the crypto space has been talking about decentralized social (DeSo) for a while now. for an industry that challenges skeuomorphism, i think WE (myself included) have been too literal in envisioning & developing what this looks like. crypto is inherently transactional. crypto is meant to be interoperable. the mechanisms of web2 social platforms are the exact opposite-- most are free and most will do anything to keep you locked inside. and while we’ve seen attempts from social networks to incorporate crypto (libra to diem), it doesn’t work if the decision is made by the platform itself but rather the participants who decide what should be valued from the outside in.

This is why I can’t stop thinking about $DEGEN.

$DEGEN was launched in January of this year and I’m not going to talk about why and how because that’s not the point of this piece. it’s more interesting to follow what is happening by way of it. what we’re seeing is that when data isn't the model but rather social currencies, there is less a desire from both platforms and users to stay locked in to a single platform, and more a desire to spread it out. the activity started on Warpcast (use $DEGEN for “tipping”, buy $DEGEN as a currency, $DEGEN as a hashtag for “endorsement”) and has since been leveraged by others to launch platforms, games and initiatives. this is a pairing of both farcaster (transport your social network) and $DEGEN (the chosen in game currency).

24 hours ago, Bracket.game went live leveraging $DEGEN. it’s a game tied to the march madness tournament and other leagues where players can vote, buy and sell their favorite team’s positions. perl, a skill-based prediction game, let’s you win $DEGEN-- as of yesterday you can even withdraw. i’ve been spending a lot of time following what Drakula (aka tiktok for crypto) too. In 7 days they’ve done $5,000,000 of volume, have paid $250,000 to creators and has over 30,000 videos uploaded. they plan to do a $DEGEN creator announcement and incorporate other popular products used and leveraged on warpcast. i think this is just the beginning.

so why is this interesting now? porting social data is a great way to boost a network. we know this. but what we see now is that active currencies associated with “social” are the thread that can truly tie these networks together. not just that it is the synonymous currency across many, but that the buyers, holders, distributors of it are the founders, community members and participants themselves. they own, manage and control al of the networks built upon it. this is big.

there are many questions i have been asking myself over the past 24 hours that will take up my brain space for weeks. like…

• are market caps the new micro payments? when the community owns and shares an established currency they all support, is the associated value more on the collective (ie. the FDV/MC of $DEGEN) versus the traditional P2P exchange? In this case, the more $DEGEN is used, discussed, spread, the more value goes to the currency. You now use and own “FB” simultaneously.

• $DEGEN is the first example of many that will be currencies with multi-faceted utilities. i am starting to think memecoins are synonymous with hashtags-- value is supported in the use and price of these tokens, but they also serve as a means to curate, collect, endorse, celebrate … there will be more here and they will serve a purpose that contributes across these networks versus solely speculate.

• Are social networks actually the tokens themselves? what other relationships can they hold with users outside of buy, sell and trade? will we see groups, companies, individuals associate more with them? platforms could be distributions of networks… networks on networks.

what seems clear though is that while data has been the center of internet businesses for forever, social currencies open up a new means to recycle value back to the participants that contribute and build these platforms. and it won’t look anything like it does today. looking forward to seeing the systems change in real time.

None of the information discussed herein is intended to be, or should be construed as financial advice, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any security. The information set forth herein has been obtained or derived from sources believed by the author to be reliable and has been provided solely for informational purposes. Nevertheless, the author does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the information’s accuracy or completeness. Certain companies referenced herein are included by way of example and not companies in which TCG has invested to date nor companies in which TCG intends to invest.