The ZAO Newsletter is your daily pulse on the decentralized creator revolution—featuring reflections from the frontlines, updates from our guild, and insights into how artists are reclaiming ownership through tech, community, and impact.
The ZAO Newsletter is your daily pulse on the decentralized creator revolution—featuring reflections from the frontlines, updates from our guild, and insights into how artists are reclaiming ownership through tech, community, and impact.

Subscribe to The ZAO Newsletter

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TH Boulder was not just about being there.
It was about testing systems in the wild.
And Incented played a real role in that.
First — thank you to @Incented for the support and for making it possible for me to be at ETH Boulder and contribute from Carrot Castle and beyond.
But more importantly:
Thank you for building tools that reward actual participation.
At ETH Boulder, we didn’t just talk.
We ran live incentive loops.
Right now we have 4 active campaigns running:
Clip voting on Den streams
Curated top clip selection
WaveWarZ Audius playlist challenge
ZABAL merch design
Each campaign:
Rewards creators
Rewards curators
Rewards signal
This isn’t theoretical token utility.
It’s active coordination.
Most communities talk about engagement.
Incented lets us measure and reward it.
Instead of:
“Great clip.”
“Cool playlist.”
“Nice design.”
We get:
Submit → Vote → Distribute → Surface signal.
That loop compounds.
At ETH Boulder, I saw firsthand how powerful it is when participation is financially recognized — even in small amounts.
Small rewards.
Clear rules.
Transparent voting.
It changes behavior.
ZABAL is layering:
Token mechanics (Empire Builder)
Participation incentives (Incented)
Coordination infrastructure (MAGNETIQ Connector)
Capital infrastructure (ZAO Fund)
These are not isolated experiments.
They’re pieces of a larger system.
Incented is helping make participation tangible.
And that matters.
Update 20 will be a deeper ETH Boulder recap.
I’m still digesting.
Still synthesizing.
There’s a lot to unpack — conversations, infrastructure shifts, new relationships, long-term positioning.
That deserves clarity, not rush.
For now:
Thank you Incented.
Thank you builders.
Thank you ETH Boulder.
Let’s keep building signal.
— ZABAL
TH Boulder was not just about being there.
It was about testing systems in the wild.
And Incented played a real role in that.
First — thank you to @Incented for the support and for making it possible for me to be at ETH Boulder and contribute from Carrot Castle and beyond.
But more importantly:
Thank you for building tools that reward actual participation.
At ETH Boulder, we didn’t just talk.
We ran live incentive loops.
Right now we have 4 active campaigns running:
Clip voting on Den streams
Curated top clip selection
WaveWarZ Audius playlist challenge
ZABAL merch design
Each campaign:
Rewards creators
Rewards curators
Rewards signal
This isn’t theoretical token utility.
It’s active coordination.
Most communities talk about engagement.
Incented lets us measure and reward it.
Instead of:
“Great clip.”
“Cool playlist.”
“Nice design.”
We get:
Submit → Vote → Distribute → Surface signal.
That loop compounds.
At ETH Boulder, I saw firsthand how powerful it is when participation is financially recognized — even in small amounts.
Small rewards.
Clear rules.
Transparent voting.
It changes behavior.
ZABAL is layering:
Token mechanics (Empire Builder)
Participation incentives (Incented)
Coordination infrastructure (MAGNETIQ Connector)
Capital infrastructure (ZAO Fund)
These are not isolated experiments.
They’re pieces of a larger system.
Incented is helping make participation tangible.
And that matters.
Update 20 will be a deeper ETH Boulder recap.
I’m still digesting.
Still synthesizing.
There’s a lot to unpack — conversations, infrastructure shifts, new relationships, long-term positioning.
That deserves clarity, not rush.
For now:
Thank you Incented.
Thank you builders.
Thank you ETH Boulder.
Let’s keep building signal.
— ZABAL
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
ZABAL Update 19: ETH Boulder wasn't just about being there. It was about testing systems in the wild. 4 active Incented campaigns running. https://paragraph.com/@thezao/zabal-update-19
Day 49: I've been coding like a madman. Deep in it. Head down. Tools coming together. Launched 2 more campaigns on Incented — now 3 active for submissions. https://paragraph.com/@thezao/year-of-the-zabal-day-49
Day 50: Pushed past my 160 bench PR. Clean lift. Controlled. No drama. Just focus and follow-through. That alignment hits different. https://paragraph.com/@thezao/year-of-the-zabal-day-50
1️⃣ Vote on 3 ZABAL Clips (Den.Show) https://incented.co/details/c6b866ec-34e9-42d5-99e8-c6dbe2825085?org=zabal 2️⃣ Top Curated Clip Submission (Den.Show) https://incented.co/details/7b4cd3fb-63c4-40c2-8ede-4175ca6e1ac5?org=zabal 3️⃣ WaveWarZ Audius Playlist Challenge https://incented.co/details/bc5936b9-3200-452f-bc4a-3f83fd8de76d?org=zabal 4️⃣ Design the First ZABAL Merch https://incented.co/details/3d10ebc8-2e60-43f3-b147-c05ccde42825?org=zabal
zm Been showing up every week this year with a newsletter. Here's what dropped this week: 👇🧵
ZABAL Update 19: ETH Boulder wasn't just about being there. It was about testing systems in the wild. 4 active Incented campaigns running. https://paragraph.com/@thezao/zabal-update-19
Day 49: I've been coding like a madman. Deep in it. Head down. Tools coming together. Launched 2 more campaigns on Incented — now 3 active for submissions. https://paragraph.com/@thezao/year-of-the-zabal-day-49
Day 50: Pushed past my 160 bench PR. Clean lift. Controlled. No drama. Just focus and follow-through. That alignment hits different. https://paragraph.com/@thezao/year-of-the-zabal-day-50
1️⃣ Vote on 3 ZABAL Clips (Den.Show) https://incented.co/details/c6b866ec-34e9-42d5-99e8-c6dbe2825085?org=zabal 2️⃣ Top Curated Clip Submission (Den.Show) https://incented.co/details/7b4cd3fb-63c4-40c2-8ede-4175ca6e1ac5?org=zabal 3️⃣ WaveWarZ Audius Playlist Challenge https://incented.co/details/bc5936b9-3200-452f-bc4a-3f83fd8de76d?org=zabal 4️⃣ Design the First ZABAL Merch https://incented.co/details/3d10ebc8-2e60-43f3-b147-c05ccde42825?org=zabal