Whuffie Bank

Last week, as part of the Tech Crunch 50, a new company called Whuffie Bank was launched. When I first read the name of the company, I thought it said Whiffle and that got me really excited—if it has to do with Whiffle, it's all right by me.

Its not Whiffle, though, its Whuffie, check our the article from Tech Crunch here

Essentially, the Whuffie bank is a sort of social media currency that people can earn by doing great things online. It's a pretty unique idea, but it will have to become widely accepted in order to have the impact the foudners are hoping for. I would also be interested to see what they will do to prevent fraud (setting up dummy accounts and giving yourself Whuffies). Here is what the Whuffie Bank founders have to say:

It’s a sad fact of life that many of the most insightful and helpful people on the web (and in real life, for that matter) aren’t financially rewarded for their efforts...The Whuffie Bank...wants to fix this by launching a new currency that rewards people for their positive contributions on the web.

I like where they are coming from, and I agree with the first line especially, but I am uncertain on how an intangible karma currency will reward people financially.

What do you think? Good idea? Will it work?