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Li Jin
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1/ threading a portion of my @BoysClub keynote, which debuted on Tuesday during /brandnew in Austin! -- There are two broadly paths that I’ve observed emerge for the future of consumer crypto:
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Li Jin
@li
2/ Crypto began in 2009 with one asset, Bitcoin, designed to be stateless money. Bitcoin is an example of a class of crypto products that treats crypto as the "why"–meaning crypto assets is the whole reason people want to use something. Crypto is extremely visible in these products...
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Li Jin
@li
3/ It’s the whole reason why people are there. This class of products that treat "crypto as the why" also includes memecoins, PFPs, and other products that put crypto at the center of their value proposition. The target user for this class of products is typically early crypto adopters, degens, etc.
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Li Jin
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4/ But crypto isn’t just about money and assets – crypto is also a technology, and so in the past couple of years, we started seeing builders treating crypto as the "how." In these products, crypto is simply the technological tool that helps accomplish something.
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Li Jin
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5/ Crypto is invisible, and users are oblivious that there’s a blockchain at all. This segment of products targets normal mainstream users who have a pain point and just want a product to solve that better.
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Li Jin
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6/ Both of those two categories of products are growing and I think will be immensely successful. But what we’re seeing now, in addition, is a new wave of innovation that I call "Only with crypto": products that use the building blocks offered by crypto to create entirely new experiences.
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Li Jin
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7/ In this category, crypto unlocks entirely a new design space, and creates compelling experiences that simply weren’t possible before in web2.
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Li Jin
@li
8/ The segment of products that can be built "Only with crypto" have capabilities rooted in what crypto uniquely brings to the table: - Global payment rails - Composability of onchain assets and identity - Creation of new markets and new assets These elements combined unlock new experiences.
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Li Jin
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9/ Let's go through some examples! Last month, I was a contestant in @cryptothegame, a Survivor-esque online game show that took place over the span of 2 weeks. There were a few dimensions of the game that were possible only with crypto.
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10/ Firstly, it was built using crypto payment rails, enabling it to involve real money prizes and to be global from day 1 – the founder @DylanAbruscato said he couldn’t imagine building the game on any other financial rails.
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Li Jin
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11/ In the future, you could imagine the game introducing all sorts of novel mechanics leveraging crypto, like embedded prediction markets to allow audiences to bet on what happens next, adding in another layer of engagement beyond what’s possible in web2.
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Li Jin
@li
12/ Another example of "only with crypto" is new networks that couldn’t otherwise exist. From my experience investing in marketplaces over the past 7+ years, I realized that there are a whole set of marketplaces & types of networks that should exist in the world but don’t, because of the immense cold start problem
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13/ Examples range from new dating apps, to hyperlocal social networks, to marketplaces for various services – networks that plenty of web2 founders have tried to build, but have an immensely difficult time in getting off the ground or scaling.
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14/ You could apply tokens as a new bootstrapping tool to build these networks. What excites me about this category is instead of directing tokens to re-create networks already exist in web2, you’re building net new networks that don't exist currently.
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Li Jin
@li
15/ Another example of something made possible only with crypto is new composable apps and distribution channels that connect to users' wallets to enable richer actions. Last month saw the launch of @farcaster Frames, a framework for building mini-applications inside Farcaster.
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