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If walls could talk

I have a vivid memory of a particular moment in 2019: it was a sunny spring day, and I had just picked up the keys to my new apartment in West Village, NYC. I ran up the stairs and stepped in. I remember feeling excited by the emptiness, about the memories that I’d create here. And then, as many people must do, I thought about the past.

While finalizing the lease, I had learned that the building was built in 1920. It was one year short of a century old. As I stood there, the potential of the empty rooms moved me with a sweet melancholy – I wondered about the people who had lived here in those years. What were they like? What beautiful and complex lives did they lead? I suddenly had a deep longing to have some way of accessing those stories.

The third floor of this building contained my life, for a time.

Was there a public record that saved people’s histories based on where they lived? I entertained the inquiry and found a post that showed how to access the record of pictures for any New York building from 1940. I loved it, gladly looking at the five buildings I had lived in in the city and seeing how they had changed. But this look into the past just increased my desire to know what was happening to the humans there and then. What were their names, their routines, their favorite places in the neighborhood? I was yearning for the stories.

This kind of archive is a simple idea but hard to implement. It wouldn’t make sense for a centralized institution to track it, and besides, who would want to chat with the local archivist? It could be an open-source, public project, but how would you prove that someone lived where they said they did?

Back then, I had a nagging feeling that blockchain could offer a solution. It was already useful for onchain archiving of digital histories and cultures, but the practicality of using it for memories fixed in space didn’t quite make sense. How could we ensure that only others who were in the exact location at that moment could see what was written?

Some years later, here now, I think we may have a solution. It brings the physical world onchain in a real and strange way. And sometimes strange is good.

Location-bound digital diary

Here’s the idea. We put a simple blockchain-enabled NFC chip on the wall in the inner hallway of our living spaces. They don’t record or do anything until you want to add a journal entry for whoever comes after you. When you’re feeling inspired, maybe on the day you’re moving out, you tap it with your phone and share your thoughts with future dwellers. Wish them well. Tell them about your cat. Share your stories about being locked down in this small apartment for so many months in 2020.

The messages are encrypted and uploaded to the blockchain, and they can only be unencrypted by someone who stands in that room and scans that same chip. Decades from now, someone whose parents are not even alive today might read your recollections. Make them good! We can’t rescue the stories from the past, but we can leave a meaningful memory for the future.

Leave a journal entry with her

If apartments are too personal, we can start on the street. Put NFC-chipped stickers around the city for this purpose. What conversation would you want to have with every person who will one day be in the exact same location as you? What puzzles or riddles would you gift them? Each chip is a digital time capsule bound in space, an airdrop waiting in escrow.

There is a bigger idea here: these tiny chips can fit everywhere, so every physical object becomes a possible archive. As people pass on their objects, they can leave messages for posterity. You can read stories bound to the family heirloom passed down from your great-great-great-grandmother. Or hear about the countless nights of laughter spent on the sofa you bought on eBay. Or relive the tales from the front porch of the first house in your network city.

And then just imagine, every object we interact with suddenly brings a rich history. How much more interesting would that be compared to mass-produced things? I don’t want the cheap factory thing, I want the one with the anecdotes! Things capture memories that were once vivid reality for someone. They have always had tales to tell; the humans that nurture them are humble messengers and scribes.

Earlier this year, I visited New York and needed to swing by the village, so I reached out to the people who moved into that apartment after me. We had kept in touch, and they were glad to invite me over for coffee. The place was arranged differently, but the memories and emotions came flooding back. Over our chat, we reminisced about our experiences in that space, two different timelines converging in the same location.

Such encounters remind me of the profound connection we share with places and things. And we can now imbue objects with story, highlighting their significance in our lives. Share that they really mattered to someone, for a time.

Thank you to Austin and Yancey from Metalabel for inspiring me to write again. Thank you Alice Sholto-Douglas, Rafa, Jon Hillis, Cameron, and Yun for thoughts and feedback.

Mint Entry

What are we if not messages to others?

