Not to a conference hall.
Not to a single venue.
But into a city.

Across Buenos Aires, we hosted two connected activations, the Onchain Creator House and the Onchain Creator Rally. Both were designed to test something we deeply believe:

Culture is the most effective onboarding tool in crypto.

This wasn’t about hype.
It was about creators.
And it was about showing what happens when onchain tools meet real people, real places, and real creative momentum.

What We Built in Buenos Aires

Over the course of the week, creators moved through the city together, meeting, creating, publishing, and learning in public.

No panels.
No “listen quietly” energy.
Just participation.

The result:

• 100+ people engaged across events and moments throughout the week

• 25 creators actively onboarded into the challenge

• 8 original videos created and published

• 1 glowing article celebrating Nouns culture

• $1,500 distributed directly to creators

• 124 POAPs minted

#214318 - Onchain Creator Rally - Nouns Fair | POAP Gallery

Collectors: 101 ] The Onchain Creator Rally is coming to Buenos Aires during Devconnect. It is a high-energy gathering where creators, builders, and community members will come together to push the future of onchain media. ​This isn't just another side event. It's a playground for storytelling, collaboration, and experimentation; where culture meets crypto in real time.

https://poap.gallery

#214316 - Onchain Creator Rally - Graffiti Tour | POAP Gallery

Collectors: 2 ] The Onchain Creator Rally is coming to Buenos Aires during Devconnect. It is a high-energy gathering where creators, builders, and community members will come together to push the future of onchain media. ​This isn't just another side event. It's a playground for storytelling, collaboration, and experimentation; where culture meets crypto in real time.

https://poap.gallery

#214314 - Onchain Creator Rally - Jardin Botanico | POAP Gallery

Collectors: 12 ] The Onchain Creator Rally is coming to Buenos Aires during Devconnect. It is a high-energy gathering where creators, builders, and community members will come together to push the future of onchain media. ​This isn't just another side event. It's a playground for storytelling, collaboration, and experimentation; where culture meets crypto in real time.

https://poap.gallery

#214313 - Onchain Creator Rally - La Cabrera | POAP Gallery

Collectors: 11 ] The Onchain Creator Rally is coming to Buenos Aires during Devconnect. It is a high-energy gathering where creators, builders, and community members will come together to push the future of onchain media. ​This isn't just another side event. It's a playground for storytelling, collaboration, and experimentation; where culture meets crypto in real time.

https://poap.gallery

Those numbers only tell part of the story. The real impact lives in the creators who stepped forward and shaped what onchain media looked like in Buenos Aires.

Celebrating the Creators

At the heart of the Onchain Creator Rally in Buenos Aires were the creators who showed up, experimented in public, and helped bring onchain media to life.

The creator challenge wasn’t about chasing virality.
It was about participation, perspective, and presence.

These creators stood out not because they “won the internet,” but because they captured the spirit of the city and the culture of Nouns in ways that felt honest, creative, and distinctly their own.

Creator Challenge Spotlight

• Best Video Storytelling: Gnericvibes
  Awarded to a creator who used video to document Buenos Aires through a Nouns lens. Blending place, people, and movement into a story that felt both local and onchain-native.

• Best Written Piece: Geoff Richards
  Awarded for a standout article that celebrated Nouns culture with clarity and heart, turning open media into something readers could feel, not just understand.

• Best Cultural Interpretation: Ann Lopez
  Awarded to a creator who embodied what the week was really about: remixing culture, collaborating in real life, and showing how an onchain media brand can live far beyond the internet.

• Best Use of Onchain Media: Fattybuthappy
  Awarded to a creator who most effectively used onchain media to publish, distribute, and contextualize their work, demonstrating how ownership, permanence, and participation can enhance storytelling, not get in its way

Our featured creators along with other winning creators received a share of the $1,500 reward pool. But let's be honest. The real win wasn’t the prizes. It was the proof that when creators are trusted with culture, they deliver.

Why This Mattered for Creators

For many creators, especially those coming from Web2 or traditional media, the Onchain Creator Rally wasn’t just their first interaction with onchain publishing.

It was their first experience participating in an onchain media brand.

Rather than onboarding creators to tools or abstract concepts, the week introduced them to Nouns as a living, open media ecosystem. One that invites participation, remixing, and ownership through creation.

Creators weren’t asked to “learn crypto.”
They were invited to create inside a cultural system.

What that unlocked:

• Low-pressure onboarding into onchain media, not software

• A clear creative context to experiment within (Nouns as culture, not product)

• Immediate rewards tied to contribution, not speculation

• A sense of belonging inside an open, creator-driven media brand

For many participants, this was the first time they experienced onchain media as something they could actively shape, not just observe.

And that distinction matters.

Because once creators see themselves as contributors to a media brand, rather than users of a tool, the leap onchain feels natural.

The Creator Challenge: Participation Over Performance

At the center of the week was a lightweight creator challenge designed to introduce creators to participation through Nouns.

No long briefs.
No over-engineering.
Just prompts that encouraged creators to engage with an open media brand and make it their own.

Creators were encouraged to:

• Capture moments from the city

• Tell stories through the lens of Nouns

• Experiment with publishing culture onchain

For many, this was their first time contributing to an onchain-native media ecosystem.

The Value Returned to Nouns

Nouns wasn’t just a logo on a flyer.

It was a character in the story.

By partnering with Nouns across both Buenos Aires activations, we helped translate Nouns from an onchain concept into a participatory, creator-led media brand that people could interact with, remix, and build alongside.

What Nouns received:

• Organic creator-led content

• Direct association with creator rewards

• Presence in a new geographic and cultural context

Most importantly, Nouns showed up where creators already were. In the city, with Ethereum-aligned communities, in the creative process.

That’s how Nouns can continue to grow into a culture layer, not just an NFT community.

Buenos Aires as the Canvas

Buenos Aires didn’t feel like a backdrop.

It felt like a collaborator.

The streets, parrillas, conversations, and chance encounters all became part of the output. The city shaped the content, and the creators shaped how onchain culture showed up inside it.

This is the model we’re betting on:

• Cities instead of stages

• Movement instead of schedules

• Culture instead of instruction manuals

Why This Was a Win

Buenos Aires proved something we’ve felt intuitively for a long time:

You don’t onboard creators by explaining crypto.
You onboard them by letting them create with it.

The Onchain Creator House and Rally weren’t endpoints.
They were proof points.

Proof that creators will show up.
Proof that rewards matter.
Proof that brands like Nouns can integrate without flattening culture.

And proof that onchain media doesn’t have to feel technical to be powerful.

More to come soon, including deeper breakdowns, creator stories, and what this unlocked for future cities.

For now, we’ll leave it here:

Culture works.
Creators lead.
And the best onboarding happens in the real world.

—OnchainCreators

Featured speakers

• Humpty, longtime contributor and advocate of decentralized identity and privacy

• Barnabas, community leader at Ontology driving education and adoption across Africa

• Godly content creator, “Voice of Web3”

💵 U.S. Regulation and the Next Wave of Stablecoins

The discussion opened with news that MetaMask launched its own stablecoin (MUSD), powered by M0’s universal stablecoin platform. This marks a clear shift toward use-case-specific stablecoins—imagine TikTok or Spotify paying creators directly in their own branded digital dollars.

Speakers pointed out that this moment is only possible because of evolving regulatory clarity in the U.S. While crypto is a global phenomenon, the U.S. still sets the tone for financial policy. Without a more defined stance, even a “G-rated token” like a stablecoin may not have been launched by firms with U.S. exposure.

“This is huge as it pertains to the proliferation of crypto and stablecoins… companies like MetaMask would likely never have launched a token before.”

For creators worldwide, this shift removes friction. A musician in Nigeria could be paid directly from a U.S. platform without intermediaries or costly middlemen. Stablecoins unlock borderless commerce in a way that’s finally scalable.

🤖 Tokens, AI, and Digital Citizenship

From stablecoins, the conversation turned to AI and digital identity—building on the ongoing series we’ve been following. If last week was about the promise of verifiable identity, this week highlighted what happens when agents, not just humans, become actors in our digital economy.

“In a world where AI is increasing in its population… to be recognized as human is going to be more important than ever. But maybe even agents need some way to prove their identity and the value they create.”

The idea that AI agents themselves should hold decentralized identifiers (DIDs) introduces a new layer to digital citizenship. If humans use verifiable credentials to establish trust and gain access, why not AI agents? With provenance, rewards, and accountability tied to their actions, agents could participate in digital economies alongside us—opening questions about governance, trust, and citizenship in mixed human–AI ecosystems.

🔒 Privacy and Decentralized AI

Finally, the conversation closed on a critical note: privacy. While today’s AI tools have become our “encrypted best friends,” they’re far from private. Data can be retrieved, exposed, or repurposed without user consent.

“AI should be like talking with my best friend 👀 I should be able to share things and know that no one else will ever see or hear of it. But that’s not how it works today.”

The speakers emphasized that privacy-preserving, decentralized AI is essential. Efforts like the ASI Alliance (Fetch.AI, SingularityNET, Ocean Protocol) point toward models where data contributors retain ownership, control, and rewards. Ontology’s work in decentralized identity aims to give users the tools to decide what they share, with whom, and under what conditions.

🚀 What’s Next

Stablecoins may prove to be the Trojan horse that accelerates crypto adoption globally—driven by U.S. regulatory clarity and executed through corporate platforms with massive reach. But the bigger story is convergence: as tokens proliferate, and as AI agents become more capable, the lines of digital citizenship are redrawn.

Who gets to hold identity? Who gets to transact? Who gets to be trusted?
This week’s discussion makes clear: the answers won’t stop at humans.

Featured speakers

• Humpty, a longtime contributor and advocate of decentralized identity and privacy

• Geoff, a veteran ecosystem builder and Head of Community at Ontology

• Barnabas, a grassroots organizer driving education and adoption across Africa

Together, they unpacked how identity, reputation, and privacy intersect with AI — and why the next era of the internet will be defined by these technologies.

🔑 Identity & Ownership

At the heart of Web3 is the idea that people should own their identity and data rather than surrender it to corporations. This isn’t just about access — it’s about agency: deciding what to share, when, and with whom.

Barnabas explained how this framing resonates in new communities:

“So many big corporations have control over your data… in Web3, you have the option to control your identity. You are in control of your data, and you get to choose what you want people to see.”

