Kickstarter shifting to blockchain protocol it promises users will not see
After having over $6 billion pledged on its platform, Kickstarter believes the next thing its userbase wants is a decentralised and publicly-viewable blockchain for their pledges.
The crowdfunding platform said as it moves to a "more open, collaborative, and decentralised future" it will decentralise its core functionality via an open-source protocol that has yet to be created. As with most things blockchain, a white paper is pencilled in to appear in the coming weeks.
"This will live on a public blockchain, and be available for collaborators, independent contributors, and even Kickstarter competitors, from all over the world to build upon, connect to, or use," the company said.
The blockchain that is set to be used is Celo, which Kickstarter is claiming is carbon negative.
Kickstarter said it would create an independent organisation to develop the new protocol, hand it some funding, appoint its first board, and be one of its first clients.
"As a user, the Kickstarter experience you're familiar with will stay the same. You won't 'see' the protocol, but you will benefit from its improvements," it said.
The company said it would also create a lab to oversee protocol governance.
"Blockchain technology is a powerful tool to create and align decentralised and distributed networks of people -- in effect, new forms of networked organisations and economies -- at scales that only governments and mega-corporations can fathom." it said.
"In the coming years, we believe large swaths of the internet will be reconstructed from the ground up by open and decentralized networks of contributors, who participate in the design, operation, governance, and even ownership of the technology themselves."
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