An overview of anti-rival tokens in ATARCA

The three ATARCA use cases implement new forms of NFTs to capture the anti-rival value of each case. This post briefly describes the tokens used in each case. A more thorough explanation of the tokens can be found in Project Deliverable 2.1 – Report on Crypto-economic mechanisms for anti-rival goods.

Barcelona Green Shops Tokens

In the Barcelona Green Shops case, ATARCA aims to promote green and sustainable consumption through anti-rival tokenization. This tokenization will reward two groups: shopkeepers and clients.

Acknowledgement Tokens

Shareable, non-transferable, non-fungible tokens (sntNFTs) will be awarded to shopkeepers for contributing to the platform. Contributions could include, for example, mentoring and joint purchase. These contributions strengthen the network and increase brand recognition. These tokens will be known as acknowledgement tokens.

Acknowledgement tokens can be shared  with other community members and, most importantly, can be used as proof of participation in the community. The tokens can also serve as a signifier of skills. Finally, acknowledgement tokens may encourage other business owner’s to participate, leading to more sustainable practices and a greater acceptance of anti-rivalry.

Impact Tokens

sntNFTs will be awarded to customers for shopping in Green Shops and for platform contributions, such as product reviews.

These impact tokens will display the sustainability impact of Green Shops purchases, for example saved CO2. Tokens can be shared with others to show accumulated impact of a group of users. Raising awareness of community efforts for sustainability in the Green Shops may also lead to more customers, as more people become aware of the Green Shops initiative.

Streamr Community Tokens

The Streamr data network is an open-source project that relies on the contributions of community members. The Streamr use case includes three forms sntNFTs.

Contribution tokens and Co-Contribution tokens

Similar to the Green Shops acknowledgement tokens, contribution tokens are awarded to community members for efforts to build up the Streamr platform. These tokens serve as a record of the contribution and the community member’s efforts. The nature of each particular contribution is encoded in the metadata of the token.

Community members can then share this recognition with others in the form of co-contribution tokens. Contribution and co-contribution tokens serve as a permanent record of contributions and demonstrate commitment to the community and encourage others to contribute to the goals of the project.

Endorsement tokens

While contribution tokens are awarded by Streamr, endorsement  tokens can be granted by community members. Endorsement tokens serve as a way to show support for another community member’s contribution.

Like the contribution tokens, endorsement tokens provide permanent recognition for a contribution. A widely endorsed contribution will be seen as something of significant value to the community

Food Futures Tokens

In the Food Futures case, two token types are used to measure, record and recognize the contributions of actors in regard to sustainable consumption.

History token

History tokens are issued every time a user validates a meal purchase on the Food Futures platform. History tokens are NFTs, meaning they are not shareable.

History tokens demonstrate that users are engaged and contributing to the platform, encouraging the collaborative data sharing needed for the platform.

Impact token

Impact tokens, on the other hand, are sntNFTs. Impact tokens highlight the positive environmental impact of food choices, such as the sustainability benefits of choosing a vegetarian meal. Once meal choices are validated, the mechanism relies on a transparent algorithm to provide a metric on the positive effects of the meal choice. The impact tokens are an unchangeable record of the user’s environmental impact.

An increased number of impact tokens (and therefore, an increased number of sustainable food choices by customers) may lead to food vendors to adopt even more sustainable food options, increasing overall sustainability efforts.

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Each of these tokens serves to capture the anti-rival value present within the case. These tokens represent a move away from rival logic of tokens as simply exchangeable for another good (much like cash is used to buy coffee), and instead open up the possibility of new ways to view exchange, community, and impact.

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