ABSTRACT

Crypto tokens, issued and managed via smart contracts, function as rewards in blockchain systems to encourage user participation. Distinct from monetary incentives, token incentives are uncertain in reward magnitude due to the large swings in token prices on crypto markets. By focusing on token price volatility, this study investigates how the reward uncertainty affects user contribution in a tokenized digital platform. Our empirical setting is Steemit, a platform where bloggers write posts and share token rewards based on their posts’ popularity. We find that while high token price volatility induces a large volume of blog posts, it diminishes post quality. The dichotomous effects are explained via two mechanisms: users’ direct reactions to reward uncertainties and their indirect reactions, mediated by altered token preference amid volatility shocks. Deeply exploring this dynamic process, our results reveal that token price volatility facilitates a platform’s network short-term effect but impairs long-term user creativity. Our empirical findings thus extend the literature on blockchain economics and cryptocurrencies and have practical implications for the design of incentive mechanisms on tokenized digital platforms.

摘要

通过智能合约发行和管理的加密代币在区块链系统中充当奖励，以鼓励用户参与。与货币激励不同，由于加密市场上代币价格的大幅波动，代币激励的奖励幅度具有不确定性。通过关注代币价格波动性，本研究调查了奖励不确定性如何影响代币化数字平台中的用户贡献。我们的实证设置是 Steemit，这是一个博主撰写帖子并根据其帖子的受欢迎程度分享代币奖励的平台。我们发现，虽然代币价格的高波动性会导致大量的博客帖子，但它会降低帖子质量。二分效应通过两种机制来解释：用户对奖励不确定性的直接反应和间接反应，通过波动性冲击中代币偏好的改变来调节。深入探索这一动态过程，我们的结果表明，代币价格波动有利于平台的网络短期效应，但会损害长期用户的创造力。因此，我们的实证研究结果扩展了区块链经济学和加密货币的文献，并对代币化数字平台的激励机制设计具有实际意义。