Donahoo, Michael J.Allen, Jon D. (Jon Douglas)2011-09-142011-09-142011-082011-09-14http://hdl.handle.net/2104/8197Participant-based technologies enable users to contribute resources to a shared pool that in the aggregate provides valuable services, such as social networks, massive multiplayer online games, file exchange, etc. Such systems depend on participant contribution; however, some peers may be unwilling to contribute at a level on par with their consumption. Monetary systems incentivize participation through compensation that allows portability, asynchronous participation, granularity and misbehavior costs. The use of government-backed currencies for incentive structures in participant-based systems results in exchange barriers and high transaction costs, while centralized virtual currencies (e.g., Facebook credits) remove many of the benefits of currency. Karma proposes the use of peer-to-peer systems to create a decentralized, consensus-based currency; however, it lacks a complete specification or implementation. We provide a specification, implementation, and evaluation of Karma. Next, we extend Karma to create a multi-currency system called MultiKarma where participants can mint, manage, and distribute their own currency.en-USBaylor University theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact librarywebmaster@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.Digital currency.Participant-based technologies.Multi-currency system.ThesisWorldwide access