Epilogue

Entry: #00001

Date: October 10, 2023

Author: T

Hey, I don’t know who you are, but I hope that you are smiling as you read this. I just set this thing up in my apartment. Pretty weird, huh? Or maybe not to you.

I don’t know how many years, decades, or even centuries from now you’re alive, but I hope things aren’t too crazy then. I imagine they probably are. But oh well, at least you have a nice apartment!

A lot has happened for me here. I’ve made this place home with my partner N. We usually hang out on the rugs in the living room, around our circular table, laughing and discussing the world. We talk about how we don’t want to leave this place, but I imagine eventually we will. If you’re reading this, I guess we did.

Maybe as I get more used to this, I’ll share more stuff.

Ciao for now.

Entry: #00002

Date: July 20, 2025

Author: T

Hey, me again. We’re moving out next week, so I wanted to leave a note. It’s so wild to read my notes from two years ago. I can’t believe how time flies. It feels like it was yesterday, but also like it was a different lifetime.

We’re thinking about starting a family, and N’s job is moving us away from the city, but we’re definitely sad to leave this place. So many lovely memories. I hope you enjoy it.

Take care, all the best <3

Entry: #00003

Date: March 8, 2030

Author: R

Hey! R here. This apartment was my little sunlit haven. Nothing beat the warm morning rays streaming through those windows.

I stumbled upon the previous notes early on. They were like mini time capsules. I love the feeling of being part of this shared history, it added an unexpected layer of depth to my time here. I wish there were more from further back in the past.

Btw I love the coffee at Pinky’s. They’ve been around forever so I imagine they’ll continue. The neighborhood has definitely changed in the past five years, but everywhere does, I guess.

It's been real. Hope you create as many fond memories here as I did. Cheers!

Entry: #00004

Date: August 9, 2037

Author: S

Hey people from the future. This apartment is a dream. To be honest, my time recently hasn’t been so easy. I won’t get into it. But I found my peace here, and I’m grateful for that.

I agree with the person above that I wish there were more of these entries. They were lovely to read. I’ll try to write a few more before I leave

Wishing you joy, laughter, and countless cherished moments in this home.

In the future, fashion and commerce will be phygital (no matter how much you hate the word). It could look a little like this:

After purchasing a Staud bag online, it arrives embedded with an NFC chip. A quick tap of your phone mints its digital twin as an NFT in your digital fashion closet (DFC), a social platform where friends & followers can see your fashion items, and what you’re doing in them.

At a Staud x New Balance event in SoHo, scanning your bag earns you a POAP, f joins your bag in your DFC. As a thank you for attending, both brands drop you a 10% discount. Fast forward: you’re at a Drake concert, and he digitally autographs your bag. Your friend Emily ‘likes’ the signature and teases, “Introduce us? 😍”. Finally, the bag reminds you of Mediterranean summers, so you curate a Spotify playlist called ‘Sobremesa’ and link it to your bag via your DFC.

Eventually, you decide to resell your bag which, having attended events in New York, met Drake, and accumulated some great music, has a higher resale value than a regular Staud bag. Plus, this experience has strengthened your connection to Staud, making you more likely to buy from them again in the future.

This imaginary phygital experience may sound far off, but the tech stack is just around the corner, and with it lies a new world of brand and consumer experiences.

What the Phygital? An (obvious) portmanteau of the words physical and digital, phygital goods pair physical goods with their digital twin, often via Near-Field Communication (NFC) Chips. Ideally, this twin lives on-chain as an NFT. A number of tailwinds are driving the adoption of this technology, unlocking previously inaccessible features and experiences for brands and consumers alike. There are five main areas which I expect phygital technology to revolutionize:

1. Your Digital (Interoperable) Twin The Tailwind: Digital Wearability As new, younger generations spend more time in the 'metaverse,' their desire for their digital appearance to mirror their real-world style will grow. In fact, research conducted by IoDF and others has shown that, while there is certainly demand for some magical realism, the majority of users hope to accurately represent their real-life identities in their digital avatars – which extends to fashion choices. Phygital items make this easier than ever before, duplicating your closet into the digital realm. Ideally, these assets will be interoperable and can be used across multiple virtual worlds.

