Token-based online raffle system

1 . A method for enhancing user engagement in a networked raffle system, the method comprising:

receiving, from an asset owner, asset information for an asset, the asset information including a minimum selling price expressed in raffle tokens and a maximum listing duration for an initial raffle of the asset;

providing, to one or more consumers, a representation of the asset via a user interface, the representation including information based on the asset information, wherein the user interface provides an indication of a sell-back option comprising an offer to pay a raffle winner a predetermined amount of money in lieu of transferring ownership of the asset;

issuing, to the one or more consumers, a plurality of raffle tokens each having a predefined monetary value of one United States dollar;

receiving, from at least one consumer, an asset selection comprising an indication of the asset and a pledged amount of the raffle tokens for entry into the initial raffle;

in response to receiving the asset selection from the at least one consumer, automatically calculating, by one or more processors of a computing system, odds of the at least one consumer winning the initial raffle, the odds being based on the pledged amount of raffle tokens by the at least one consumer relative to aggregate pledged raffle tokens for the asset, and dynamically updating, in real time, a user interface display to present the calculated odds to the at least one consumer, wherein the user interface display recalculates and updates the odds after each time any consumer pledges additional raffle tokens for the asset; and

in response to a value of aggregate pledged raffle tokens for the asset satisfying the minimum selling price during the maximum listing duration:

determining a raffle winner by probabilistically selecting one of the pledged raffle tokens from the aggregate pledged raffle tokens;

determining a consumer associated with the selected raffle token;

providing a first notification to the consumer associated with the selected raffle token, the first notification comprising an offer to transfer ownership of the asset to the consumer;

providing a second notification to the consumer associated with the selected raffle token, the second notification comprising an offer to pay the consumer the predetermined amount of money of the sell-back option in lieu of transferring ownership of the asset; and

in response to the consumer accepting the offer of the second notification: paying the predetermined amount of money to the consumer; and automatically relisting the asset for a subsequent raffle having a further listing duration, wherein relisting the asset comprises adjusting values of one or more parameters of the subsequent raffle to be different than corresponding parameter values of the initial raffle.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the asset comprises, for the asset, generating a user interface comprising an image of the asset, an indication of the minimum selling price, a current value of the aggregate pledged raffle tokens for the asset, and an indication of the maximum listing duration for the initial raffle.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to receiving the asset selection from the consumer:

automatically calculating odds of the consumer winning the initial raffle, the odds being based on the pledged amount of tokens by the consumer relative to the aggregate pledged tokens; and

generating a user interface comprising the calculated odds for the consumer.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the asset further comprises generating a user interface comprising, for each consumer who has made an asset selection, the pledged amount of raffle tokens by that consumer and odds of that consumer winning the initial raffle.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

receiving, from the at least one consumer, the asset selection comprising the indication of the asset and the pledged amount of the raffle tokens for entry into the initial raffle comprises receiving, from each of a plurality of consumers, a separate asset selection; and

the method further comprises, in response to determining the consumer associated with the selected raffle token as the winner, providing a notification to at least one other consumer who is not associated with the selected raffle token, the notification indicating an outcome of the initial raffle and an identity or identifier of the raffle winner.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the asset further comprises generating a community interaction interface associated with the initial raffle, the community interaction interface configured to allow consumers to exchange messages related to the initial raffle.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the community interaction interface further comprises generating the community interaction interface comprising a countdown timer indicating a time remaining before a scheduled raffle drawing.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein generating the community interaction interface further comprises generating the community interaction interface comprising an animated graphical sequence during selection of the raffle winner, the animated graphical sequence visually simulating a random drawing process, and pushing the animated graphical sequence through a network to a user device for display to the consumer.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the asset selection from the consumer comprises: providing, to the consumer, a user interface element for specifying the pledged amount of raffle tokens; and receiving, via the user interface element, an input from the consumer indicating the pledged amount of raffle tokens to purchase for the initial raffle.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein issuing the raffle tokens comprises issuing units of a digital currency that is pegged to the United States Dollar.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein issuing the raffle tokens comprises issuing stablecoins.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein issuing the raffle tokens comprises issuing units of a Central Bank Digital Currency.

13 . The method of claim 12 ,

wherein: issuing tokens comprises:

receiving, from the consumer, a payment of monetary value in exchange for the raffle tokens; and

converting, if the payment is not in United States dollars, the monetary value into United States dollars based on one or more exchange rates so as to determine an equivalent number of whole raffle tokens to issue.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising awarding one or more virtual rewards to users based on participation in one or more raffles, the virtual rewards including at least one of loyalty points or achievement badges.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the asset owner, one or more additional raffle configuration parameters for the asset, the one or more additional raffle configuration parameters including: a maximum number of raffle tickets available for the initial raffle of the asset; an indication of whether a winner sell-back option is enabled for the initial raffle; or one or more geographic restrictions defining eligible participant locations for the initial raffle.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

one or more steps of the method are performed by an online marketplace system, wherein consumers have associated reputation scores or levels within the online marketplace system; and

the method further comprises restricting issuing raffle tokens to consumers who satisfy a predetermined community reputation criterion within the online marketplace system.

17 . A system comprising: one or more processors and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising the steps of the method of claim 1 .

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting values of one or more parameters of the subsequent raffle comprises adjusting the maximum listing duration or the minimum selling price.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting values of one or more parameters of the subsequent raffle comprises analyzing one or more aspects of the initial raffle.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting values of one or more parameters of the subsequent raffle comprises adjusting values of one or more parameters of the subsequent raffle based on demand during the initial raffle.