Crypto community platforms

Edd, Edd and Eddy want your attention (and your jawbreakers)

Introduction

In the bull market of 2023–2024, a new digital behemoth emerged. In this cornerstone of decentralized finance, memecoins, and blockchain layers, that we have called our home, work, and hobby, the crypto community platform has become a daily occurrence for many.

Having a global community to back your actions, spread the word about your technology, and engage in communication, questionnaires, and debates has become paramount in remaining relevant in the blockchain space.

The big difference from pre-crypto, attention-economy platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, is a unique methodology. For the first time in digital history, your contributions are recorded and directly linked to airdrops — for potentially huge financial gains.

The heavy-spirited competition of blockchains battling for your contributions is very reminiscent of a 90’s Cartoon Network trio that most of us will remember from the late 90’s: Ed, Edd, and Eddy. Known for creating money schemes full of wit and drive to gain attention from a community full of neighbourhood kids. All for the goal of gaining popularity and jawbreakers.

Therefore, in this article I have chosen three big crypto community platforms, tying them in with the archetypes of Ed, Edd, and Eddy — Each with their own unique approach.

The characters

Zealy.io (Ed):

Like its cartoon counterpart, Zealy embodies an infectious positivity. With its unique approach, a direct link to Discord — it offers rewards in the form of experience points for tasking ranging from check-ins to creative endeavours like article writing, meme creation, and GitHub contributions. Notably, Zealy leverages its connection to Discord to reward users with ‘channel roles’, a means of visualizing your efforts. A strategy that has proven successful in incentivizing community involvement.

Example: Movement Labs created four Discord roles through Zealy, ranging from creator, scholar, curator, and pathfinder, each having its own set of tasks. Having any of these roles secured, provided you with 56 OMNI tokens, catching you a $1700 reward at the time of distribution, for a mere
day of hard work.

Guild.xyz (Edd):

Like Edd, Guild prides itself on a disciplined and orderly approach to community management. It loves order and takes on the role of peacemaker. While definitely lacking a social finesse, Guild compensates with a great attention to detail, often requiring very specific criteria for role assignment, such as physical attendance at hacker conventions. This interesting emphasis ensures that rewards are earned through tangible contributions, for Edd demands a culture of excellence.

While everyone is able to set up a Guild and create the ‘Guild pins’ as rewards for free, it takes the role of admin to, for example, incorporate a reward for joining a Discord channel.

Galxe.com (Eddy):

As is the archetype of Eddy, Galxe exudes an air of self-interest and ambition. It can be described as opportunistic and power-hungry and is not afraid to prioritize its own financial interests over that of its communities. However, it developed a unique Galxe ID, its own Galxe token, and the OAT, offering users the potential for substantial rewards, albeit with uncertainty. The allure of these rewards makes it a compelling yet unpredictable player in the landscape.

BONUS: Layer3.xyz (Kevin):

The role of Kevin is that of an effortlessly cool jock, navigating the digital landscape with charisma and charm. Layer3 works with a thought-through gamified experience, complete with experience points and tangible proof of on-chain actions. It uses ‘cubes’ as a form of NFT, both as a proof of action and as a means of eventually airdropping their L$3 governance token. As a favourite among users, Layer3 sets a standard for user engagement, seamlessly integrating with multiple ecosystems to create a cohesive digital footprint.

The promise

For blockchain companies, the promise is simple: Invest in our platform, and we’ll deliver the users. For users, the allure lies in completing quests and earning rewards, often in the form of NFTS that serve as digital badges of honor, or a proof of a digitalized footprint. In many ways, the pitfall that ended the 2017 bull market — Endless ICOs of useless companions — now changed into endless fee burning, NFT minting, and token manipulation. Hear the 2017 crypto kids shiver from a distance.

Platforms must navigate the delicate balance between incentivizing engagement, and ‘farming’ users of their time and fees.

For example: For anyone who farmed Linea throughout the last couple of months, it wouldn’t come as a surprise that at this point, they will have easily burned over $500 of Ethereum fees. It is still unsure if the burning of these fees will be worth the 2024 airdrop.

The revenue

Ultimately, both blockchain companies and crypto community platforms rely on user engagement to drive revenue. Zealy, Guild, and Galxe do this by taking a cut of the fees for NFT minting. Layer3 does this by asking for a significant fee from the blockchain company that wants the exposure.

Social media engagement, daily activities, and content creation all contribute to the success of the blockchain company, with each interaction serving as a potential revenue stream.

Conclusion

The scene of crypto community platforms is a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape, with each platform offering a unique blend of incentives and rewards. From the optimistic enthusiasm of Zealy to the strange allure of Galxe, users are spoiled for choice when it comes to engaging in upcoming digital titans. As the industry keeps maturing, platforms should remain agile and innovative, constantly striving to deliver value to both blockchain companies and their uses, while staying true to their core principles.

The remainder of 2024 and a potentially bullish 2025 will show how many ‘farmable’ blockchain companies, like Scroll, Base, Move, Zora, LayerZero, Hyperlane, Jumper, Orbiter, Linea, Swell, Karak, Plume, Bera, Orderly and Polyzkevm will reward their users with a fair share of their decentralized economy.

It is important to keep level-headed about monetary gains while focussing on staying involved with the platforms you find interesting enough to invest time into.

While engaging in crypto community platforms may be fruitful at times, it is usually the ‘underexposed’ companies that have the biggest share of airdrops to their users, as it is less diluted by experience points and engagement farming.

Left out of this article are blockchain companies that built up their own point system (Rhino.fi, Zetachain, Blast) , and a couple of community platforms that did not fit any of the archetypes, like Merkly and Mercle. So here’s the tiniest of shoutouts!


Thanks for reading,
Bod