In real life, a lot of things like this work because the sociality of it matters -- having some standing in the community is worth something. Winning the Easter egg hunt in your small town feels good not because you love Easter eggs so much, but because you are a notable person in a group of people. You're embedded, and given that embedding, different structures and interactions can exert influence.

The implication of this (I think) is that as territories start to mean something beyond this territory is about topic X there will be leverage and impetus to play around with some of these ideas. Another implication is that, until these social forces emerge, money is what you've got to work with.

Of course, the two relate forcefully to each other. That's the magic of btc and SN.