What Is DESK? CoinDesk’s Social Token, Defined

At CoinDesk, we’re not simply chronicling the enterprise mannequin transformation that digital property and the blockchain have made potential – we’re actively taking part in it.

Ultimately 12 months’s Consensus digital occasion, we beta-tested DESK, an experiment in utilizing tokenized rewards to incentivize engagement and community-building. The viewers beloved it.

Now, CoinDesk is relaunching DESK as a full-fledged on-chain social token at Consensus 2022, making it a core a part of the expertise at our first dwell occasion since 2019.

Beneath is every thing it’s good to find out about DESK and how one can use it. This publish will probably be up to date frequently as we construct out the DESK program, so verify again every now and then for the most recent info.

DESK is CoinDesk’s social token. It will likely be the experiential gasoline for the Consensus 2022 pageant, to be held in Austin, Texas, on June 9-12.

DESK is designed to construct a group across the CoinDesk model and to reward our viewers for partaking with our content material.

DESK’s ethos is modeled on the founding rules of blockchain expertise: openness, group, empowerment and innovation. We hope to make use of DESK to create a suggestions loop with our customers to assist us construct out an ecosystem collectively.

Within the weeks main as much as the occasion, we’re doing restricted airdrops, or giveaways, to all registered attendees.

On the occasion, you’ll have quite a few alternatives to earn extra DESK, by doing issues comparable to:

On the occasion, you’ll have the ability to redeem DESK for such rewards as:

You may also use DESK to tip different customers on our Discord server, or to vote on issues like greatest panel, greatest speaker, and so on.

DESK runs on Polygon, a sidechain, or parallel community, to Ethereum.

Polygon can deal with many extra transactions per second.

You’ll have to arrange a cryptocurrency pockets that works with Polygon. MetaMask and Coinbase Pockets are the best ones to make use of for newcomers.

No. A CoinDesk account gives a dashboard that hyperlinks out to the whole DESK ecosystem, a trackable checklist of “quests” customers can full to earn DESK, and QR code performance. Customers preferring to make use of the wallet-driven, customary Net 3 expertise can achieve this.

Within the Net 2 period, content material creators – be they writers, artists, filmmakers, publishers, media shops or occasion organizers – have grow to be beholden to the algorithms of intermediating platforms, complicating their efforts to instantly attain and interact audiences. Merely put, the online ended up changing one set of gatekeepers (main newspapers, magazines and TV networks) with one other (social media and search engines like google and yahoo).

We’re hopeful, like many others, that crypto and Net 3 options involving tokens and new knowledge and governance fashions will facilitate a extra direct relationship with our viewers and the growth of a group of engaged members that’s impartial of the platforms.

We consider Consensus, which strikes the content material creator-audience relationship out of the digital realm and right into a bodily area the place web gatekeepers have much less affect, is a good place to experiment with new tokens and incentive fashions in pursuit of this purpose.

We hope DESK generates a group that engages year-round in wealthy interplay with one another and with CoinDesk articles and different content material after which comes again every year to collect in particular person at this cornerstone annual occasion.

Social tokens enable for community-driven tech by making a suggestions loop between product creators and product customers. This may enable the DESK group to get real-time knowledge on engagement based mostly on DESK utilization, and use that knowledge to iterate on the DESK ecosystem, aligning it increasingly to consumer wants and needs.

Merely put: DESK will probably be used to align our efforts as a media and occasions firm to the desires and wishes of our viewers.

Fact be instructed, a blockchain is not 100% crucial for the present stage of DESK, however we’re laying the muse for the ecosystem to develop.

Initially, the blockchain gives us with knowledge on DESK utilization. The blockchain additionally discourages insider offers or under-the-table giveaways as a result of the general public ledger would lay naked any such misbehavior. This implies everybody who claims NFTs or bodily rewards needed to put within the work (partaking with our content material) to earn their reward.

No. DESK just isn’t a foreign money, neither is it a monetary asset or funding product of any variety. It’s not for hypothesis and won’t make anybody wealthy. This isn’t a car for anybody’s financial savings neither is it a money-making alternative.

It’s a reward token, analogous to airline frequent-flier miles, lodge visitor factors and the like. CoinDesk will probably be taking sturdy measures to discourage its use for hypothesis or buying and selling.

By offering a system the place customers can contribute to the functioning of a collective, digital system, the blockchain lays the muse for a brand new sort of group: the tokenized group. We have seen examples of this over the previous few years with NFT communities and distributed autonomous organizations (DAO). To focus on this blockchain use case, we determined to deal with activating and increasing social utility to create group worth, as an alternative of specializing in monetization.

