The New Store of Value for Communities
The New Store of Value for Communities
Social tokens are becoming a store of value for digital communities. Their value increases when they are in the hands of the community, as a digital representation of the contributions, connections, and incentives within the group.
We’re constantly rediscovering how community is at the core of the most exciting projects on Roll and in the wider category of Web3. Shepard Fairey and the ObeyGiant crew have created a community that has led the way for decades in street art, political art, and now crypto assets with the launch of $OBEY (see Who’s On a Roll below).
We’re starting to see an uptick in the number of artists and musicians using social tokens and bringing their listeners together. What is surprising is how easy they make it look.
We’re watching Harrison First deftly navigate the explosion of web3 tools and bring his community along for the ride, and at the same time, GenreDAO is innovating within their community by creating a treasury to provide mutual aid and new resources to a wider base of people (see New Money and Social Token Governance below).
Who's on a Roll
I want to reach people through as many platforms as possible. -Shepard Fairey
It started with a sticker in 1989 and never stopped. As we start exploring the world of Web3 it’s no surprise to find the piercing eyes of André the Giant with the launch of the $OBEY social token.
As always $OBEY is playing with concepts around consumerism, capitalism, and value. As the Obey Giant team explains, this represents the value of the community, which is why they aren’t selling it. Instead, it has to be earned. Holding $OBEY forms a connection between community members who might otherwise focus on a single part of the Obey universe (posters, books, apparel, fine art, and more). Holders of $OBEY are signaling something about themselves to each other. It’s really not that different from those stickers back in 1989.
The value of a community is more important than the size. Brady of $TIDE is a great example of going deep with a community. His dedicated followers are about Brady’s long-form deep dives into the crypto space, providing a hands-on demonstration of the technology and constant experimentation. (see Humans of Social Tokens below).
Social Token Governance
👀This section covers everything that has to do with DAOS, from new launches to governance proposals to any DAO-related news.
The original intent of the DAO was to put decision-making power into the hands of an automated system and a crowdsourced process. Some people hold onto the idea that a DAO is a very specific thing, while others are pushing the idea of the DAO into less-defined areas. In the past months, we’ve taken to calling things “DAO-like” because organizations can choose how strict to be in their implementation. This is one of the great opportunities presented by web3, you can take the pieces that work for you and throw the rest aside.
A good example of this is the recent thread from @GREY_____SUPPLY, where the minutiae of DAO management is questioned and the realization is that not every decision needs to be made by a committee, we don’t have to call every community a DAO, and most startling of all, maybe you don’t even need a Discord!
There are also opportunities to use these tools to directly support and develop your community. @GENREDAO is raising funds to support artist mutual aid and incubate creative projects. The ability to have a community treasury that benefits members starts to mirror the rise of fraternal organizations in the United States (which provided early insurance coverage for members).
With Wyoming recognizing the legal status of a DAO how long until we see the rise of digital fraternal organizations (DFOs?) that can offer a virtual lodge experience? If nothing else it might be time to start working on Season 3 of Lodge 49.
New Money
🎤Launching DRESG!
Dresage is singer/producer/writer/composer Keeley Bumford’s personal exploration of sound and texture. The next step of that exploration took Keeley on a path of innovation towards web3 that eventually lead to the creation of her social token $DRESG.
$DRESG is built to connect fragmented fans across various digital platforms. The token embraces & encourages the increasing blur between artist and community – Dressage
You can earn $DRESG by engaging with Keeley on all the different platforms she and her community exist on (like her Discord) and you can use it to unlock exclusive demos & samples as well as to participate in community ownership.
💰It’s $WORTH it!
Sid Worthy was definitely ahead of his time when he minted WORTH with us back in 2019. After a long hiatus, and with everything going on at the intersection of music and social tokens, Sid is (re)launching $WORTH.
You can use $WORTH to interact with Sid and his music across the internet. Right now, you can book a 1-on-1 call with Sid over Zoom for 1,000 $WORTH.
🎶$FIRST time?
Harrison is no stranger to innovation and he has proved that multiple times by paving the way for what it means to be a music producer involved in web3. Having dabbled with social tokens, NFTs, and DAOs for a while now, Harrison has started experimenting with different new platforms that enable creators to better connect with their fans in a decentralized way.
Enter Myx, a new decentralized music platform that is soon going to publicly launch and is currently taking applications from artists. Harrison is already on that list and he plans on doing some big things there.
🎙️FutureFolio podcast is going token-gating.
As announced in their Discord, FutureFolio will soon be launching a $FUTR-gated website on which $FUTR holders will have 48 hours early access to every new episode of their podcast. Going forward, all new episodes will be publicly available for only 4 weeks before they are moved to a token-gated archive that will live on FutureFolio’s new website.
Amid all the above new developments, Kevin and Adam are also dropping a new weekly show, “The Coin Bachelor”, as they officially grow FuturFolio Podcast into FutureFolio Podcast Network.
⛏️$INI Liquidity Mining.$INI/ETH liquidity providers were rewarded with 200 $INI each for providing liquidity throughout January. According to Sho’s announcement on the Initia Discord, liquidity mining for February has just begun and participants need to provide liquidity for a full continuous month in order to be eligible for the rewards. What are you waiting for? Add $INI liquidity here.
Humans of Social Money
I am a professional streamer, educator & consultant, community builder, musician and the founder of Stream Tide, an upcoming crowdfunding app similar to Patreon and Gitcoin Grants. My involvement in the crypto space goes back as early as 2011.
- Brady McKenna of TIDE
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