A Novel Framework for Reputation-Based Systems - a16z crypto

How do you build a pseudonymous reputation that is not tied to any particular platform and portable across platforms? The only satisfactory answer today is building a reputation based on your on-chain history.

• What was the aha moment for Scott with crypto?
  
  
  • Scott was aware of crypto early, but very skeptical. Saw that everyone was trying to decentralize just for the sake of it. But decentralization has costs. Centralized entities are often more effective in coordinating interaction.
  
  
  • His opinion started to change with examples of use-cases where tech was

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Yet these two roles are in opposition to each other. A token needs to be exchangeable in order to be liquid. But the more liquid a token is, the less effective it can be as a pure signal of reputation. 

But it should be noted, this incentive system does lead to a signaling problem. To keep people motivated to believe, work hard and spread these decentralized environments, it’s very helpful that the prices of the shares (ie., tokens, etc) and that triumphant vibe within the culture — all plausible evidence of the potential size of the prize and our... See more