Kickstarter Creators Furious Over Company's Move to Blockchain

The OG crowdfunding platform is moving to the blockchain, and its users are legitimately furious about it.

First reported by Bloomberg, news of Kickstarter's decision to go crypto comes as the company tries to regain legitimacy as project and product crowdfunding, both of which it ushered in, have faded from prominence.

The company is reportedly building a currently-unnamed blockchain-based platform to replace its current system at some point in 2022, which will be based on the Celo blockchain cofounded by none other than newly-resigned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

While cryptocurrency mining has historically been disastrous for the environment, Celo claims to be "carbon-negative" via offsets.

Critics of Kickstarter's move, however, either don't know about or don't believe that detail — and, to be fair, carbon offsets in crypo have already drawn criticism.

"Oh hell no," board game designer Elizabeth Hargrave, whose "Tussie Mussie" pocket-sized flower game was funded on Kickstarter, tweeted. "Blockchain is an environmental disaster."

She wasn't the only crowdfunding figure to be upset by the news for environmental reasons.

"I cannot overemphasize how heartbroken this news makes me," tweeted designer Jeeyon Shim, whose game "The Shape of Shadows" was also funded on the platform. "Environmental stewardship isn’t just a big part of my work, it is one of my core values as a person."

"I genuinely love Kickstarter," Shim added. "I strongly urge the company to reconsider this decision."

The company claims that the new protocol won't change how people use the site, but beyond environmental concerns, others just don't see what purpose the move serves.

"Like 99 percent of crypto articles, this doesn't list a single reason why 'moving to blockchain' will improve the service for users in any way," novelist Lincoln Michel tweeted. "The only thing it says is that Kickstarter hopes to become 'relevant' if it's on blockchain."

Indeed, it's hard to read this move as anything other than an attempt to stay relevant amid the crypto bubble — and if these creators' gripes are any indicator, users may not be as thrilled by Kickstarter's blockchain maneuvers as the company itself.

Read more: Kickstarter Will Move Its Crowdfunding Platform to Blockchain [Bloomberg]

More reasons to distrust the blockchain: Crypto Miners Are Buying Up Entire Power Plants