Hey there 👋 My name is Tatha, and I'm a wanderer from the offchain world. Back home, I'm developing an open source framework for building federated digital spaces. But here, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the possible futures you're all building and living.

I might stick around for a couple of days, soak up the sights, and then head back to my world with some funny memories and some NFTs. Or maybe I'll stay a bit longer, get to know some of you better, and find a way to fit in. Heck, I might even decide to settle down and invite my closest peers to join me in exploring and growing together. Truth is, I don't know yet.

I'm also experiencing a burnout. The Open Source ecosystem is a tough place to navigate. For years, I've been pushing for open source software to be seen as a common good, where any stakeholder should find their way to contribute back. But that rarely happens. Most folks just take Open Source for granted, and the same goes for the maintainers work. Energy is a limited resource, and we haven't quite figured out the right incentives yet. Fuck you, Moloch, you bastard!

But enough about me. Another thing you might already know that many offchain communities aren't exactly thrilled about what you're doing here. A well spread story is that the crypto space is crawling with scammers and most projects are just ponzi schemes with fancy marketing teams. I'm simplifying a lot, of course, but try posting anything with the words "crypto" or "blockchain" on the fediverse and you're bound to get some pushback. It's indeed quite common to see replies under almost any post from a crypto influencer here or on X, shilling some memecoin or new NFT collection.

So, why am I here, you ask? Well, as Anna Tsing puts it in her book The Mushroom at the End of the World :

How does a gathering become a "happening," that is, greater than a sum of its parts? One answer is contamination. We are contaminated by our encounters; they change who we are as we make way for others. As contamination changes world-making projects, mutual worlds—and new directions—may emerge. Everyone carries a history of contamination; purity is not an option. One value of keeping precarity in mind is that it makes us remember that changing with circumstances is the stuff of survival.'

I'm here to be contaminated.

Vitalik's essay "Make Ethereum Cyberpunk Again" was the spark that set me on this journey through the onchain world. It's not my first time here; I've been keeping an eye on this ecosystem through its various cycles, but it was always too disconnected from my needs and attitude. Most of the ideas seemed to get swallowed up by profit incentives, making it hard for me to stick around. But Vitalik argues that this time is different, and he's got plenty of reasons to back that up.

So, I've been spending my days lately getting up to speed on the onchain ecosystem and the meme culture that's taken root here - when I'm not playing with my 2-year-old daughter, that is. And I'm starting to see glimpses of a new world, something I've been missing in recent years.

I've had quite a few 'aha' moments while reading the websites and links from Vitalik, Jacob, Dan Romero, and various other publications scattered across Mirror and Paragraph. I've joined Warpcast and dug into the docs for the Farcaster protocol that powers it. I was initially excited about Frames, but that enthusiasm is slowly fading as the days go by - they just launched custom Actions, which seem a much powerful integration imo.

I've also discovered projects that are making history in the Ethereum space, like Nouns and Botto, and lot more. I'm trying to wrap my head around why everyone seems to be constantly minting things. And I'm surprised that DAOs aren't more ubiquitous in the ecosystem yet, considering they're one of the most relevant primitives for the onchain worlds to come, in my opinion. Especially now that Farcaster is gaining steam, DAOs could leverage an onchain social graph to expand their networks, have discussions, and coordinate with other DAOs - all without being siloed in messaging apps like Discord.

Layer 2 is paving the way for a new wave of apps with lower costs for both developers and users. zk-SNARK seems to be on the cusp of widespread adoption, and libraries like wagmi, viem and AirStack have delightful and comprehensive docs that have sent me down several web3 rabbit holes.

Amidst all the chaos, I'm still trying to find my place here. The developer in me keeps nudging me to start building something. But my gut tells me there might be a better way to take my first steps onchain. I wonder if there's a different way to contribute, other than building something or joining an organization - a way to join various DAOs, actively participate in the community and its development, and navigate the ecosystem without being tied to a specific project. To feel part of different communities and feel safe, happy, and part of something bigger than the sum of its parts.

If you want to share some links here or on warpcast about relevant projects, tools, initiatives, concepts, especially if they're somehow connected to DAOs - if you want to guide me into new rabbit holes, i'd be very keen to follow you.

As nation states democracy keeps collapsing and autoritarian, ultra-liberal, far-right and populist governments are getting more power and more control across the world - I feel the need to find new worlds to explore, build and inhabit - fighting the Capitalocene era we're living through the most effective weapons i own: conspiring alliances and producing contamination.

