Inspiration often strikes in the most unexpected places.
For me (and this piece) it emerged from the memetic energy in the $degen channel (mostly) on Farcaster, a web3 social space.
Further encouragement has been derived from Onchain: a Farcaster experiment in long-form content, curated by Phil (Bright Moments).
Do please connect with me to share your thoughts on these concepts e.g. in the comments below, on Twitter (@papajimjams), Farcaster (@papa), Lens (papajams.lens), and/or via email papaandthejimjams(at)gmail(dot)com.
Final piece published & collectible on paragraph.xyz, subscribe.
1. Convenience
Memecoin ETFs / Index Funds ($BUNDLE)
The proliferation of memecoins across various blockchains has made it difficult for collectors to efficiently gain broad exposure.
Problem: Holding an array of memecoin projects across chains like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Solana, Algorand, Tezos etc. requires managing many wallets, keys, and assets.
Solution: A memecoin index fund or ETF issued on a single chain like could provide convenient exposure to a basket of popular memecoins across multiple chains through a single asset.
Users could select from $bundles (baskets) of meme projects saving collectors substantial hassle. Additionally, exposure could be given to whole new categories like “farcaster memecoins” or “DAO memecoins” for thematic exposure.
Periodic rebalancing of the index’s components could ensure continued relevance. Additionally, decentralized governance of the index’s composition could engage a vibrant community. By improving accessibility and breadth of exposure, a properly constructed memecoin index product could see strong demand while simplifying ownership.
Risks: Centralization, adverse incentives and information assymetry around product construction, trustless infrastructure, security, asset concentrations, rugpulls, etc ad infinitum.
If the mortgage bonds were the match, then the CDOs were the kerosene soaked rags, then the synthetic CDO was the atomic bomb that the drunk President holding his finger over the button. The Big Short
2. Incentives
Monetize Memes Directly ($ARTSLICE)
Internet memes currently deliver entertainment value and social currency for their creators, but lack direct monetization. A system that allowed seamless attribution and compensation for viral meme content could incentivize even higher quality engagement, creators and .
For instance using the provenance underpinning blockchain based infrastructure to turn memes shared on emergent web3 social platforms into affiliate links. This would reward the creator (and perhaps the proliferator/sharer too) with a small commission for each user that engages with it and goes on to perform a monetisable action.
Attributable Provanance Case Study: $SPAM
- A memecoin built on Base (an Ethereum Layer 2) built by borodutch
- Contract tracks everytime you post (cast) on farcaster with the word $SPAM
- For every unique cast containing “$SPAM” you earn 5 of the memecoin
- This is claimable every 24 hours at https://spam.claims/
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This technology applied to memes would be applicable with any type of media from songs to GIFs could integrate this functionality. The overall ease of sharing content virally would likely remain high, while creators are directly compensated for popular pieces.
Complex questions around rights of use would need resolution. But with proper implementation, direct monetization could vastly improve incentives for top-tier meme creation.
3. Discovery
Hyper Curated Matchmaker for Web3 Creators & Builders
Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness, imagination, and sustained innovation. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology, so he built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering. He and his colleagues at Apple were able to think differently: They developed not merely modest product advances based on focus groups, but whole new devices and services that consumers did not yet know they needed. Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs
Problem: there is a sea of freely available artistic content, talent, stakeholders and that is hard and time consuming to filter.
Solution: take a leaf out of submithub’s playbook and add friction (token gating) so there is a more selective curational feed of relevant artists and content for builders and/or platforms to engage with.
Token gating enables a form of filtering that would stack up alongside a reputation-based matching system for builders to selectively discover talent that fits their needs and budgets across geographies, while saving them from sifting through a sea of noise.
Creators share existing profiles, portfolios, and concepts (e.g. from something as simple as a meme to an ad campaign or product design) that highlight their specialties, experience, etc.
On the flip side, reputable builders (rated by creators that have pitched them, pitching can also happen in the reverse direction) could also be discovered by creators seeking partners and employment. By adding thoughtful friction and reputation tracking, higher quality matches could be made on both sides.
“Companies that we wanted to work with, that would never hire us, we would just make the f***ing commercials, put them on our website, and pretend they had hired us.” Casey Neistat
Risks: the system could introduce bias, and methods would be needed to prevent imbalance or gaming.
4. Accountability
Personal Staking Contracts ($SELFSTAKE)
The extreme volatility experienced by web3 collectors often tests diamond hands in a brutal fashion. The instinct to sell tokens after major price spikes (or cut losses during crashes) often proves costly in the long run. Sitting on those hands and doing nothing, whilst often wise, is often the antithesis of natural inclinations.
Allowing collectors to “stake” tokens with themselves via on-chain contracts could provide accountability. Tokens would be locked up for set periods with (self) predefined early withdrawal penalties — for example, sending a self selected percentage of withdrawn coins to charity automatically or designated friends/enemies.
Collectors could essentially challenge their own paper hands. Templates for locking periods and withdrawal penalties could make setup seamless.
Risks: Whilst the general advice is to only use a fraction of total network for high risk collecting, users may deplete staked assets to dangerously low levels in times of financial distress. Therefore some standard safety checks may be prudent. Additionally, the strategy is not foolproof against black swan events severely and permanently impairing staked assets’ value. But when applied judiciously on a portion of holdings, self-staking offers accountability to weather storms and practice/support diamond handing.
5. Attention
Article Summarizers ($TLDR)
There is a bot that paragraph.xyz uses which is awesome at summarising any article written on the platform as a short cast (post/tweet on farcaster). This is a form of both trailer, and explainer eliciting what to expect from reading.
TLDR expands on this by turning that short form written content into more visual forms of media (GIF, meme, mini trailer, etc) in service of the longer form article. After all, high-quality writing deserves discovery and thoughtful consumption; short form video and graphics cater to modern audience preferences for consuming information. For authors, built-in promotional content expands reach.
However, nuanced ideas risk being oversimplified through such compression. Any bias in summary curation would also need to be monitored. Further, article monetization models may require adjustment, as snippets could disincentivize clicking through. But if carefully implemented, instantly generated explainers and trailers could provide a powerful discovery mechanism for long form writing while giving time-constrained audiences effective previews to evaluate relevance.
Fin
It’s easy to have ideas, it’s very hard to turn an idea into a successful product — Jeff Bezos
While risks exist in decentralized systems, thoughtfully leveraging blockchain architectures could lead to breakthroughs in convenience, incentives, discovery, and accountability within and without this ecosystem. Seamless experience, ownership, control and new value creation opportunities may emerge from such solutions. User needs will need to remain central in designing token-based networks, reputation systems and accountability tools that transform interactions. Each concept has merits but also nuanced considerations around risks and biases.
Convenience: pack memecoins into simplified products reducing barriers to exposure and management, empowering collectors.
Incentives: Direct monetization models create powerful incentives for creators to engage audiences and develop viral content while maintaining ease of sharing.
Discovery: Friction mechanisms and reputation tracking in matching platforms can enable higher quality alignments between builders & creative talent.
Accountability: Voluntary self-staking contracts leverage blockchain transparency to strengthen commitments and weather volatility for long-term success.
Grateful to you for reading. Lets build.
Connect
Farcaster @papa — https://www.discove.xyz/@papa
Lens @papajams — https://lenster.xyz/u/papajams
Twitter @papajimjams — https://twitter.com/papajimjams
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