cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/41384718
Previously, I made a post about Crowdbucks, but I just had a random (most likely stupid) follow-up thought.
What if the issue isn’t which currency to use — but the assumption that it needs to be “real” currency at all?
What if, instead of money, there was something like FediCoin / FediBucks / credits / points (name doesn’t matter), NOT crypto, and NOT blockchain — more like how platforms such as Wattpad operate?
Or like how carnivals and fairs work: You exchange real money at a booth, and in return you get tokens or fake currency that are only usable inside that ecosystem.
Some comparisons:
Wattpad coins
App “credits” or points
Forum reputation systems with unlocks
Arcade tokens
Fair/carnival tickets
In a Fediverse context, this could hypothetically be used for things like:
Supporting instance costs
Boosting posts or creators (opt-in), which could then potentially be exchanged for real currency (maybe, idk)
Unlocking cosmetic or convenience features
Community rewards instead of ads
Again, not crypto, not speculation, not “number go up.” More like an internal exchange or contribution system that stays inside the Fediverse.
So my questions are:
Is this fundamentally incompatible with Fediverse values, or just unexplored?
Would this be more acceptable than direct monetization or ads?
Could something like this remain optional and non-extractive?
Has anyone already experimented with something similar?
I don’t have the time, energy, or technical knowledge to build something like this — just curious whether this idea is interesting, terrible, or already solved.
Would love to hear thoughts from people more familiar with Fediverse economics and culture.
EDIT:
It gives off Japanese Pachinko vibes.
Such a system could be easily set up with GNU Taler. I have been thinking about something like that for a while, and the main issue is the legal regulations for the organization that receives the real money. If you are not registered as a bank it is severely restricted where and how you can operate. The laws in Europe are basically ok if you want to have some temporary cashless payment system in a music festival or so, but something permanent and with more money involved is hard to do under the current rules.