The Phuture Luxury brands have taken note of this demand, capitalizing on the opportunity by creating partnerships with virtual worlds including Roblox and Snapchat. Most recently, Ralph Lauren released their limited edition phygital Polo x Fortnite P-Wing Boots, the physical version of which retailed on RL’s website, with digital versions redeemed on Roblox. Tommy Hilfiger debuted their FW23 collection simultaneously on the physical runway and on Roblox, with phygital items available to purchase in-world. Luxury luggage brand Rimowa partnered with RTFKT to release a limited-edition phygital cabin suitcase.

Fortnite x Polo Ralph Lauren Collaboration Fortnite x Polo Ralph Lauren Collaboration A seamless phygital experience is necessary as “authentically expressing yourself is core to the player experience”, argues Epic Games president Adam Sussman. In the future, this will be the norm, with all physical fashion goods available to redeem in digital form (does anyone else remember Webkinz?).

1. Proof of Provenance The Tailwind: Forthcoming Regulations Forthcoming EU regulation and consumer demand for supply-chain transparency are making proof of provenance and ownership that much more important — something that phygital goods uniquely enable. The European Union recently introduced the Digital Product Passport (DPP) as part of new sustainability initiatives. This mandates the tracing of the origins of consumer goods, ensuring adherence to environmental and circularity standards. Set to take effect in 2026, it highlights the growing significance of product provenance.

Subsequently, in a report outlining potential implications of the DPP, the Boston Consulting Group and Web3 platform Arianee suggest that this regulation will “accelerate adoption of utilities including product information access, certificates of authenticity and ownership and… [ultimately], virtual product replicas.” 
 An on-chain digital twin offers the ideal repository for metadata regarding proof of provenance, authenticity, and ownership.

The Business of Fashion The Business of Fashion The Phuture In a post-DPP world, phygital goods with digital IDs that carry information regarding materials, supply chain, manufacturing and general provenance will be a must, not a maybe. Startups like Eon, Evrythng and Arianee, as well as LVMH’s own Aura Blockchain Consortium are leading the way, partnering with brands like Prada, Levi Strauss Co. and conglomerates LVMH and Kering to bring the phygital technology to the luxury sector. The idea is that, with a simple tap of one’s phone, consumers can gain access to detailed ‘eco-credentials’ of their items.

Daniela Ott, Aura’s general secretary describes a future in which every phygital product holds readily-available data including certificates of authenticity, supply chain traceability from the beginning of the value chain down to resale, and even content such as videos of the artisan who manufactured the watch, bag, etc. This kind of information and connection with the consumer is unprecedented. Ott herself says “especially for young consumers, authenticity and traceability are a must, so if [they’re] a must, how do you get that in a cost-effective way to a large number of products? We couldn’t do that before [phygital goods].

The Case for Digital Product Passport Tokenization – Arianee & BCG The Case for Digital Product Passport Tokenization – Arianee & BCG 3. Rethinking Resale The Tailwind: Counterfeits & Fraud Increasingly sophisticated counterfeits pose continued threats to both resale and luxury markets, and thus authenticating secondhand goods is costly, labour-intensive, and fraught with error. This has led to razor-thin margins that have negatively impacted the likes of The RealReal and other public resale platforms.

The adoption of NFTs and blockchain technology via digital twins allows goods to circumvent these traditional, extensive authentication processes, thus conserving time, costs and resources. Additionally, phygital goods facilitate enhanced traceability in secondary markets, enabling brands to consistently engage with new product owners across the item’s lifespan.

The Phuture Today, fashion resale is a many (many, many, many)-step process whereby consumers manually upload product details on platforms like StockX and Vestiaire Collective, set prices subjectively, send the item for verification upon sale, following which the platform verifies it (a lengthy and costly step) before sending it to the final buyer, who remains unaware of the item's provenance. This no longer need be the case with phygital goods.

