Kickstarter attempts (and fails) to clarify its use of the blockchain

boardgamequest.com:

Kickstarter made news last year when it announced that it was moving its service to the blockchain for… reasons. Since then, it’s (rightfully) gotten a lot of flack for this decision. However, last week they updated their blockchain FAQ on their site in an attempt to clarify why they are moving in this direction.

Here is a sampling of Q and A’s from their updated FAQ:

What is Kickstarter trying to solve with the protocol?

The first thing to know is that Kickstarter’s mission remains the same: Kickstarter exists to help bring creative projects to life. 

We know there’s a bigger world of creative projects than are currently supported by Kickstarter and we want to tackle the longstanding challenges holding the crowdfunding model back. Over the last decade, we’ve identified many challenges, including:

W​hy does Kickstarter need a blockchain to do these things?

There is plenty more to read in the FAQ, but to be honest, it doesn’t do much to assuage people’s feelings that this is a terrible idea. Even their answers to why the need to use the blockchain are dubious at best. What it sounds like is that Kickstarter wants to use other people’s efforts to improve its platform, something Kickstarter does itself at a glacial pace. And with real competition now from Gamefound (sorry indiegogo), Kickstarter must be feeling the pressure as it loses big campaigns it once could claim with ease. Even though Kickstarter tabletop sales were up last year with $272 million in funding, Gamefound brought in $22 million in its first year.

But from my point of view, there isn’t anything that they want to do that couldn’t just be accomplished with an open and well-documented API. Their second bullet point, which says “Many developers and potential