Humpty added that identity must go beyond transactional proof:

“Identity obviously is a much richer kind of grouping of data… it’s not just fees you pay, tokens you trade. That’s purely transactional.”

In other words: digital identity is not just a wallet address — it’s a living record of who you are online.

🔒 Privacy & Interoperability

If identity is to matter, it must work across ecosystems — and protect privacy while doing so. A wallet tied to one chain or platform isn’t enough; true identity must be portable, secure, and universal.

Humpty highlighted this challenge:

“Even those who build identity tech, many times it is restricted to a single chain, which kind of goes against the ethos of portable identity. It should not work just in one chain.”

For Barnabas, education is the bridge to adoption. If the concepts sound too technical, users won’t engage.

“If you are trying to get everybody to go along, we need to simplify everything… explain it in terms people understand.”

Geoff reinforced the importance of reducing friction:

“Making it easy, removing those barriers, is absolutely essential to building the community.”

The message is clear: identity must be designed for the many, not just the technically savvy few.

🤖 AI & Identity Convergence

The rise of AI introduces a new layer of complexity. As non-human agents flood the internet, how do we know what information to trust — and who (or what) is behind it? Identity and reputation may be the missing links.

Humpty framed the problem of trust in AI outputs:

“We need some sort of attribution in terms of whether that is a good result, whether that’s a bad result, whether it has aged terribly, or was the agent hallucinating the whole time.”

Reputation isn’t just about people anymore — it must also apply to AI. The credibility of an agent, and by extension its builders, will determine whether others choose to engage with it.

“It is predicted that agents will outnumber real people on the internet before too long. To be able to recognize their reputability in terms of what they share or what they build, I think is good.”

Geoff pointed to the opportunity this creates for builders:

“There’s a real opportunity to launch and have something out there that’s really cool… and if you are a developer, start thinking about how you can develop those AI apps to launch in the marketplace.”

This is more than a tech challenge — it’s a cultural one. Just as identity made Web3 human, reputation systems may be what makes AI trustworthy.

⚡ Takeaway

Identity is shifting from a personal right to a shared infrastructure — the backbone of privacy, reputation, and AI.

As Barnabas showed, education and simplification will bring new users into the fold. As Humpty argued, reputation is what gives identity true value. And as Geoff reminded us, AI is pushing these systems into urgent new territory.

The next chapter of the internet won’t just be about proving who we are — it will be about proving who (or what) the agents we interact with really are.

🔮 What’s Next

Next week, we’ll dive deeper into AI identity and attribution:

• How do we distinguish between reliable and unreliable AI outputs?

• What role should onchain reputation play in assessing AI agents?

• And how do we design incentives so builders of trustworthy agents are rewarded?

Expect more builders and researchers to join as we continue mapping the frontier of identity in the age of AI.

Not seed phrases. Not Discord chaos. Not bloated user flows built for devs.

In the final episode of Code, Clout & Crypto with our friends from Ontology, we explored how a new class of builders—from games like Farville and Clankermon to platforms like Farcaster and the Base app—are creating onboarding that feels like play.

Missed the previous episode? You can read it here:

🕹 Soulbound Tokens, Interoperability & Privacy in Onchain Games

As Web3 gaming matures, builders are rethinking how players earn, own, and express their digital identities. In the third installment of our collab series with Ontology we unpack how soulbound tokens (SBTs), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), and interoperable asset design are shaping the next era of onchain games.

https://news.cryptosapiens.xyz

Featured Speakers

• Limone – Farville, Builder’s Garden

• Samuel – Founder, developer at dTech

• Matthew – Clankermon, Trivia, and more

🛠 Build in Public, Get Feedback Instantly

Shipping on Farcaster is like shipping inside a chat with friends. Builders ship and iterate in real time. Instead of Discords or feature request forms, feedback happens in the feed itself. The app is the distribution.

Limone described the magic of this dynamic:

“Whatever you're building and shipping, you're shipping it on a public feed. That already gives you a channel to interact with your users.”

It’s not just a social graph—it’s a live testing environment for onchain creativity.

🎯 Incentives Matter, But Alignment Matters More

The panel didn’t shy away from the challenges of using incentives to grow. Everyone agreed: short-term boosts often come with long-term noise.

Matthew gave the sharpest take:

“You can light money on fire to make the chart go up. It'll do what you're looking for—but does it matter?”

Builders shared real examples—like bots flooding Farville leaderboards for weekly rewards—and emphasized the importance of aligning incentives with actual value creation. That means rewarding behaviors that build community, not extract from it.

🔁 Open Identity Unlocks Smarter Growth

One theme that stood out: onboarding gets better when identity is composable.

With Farcaster FIDs and public usage data, developers can start to answer questions like: Which users refer others who stick around? Who participates in events? Who contributes, not just consumes?

Matthew saw this as a huge opportunity:

“If you refer people and they stay—that should be worth more. There’s real value in sticky reputation.”

Samuel added that while the data already exists, the missing link is usability:

“We have all of the data laying there—just nobody makes it actionable.”

He called for someone to build tools that help developers identify power users, surface social signals, and plug into referral quality—not just raw numbers.

“There’s a huge opportunity for someone to crack open the mini app developer space... not with ads or CRM, but something new, built specifically for this layer of open data.”

Reputation, in this new model, isn’t just about what you’ve done. It’s about what your network does because of you.

🔮 What Comes Next

The next wave of onboarding won’t be about getting crypto people into better products. It’ll be about getting everyone else into crypto without them realizing it.

Limone is watching Base closely:

“I'm excited to see how long it takes for Base to onboard net-new users—not just people migrating from Farcaster.”

Samuel is focused on turning user data into smarter outreach:

“What if you could actually predict who to onboard next based on who’s already active?”

And Matthew? He’s all-in on the rise of onchain entertainment—games, social experiences, and creative applications where every item, choice, and action is onchain by default.

“The entire game is just a massive web of incentives. Every item is something you own. Every choice you make incurs a cost and creates an outcome. That’s what onchain entertainment makes possible.”

For him, the excitement isn’t just about games—it’s about new economic layers for participation, co-creation, and culture. When you combine crypto, open social, and AI, you don’t just onboard people into crypto—you onboard them into a new kind of internet.

Catch the full replay on Spaces and browse earlier recaps at news.cryptosapiens.xyz

Ontology - The Trust Layer for Web3

@OntologyNetwork

Code, Clout & Crypto – Episode 4 Gamifying Onboarding: UX That Actually Works

Kicking off in 1 hour!

x.com/i/spaces/1eaKb…

Join our fantastic guests: @limone_eth, @samuellhuber, and @MatthewFoxAF - alongside @humpty0x, @barnabas0x, and @GeoffTRichards.

15

8:07 AM • Jul 24, 2025

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At Base’s A New Day One event, the spotlight wasn’t just on product drops.

It was on creators—filmmakers, artists, and builders who’ve spent the last two decades turning the internet into what it is—without ever owning the upside.

That changes now.

This is the moment crypto becomes more than a tech stack. It becomes a creator stack. One where every post can earn, every follower becomes a collaborator, and every creator gets a real shot—no matter where they are in the world.

Here’s what we learned:

From Platforms to Ownership

For years, creators made content on platforms they didn’t control—trading reach for revenue and exposure for equity they never got.

Cleo Abram, former Vox journalist turned independent creator, explained why she walked away from a big media job to launch her show, Huge If True on YouTube.

“I needed the kind of control and creative ownership I could only get if I made it myself.”

This theme echoed throughout the event: the shift from rented space to owned infrastructure.

With the Base app, that shift is no longer theoretical. And creators are the main character.

Creativity, Unlocked

pplpleasr—Emmy-nominated artist, animator, and filmmaker—shared how onchain media gave her what tradmedia never could: funding, freedom, and community.

“As a digital artist, there weren’t many ways to monetize my work… until NFTs. Being onchain gave me the creative freedom and permanence that studios never could.”

With her crowdfunded, onchain film White Rabbit, she didn’t just bypass Hollywood. She built a community that shaped the story, voted on its direction, and got credited in the film.

This is what creator-owned media looks like.

You Don’t Need 10K Followers to Earn

In tradmedia, creators only earn when they hit scale—millions of views, brand deals, or ad revenue splits. The Base app flips that. It’s built around value exchange—real-time, creator-to-community.

Every post becomes instantly liquid. Value flows back to you and your supporters.

“If someone buys your post, you earn. And if it goes viral, both you and your fans—everyone who participated—earn from that upside.” — Aneri, Product Lead at Base

On other platforms, content gets you likes. On the Base app, it earns you real money.

You don’t need brand deals or a massive following. You just need a banger post and a few people who believe in you.

Social That Feels Like Home

Gary Vee put it simply:

“The follower count has been decentralized. Now it’s the content that finds the audience.”

In this new era, the platform doesn’t own your distribution. You do. It’s portable. Programmable. Open.

And for the first time ever, your creative economy is as fluid as your imagination.

TL;DR — The Creator Economy Rules Were Just Rewritten

• Ownership is built in, not borrowed.

• Every post is monetizable.

• Every experience is remixable.

• The audience is global, not gated.

The next wave of creators won’t just go viral—they’ll own the network.

Welcome to a new internet. It's still day one.

Read our coverage of the "A New Day One" event and the launch of The Base App

🟦 Crypto just had its iPhone moment-and it's called the The Base App

📲 Base Enters a New Era: The App That Could Onboard the World At "A New Day One," Base didn't just launch a rebrand. It launched a movement. The event, led by Base creator Jesse Pollak and Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong, was a rally cry for a new internet-one where social networks are open, creators own their work, and crypto actually works for everyone.

https://news.cryptosapiens.xyz

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At "A New Day One," Base didn’t just launch a rebrand. It launched a movement.

The event, led by Base creator Jesse Pollak and Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong, was a rally cry for a new internet—one where social networks are open, creators own their work, and crypto actually works for everyone. What they revealed wasn’t just sleek design or a product drop. It was the blueprint for crypto’s next chapter: accessible, social, programmable, and built for the masses.

Let’s break down the highlights 👇

🚀 A Social App That’s Actually Built for You

Social is no longer a bolt-on. It’s the foundation.

