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.
The problem is that there is nothing meaningful you can exchange this currency for. The Fediverse is fundamentally designed to allow anyone to start a server. There is no meaningful way to reward someone with anything of value except the satisfaction of having helped grow the instance they are supporting. There is no good way to boost someone without manipulating the vote count or changing the protocol itself. Many apps already offer customizability while simultaneously being free as in free beer and free as in free speech. The main reason many people move to the Fediverse is to escape an internet where everything is “enshittified,” and most Fediverse users wouldn’t want to shift to a proprietary model.
It wouldn’t just be for servers, but also for content creators (ie Peertubers), etc.
It could be used for tips, subscriptions, etc.
If I understand the model you proposed correctly, it basically consists of making a payment to someone (whether an instance or a central authority), obtaining tokens in exchange, giving tokens to a content creator, and the content creator exchanging them to get their money back.
Having a central authority wouldn’t work because it goes against the principles of the Fediverse and most users would prefer that there not be a single point of failure. Having an instance exchange money for tokens wouldn’t work because there is no scarcity of tokens and no guarantee that an instance honours a request.
This method could instead be replaced by content creators adding links to receive payments with people giving money to them directly.