Pioneering brands like Chloé and Pangaia are showing how a phygital p2p resale world is just one click away. For Chloé’s recent capsule collection, a swift tap of a phone leads consumers to a neat “ReSell” button that immediately connects to Vestiaire Collective. In an ideal future, one click uploads the digital twin to the resale platform, no manual photos needed. A similar process is followed at Pangaia, who recommends pricing predicated upon historical sales data as well as the condition of the item. As the phygital goods at both Chloé and Pangaia are inherently auto-verified, no further verification is required, and sellers can send goods directly on to the buyers. The buyer, in turn, can now maintain a direct connection with the brand via their digital twin. Thus, a true circular economy is finally achieved.

1. The New DTC – Direct to Community The Tailwind: Rising CAC As social media platforms have become infinitely more crowded and competitive, and Apple’s recent privacy regulations have restricted customer targeting across digital channels, customer acquisition costs have skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, CAC is estimated to have increased 60% since 2018 and 222% since 2013.

This has caused endless difficulties for DTC brands who relied on social media advertising as a primary form of customer acquisition, and share prices of the top 10 DTC apparel brands have fallen as a result – 70% in 2022, compared to a decline of only 32% for the MSCI World Consumer Discretionary Goods Index in the same period.

Source: ProfitWell Source: ProfitWell Brands are being forced to rethink their customer acquisition methods, and explore new distribution strategies, off of traditional social media platforms, in order to retain existing customers and reach new ones.

The Phuture Phygital goods allow brands to bypass traditional social media platforms and connect directly with consumers via their products themselves. To date, brands have been limited to engaging with their consumers in one of four main ways: email, social media, community chat platforms (like Geneva) and IRL events. However, engagement across these platforms, and across the digital and physical worlds, goes unconnected, unattributed, and unrewarded.

With a phygital good, brands can incentivize and track actions across both virtual and physical worlds, creating an unmatched community engagement and loyalty program. Consumers can be incentivized to wear the product, vote on governance decisions, co-create with the brand, share products, attend events, and much more – all tracked via the NFC chip and NFT. In turn, consumers would be rewarded with points that can ultimately be exchanged for products and perks– this is an entirely new world of community engagement.

Brands like Kiki and 9dcc are pioneering this new world:

KIKI: As the first phygital beauty brand, owning a Kiki beauty product (the brand has started by launching a line of ‘nail art’ products), allows you to mint an NFT, which opens up a world of co-creation and community engagement. Kiki NFT holders earn points by voting on product decisions, sharing Kiki with friends, engaging with the brand on a daily basis, and more. Those points can then be spent across the Kiki universe, on new products and other perks & benefits. At present, the physical product acts like a trojan horse for digital ownership, which in turn presents opportunities for the community to co-create the brand alongside Kiki. I’ve previously explored why this is valuable here.

9dcc: While Kiki is using phygital goods to incentivize engagement in the digital world, GMoney’s 9dcc is taking the opposite approach, by motivating consumers to engage with the physical product. 9dcc continues to run brand experiments, including sending games like black jack to holders on a frequent basis, which consumers only have to tap their NFC chip to play. Playing earns brand points, which can similarly be spent on future products and perks. In addition, consumers can link POAPs to their NFC chips, allowing individuals to collect these digital stamps upon meeting new friends, attending events, and more. In partnership with IYK, the brand also offers the ability to ‘digitally autograph’ goods, as explored above.

As brands seek new ways to engage with their communities and acquire new customers, phygital goods allow for an innovative, seamless extension to traditional loyalty programs that can incentivize not only engagement with the product itself (heretofore impossible), but more broadly better track (and thus reward) all actions across the digital and physical worlds.