The new Base App feels like a feed, chat, wallet, and app store all rolled into one. It’s where your group chat meets your portfolio, and every cast, like, or post can unlock value.

“It’s not a financial services business. It’s a software product. And it can launch all over the world from day one.” — Brian Armstrong

For creators, it means your content is immediately liquid. Your fans become co-owners. And your upside isn’t limited by algorithms or ad revenue.

💸 Introducing Base Pay: Crypto Checkout That Just Works

Payments in crypto have long been a mess—slow, expensive, and confusing. But Base Pay changes that.

USDC checkout is now one-click. No wallet connection. No chain switching. And yes, it’s already integrated with Shopify, rolling out to tens of thousands of merchants this year.

"We didn’t want to just make a good crypto payment experience. We wanted to make the best payments experience anywhere.” — Alex Danco, Product Director at Shopify

Even better? Merchants can opt to keep USDC or convert to local currency—no extra fees, no headaches. And for buyers? Base Pay will offer 1% cash back in the U.S. for anyone who pays with USDC. Base Pay doesn't just make payments easy—they're rewarding.

🧱 Mini Apps, Major Impact

The Base App isn’t just a wallet—it’s an operating system for the onchain economy.

From games and prediction markets to AI agents and creator tools, mini apps are built directly into the app experience. No app store gatekeeping. No downloads. Just tap and go.

These aren’t gimmicks. They’re viral, multiplayer, and monetizable. Remix, Noice, and Decentralized Pictures showed what’s possible—playable feeds, microtips for content, and community-powered filmmaking.

“We started with text, then images, then video. Now it’s apps. This is the next language of the internet.” — Aneri, Base product lead

🛠 A Dev Stack That Ships Fast and Scales Globally

Base isn’t trying to do it alone. It’s laying the rails for everyone else to build.

From smart wallets (Base Accounts) to developer SDKs and open APIs, Base has made it dead simple to plug in and build. Identity? Check. Payments? Instant. Distribution? Baked in.

“Every builder in the world becomes the extension of your product and team.” — Chintan, Head of Engineering at Base

The Base App rides on six open layers—ENS, Farcaster, XMTP, Zora, smart wallets, and fast transactions via BaseChain. It’s the most interoperable app crypto’s ever seen.

🌍 A Creator Economy Without Borders

Whether you’re an artist in LA, a designer in Costa Rica, or a kid in Nigeria posting about farming, the Base App lets you create, share, and earn—without gatekeepers.

“On Base, if you post and get a few likes, you’ll earn a little. If you go viral, you’ll earn a lot.” — Jesse Pollack

No waiting for monetization. No follower thresholds. Just value flowing directly from your community to your wallet.

TL;DR — This is Day One

• New brand, new UX, new app. Built social-first, not finance-first.

• Mini apps bring a new wave of interactive, viral, and monetizable content.

• Base Pay makes USDC checkout seamless—online and soon IRL.

• Open dev stack invites anyone to build—and grow—on Base.

• The creator economy just got composable.

This isn’t just another crypto wallet. This is crypto’s consumer moment.

Still day one. But it feels like the start of something huge.

Get started with The Base App at https://join.base.app/

Watch the full livestream on X here

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DeFi is one of crypto’s most powerful use cases—but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. For all the buzz around staking, yield, and liquid tokens, few newcomers get the full picture of where it came from, how it works, and why it matters now more than ever.

In this special edition, we’re going back to the roots—and looking forward at how real-world assets, AI, and social infrastructure are reshaping what DeFi can be.

This recap is based on a recent Space co-hosted by us and our friends at Ontology—featuring insights from community builders, node operators, as well as DeFi natives and novices.

Let’s dig in.

🏗 The Origins of DeFi

Before "DeFi" was a category, Bitcoin was already introducing the concept of sovereign money: ownership without middlemen. That ethos later evolved through Ethereum, where smart contracts unlocked programmable finance.

But it wasn’t until DeFi Summer in 2020 that real user momentum arrived. Yield farming, staking protocols, governance tokens—all the ideas were there. But something was still missing.

Today, we’re still early. Some would say DeFi hasn’t even reached its "early adopters" stage—it’s still in its innovators phase. But even in this formative stage, it’s already reshaped how we think about money, access, and financial sovereignty.

🔐 Staking: First Steps into DeFi

For many users, staking was their entry point into DeFi. Whether it was staking your ETH to activate your own validator on Ethereum, running a Rocketpool validator, or staking your tokens on a platform like Ontology—staking is how people get skin in the game and learn by doing.

“You don’t just earn yield—you learn how networks work, how governance operates, and why decentralization matters.” — Gramajo, Area51

Staking has also evolved:

• Vanilla Staking: Lock tokens to help secure the network and earn yield.

• Liquid Staking: Stake your tokens and receive a tradable derivative (e.g., stETH) to use elsewhere in DeFi.

• Re-Staking: New protocols like EigenLayer let you restake assets for multiple layers of security and yield.

But staking isn’t just about locking up tokens anymore.

Some protocols are rewarding users for non-token contributions like storage, uptime, or human effort:

“With Arweave, you're not really staking tokens—you’re staking storage. You commit your resources to support decentralized storage and get rewarded in the AR token. It’s like being part of a decentralized hard drive.” — Gramajo

“In Idena, you stake your time and intelligence. You log in at a certain time, solve puzzles, and that proof-of-personhood contributes to a decentralized identity network. It’s not about money—it’s about meaning.” — Humpty

These examples show how staking is becoming more flexible, inclusive, and tied to real-world contributions—not just capital.

🌐 The UX Gap

Despite all this innovation, adoption is slow.

“People need to learn dozens of new terms before they can start trying anything.” — Barnabas, Ontology

Participants agreed on a few key blockers:

• Complex wallet UX, chain-switching, and jargon-heavy documentation.

• Poor education—especially for non-English speakers.

• Few beginner-friendly tools and videos to help people take the first step.

But there’s progress. Creators, DeFi communities, and AI tools are starting to fill the gap—making DeFi more learnable, more inclusive, and more forgiving.

🔮 What's Next For DeFi

DeFi isn’t just evolving—it’s converging with other powerful trends. Here’s where things are headed in the next 6–12 months:

🤖 DeFAI

AI isn't replacing DeFi—it’s becoming its co-pilot.

• Personalized yield strategies: AI tools can help users identify the safest or most optimal pools based on risk tolerance, token behavior, and market trends.

• Smart agents: Developers are building AI agents to automate trades, farming, and rebalancing. They react faster than humans and keep running 24/7.

• Increased Accessibility: It simplifies complex DeFi processes, making it easier for users with varying technical knowledge to participate in decentralized finance.

Together, these tools could lower the barrier to participation while making DeFi more resilient and intelligent.

🏠 RWA

Real-world assets are finally being brought onchain—not just as a narrative, but as a new economic layer.

From tokenized real estate and treasury bonds to collectibles and livestock, RWAs are turning underutilized or illiquid assets into usable collateral in open financial markets.

When I applied for a mortgage, I listed my Bitcoin and some rare Pokémon cards. The bank just laughed. But in DeFi, those assets actually mean something.” — Gramajo

The opportunity here is massive: DeFi can unlock credit, mobility, and access for communities and individuals that TradFi has long overlooked. RWAs are how DeFi meets the real world—and how the real world finds new value in DeFi.

🌍 DeSoc

DeFi is becoming more discoverable and usable thanks to a social layer that feels like a product—not a protocol.

Developers are using mini apps on Farcaster to make DeFi actions—like swaps, staking, tipping, and minting—feel like interactive posts, not complex dashboards.

And now, with Farcaster protocol natively integrated into Coinbase Wallet (soon rebranded to TBA), social discovery and DeFi execution are converging for the first time.

Imagine seeing a creator you trust post a new DeFi pool, interacting with it inside the same feed, and completing the action without switching chains or apps.

This isn't just cleaner UX—it's a new behavior layer where social reputation and smart contract composability work hand-in-hand.

🧠 TL;DR

DeFi started as an experiment in programmable money. It’s becoming a gateway to financial participation for people around the world.

What comes next isn’t just better yield strategies or slicker dApps—it’s a DeFi that feels:

• Simpler (thanks to better UX and AI-powered guides)

• More inclusive (via localized content and culture-led onboarding)

• More real (with assets and use cases grounded in daily life)

Do you like this type of content? Is there a trending topic we should cover, or something you would like to learn more about? Follow us on X and let us know.

Joining Humpty Calderon in this conversation are Francis Berwa from ZKPass, a ZK-TLS protocol enabling private data attestation, and Sam Noble, CPTO at Veera, a Web3 browser built around secure UX and abstracted complexity. Together, they offered not just a primer on ZKPs, but a vision for how these cryptographic tools could transform everything from browsers and messaging to onboarding, dating, and financial access.

ZK Proofs are powerful—but do people actually understand what they do? In this conversation with ZKPass and Veera, we unpack how ZK is being built into consumer apps, where it's already working, and how it might power the next generation of private internet experiences.

What are Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Really?

To kick off the conversation, Sam offered a concise mental model:

“ZK is a yes-or-no machine.”

You ask it a question—like “Is this user over 18?”—and get a binary answer, without ever seeing the underlying data. That’s the power of zero-knowledge: it validates facts without exposing them.

Francis added that ZKPass applies this in real-world scenarios like verifying creditworthiness or age for onboarding—useful in contexts like telecom, fintech, or DeFi.

“You can prove you’re eligible for something without showing your documents,” he explained.

But even with such intuitive utility, there’s a persistent friction point: people don’t know what ZK is—do they even care?

Selling the Outcome, Not the Tech

Too often, developers start by selling the tech—not the outcome.

That’s a mistake traditional tech companies learned to avoid long ago. When Apple markets privacy, they don’t lead with AES-256 or secure enclave specs—they lead with: “What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.”

“We’re putting the tech first when really we should be leading with the problem ZK solves,” said Humpty, highlighting how crypto builders often market protocols like consumer apps—even when the actual users are engineers or institutions.

This misalignment in messaging is part of what makes ZK so intimidating or abstract to the average person. But the solution isn’t to dumb it down—it’s to connect ZK to the everyday value it unlocks.

Sam from Veera made this comparison clear:

“Most people don’t know what SSL is. They just know their browser is secure.”