Hey there 👋 My name is Tatha, and I'm a wanderer from the offchain world. Back home, I'm developing an open source framework for building federated digital spaces. But here, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the possible futures you're all building and living.

I might stick around for a couple of days, soak up the sights, and then head back to my world with some funny memories and some NFTs. Or maybe I'll stay a bit longer, get to know some of you better, and find a way to fit in. Heck, I might even decide to settle down and invite my closest peers to join me in exploring and growing together. Truth is, I don't know yet.

I'm also experiencing a burnout. The Open Source ecosystem is a tough place to navigate. For years, I've been pushing for open source software to be seen as a common good, where any stakeholder should find their way to contribute back. But that rarely happens. Most folks just take Open Source for granted, and the same goes for the maintainers work. Energy is a limited resource, and we haven't quite figured out the right incentives yet. Fuck you, Moloch, you bastard!

But enough about me. Another thing you might already know that many offchain communities aren't exactly thrilled about what you're doing here. A well spread story is that the crypto space is crawling with scammers and most projects are just ponzi schemes with fancy marketing teams. I'm simplifying a lot, of course, but try posting anything with the words "crypto" or "blockchain" on the fediverse and you're bound to get some pushback. It's indeed quite common to see replies under almost any post from a crypto influencer here or on X, shilling some memecoin or new NFT collection.

So, why am I here, you ask? Well, as Anna Tsing puts it in her book The Mushroom at the End of the World :

How does a gathering become a "happening," that is, greater than a sum of its parts? One answer is contamination. We are contaminated by our encounters; they change who we are as we make way for others. As contamination changes world-making projects, mutual worlds—and new directions—may emerge. Everyone carries a history of contamination; purity is not an option. One value of keeping precarity in mind is that it makes us remember that changing with circumstances is the stuff of survival.'

I'm here to be contaminated.

Vitalik's essay "Make Ethereum Cyberpunk Again" was the spark that set me on this journey through the onchain world. It's not my first time here; I've been keeping an eye on this ecosystem through its various cycles, but it was always too disconnected from my needs and attitude. Most of the ideas seemed to get swallowed up by profit incentives, making it hard for me to stick around. But Vitalik argues that this time is different, and he's got plenty of reasons to back that up.

So, I've been spending my days lately getting up to speed on the onchain ecosystem and the meme culture that's taken root here - when I'm not playing with my 2-year-old daughter, that is. And I'm starting to see glimpses of a new world, something I've been missing in recent years.

I've had quite a few 'aha' moments while reading the websites and links from Vitalik, Jacob, Dan Romero, and various other publications scattered across Mirror and Paragraph. I've joined Warpcast and dug into the docs for the Farcaster protocol that powers it. I was initially excited about Frames, but that enthusiasm is slowly fading as the days go by - they just launched custom Actions, which seem a much powerful integration imo.

I've also discovered projects that are making history in the Ethereum space, like Nouns and Botto, and lot more. I'm trying to wrap my head around why everyone seems to be constantly minting things. And I'm surprised that DAOs aren't more ubiquitous in the ecosystem yet, considering they're one of the most relevant primitives for the onchain worlds to come, in my opinion. Especially now that Farcaster is gaining steam, DAOs could leverage an onchain social graph to expand their networks, have discussions, and coordinate with other DAOs - all without being siloed in messaging apps like Discord.

Layer 2 is paving the way for a new wave of apps with lower costs for both developers and users. zk-SNARK seems to be on the cusp of widespread adoption, and libraries like wagmi, viem and AirStack have delightful and comprehensive docs that have sent me down several web3 rabbit holes.

Amidst all the chaos, I'm still trying to find my place here. The developer in me keeps nudging me to start building something. But my gut tells me there might be a better way to take my first steps onchain. I wonder if there's a different way to contribute, other than building something or joining an organization - a way to join various DAOs, actively participate in the community and its development, and navigate the ecosystem without being tied to a specific project. To feel part of different communities and feel safe, happy, and part of something bigger than the sum of its parts.

If you want to share some links here or on warpcast about relevant projects, tools, initiatives, concepts, especially if they're somehow connected to DAOs - if you want to guide me into new rabbit holes, i'd be very keen to follow you.

As nation states democracy keeps collapsing and autoritarian, ultra-liberal, far-right and populist governments are getting more power and more control across the world - I feel the need to find new worlds to explore, build and inhabit - fighting the Capitalocene era we're living through the most effective weapons i own: conspiring alliances and producing contamination.