1. Building Product Identities The Tailwind: Social Commerce The current growth of the social commerce market (30.7% CAGR from 2022 to 2030) is largely being driven by Gen-Z (to no one’s surprise). The stats are, at this point, well-known, yet still shocking – 97% of Gen-Z turn to social media as their main shopping inspiration, 58% of Gen-Z make most purchases based on recommendations from content creators (of all sizes), and 61% have purchased items from ads on TikTok. For these young consumers, shopping is and has always been, an inherently social experience in which the people wearing the products provide context and a sense of narrative. The products themselves, however, have lacked a similar identity – until now.

The Phuture Storytelling, narrative building and identity have always been at the core of what makes fashion goods valuable. These stories are what allow the consumer to connect with the brand rather than simply a product, ultimately creating a longer lasting relationship. Therefore, these narratives have been confined either to said brand, or the individual carrying the product, rather than the product itself. Brands lend heritage, origin stories and more, content creators build context – where to wear a good and how to style it – yet the product itself derives none of this value.

The most exciting unlock of phygital goods (in my opinion), is the ability for the fashion good to move through the physical and digital worlds, collecting “context”, thereby allowing each piece to create its own unique identity. Ideally, this ‘context’ would live and be visually represented in an interactive and aesthetic way. One can imagine a digital fashion closet (or makeup counter), in which digital assets from sundresses to shoes or nail polish are stored, along with the context they collect. This context could consist of:

Event Attendance: POAPs collected for concerts, parties, brand pop-ups and other events can all be linked to your phygital good – like that Drake concert you attended.

People Met: A Nikola Jokic-autographed Nuggets jersey hanging on your wall can only be seen by the few friends who come by your apartment, but a digital autograph can be shared with all of your followers.

Photos: ‘Outfit of the Day’ style photos get an automatic upgrade when attached to the actual product itself, allowing for instant purchase by followers and outfit-admirers.

Music Playlists: Brands like Aimé Leon Dore and Gimaguas regularly create playlists that reflect the brand identity, further helping create a brand world. This can be taken to the next level when the playlists are created for each product – and linked to the digital twin in turn.

Mood Board: A green knit set takes you down a Gwyneth Paltrow in Great Expectations rabbit hole, as you compile a mood board of photos, writing, and film references on Cosmos. A quick link to your green cardigan provides a fresh source of inspiration for your followers.

Etc…

In summary, as each phygital good moves through the world, it collects its own context, and develops its own narrative, its own identity, and thus its own value. Phygital items, in bringing to the forefront the social experience of each product, inherently create a more social shopping experience as a whole. This is the next era of social commerce.

Phygital Girl, Phygital World Today, the fashion and commerce worlds are separated by the physical and digital. To paraphrase Draup founder Daniella Loftus, we purchase clothing on digital e-commerce websites, receive and wear the physical items, then post digital photos of our outfits on social media. The physical clothing item is sandwiched by two digital bookends.

Tomorrow, the physical and digital worlds will be bridged, and the majority of fashion experiences will look like our hypothetical experience with Staud – phygital. In a phygital world, the relationship between a brand, its product and a consumer doesn’t stop after purchase, or on a social media platform – it transcends both, and thus intertwines an experience beginning with the supply chain, through a first purchase, loyalty program and brand engagement, social experiences, resale and much more.

The phygital revolution (for that is what this is) will finally fulfill the potential that was created when fashion and commerce first went digital decades ago – the opportunity for consumer brands to transcend this world, and become a world themselves.

This is Part 1 of a two-part series on phygital fashion. Part 2 will be published next week. Stay tuned!

Every web app could become a financial app, enabling:

Micropayments - content creators can directly monetise, paywalls can offer one time payment options

Seamless web purchases - assets can be bought and swapped within web articles

Digital content integrity - the authenticity of all digital content would be verified

An artificial separation Web3 today is artificially separate from Web2.

To use a “Web3 app” or “dapp”, you first need to install a wallet and setup a browser extension, such as in Dawn’s Safari Extension. The extension injects a connection to Web3 into the webpage.