In other words, if your product is working, users shouldn’t have to know—or care—that ZK is under the hood. They just need to feel that their information is safe, their privacy respected, and their experience seamless.

To get there, ZK builders will need to borrow from the best product marketers: start with the user's problem, not the protocol’s potential. Show the benefit—then let the cryptography do its job in the background.

Building with ZK Today: Veera, ZKPass, and Orange

While ZK remains invisible in the ideal user experience, it’s very present under the hood of some of the most forward-looking products in Web3 today. Three teams on the panel—Veera, ZKPass, and now Orange Protocol—are each putting ZK to work in different, powerful ways.

🔒 Veera: A Privacy-First Browser

Veera is a Web3-native browser focused on simplifying the crypto experience and abstracting away complexity. With 5M+ users and growing, they’re designing a granular, privacy-friendly rewards engine that doesn’t rely on surveillance.

“A browser is a highly sensitive environment,” said Sam.
“With ZK, we can infer user actions without actually knowing what those actions are. It lets us reward without tracking.”

Rather than log behavior and analyze user data, Veera simply asks: Did this event happen? If yes, the user gets rewarded—without revealing their activity.

🧾 ZKPass: Private Proofs for the Real World

ZKPass uses a ZKTLS protocol to function as a private data oracle, allowing users to prove facts about themselves—like age, income, or citizenship—without exposing any raw data.

“Imagine qualifying for a loan without uploading your bank statements,” said Francis.
“That’s what ZKPass enables.”

Their approach is already resonating with enterprises across telecom and finance, especially in markets where onboarding still happens through insecure channels like WhatsApp. Because ZKPass integrates with HTTPS, it works in both Web2 and Web3 environments, making it a powerful bridge for adoption.

🟠 Orange Protocol: Privacy-Preserving Reputation, Verified

Orange Protocol is using ZK-TLS to power the next generation of composable, privacy-aware reputation. Instead of broadcasting personal credentials, users can selectively prove key facts—like GitHub activity, social media presence, or exchange balances—without revealing full profiles or accounts.

At the heart of this system is the Orange Humanity Score, which is enhanced by ZK-TLS-powered credentials. This allows apps, DAOs, and other users to verify proofs of participation, trust, or asset holdings—without violating privacy.

One particularly relevant application: proof of crypto exchange balances.

Echoing a point made by Sam, where he described how visa applicants in Dubai are required to share full access to their bank account transactions to prove income eligibility, with ZK-TLS, Orange Protocol enables a fundamentally different approach: users can prove that they meet income or balance thresholds without exposing their full financial history or giving institutions access to their accounts

This model represents a shift in verification:

• From data access to data attestation

• From identity exposure to contextual proof

• From Web2 silos to Web3 composability

By layering ZK-TLS into their modular reputation framework, Orange Protocol is enabling a world where users bring trust with them—without bringing surveillance.

Where ZK Might Show Up Next

The panelists closed the session by imagining a world where ZK is embedded across daily tools and platforms. Here are just a few examples that came up:

• LinkedIn → Verifiable work history without exposing full employment data

• Tinder → Private matching based on verified attributes

• Airbnb → Host and guest verification without exposing sensitive details

• Calendars → Schedule availability without exposing events

• Immigration / Residency → ZK-based income proofs for visa renewals

• Gaming → Cross-game reputation without leaking behavioral data

Looking Ahead: ZK Will Be Boring (And That’s a Good Thing)

The clearest takeaway from this conversation? ZKPs aren’t just for blockchains. They’re for browsers, banks, dating apps, and beyond.

“This tech is solving problems people don’t even realize they have yet,” Francis said. “But they will. Especially as AI and data surveillance grow.”

Like HTTPS, biometrics, or encryption, ZKPs may not remain a flashy talking point. And they shouldn’t. Their real power will come when they fade into the background—powering everyday experiences that are simpler, safer, and more respectful of the user.

As Sam put it:

“You should be doing the most you can to protect your users. ZK helps you do that without getting in the way.”

💬 Want to Join the Next Space?

Make sure to give Ontology a follow on X where we will continue this series of conversations around privacy, identity, and the future of trust.

Follow our special guests too:

• https://x.com/zkPass

• https://x.com/On_Veera

As Web3 gaming matures, builders are rethinking how players earn, own, and express their digital identities. In the third installment of our collab series with Ontology we unpack how soulbound tokens (SBTs), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), and interoperable asset design are shaping the next era of onchain games.

Missed the previous episode? You can read it here:

Code, Clout & Crypto: The Role That Social Systems Play in Onchain Games

In the second installment of Ontology's ongoing series exploring the intersection of gaming and decentralized identity, we brought together a panel of Web3 builders, technologists, and IP experts to unpack how social systems shape the design and evolution of onchain games.

https://news.cryptosapiens.xyz

Featured Speakers

• Daniel, Holonym

• Catman, MEW

• Muaz, AlphablockZ & Tenset

• Marcello, Soulbound TV

• Humpty, Geoff & Polaris - Contributors at Ontology

Join us as we explore how onchain design can shift games from isolated experiences to persistent, interoperable ecosystems — without compromising privacy.

🧬 Soulbound Tokens: Permanent, But Powerful?

The panel opened with a dive into SBTs and their value in representing untradeable achievements, rep, or community affiliation. Speakers agreed that soulbound mechanics offer a way to de-incentivize speculation while giving players meaningful milestones that can evolve with them.

“It’s like Xbox achievements, but onchain and portable — badges that tell your story, not just boost your stats.” — Marcello

Yet with permanence comes complexity. What happens when players grow out of affiliations or communities they no longer support? Polaris and others pointed out the risks of over-indexing on immutable social signals, especially in fast-moving or ideological ecosystems. There's a fine line between flexing your onchain resume and being stuck with it.

“Soulbound should empower reputation, not trap you in your past. We need nuance — and optionality.” — Muaz

🔐 Zero-Knowledge Proofs & Private Identity

The conversation then turned toward privacy — specifically, how zero-knowledge proofs can validate experience or access without revealing sensitive details.

Daniel from Holonym emphasized the importance of proving uniqueness and humanity in pseudonymous environments, especially when gaming platforms are increasingly onchain and composable. He highlighted ZKPs as a path toward selective disclosure — where players can prove they’ve earned or achieved something without revealing their full history.

“Your rep should be portable — but also private. You don’t need to leak your whole history to verify one thing.” — Daniel

This balance between trust and discretion is especially relevant in multiplayer worlds, where reputation matters — but so does the ability to leave baggage behind.

🌐 Interoperability: Assets, Profiles, and Protocols

One of the session’s biggest questions: What does true interoperability look like in gaming?

Speakers imagined a future where a player’s achievements, gear, or identity layer could move across titles and platforms. But there was healthy skepticism around “universal assets” — especially when it comes to game balance, lore, and user intent.

Instead, the panel leaned toward interoperable profiles and modular systems — where players bring in a reputation layer or identity passport that games can choose to read from or write to, without breaking immersion or mechanics.

“We need to think less about fully portable items, and more about portable proof — proof of play, proof of skill, proof of belonging.” — Catman

🔁 Recap Takeaways

• Soulbound tokens can add weight and meaning to achievements, but need flexibility to avoid social lock-in.

• Zero-knowledge proofs allow players to verify traits or rep without oversharing — key for identity and access.

• Interoperability might work best at the profile layer, with optional modules for assets, skills, or social proofs.

Stay tuned for Episode 4, the final chapter of the onchain gaming series, where we’ll explore narrative systems, dynamic worlds, and what it means to co-create lore onchain.

In the second installment of our collab series with Ontology we explore the intersection of gaming and decentralized identity, with a panel of Web3 builders, technologists, and IP experts to unpack how social systems shape the design and evolution of onchain games.

From cultural norms within blockchain ecosystems to the legacy of pseudonymous identity, the panel offered rich insights on what it means to build games—and player communities—on decentralized rails.

Missed the first recap? You can read it here:

Code, Clout & Crypto: How Digital Identity Is Shaping the Future of Onchain Games

We are kicking off a 4-part series with our friends at Ontology to explore the convergence of identity systems, gaming IP, and crosschain infrastructure in building the next generation of onchain games. If you enjoyed this new series, let us know so we can explore other collaborations.

https://news.cryptosapiens.xyz

Featured Speakers

• Juliun, CEO of Stability and longtime crypto builder

• Ryan, founder of Based Creators

• Smoke, CEO of Own the Doge

• Humpty, Geoff & Polaris – Contributors at Ontology

🎮 Key Discussion Themes

1. Why Blockchain in Gaming? It's About Legacy, Not Mechanics

Panelists agreed that ownership and persistence are among blockchain’s most compelling features for gaming—not necessarily real-time mechanics.

“We don’t need every function onchain. What matters are outcomes—things that define your identity and legacy as a player.” — Geoff (Ontology)

Examples like lost accounts, skins, or progress in traditional games served as reminders of the need for decentralized digital provenance. With blockchain, these moments become permanent, transferable, and verifiable.

2. Identity: The Cornerstone of Onchain Culture

Digital identity—especially pseudonymous identity—was another core topic.

“In Web2, reputation is social. We associate usernames with skill and legacy. Blockchain enables this technically while preserving privacy.” — Juliun (Stability)

Decentralized identity lets players maintain consistent personas across games and ecosystems, which opens doors for trustless matchmaking, custom rewards, and social signaling—without ever revealing a real-world identities.

3. Onchain ≠ On-Everything

There was consensus that full onchain games aren't necessary (or optimal).

“Gamers don’t want every action to cost gas. You need seamless UX. Store what matters—read from chain, don’t write everything to it.” — Polaris (Ontology)

Key takeaways:

• Real-time logic and high-frequency actions should remain offchain.

• Milestones, achievements, and asset ownership belong onchain.

🌐 Ecosystems Shape Culture

The conversation touched on how ecosystems—whether Solana, Base, or Farcaster—each cultivate unique player expectations and game designs.

For example:

• Base has emphasized creator culture and builder tooling.

• Solana has prioritized speed and NFT trading culture.

• Private chains may attract studios seeking more control over game mechanics.

These differences influence everything from incentive structures to moderation standards.

🎤 On the Ground at IP Licensing Expo

Joining live from Las Vegas, Ryan (Based Creators) and Smoke (Own the Doge) shared perspectives from the largest IP licensing convention in the U.S.

