Kickstarter's enthusiasm is palpable — and the platform believes "decentralization will result in innovation like we've never seen before, and that it's key to the future of crowdfunding."
Kickstarter has announced it is creating a decentralized version of its crowdfunding platform that will live on the blockchain.
The company says it will be "available for collaborators, independent contributors, and even Kickstarter competitors, from all over the world to build upon, connect to, or use."
An independent organization is going to be tasked with developing the protocol — and once it's been built, Kickstarter.com will also end up being based on the blockchain. In a blog post, it explained:
"As a user, whether you're a creator or a backer, the Kickstarter experience you’re familiar with will stay the same. You won’t 'see' the protocol, but you will benefit from its improvements. Backers can continue to utilize normal credit and debit cards to pledge to campaigns, and creators can continue to receive normal currency to fulfill their projects."
Kickstarter's enthusiasm is palpable — and the platform believes "decentralization will result in innovation like we've never seen before, and that it's key to the future of crowdfunding."
A white paper is going to be released in the coming weeks that will set out the technology underpinning this new protocol in greater detail. According to Bloomberg, Kickstarter is set to move its infrastructure over at some point next year.
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Kickstarter's Chosen Blockchain
To pull off these radical plans, Kickstarter says it has chosen Celo — describing it as a "carbon negative blockchain platform."
Eco-friendly blockchain networks have been big beneficiaries when major brands embrace this technology. Earlier this week, Ubisoft tapped the Tezos blockchain as it unveiled plans to integrate NFTs into some of its video games.
Explaining the rationale behind its decision, Kickstarter said:
"Like the internet in the early 1990s, the blockchain is a nascent technology whose story is not yet written. Celo’s efforts around minimizing environmental impact (and focus on global accessibility through mobile access to the blockchain), reminds us that the best way to get better systems is to build better systems."
CELO enjoyed a big pump of 20% after the news emerged — rallying from $3.90 to $4.65 in the space of 20 minutes. The token's price has since cooled, but remains in positive territory.
Arguably, the project is best known for enabling blockchain-based payments to be sent directly to cell phone numbers — eliminating the need for long wallet addresses that can be off-putting for everyday consumers. Back in April, Deutsche Telekom became one of Celo's investors — and made a "significant purchase" of its native token.
