Token-Curated Registries: Value Proposition and Challenges

Token-Curated Registries (TCRs) are incentive systems that produce a curated list, and the article argues they are worth experimenting with but unproven and overhyped relative to their current development. It says TCRs add value over central curators through wisdom of the crowd and risk mitigation, over central platforms through sock-puppet and censorship resistance and transparency, and over free curation through skin in the game and anti-spam fees. The authors say TCRs are unnecessary in most curation use cases because a reputed central curator or a trusted platform usually exists. They propose solutions to bootstrapping, price stability, bribery and collusion, low turnout, and subjective voting, including adding KYC-based identity to voting rights.