“Two years ago, these brands wouldn’t even say the word crypto. Now they’re actively looking for ways to get involved.” — Smoke

Both emphasized that the conversation with Web2 brands isn’t about tokens or marketplaces—it’s about:

• New revenue streams

• Legacy-building for IP

• Community activation

• Seamless integration (with or without mentioning ‘Web3’)

💡 Final Takeaways

• Focus on outcomes, not functions. Store legacy moments, not every action.

• Respect the value of pseudonymity. Verified, consistent identity doesn’t need to be doxxed.

• Don’t lead with tech. Lead with benefits—revenue, reach, community, permanence.

• Meet Web2 where they are. Help them unlock new audiences and creator ecosystems.

• Affordability and accessibility matter. Onchain gaming still has a UX and cost barrier to solve.

🔭 What’s Next?

The next episode will dive deeper into transferable game assets and digital property rights. We’ll explore how onchain provenance can empower creators, developers, and players alike in a cross-game, multichain world.

🕹 Follow @OntologyNetwork to stay updated on upcoming episodes.

On June 7th, Res Ipsa and Humpty hosted Official Channels Day — a moment of reflection and vision-casting for one of Farcaster’s most beloved features. What started as a lightweight alternative to hashtags has become a defining primitive for community onchain. But where do we go from here?

Dan Romero, Co-founder of Farcaster, joined us to unpack the current state of Channels, why they matter, and what’s next.

Let's get into it!

Channels didn’t start as Channels

They started as a hunch. The first few channels — like Purple and Farcon — were simple tests to break out of the Ethereum monoculture and experiment with interest-based spaces. The results? Powerful. Suddenly, people weren’t just posting; they were building micro-communities.

“We were hoping to get people talking about topics beyond the monoculture… and it ended up working out pretty well.” — Dan Romero

Watch the full interview on YouTube:

From feature to foundational primitive

At first, channels just looked like hashtags with a fresh coat of paint. But then something happened: community leads stepped up. Moderators emerged. Norms were shaped. Channels became homes. And with that, a new kind of responsibility emerged — running a channel started to feel less like posting and more like… founding a business.

“Running a community… it’s not just creator work — it’s entrepreneurial work.”

The lead dilemma: too few knobs or too many?

Power users want deeper controls: moderation tools, roles, analytics, even gated access. But newcomers? They need simplicity. That tension has made channel UX tricky to scale. Dan admits: the Farcaster app can’t (and maybe shouldn’t) solve this alone.

“People want innovation and features for channels — but they also want the core app to implement and maintain them. That creates tension.”

Yes, channels are decentralized

There’s a common misconception floating around: if the app manages it, it must not be decentralized. Dan clarified: channels are decentralized at the protocol level (thanks to FIP-2 and Snapchain), but their names and metadata are still app-level… for now.

“The misconception is that channels aren’t decentralized. They are — at the protocol level. What’s not fully decentralized yet is the metadata.”

The next big sprint? Pushing channel configuration fully into the protocol, so anyone can build on top.

Where channels go next

Dan laid out three potential paths:

1. Simplify — Keep the main app focused on reach; make channels a lighter experience.

2. Open Up — Let third-party builders like Cura run wild with advanced tooling.

3. Disentangle — Treat channels more like open infrastructure. Let niche apps own the depth. Let Farcaster app own the breadth.

It’s clear the Farcaster team is leaning into decentralizing further — not less.

AI can help you find people. Channels help you find your people.

While discovery is improving with LLMs and topic clustering, Dan emphasized what machines can’t replicate: vibes. At the end of the day, channels aren’t just about content. They’re about belonging. Identity. Intentionality.

“AI can help you find people. Channels help you find your people.”

TL;DR: Channels are becoming the rails for community onchain

Farcaster isn’t building the next Twitter. It’s building something different. Something protocol-first. Channels might just become the “smart contract” layer for people — portable, programmable, and composable. And the people building on them? They're not just users. They're creators. Entrepreneurs. Architects of the new internet.

EM Crew,
Grab your coffee because today we're diving into something that’s been stirring up the Farcaster feeds lately—how the platform’s evolving and what it means for creators. From spicy debates around the new Farcaster Pro to its potential as the next big social super app, let’s break down what’s going on and what it means for us, the creators shaping the future of decentralized media.

Farcaster’s Evolving Platform: New Features, New Drama

Farcaster has been buzzing with conversations around its shifting focus, particularly the role of channels. What once seemed like the platform's beating heart—channels for creators to build community and niche conversations—is now facing the chopping block. The latest updates point to the idea of decentralizing channels, possibly taking them off the main UI and letting third-party apps pick up where Farcaster leaves off.

But here’s the thing: engagement on channels has always been the goldmine for creators. Whether it’s your local neighborhood group or a channel for niche topics, casting into these spaces felt like a direct line to the people who matter most—your community. The problem? It’s been hard to get visibility on these casts unless you’re casting into your home feed, which seems to hold the spotlight.

Creators who still see value in channels hope they’ll remain a part of the platform in some form. The community is vocal, and they want to make sure their space for real conversations isn’t lost in the shuffle. But, with change comes a chance for reinvention. Let’s see if decentralizing these spaces will unlock more meaningful connections and engagement elsewhere.

Farcaster Pro: Pay-to-Play or Pay-to-Create?

Farcaster’s announcement of Farcaster Pro has left many scratching their heads. The platform’s approach to Pro is a bit different from what we’ve seen in other social platforms. Instead of charging users just to get noticed, Farcaster is promising that the revenue from Pro subscriptions will go into a reward pool for active creators.

Still, there’s a catch—will Farcaster’s Pro subscription model feel like another paywall, excluding new creators who can’t afford to pay to play? Humpty expressed the fear that this might create a divide, “I just hope that it’s not going to become another mechanism for penalizing the have-nots", where Pro users get better algorithmic treatment and visibility and others are left behind.

For now, the jury's still out. Creators are waiting to see if the model truly supports fair access or just turns into another revenue-generating mechanism that benefits only a few select users.

The Super App Dream: Farcaster's Future as the Ultimate Creator Hub

We’re living in a time where “super apps” are more than just a buzzword—they’re becoming the holy grail of digital platforms. Think WeChat, but onchain. As Diana stated, "I think the advantage that Farcaster has is that it’s not just a social platform, there’s also many apps, there’s many games, there’s so many other things that you can do on it.”

Imagine this: a place where you can not only share your thoughts and build communities but also launch NFTs, host podcasts, and engage with your audience in ways that merge social media, commerce, and creative expression into one seamless experience. Farcaster could very well become that platform—a super app where creators can thrive, build, and connect in a way that’s decentralized, open, and creator-first.

The vision is clear, and many of us are already feeling the momentum. Farcaster isn’t just a social network; it’s the framework for a future where creators own their media, their audience, and their economy.

Community & Authenticity: The Vibes Will Shift, But Will They Stick?

As Farcaster grows, so will its user base—and with growth comes inevitable change. Diana put it perfectly: "the wholesome, insulated community that Farcaster is known for today will eventually face the challenges of mainstream adoption." The platform might start feeling a little less like a cozy corner and a little more like the wild west of the internet. Trolling, drama, and the usual internet chaos will no doubt make their way into the timeline.

The big question is: Will Farcaster be able to keep its authentic vibe while growing? Will the same tight-knit, genuine community still thrive, or will the chaos of larger, less-policed spaces infiltrate? It’s hard to say, but as creators, we’ve always been the ones leading the charge on maintaining authenticity in new spaces. Farcaster’s future is in our hands—and we can either nurture its core values of trust, open dialogue, and transparency or let the platform’s growth lead to compromises that erode that sense of community.

Final Thoughts: The Creator Revolution Is Just Getting Started

Farcaster’s journey from niche platform to super app is an exciting one to watch, but as always, we must demand to be part of the conversation. Creators have always been at the heart of the onchain movement, and Farcaster’s success or failure will depend largely on how well it continues to serve its community of creators and builders.

Whether it’s decentralizing channels, introducing new monetization features, or aiming for super app status, the key theme here is the same: The future of platforms is built by the creators who use them. And Farcaster, with all its ups and downs, is just getting started.

Stay tuned, keep casting, and let’s see how this ride unfolds.

Today we are kicking off a 4-part series with our friends at Ontology to explore the convergence of identity systems, gaming IP, and crosschain infrastructure in building the next generation of onchain games. If you enjoyed this new series, let us know so we can explore other collaborations.

In our first episode of Code, Clout & Crypto, we brought together community leads, founders, investors, and identity architects to tackle one of the most pressing — yet nuanced — conversations in Web3 gaming: How do digital identity and interoperability reshape the player experience?

Featured Speakers

• AlleyCat – Community Lead at Mew, a leading meme coin on Solana

• Muaz – VC & Launchpad contributor at Tencent

• Dragark – Team behind “Dragark,” a fully onchain fantasy game

• Humpty, Geoff & Polaris – Contributors at Ontology

1. Transparency Is the New Meta

While much of onchain gaming has focused on ownership, Muaz reminded us that transparency may be an even more powerful draw:

“In traditional games, streamers get thousands in perks — but the average player has no idea. Web3 puts everything onchain. Everyone sees the same truth.”

He explained that in Web2, influencers and streamers often receive in-game currency or rare items from developers, which skews the perception of value for everyday players. In contrast, Web3's public ledgers can expose such allocations, ensuring fairness. This transparency, he emphasized, is what first drew him into the space, even more than asset ownership.

He also highlighted the issue of dopamine-driven spending and the manipulation of player psychology, especially among younger audiences. Web3's auditable nature opens the door to better regulation, accountability, and informed participation.

2. Pseudonymous Identity Is Powerful — If It’s Portable

AlleyCat spoke passionately about the power of pseudonymous participation in Web3:

“Having an identity tied to one project — free of your failures or successes elsewhere — lets it stand on its own merit.”

He discussed how projects tied to celebrities or single memes often collapse when their figurehead falls out of favor. Mew's strength lies in owning its IP and letting its community grow independently. This allows contributors to develop personas aligned to the project rather than their real-world identity or past baggage.