This way of connecting to the blockchain however is messy and stunts the adoption of Web3. To simply integrate payments into a web app, a developer needs to learn about esoteric Web3 concepts such as providers, signers and transaction receipts.

Further, it means that every Web3 protocol has to be accessed through a custom built UI. These protocols are actually fundamental financial primitives - sending value, swapping assets, taking out loans - and we believe should be available natively to every web app.

Indeed, the early Internet designers thought it obvious that the Internet would have a native digital cash layer. They left behind the 402 Payment Required HTTP error code.

Block space and AI Taking a step back, there are two technology exponentials that we think will play a large role in shaping the next generation of the Internet.

Block space is going to $0 Only a couple of years ago, a simple swap on Mainnet would cost several dollars - putting Web3 firmly out of the reach of most.

Now, rollups are rolling off the production line and have lowered this cost to the mere 10s of cents. Sending a payment on a rollup costs an order of magnitude less than the Stripe minimum fee.

AI will start to interpret the world around us AI and LLMs are continuing to advance and will start to play a role in interpreting our finances, helping us to secure and execute our digital lives.

Dawn AI is an early attempt to show what is possible right now, giving you a deeply competent financial copilot by your side to help you interpret the Web3 world.

It is also clear that the proliferation of powerful AI will raise challenges. It will soon be impossible, if it isn’t already, to discern human generated content from AI generated content. All human generated content will need to be signed, humans will “Sign Everything”.

HTML+ So how can we build Web3 direct into every web app? This would enable micropayments across the Internet, new mechanisms to fund digital content and bring hardened, trusted data to the Web in the Age of AI.

We think that the browser and wallet need to take on a much larger role. Tom Walpo came to us recently and discussed this idea - HTML can be upgraded to be Web3 enabled - HTML+.

The idea is to introduce a limited set of new HTML tags, where each tag represents a core primitive of Web3. A “Web3 ready” browser would interpret and execute these, whilst a non-enabled browser would simply ignore.

To make this concrete, consider the below collection of tags and a use case:

A tag, notifying the browser that the app is connecting to Web3 <STREAM FROM="" TO="" DURATION="" ASSET="USDC" AMOUNT=""" /> Micropayments Imagine a non-web3 developer runs a news website with a paywall. They want to integrate payments, to allow a user to pay to read an article rather than subscribe. With HTML+, the developer can immediately reach for the tag and enable payments in one line of code. The browser would interpet this tag and render it in Green. Web3 enabled browsers rendering a tag with a green "web3 enabled" colour Web3 enabled browsers rendering a tag with a green "web3 enabled" colour A website visitor could then easily send a payment of $1 via a rollup, to remove the paywall and read the article. They would pay just a few cents in fees: optimistic.etherscan.io optimistic.etherscan.io The developer would not need to learn anything about Alchemy, signers or Ethers. They would not need to integrate a third party SDK. And micropayments would be the start. We think the browser/wallet of the future will take on the role of verifying what you see online - querying chain state, verifying the authenticity of digital content and guiding your experience of the Web with LLMs. Talk with us This is early stages of what it could look like to build Web3 into the Web and we are enthusiastic to hear input and feedback. Interested in embedding micropayments into your site? Please join our community and get involved! Telegram Discourse

Yes, gas fees on Ethereum can ruin a good trade. So it is no surprise that people are trying to minimise those fees. Possible way outs are Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism or side chains like Polygon. However sometimes the transaction has to take place on Ethereum; current skills on RabbitHole are such examples.

What are gas fees anyway?

In simple terms, gas fees are paid for computer power.

Computer power is required whenever transactions involve a smart contract that has to be executed (e.g. minting an NFT). More simple transactions like transferring ETH to another wallet require gas as well.

Gas is also an incentive for miners to secure the network and add executed transactions to a block on the blockchain. Depending on the amount of gas you are willing to spend this can happen faster or slower. However in the worst case the transaction fails and ETH is lost.

How are gas fees calculated?

