Digg Reboots With Crypto Integration For Secure Logins

Digg, a news aggregator from the early 2000s, is making a comeback with a significant twist: it is integrating crypto rails for accounts and wallets. The original site, founded by Kevin Rose, was dismantled and sold for parts in 2012. Rose, who is also known for creating the Moonbirds NFT collection, is now collaborating with reddit co-founder Alex Ohanian to reboot digg.

Digg's new iteration will utilize Privy, a crypto wallet infrastructure firm, for its login and authentication processes. Privy offers crypto-powered login solutions that support both self-custodied wallets and embedded wallets, allowing for secure and seamless user onboarding to web3 apps. This integration was confirmed by a Digg team member, Forest Anderson, who described his role as a "Shovel Sharpener."

Users accessing Digg's community platform are greeted with a "Groundbreakers" early-access page, which triggers a crypto wallet pop-up. For a fee of $5 via credit card, early community members can gain access to updates on Digg's development. Upon creating an account, users receive a verification code email from Digg, which includes "powered by Privy" at the bottom.

Kevin Rose, in a post on the Circle community, explained the rationale behind using Privy. He highlighted that Privy provides modern and legacy authentication methods, including embedded wallets, which are future-proof features. Rose emphasized the importance of preserving maximum optionality as Digg moves into a world of trusted users, their attestations, and powering transparent AI agents.

Digg's new platform will feature a leaderboard of top users, featured news, top comments, and a look at communities. The team is also developing a desktop web version and a mobile app. Additionally, Digg plans to introduce "Gems," a new way to reward users for their contributions, moving away from the traditional "followers" metric, which Rose described as a "tired" vanity metric due to the prevalence of bots.

Crypto wallets via Privy will be optional in the final version of Digg 2.0, allowing users to choose their preferred method of authentication. This integration of crypto rails for accounts and wallets positions Digg at the forefront of web3 technology, offering a modern and secure user experience.