Humpty introduced the concept of decentralized identifiers (DIDs), specifically Ontology’s ONT ID, which allows users to:

• Link multiple wallets (hot, cold, game-specific) under a single self-sovereign identity

• Reveal credentials selectively to apps, games, or communities

• Stay pseudonymous while building on-chain reputation

The flexibility to manage identities across chains without doxxing oneself was seen as a foundational layer for both privacy and trust.

3. IP Ownership Unlocks Creative Freedom

Mew’s approach to total IP ownership has allowed its team to move beyond the limitations of meme coin culture. AlleyCat shared that Mew is actively building two Web3 games, developing an animated series, and growing its community through merch and storytelling.

“We’re not tied to a celebrity or a single meme. This freedom to experiment is what drew me to the project.”

This flexibility means the team can respond dynamically to community interests and trends without waiting on external approvals or partnerships. It also means Mew can integrate game mechanics and narratives into its existing IP, allowing for seamless expansion into onchain gaming.

This creative latitude is becoming a competitive advantage in Web3, where agility and narrative coherence are essential.

4. Cross-Game Reputation Could Be the Killer App

One of the most exciting parts of the conversation revolved around how player reputation might travel across games. Imagine unlocking rare assets in one game because you dominated in another game.

“Games should stand on their own merit, but players should also be able to carry their wins with them,” said Polaris.

Muaz emphasized that having a unified identity allows games to recognize your progress and achievements from elsewhere. For example, if a player is strong in Dragark, their reputation or avatar might carry prestige in Mew.

Humpty and Geoff highlighted that with ONT ID, these achievements could be linked to attestations (private, verifiable claims) that can be shared across platforms without revealing full wallet activity. These proofs can be used to:

• Unlock early access to games

• Grant special NFTs or power-ups

• Enable role-based community access

This form of reputation portability represents a more player-centric design model, allowing users to build a persistent, privacy-conscious legacy.

5. Security Must Be Built In — Not Bolted On

A core issue raised by Muaz was what happens when a player loses access to their wallet:

“If your wallet is hacked, you shouldn’t lose your identity. That’s your history, your achievements, your community rep.”

He called for identity models that are wallet-agnostic — where a DID can remain intact even if one wallet becomes compromised. This enables recovery and continuity, which is crucial for players who have built years of identity and status on-chain.

He even proposed linking warm wallets (never used for transactions) to DIDs as a secure verification layer, inspired by two-factor authentication models.

The takeaway: wallet loss shouldn’t mean starting from scratch. Robust identity systems must account for long-term resilience and recovery.

Identity, Interoperability & the Future of Play

Web3 identity isn’t just a technical layer — it’s a cultural shift.

• Games become platforms for persistent reputation

• Wallets become proof of history and contribution

• Players evolve into narrative stakeholders, not just users

Geoff summarized this by saying:

“With decentralized identity, your gameplay, governance, and trading history can all tie back to one secure, private, crosschain identity. It’s a building block for true interoperability.”

As more studios design multi-title ecosystems, the value of a persistent identity grows. From loyalty-based airdrops to unlockable cross-title perks, identity becomes the bridge between games, communities, and economies.

What’s Next?

This Twitter Space was just the beginning. We’ll be continuing this series with deep dives into:

• Game asset marketplaces & secondary trading

• On-chain economies and earned value

• How identity and reputation can shape in-game governance and rewards

If you’re building in onchain gaming or digital identity — we want to hear from you.

Join Ontology’s Onchain Gaming Cabal to help define what “good” looks like for players, developers, and ecosystems in this next chapter of gaming.

TL;DR

• Onchain gaming is about more than ownership — it’s about transparency, trust, and reputation

• Identity matters — and must be portable, private, and persistent

• Culture-rich chains like Solana and Base are incubating new forms of game-native experimentation

• Gamers deserve recognition that spans worlds — and identity systems are finally making that possible

In case you missed it

Code, Clout & Crypto - Episode 1 Brief

In Episode 1 of Code, Clout & Crypto, builders from MEW, MapleStory Universe, Dragark, and Ontology dive into the future of Web3 gaming. Topics include digital identity, in-game asset ownership, and why they're betting big on blockchain games.

https://ont.io

In today’s episode, we dive into the exciting potential of combining the best of Solana with Base, and how a hybrid ecosystem can bring scalability, creativity, and user accessibility together like never before.

Our early morning crew was joined by Joanna Zeng, Co-founder and CEO of SOON. We explore how crosschain innovation can unlock new opportunities for both developers and users. From fostering experimentation to simplifying onboarding, this is an ecosystem designed for growth and collaboration.

Let’s break down the barriers between chains, and imagine a future where every creator has the tools they need to thrive. Let’s get started.

1. Bridging the Cultural Divide: Solana vs. Ethereum

When comparing Solana and Ethereum, the user experience (UX) is a key point of differentiation. Solana has become the go-to for user-friendly blockchain experiences, focusing on speed, low fees, and a seamless interface, making it more accessible to newcomers. Joanna compared Solana's culture to Brooklyn, saying, “Solana is more creative, experimental, and accessible like the more laid-back Brooklyn vibe, while Ethereum offers more structured, security-minded experiences, much like the business-driven, high-stakes energy of Manhattan."

Gramajo emphasized the simplicity of Solana: “Solana’s UX is top-notch—transactions are fast, and you don’t have to jump through hoops to make things work. It’s easy and accessible for new users.”

Diana (Treegirl) noted: “Ethereum’s complexities give you more control, but it’s not as easy as Solana. The trade-off is worth it for those who want more security.”

Base, a Layer 2 solution on Ethereum, addresses many of these issues by offering lower fees and better scalability while maintaining Ethereum’s security.

However, even with Base solving many of Ethereum’s scaling challenges, it still lacks some of the experimentation and innovation happening in Solana’s ecosystem. To truly bridge the cultural divide, we need to integrate Solana's creative, risk-taking projects—like DePIN and meme coins—into the Ethereum space. SVM and SOON can play a key role in making this possible, by enabling the Solana Virtual Machine on Ethereum and Base, creating a hybrid environment where Solana-driven innovation thrives alongside Ethereum’s secure foundation.

2. Opportunities in a Hybrid Ecosystem: Merging Solana's Innovation with Ethereum's Security

The potential of a hybrid ecosystem combining Solana's speed and low fees with Ethereum's security and decentralization offers a new era for blockchain.

Joanna emphasized the opportunity: “We can bring high-performance use cases to Base, leveraging Solana’s innovation while maintaining Ethereum’s trusted security.”

The real power lies in fostering innovation across both ecosystems. Gramajo highlighted Solana’s experimental projects that push blockchain boundaries: “Solana is home to creative projects—like CUDIS and Moonwalk—that are driving blockchain forward.” By bringing these innovations to Base, we can create a space for unprecedented experimentation.

With the SOON Stack and the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), developers can develop once and deploy across chains, and experiment freely. This multichain interoperability with Solana x Base enables the best of both worlds, giving developers the tools to experiment while reaching wider audiences.

Diana noted, “We don’t have to sacrifice security for speed. This hybrid ecosystem allows us to tap into Solana’s innovation without losing Ethereum’s security.”

This hybrid model combines scalability, creativity, and security, unlocking a dynamic space for developers and users to thrive in Web3.

3. Onboarding the Next Wave: Improving Accessibility in a Multichain Future

The hybrid ecosystem not only offers the best of Solana and Base but also creates a smoother path for onboarding new users into Web3.

Joanna emphasized the importance of interoperability between different blockchain environments, “The future is about enabling users to thrive no matter which chain they start on. We need to make Web3 as intuitive as possible, so users—from creators to developers—can explore without friction or fear of failure.”

This new ecosystem allows developers to build once, deploy across both chains, and experiment in ways that will attract new users. Humpty added: “The beauty of this hybrid model is that we’re removing the silos between ecosystems. New users can easily transition between Solana and Ethereum, without needing to learn multiple systems.”

Diana pointed out that this crosschain compatibility simplifies the user experience: “By tapping into both ecosystems, we’re giving users the flexibility to explore Web3 without feeling overwhelmed or locked into a single chain. This is how we onboard a wider audience.”

The importance of a multichain future is clear, where different blockchain virtual machines (VMs) create a more intuitive experience for both developers and users, provide users with rich, differentiated experiences, and make it easier for newcomers to join Web3 without the steep learning curve.

At the heart of the event, Base played a pivotal role with Aneri kicking things off by revealing the new Coinbase Wallet, a powerful tool that simplifies Web3 onboarding for creators. With enhanced features designed specifically for creators, the new Coinbase Wallet offers an intuitive user interface, a social-first experience, and direct access to mini apps. Aneri's talk focused on the challenges creators face on traditional platforms and how Web3 solutions—like Coinbase Wallet—offer freedom from platform gatekeepers, enabling creators to own their content and audiences.

The event featured seven lightning talks plus a 1-on-1 with Humpty and our very own onchain superstar, Naomi Metzger aka Afrochicks that provided invaluable insights and practical takeaways for creators looking to thrive in Web3. Here’s a recap of some of the key moments:

• The Evolution of Onchain Media: Naomi, a creator who has seamlessly transitioned into the onchain space, shared her personal journey and how onchain media is unlocking new opportunities for creative expression. Her talk provided valuable insights for creators looking to navigate this new landscape. Find full interview here.

• Coinbase Wallet: Empowering Creators: In her closing remarks, Aneri introduced the new Coinbase Wallet, a powerful tool for creators to seamlessly access decentralized applications, manage their onchain assets, and monetize their content. With the new wallet's enhanced features, creators can take full control of their digital presence and build a sustainable audience onchain. Find full interview here.

• Rodeo Creative Network: Empowering Artists: Matt from Rodeo introduced their creative social network, designed to help artists and creators discover new connections, showcase their work, and foster collaboration in an open, decentralized ecosystem. Rodeo is pushing the boundaries of community-building and creative expression in the digital age. Find full interview here.

• Farcaster and the Power of Decentralized Social: Ted from Farcaster shared her vision for decentralized social networks, where creators retain ownership of their content and audience relationships. Farcaster's ability to eliminate censorship and give creators full control over their social presence is a crucial step forward in the evolution of online platforms. Find full interview here.

• Sustainable Funding with Octant: Mashal from Octant highlighted the importance of sustainable funding models for Web3 projects. By staking ETH and supporting decentralized governance, Octant empowers creators to fund their work without depleting their initial capital, offering long-term, self-sustaining solutions for onchain innovation. Find full interview here.