Gas is usually denominated in gwei (=1 giga wei). 1 wei is the smallest unit of ETH. 1 ETH is 10^18 wei or in other words 0.000000000000000001 ETH represent 1 wei. So 1 gwei is 0.000000001 ETH.Wei is referring to Wei Dai, a computer engineer who formulated the concepts of modern cryptocurrencies.

A wallet application like Metamask is displaying gwei and the expected costs before approving the transaction. So this is the last moment you can decide if you actually want to confirm the transaction.

Usually the term gas fee is used to describe the complete transaction costs. However the actual gas fee consists of two parts:The first part is fixed and is called gas price. The gas price is the cost per unit computer power that is specified for the transaction (e.g. swapping tokens).

The second part describes the actual gas fee and is variable. It consists of a network base fee at the time of the block. Also it includes a gas limit which is often set automatically by the smart contract you interact with. But it can be changed by you. Warning: You should only do this if you know what you are doing!

In the screenshot you can see an example taken from Etherscan. It is the minting of an NFT.

Transaction on Etherscan

Can I reduce gas fees?

As I have mentioned the actual gas fee is not fixed. It is dependent on the time of the block which your transaction is allocated to.

Gas fees fluctuate throughout the day and week. When the network is congested fees are higher than when there is not much traffic. Just think of rush hours when commuting. It is basically the same situation.

So when are gas fees low? For a general overview you can head to ethereumprice.org. It features a nice chart - set to your local timezone - of gas fees of the last two weeks. This chart should give you a basic idea of when to schedule your transactions.

Gas by time and day

As you can see from the image above gas prices have been rather low this week.

For real time gas fees I recommend checking the gas tracker on Etherscan. Other trackers you can try:

• ETH Gas Station

• useweb3.xyz

With the mentioned tools you should be able to reduce costs and make your Ethereum experience more pleasant.

Cover photo by Dawn McDonald on Unsplash

The application is available as a browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Firefox. Also there are iOS and Android mobile apps available from the respective app stores.

When reading tutorials on interacting with Ethereum or applications and protocols built on it, MetaMask is often used as the reference wallet application.

Add a new blockchain to MetaMask

While MetaMask is established, it is lacking some features newer apps like Rainbow provide. Out-of-the-box it only supports Ethereum Mainnet and some test nets. If you want to interact with applications on Level 2 blockchains like Arbitrum you have to add the configuration for those blockchains yourself.

Tutorials mostly mention to add those blockchains manually by going to Settings -> Networks -> Add Network:

Add Network to MetaMask

You have to add the relevant information to all those fields below:

Network Fields

The information is usually provided in the tutorial or you have to look for them on the internet. This is not really comfortable.

Fortunately, there are at least two easier methods to add a blockchain to MetaMask.

Chainlist

The first method is Chainlist. It is exactly what the name is promising. Chainlist is displaying an almost endless number of Ethereum compatible blockchains, so called EVM (=Ethereum Virtual Machine) powered blockchains. Admittedly, I have not heard of most.

Anyway, simply connect MetaMask to Chainlist and look for the blockchain you want to add. For the purpose of this article I will add the Harmony blockchain:

Harmony on Chainlist

Click the Add To Metamask button and MetaMask will pop up and will display all relevant information of the Harmony blockchain. Simply klick Approve.

Approve Addition

MetaMask will pop up again and will ask you to switch the network:

Switch Network

After clicking the Switch network button Harmony has been added to MetaMask:

Harmony Added

SushiSwap

Another option is SushiSwap. Hey cpoetter, Sushi is a DEX (decentralized exchange), you might say. That is correct and admittedly, it is probably not the most intuitive option to add a blockchain. However it is working surprisingly well.

First connect MetaMask to Sushi. You will see the Ethereum symbol next to your wallet address or ENS domain.

Ethereum Symbol

Next click the Ethereum symbol and a list of blockchains will pop up. This list is not as comprehensive as the list on Chainlist but the most common chains are listed. Well, those where Sushi is deployed, of course.

