Feb. 26, 2015

A pair of Dartmouth students have launched Repcoin, the first online marketplace for reputation building.

Seniors Stephen Malina and Matt Ritter worked with Dartmouth’s Digital Arts Leadership and Innovation Lab and the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network Innovation Center  to develop the first market-based platform for experts to be discovered in different categories. The two anticipate that Repcoin could become a network with a magnitude similar to that of Venmo, Facebook and other current social websites.

On Repcoin, people sign up as experts in various categories and investors give them “reps,” a virtual currency that increases their credibility in the arts, athletics and other fields and gives them a platform on which to be discovered. These investments can grow as experts gain experience. Eventually, Repcoin’s reputation scores will be displayed as badges next to users’ comments and content all over the web.

“Repcoin has the ability to fundamentally change how online interactions occur, with users gaining a legitimacy that is nonexistent in our current online experience,” Ritter says.

Matt Ritter is available for comment at Matthew.P.Ritter.15@Dartmouth.edu