• Matcha and the Future of DeFi for Creators: Michael from Matcha shared how decentralized finance (DeFi) tools can help creators unlock financial opportunities through tokenized systems. From accessing the best prices for crypto to leveraging DeFi protocols, Matcha is paving the way for a more financially inclusive creator economy. Find full interview here.

• Onchain Podcasting Revolution: Lucas, the founder of Pods, shared how onchain podcasting is transforming content distribution. By importing podcasts directly onchain, creators can tap into new audiences across multiple platforms—without the need for traditional gatekeepers. Find full interview here.

• PurpleDAO and the Future of Decentralized Content: NounishProf, representing Purple DAO, delved into how community-driven DAOs are enabling creators to engage with their audiences in more meaningful ways. By offering sponsorships and integrating NFT-driven initiatives, Purple DAO is providing new opportunities for creators to build sustainable revenue streams onchain. Find full interview here.

The event wasn’t just about learning—it was about taking action. The Creator Hackathon gave participants the chance to showcase their creativity and put onchain media front and center. A wide range of creators collaborated with top Web3 platforms and brands to help them bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3 and equipping them with the tools and knowledge to leverage onchain technologies effectively.

We are excited to announce the winners of the first Onchain Creators Hackathon, many of whom were onboarded for the first time at the Onchain Creator House. We are proud to reward them for their work, which exemplifies the spirit of this initiative.

Coinbase Wallet challenge winner – Karima
Coinbase Wallet challenge winner – Pichi
Coinbase Wallet challenge winner – Jordan
Farcaster challenge winner – tiny
Farcaster challenge winner – Jessy
Farcaster challenge winner – lambchop
Matcha challenge winner – zaal
Matcha challenge winner – Jessy
Matcha challenge winner – Karima
Own The Doge winner – tiny
Own The Doge winner – lambchop
Own The Doge winner – Pichi
Pods winner – zaal
Pods winner – Rachel
Pods winner – Diana
Rodeo winner – thedude
Rodeo winner – zachlipp
Rodeo winner – eyesner

This event marked the beginning of a new era for creators in the Web3 space. By bringing creators together to learn, build, and collaborate, the Onchain Creator House has set a new standard for how we can empower creators to thrive onchain. We’re excited about the future, and this is just the beginning.

Stay up to date on the latest onchain media news and future Onchain Creator Houses by subscribing to this newsletter.

Farcon brought the crypto ecosystem together in New York for a week of energy, introspection, and evolution. This wasn’t just another conference. From spontaneous street interviews to meme panels and breakfast burrito inside jokes, the vibe was unmistakably different: lighter, more playful, and surprisingly self-aware.

But beneath the surface, a deeper conversation unfolded. What does it really mean to be an onchain creator? Have we actually made progress from the promises of five years ago? And if onchain media is “the future,” where are the breakout stars?

Here’s what stood out:

📍The Onchain Creator House: More Than Just a Meetup

The Creator House wasn’t just an event — it was a statement.

Diana (treegirl) called it “the highlight of my Farcon,” not just because of the programming, but because it aligned with the kind of media she’s trying to build.

After months of planning, Humpty said the event exceeded every expectation. But it was the outpouring of support that caught him off guard. Almost everyone who attended — from creators and builders to first-timers — had something positive to say. When the last guests left and the lights dimmed, Humpty sat with his team and nearly cried — not from stress, but gratitude.

“You can’t do things alone. It takes a village — and we’re building one,” Humpty said.

🧩 The Missing Layer: Did Onchain Tools Actually Evolve?

As the crew unpacked their experiences, Diana posed the tough question:

“I’m not sure how much we’ve really developed in the right direction over the last five years.”

She pointed out that while there are more tools today — like Pods or Zora — few feel transformative. Many of the early promises about creator empowerment and direct monetization have faded, and Li Jin's “100 true fans” narrative? According to Diana, “That idea’s dead. Nobody’s talking about it anymore.”

Gramajo echoed this skepticism, saying many creators burn out before they ever find traction:

“I’ve seen it over and over. People come in hot, posting daily, but six months later, they’re done.”

For creators to survive long enough to reach product-market fit, they need better incentives — and simpler, more cohesive infrastructure.

🌐 Farcaster, Lens, and Platform Design That Matters

Diana didn’t hold back when comparing Farcaster and Lens. Her take:

• Lens chased growth too fast, attracting bots and spam early on.

• Farcaster, by contrast, prioritized quality and built slowly — resulting in stronger communities and a more usable experience today.

Despite more apps in the Farcaster ecosystem, Diana pointed out that many still struggle to function smoothly. Even so, she believes the quality of discussion and experimentation feels more authentic.

“Facebook Groups might still be the best model we’ve seen for community — and no one has topped it yet,” she quipped.

🛸 Jesse’s Take: Are Native Onchain Creators the Future?

One comment that stirred debate came from Jesse Pollak:
“The most successful onchain creators will be born onchain — the same way the best TikTokers were born on TikTok.”

At first glance, it sounds visionary. But Diana pushed back hard:

“We’ve been saying that for five years. TikTokers blew up in months. We’ve been waiting years.”

Humpty acknowledged her frustration but argued that the tooling and capital just weren’t there until recently. “You can’t birth a breakout class of creators without giving them a real chance to succeed,” he said.

Gramajo added a useful historical lens, pointing out that even platforms like YouTube and Instagram took years before full-time creators emerged.

“Maybe we’re just early — again. But maybe that’s okay,” he said.

🌱 Cozy Corners & Cultural Niches: The Real Onboarding Playbook

One of the strongest takeaways from Farcon was the emerging consensus that mass onboarding doesn’t work. Instead, crypto needs to go small — and go deep.

“If Farcon is going to be an onboarding event next year... active casters can throw events onboarding folks from their niche and learning about barriers to entry.” said Rubinovitz, a Farcon attendee and web3 advocate.

Projects like Skate Jam and Onchain Creator House were celebrated for showing how subcultures — not generic onboarding funnels — might be the key to growing onchain communities. If we want real creators in this space, we need to meet them where they already are.

💭 Final Thoughts: The Energy’s Back

Despite the frustrations, there was a quiet optimism pulsing through Farcon. With Coinbase Wallet rolling out embedded social features and Farcaster doubling down on open, composable media, something feels different this time.

“We’re finally building the tools we wished we had five years ago,” said Gramajo. “Now it’s up to us to actually use them.”

The creators haven’t left — they’re just getting sharper. More focused. More aligned. And this time, they’re bringing their corners of the internet with them.

💬 Want to weigh in?
What do you think — are we early or are we late? Are native onchain creators coming… or already here?

Drop your thoughts on Warpcast.
Let’s build the future, one burrito pic at a time.

1. Zora’s Airdrop: Rewarding the Wrong Side of the Market?

Zora’s long-awaited token drop landed this week—and left many of its early supporters wondering if they’d just been rugged by the protocol they helped build.

“I got a whopping $41,” said Diana, an early Zora user who had been consistently collecting and promoting content on the platform since 2021. “Just don’t even give me an airdrop at that point.”

Others echoed her frustration. Gramajo pointed out that active collectors—those who bought content, showed up early, and spent time and money—were largely left out.

“They didn’t reward collectors. And like, how can you not reward collectors? Without collectors, do creators even exist?” – Diana

Humpty tried to make sense of the allocation logic—two snapshots, one for longtime users and one favoring Creator Coin adopters—and acknowledged that the whole thing is a tricky balance to get right.

“If I had to guess, Zora sees Creator Coins as their future—and they want to reward people who believe in that vision. At the same time, they couldn’t ignore years of early support. I get why they tried to strike a balance… but to longtime users, it just doesn’t feel like one.” – Humpty

The big takeaway? Zora positioned this airdrop as a reward for creator innovation, but in doing so, it may have alienated a foundational part of the ecosystem.

2. Tools vs. Value: What Happens After the Drop Ends?

Zora isn’t the only platform facing scrutiny. Across the ecosystem, builders are wrestling with a harder truth: flashy tools don’t always equate to lasting value.

“Even though it's permissionless and self-sovereign… if there's no platform for distribution, then is it still content worth creating?” Humpty asked, pointing to how many crypto-native publishing platforms—Zora included—fail to drive long-term visibility.

There’s a growing sentiment that the “just launch something” energy needs to give way to retention-focused thinking. It's not enough to drop a token or launch a tool. Builders have to earn community trust through sustained support.

“I’ve been more disappointed by airdrops than I can count,” said Gramajo. “The people who made the network… it didn’t trickle down to them. Trickle-down crypto economics didn’t work.”

3. Crypto’s Real Use Cases: A Pragmatic Look Ahead

The group zoomed out to ask: what is actually working in Web3?

Gramajo and Humpty both agreed that DeFi, ENS, and RWAs (real world assets) are some of the few use cases consistently proving themselves.

“DeFi’s genius. It works. And ENS is doing real things—partnering with Venmo, PayPal. That’s proof of value.” – Gramajo

The team discussed platforms like Courtyard, where Gramajo’s investments in tokenized Pokémon cards have outperformed nearly everything outside of Bitcoin. Luxury authenticity use cases—especially for things like watches, bags, and sneakers—are also gaining traction, though largely in private chains like Aura.

“Self-sovereignty of money is a huge unlock. That was the whole point of Bitcoin. What do you do with that money? That’s where DeFi comes in.” – Humpty

What’s still TBD? Decentralized social. Farcaster was called out as “the closest we’ve come,” but even that, they agreed, still has a ways to go.

4. Creator House @ Farcon: The Bet on Content

While airdrops stumble and tool fatigue sets in, some creators are building anyway. Humpty is hosting the Onchain Creator House at Farcon next week, a mini hackathon-meets-content jam focused on activating Web3-native creators.

“We’re forming a tight group of creators we can collab with in the future—people actually making content, not just minting posts.” – Humpty

Backed by partners like Base, Pods, Octant, Matcha, and Farcaster, the Creator House will reward participants for producing onchain and social content—YouTube Shorts, TikToks, Reels, and beyond. Base will even debut a new social app built for creators and powered by the Farcaster protocol.

The goal? Create high-signal content and form a recurring creative cohort—not just for this event, but for ongoing activations throughout the year.

