[tornato7]

This is one use of crypto that I really want to come to fruition. Imagine being able to trade your Delta Skymiles for Kohl’s Cash on Uniswap instantly and for 30bps in fees. It would finally make all these random rewards programs worthwhile.

[KyeRussell]

If organisations offering reward programs wanted this they would do it regardless of the existence of blockchain technology. The point is that they don’t, it goes against the point of the programs in the first place. This is the utter insanity of crypto pipe dreams. They do not necessitate blockchain, and blockchain is rarely the most technically suitable means of implementation. The issues are real-world power dynamics and conflicting interests. Completely orthogonal to the blockchain.

[tornato7]

Assuming that organizations did want to do this, I would argue that a public blockchain is the most technically suitable solution. I can write up and deploy a new token contract in a few hours and it will be instantly tradable with thousands of other assets on-chain. Compare that to building and hosting your own systems, integrating with dozens of payment methods, and somehow linking up with the interfaces of every other rewards program out there.

[lern_too_spel]

If they wanted to do this, they would give you cash back, which is accepted anywhere. If merchants want to incentivize you to use your cash back "points" at their store, they would give you a discount on the card.

Guess what? This already happens! And without the waste of a decentralized ledger.

[tornato7]

Cash back is fundamentally different because the store is setting their own exchange rate. Giving away ‘points’ is cheaper than giving back an equal amount of cash because the points can only be spent at the store. By minting points as tokens, the market can then choose an exchange rate through supply and demand of various rewards points.