List of Blockchains on Sushi

Select the chain you want to add. The following steps are the same as on Chainlist.

Add a new token to MetaMask

In general MetaMask supports ETH and all other ETH based tokens. It has built in auto-detection which detects most tokens; only on Mainnet, though. However sometimes tokens you hold in your wallet are not displayed, especially on Layer 2 chains like Optimism and sidechains like Polygon. Other wallet applications have better token support.

Block Explorer

MetaMask provides two good articles including screenshots on adding tokens you are missing. One method described there is finding the token on a block explorer like Etherscan. This method works but requires copying and pasting the contract address of the token and adding it to MetaMask. Every token has a contract address.

CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap

A more elegant way is adding the token via CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap. Since the way to add a token is very similar I only describe CoinGecko.

Let us assume we want to add the Lido DAO (LDO) token to Polygon. We can either scroll through the endless list of tokens on CoinGecko or use the search bar. Search works with the full name of the token as well as the currency symbol. The search result looks like this:

CoinGecko Search Result

Interesting to us is the info section on the right side of the screen, especially the contract part:

Info Section

The contract part consists of five elements:

• the Ethereum icon, indicating that the contract address of the token belongs to the contract on Mainnet

• the contract address itself

• copy to clipboard

• the MetaMask icon

• a three dotted button

Tokens can be deployed on more than one blockchain. It is important to know that the contract addresses of the same token differ from blockchain to blockchain.

I have mentioned that we want to add LDO to Polygon. Therefore we have to click the three dotted button. It reveals this screen:

Polygon Contract

We see the Polygon icon as well as the clipboard and MetaMask icons. If the LDO token was deployed on more blockchains they were listed here as well. Now simply click the MetaMask icon and MetaMask will pop up:

Add Token

Confirm and LDO is added to MetaMask. Nice!

Please note: If you are using both the browser extension and the mobile app you will have to add blockchains and tokens in both apps. There is no sync!

You should know some easy ways to add blockchains and tokens to MetaMask now.

Header image by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash

Admittedly, the web3 experience could be easier, more pleasant, and more welcoming. Buzzwords like permissionless, ownership, decentralization, immutability,... are hurled at newcomers without providing context and explanation.

The technology itself makes matters worse. Often it is not self-explanatory how things work or what users have to pay attention to; that is even true for core components like wallets. A slew of technical terms need to be understood. Yes, there are FAQs, text and video tutorials, and other material available. But how much material is a newcomer supposed to read and watch if they want to start with web3? Setting up a wallet, purchasing ETH,... Oh, that cute NFT is on Polygon? What is Polygon? Can't I just buy it with my ETH? Most people will drop out at this stage if they are not very curious about the space or technology, especially if the use case is not obvious to them. It is simply too much effort.

So, much of the technology is not ready for mainstream adoption and the industry is plagued with scammers and ponzis. Why should I stay and watch the space or even get involved?

I think there is an alternative web3 beyond the headlines. Some people envision a better, more just world. ReFi and impact DAOs come to mind. Sure, several projects will never be fully realized and will remain pipe dreams. But imagination is the first step to changing circumstances. If we cannot imagine a better world, why are we here anyway?

Oddly, both critics and proponents of web3 agree that the current web of big tech and platform economy needs to change. Our data and efforts to provide content are monetized by corporations, profits stay in the pockets of the c-suite and shareholders. They only leave crumbs - if any - for the rest of us.

Web3 is offering new tools and ways for creators to earn an income. Mind you, nobody is claiming that all creators will make a living off their work if they only entered the magic world of web3. If anyone is claiming this, be suspicious of them! But it is an opportunity to change the rules, to bypass the middlemen.

Maybe I will be disillusioned about the space in a few months or years. Until then, I try to support people, companies, and projects that try to change the current state of the web. It is much easier to stay on the sidelines and just criticize without making a real effort and providing an alternative.

Currently, web3 is hope.