on the site. Community points can currently only be used by members of the two subreddits r/Cryptocurrency and r/ForniteBR, but Reddit wants to open it up to more communities eventually.

As community points are stored on the Ethereum blockchain, utilising them will result in gas costs or the price of making a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.

This entails paying a charge in Ethereum, which some users might not have or may not know how to use. The Reddit partnership with crypto exchange FTX means users can now convert fiat currency (a nation's official currency, such as USD) to Ethereum to pay for those charges. That makes community points more accessible for individuals who may not be familiar with cryptocurrencies.

The FTX-Reddit crypto integration might be seen as Bankman-Fried's bet on the stability of the meme stock phenomena, which started on Reddit.