No. DESK can solely be earned as a reward for partaking with CoinDesk occasions and content material, or as a tip from fellow customers.

No. We’re not promoting the token in any respect, simply distributing it to viewers members as a reward for his or her engagement.

Most significantly, the brand new DESK will probably be simpler to make use of and also you’ll have the ability to spend it IRL, not simply on-line, due to preparations with native distributors and our accomplice Flexa, which is aiming to carry crypto funds mainstream. As talked about, the relaunched DESK may also enable customers to unlock our token-gated Discord server, and to vote on their favourite panels, audio system and so forth at Consensus 2022.

On a technical stage, the beta model of DESK ran on Rinkeby, a testnet, or experimental setting for software program improvement on Ethereum. As talked about, the revamped DESK will dwell on mainnet, or within the wild, albeit on the Polygon sidechain.

Itemizing, shopping for or buying and selling DESK is towards our phrases of use as a result of we would like the rewards and worth to return from contained in the ecosystem. We reserve the precise to ban accounts and blacklist pockets addresses that violate our phrases of use.

It’s necessary to keep in mind that not all blockchain property are totally decentralized or declare to be so. Ether, the native foreign money of Ethereum, is totally user-controlled, however ERC-20 tokens constructed on high of the community might or is probably not, relying on how the issuer designs it. For instance, a lot of regulated stablecoins are ERC-20 tokens, and their issuers have the facility to freeze funds of suspect addresses to adjust to regulation enforcement requests.

So, no, DESK just isn’t decentralized, nor does it purport to be. It’s not competing with bitcoin or ether.

A part of the worth DESK gives is what CoinDesk injects into the ecosystem after we wish to reward our customers for partaking at a deeper stage. This implies with the ability to use your DESK to redeem meals and drinks at institutions that CoinDesk companions with on the bottom.

No. The DESK ecosystem is 100% gasless.

CoinDesk is protecting the fuel prices on Polygon.

As a result of DESK has transitioned from testnet to mainnet, DESK collected final 12 months is not usable. That being mentioned, we worth the suggestions and energy from DESK’s beta testers, so look out for a reward coming your method.

Piranhas are the fledgling group that shaped round DESK throughout Consensus 2021. They began their very own Discord channel and created memes in regards to the token. The phenomenon was a transparent validation for CoinDesk of the idea.

At Consensus 2022, the official hub of the DESK group will probably be CoinDesk’s new Discord server, the place we welcome the Piranhas and newcomers alike.

CoinDesk did, with the assistance of a number of key exterior companions.

As talked about, Flexa is dealing with the service provider integrations on the occasion in Austin.

Additionally, we partnered with Coinvise to assist us create the token contract, quests and airdrops.

NFTify supplied our gasless NFT market, the place customers should buy and promote curated NFTs utilizing DESK.

As talked about, MetaMask and Coinbase Pockets are best to make use of, however any pockets that works on Polygon can be utilized.

Attendees with a CoinDesk account can entry our NFT Market through the DESK Dashboard or the url https://coindesk.nftify.community/. Attendees utilizing the wallet-driven, customary Net 3 expertise can entry the market utilizing the url. All customers have to do is be certain that they’re on the Polygon community, then join their pockets. They’ll then purchase an NFT utilizing DESK.

Navigate to the DESK dashboard. Choose “Create or Join Pockets” and approve the transaction in your pockets.

Sure! As talked about, tipping fellow convention goers is an early use case. Customers can ship DESK to one another through their wallets or by means of tipping through Collab.land bot.

Relies upon. CoinDesk can affiliate identities with wallets solely when customers create accounts on desk.coindesk.com. We is not going to use this knowledge for something apart from authenticating customers after they signal on or distributing DESK rewards, we are going to by no means promote it, and we are going to defend consumer info assiduously. (See our privateness coverage.) DESK transactions will seem on DESK’s web page on the Polyscan block explorer, however solely the pockets addresses will probably be displayed.

DESK has no inherent financial worth, however, whether or not or not you reside in a jurisdiction the place utility tokens are deemed taxable, you must seek the advice of a tax skilled in case you have issues.

We’ll maintain a report of airdrops, product developments and different updates essential to DESK’s roadmap and tokenomics in our DESK product weblog.

You may also maintain abreast of DESK updates in our Discord server.

After Consensus 2022 in Austin, we plan to broaden the DESK ecosystem so it may be not solely a reward for engagement however a software to empower our viewers to share their ideas as we reimagine crypto media and occasions collectively.