“If this were Rehash, I’d say we’re forming a DAO. But it’s really just creators helping creators.” – Humpty

Final Take
Airdrops may come and go—but the creators who keep showing up, iterating, and building community-first products? They're the ones defining what this ecosystem becomes next.

Can writers actually make a living using coins, NFTs, or any of this new onchain stuff—or is it all just vibes and speculation?

We broke it down across three core ideas.

1. Coins vs NFTs: What Are We Really Collecting?

There’s no shortage of new tools for monetizing content onchain. But one debate continues to spark fire: should creators lean into coins or NFTs?

Platforms like Zora are betting big on coins—launching a new model where every post can have its own token. That experiment turns content into a liquid asset, with buyers speculating on what might gain cultural (or financial) traction.

But that approach isn’t resonating with everyone. As Diana (Treegirl) put it:

“It makes the content feel more financialized. That’s always felt a little icky to me.”

She’s not alone. The conversation compared this “coin-per-post” approach with older models like open edition NFTs, gated content, and crowdfunds. Tools like Mirror allowed creators to rally funding around a project or season (Rehash raised 30 ETH using a Mirror crowdfund). The format felt collaborative—not extractive.

NFTs feel like a thank-you note. Coins can feel like a stock ticker attached to your creative output (waiting to inevitably hit zero).

2. Why People Collect: Patronage, Identity, or Speculation?

Reid offered a clear breakdown of the five core motivations he sees for why someone would support a writer through onchain tools:

1. Patronage – I believe in this person’s work.

2. Shared Identity – I align with their values or voice.

3. Community – I want to be part of the conversation.

4. Speculation – I think this content or creator will increase in value.

5. Utility – I want gated access to features, posts, or discussions.

It sounds good in theory. But in practice, once speculation enters the picture, the other motivations tend to get crowded out. As Humpty noted:

“As soon as there’s any assumption the token will go up, it’s no longer about you. It’s about the market.”

That’s what happened on platforms like FriendTech, where support quickly morphed into short-term profit plays. Even loyal collectors start watching floor prices instead of reading new posts.

The more ephemeral the incentive, the harder it is to build long-term value. Coins might onboard speculators—but they often chase away community.

3. The Real Problem: Making Writing Sustainable

Gramajo suggested new models that are emerging—Revnets, which offer built-in exit liquidity, and Sanctum creator coins, which let supporters passively earn yield. But one question remains:
Will any of these actually help writers earn a living?

Reid didn’t hold back when talking about the current state of creator income:

“We’ve failed to help great writers like YB make reliable income. That sucks.”

He admitted that tools like token gating and open editions haven’t been enough to support full-time writers. In fact, most creators on Paragraph who tried token gating made less than $100/year.

That’s why Paragraph is rethinking its approach. While they're exploring coin-based tools, Reid emphasized that speculation can’t be the core of any sustainable model. Instead, he’s interested in mechanics that reward long-term support:

• Crowdfunds for season-based funding (like Mirror pioneered)

• Tipping based on engagement (like Farcaster’s weekly tips)

• Staking-based rewards (inspired by Solana projects like Sanctum)

• Ownership without friction, through subscription-aligned models (like HyperSub and Pods, which give creators control over their smart contracts and interoperable rewards)

“Our North Star is creating a bigger economy around creative work—especially for writers who don’t want to post weekly, but still have valuable things to say.”

Final Thought

We’re still early in figuring out what a thriving onchain writing economy looks like. But one thing is clear: platforms need to move beyond speculation and design tools that respect creators’ time, output, and communities.

Reid left us with one more reminder:

“The early supporters matter more than the dollars they give. But right now, there’s no good way to make that support feel durable.”

Maybe the next big breakthrough won’t be in launching more tokens—but in better reflecting the intent behind them.

Remember the hype? The 100 true fans, the no more relying on YouTube ads, the onchain monetization dream.
Well... it’s 2025, and creators are still giving away their content for free.

Diana hit the nail on the head: creators were sold on the idea that small, loyal audiences could sustain them. But the tools haven’t evolved fast enough. Consumers still expect content to be free, and even when they want to support creators, the friction is real—wallet connections, gas fees, platform UX that feels like a puzzle.

Meanwhile, brands? They’re still asking for podcast downloads and follower counts—metrics that don’t tell the full story.

“I can show you the wallet age of my listeners, what else they spend on, what communities they’re in. But brands still want the big numbers. It’s like they’re not even listening.” – Diana

Humpty laid it out: brands still optimize for distribution, not depth. You could have the most engaged, crypto-native audience out there, but unless you’ve got 10k+ subscribers, brands will scroll right past you.

And it’s not just about numbers — it’s about who those numbers represent. Web3 creators have deep onchain insight into their audiences: wallet behavior, spending patterns, DAO membership, token holdings. But there’s a gap: brands don’t know how to use that segmentation, and creators aren’t always equipped to package it in ways that feel familiar to CMOs.

Meanwhile, the user experience sucks. Clicks don’t track. Onboarding breaks. Affiliate flows are clunky. As Kris put it: crypto funnels are broken, and we’re pretending like they’re not.

“Crypto has a conversion problem. The tools are cool, but the experience isn’t smooth. It’s not even about paying — people don’t know where to click.” – Kris

What’s really missing in Web3? It’s not better incentives. It’s collaboration.

Kris said: creators and builders operate in silos. Creators know what people want. Builders know how to ship. But they rarely co-design. The result? Useful tools like Bello quietly pivot or disappear because there isn’t a tight feedback loop or funding model to sustain them.

Humpty then pointed to Rehash as a counter-example: creators using products, community giving feedback, sponsors getting real ROI—not just impressions, but conversations. That’s how you build something sticky.

“Why didn’t Crypto the Game sponsor Rehash? Their community was already talking about it, already playing. That’s what real influence looks like.” – Humpty

Web3 promised a new creator economy, but we’re still tangled in old marketing logic and clunky tools. Until:

• Brands shift from chasing eyeballs to valuing onchain engagement

• Platforms fix onboarding and tracking

• Builders and creators collaborate from day one

...the dream remains just that—a dream.

The good news? Conversations like these are a step in the right direction.

EMC Episode 18 delivers a sharp and spicy critique of crypto-native experiments—examining how far we've come (and where we’re still missing the mark) when it comes to onchain participation, content monetization, and creator ownership. Whether it's playing games on social platforms, minting tokenized shorts, or launching new drops, the crew asked one question over and over:
Are we building with purpose—or just porting Web2 into Web3?

Let’s get into it.

The crew kicked off with a critical look at Crypto: The Game, a viral, Survivor-inspired experience that captured the community's imagination—but, according to the EMC panel, fell short of crypto’s potential.

Despite leaning into crypto branding, the game mostly relied on Web2 infrastructure—Google Sheets, Telegram chats, and centralized coordination. The experience was fun, yes, but raised a question: What makes this a crypto game, really?

“This is the gamified version of what’s wrong with crypto: centralized tools wrapped in a Web3 aesthetic.” — Humpty

They then contrasted this with Jokerace and other onchain-native games that held up as better examples of decentralized coordination:

• Onchain rules and verifiable outcomes, enforced by smart contracts.

• Permissionless entry with transparent, auditable votes.

• Creative formats like quadratic voting and sybil-resistant design.

The crew praised games like Castout by GM Farcaster, which blends crypto-native tools, onchain quests, and social challenges in a way that feels truly Web3. While Crypto: The Game sparked strong participation, it served as a reminder that crypto isn’t just about vibes—it’s about designing mechanisms that are provably fair, composable, and autonomous.

Next up: Zora’s big shift from NFTs to coins—a change that stirred both excitement and skepticism. Zora Coins now let creators tokenize their content as fungible tokens instead of traditional ERC-721 NFTs.

For some, this move makes content more liquid, more social, and more memeable. Launching a coin tied to a podcast clip or short video is simple, fast, and comes with built-in distribution. Humpty minted one live during the stream and immediately had liquidity on Uniswap.

But the crew questioned whether this model creates long-term value or short-term speculation:

• Are these tokens meaningful expressions of fandom and support, or just meme coins with extra steps?

• Do they help creators build sustainable relationships with their communities, or just inflate numbers without depth?

• Does replacing NFTs with coins strengthen or dilute the core principles of crypto art and media?

There’s also tension between monetization and mission. Zora once positioned itself as a platform focused on onchain culture and art—but the shift to coins feels, to some, like a pivot to chase the current meta rather than lead it.

“It feels like a last-ditch effort to stay relevant, rather than an intentional evolution.” — Diana

Still, the potential is there: if creators can use coins not just for financial games, but as tools for access, governance, or collaborative funding, Zora Coins might become more than just trend-chasing.

One of the deeper philosophical conversations of the episode centered on contract ownership, and what it means for creators in a tokenized internet.

Historically, Zora allowed creators to mint under their own contracts, meaning they had full control over the metadata, royalties, and long-term portability of their content. But with Zora Coins, that seems to be changing—content is minted into a shared system, which may limit flexibility and ownership down the line.

“I used to be able to own my smart contract. Now I don’t see that option. That’s potentially a step backward for creator sovereignty.” — Humpty

This sparked a broader conversation about the importance of creator-controlled infrastructure. Tools like Pods were highlighted for doing this well—giving creators their own contract environment where content can live, evolve, and connect to other platforms without permission.

Why this matters:

• Portability. If you leave the platform, your content still exists—and can move with you.

• Programmability. You can build additional functionality on top of your own smart contract—airdrops, subscriptions, DAO governance, and more.

• Trustlessness. You don’t rely on a third party to maintain or update your media.

The takeaway: Owning your smart contract isn’t just about tech—it’s about creative and financial independence. As the onchain media stack matures, platforms that prioritize creator sovereignty will be the ones that win long-term trust.

From tokenized podcasts to social games, this episode of EMC asked a powerful question: Are we truly building something new, or just reskinning the old world with smart contracts and tokens?

What became clear is that crypto-native tools unlock new possibilities—but only when they’re used intentionally. Whether you're running a contest, launching a coin, or minting a new drop, the strongest projects aren’t chasing trends. They’re designing with purpose, empowering communities, and giving creators ownership over their work.

So, what’s your next move?
Not just what will you build—but how will you build it?