Reddit’s Crypto Communities Go Dark In Support of Protest Against API Changes

Have no fear if you couldn’t find your favorite crypto subreddit on Monday—you probably weren’t shadowbanned.

A significant portion of crypto’s online community is participating in a so-called «Reddit blackout» today, as moderators temporarily close shop for at least 48 hours in protest of upcoming changes at the social media juggernaut.

Planned changes to Reddit’s API pricing would reportedly hurt several app developers. crypto-centric subreddits such as r/cryptocurrency, r/bitcoin, and r/ethereum have joined forces with approximately 7,000 other communities participating in the blackout, and they either going private or shifting to read-only, per the Verge.

Notably, subreddits centered around crypto-skepticism, such as r/buttcoin, had also gone quiet. Others, however, that are more embracing of digital assets, such as r/altcoin, r/NFT, and r/dogecoin remained fully online.

Billed by the Doge-loving as “the most amazing place on Reddit” and ranked within the website’s top 1% subreddits by size, around 4,700 members were still freely browsing r/dogecoin, as of this writing—or as the community refers to it, “viewing the moon.”

Reddit itself experienced stability issues on Monday, according to Reddit’s status page, which identified and resolved an issue described as “problems loading content.” Downdetector, a website for monitoring online outages, also saw a steep spike in reported issues for Reddit, which peaked at around 43,000 this morning.

Where did all the other crypto-minded Reddit folk go? Undoubtedly, some swiped over to Twitter, seeking shelter under the wing of Elon Musk’s embattled bird app. The company had seen ad sales dip and experienced technical issues in high-profile moments, yet remains home to many digital asset enjoyers.

A never-ending stream of crypto-related content that’s manifested on Twitter over the years has earned the moniker of Crypto Twitter. And It appears that not every Reddit user was on the same page in terms of today’s blackout, including an account named Mutiny on Twitter.

“Guys am I going nuts?” Mutiny pondered. “I cannot find r/bitcoin nor r/cryptocurrency. The only reason I bother with Reddit.”

Guys am I going nuts? I cannot find r/bitcoin nor r/cryptocurrency. The only reason I bother with Reddit.#bitcoin

— MUTINY (@MUTINYMONEY) June 12, 2023

There’s also the possibility that Reddit’s crypto community found solace within the media feeds of decentralized Twitter alternatives like Bluesky and Nostr—platforms that have established some traction due to influential tech figures like Twitter co-founder and Block, Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey.

“​​The slow death of Twitter and the implosion of Reddit isn’t something I should care this much about,” said an account named Meggie Z. on Bluesky. “Yet here we are.”

Some online groups have crafted contingencies for Reddit outages in the past, such as r/WallStreetBets, the digital domain for traders that popularized a YOLO mentality to trading stocks. Those who were there for the fever pitch of meme stock mania years ago may remember that the music video for PSY’s “Gangnam Style” on YouTube is essentially the community’s Reddit lifeboat.

Even though r/WallStreetBets was among the subreddits open for business on Monday, comments related to Gamestop or HODLing did trickle in at a time that lined up with reported outages earlier in the day.

“Reddit down?” one user named WindsorDrew asked.

While Twitter and Reddit are arguably the preeminent places for people to partake in commentary on day-to-day degen matters, the social messaging platform Discord has become a popular home base for the crypto-curious and NFT projects alike.

For example, a Discord server called r/CryptoCurrency has more than 38,000 members. When asked whether anyone was within the server’s mix amid the Reddit blackout, Decrypt received several responses.

“I don’t even browse Reddit,” one user named Moareth said. “What’s Reddit?” another account named Nadf asked.

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