Decentralization isn't really the point - it's going from non-tradable Reddit karma to tradable ERC-20 tokens. Reddit definitely could have built a marketplace

Decentralization isn't really the point - it's going from non-tradable Reddit karma to tradable ERC-20 tokens. Reddit definitely could have built a marketplace that let people trade karma from different subreddits, with a way to deposit and withdraw USD. Like you mentioned though there's the legal challenge of getting licensed as a money transmission service if you do that. But also, why do all that work when all that infrastructure already exists on Ethereum? Plus you get the added benefit that Reddit's tokens can be traded every other asset on Ethereum too.