Nice idea @hilariousetc and I have my own suggestions since from the Biggining of my short carrier in the forum.

• Merits shouldn't awarded to the post made on ANN threads.
• Posts in the ANN threads should not counted as an activity.
• Introduce earned Merit requirement for starting a thread in ANN section.( Most members wouldn't risk their reputation to just get few ICO tokens which can create out of thin air, so my believe is they will moderate the thread that he/she started)

Example - LoyceV's signature campaign with earned Merit requirement