Allowlist as token promo • TWiF #21
The topic I keep turning over in my mind is Procoin's allowlist mechanic for the upcoming Probots NFT collection, designed by tinyrainboot. If you're reading this newsletter, I assume you're also fascinated by the nitty-gritty ins and outs of onchain business models, so let's dig in.
First, a brief review of Procoin, AKA $PRO:
- Impulsively launched on the heels of Farcaster Pro's debut.
- Airdropped (via opt-in) to most of the first 10k Pro subscribers.
- Originally billed as a "community-led governance token."
- Unsurprisingly, since community governance is a barely functional model and Procoin has ~nothing to govern yet, the project seems to be operating with creator mjc716 as a benevolent dictator ("for life" or not, who knows at this point).
- Immediately launched a barrage of sponsored community engagement initiatives.
- $PRO just crossed 30k holders.
Probots is one of those community engagement initiatives, and also a business venture. The allowlist aims to both reward and expand the population of $PRO holders by token-gating early access to "the premier PFP project on Farcaster" (very bold claim, but I love tinyrainboot, so I'll allow it). Total Probots supply will be 3,700 NFTs, a nod to the "37 Farcaster users" meme.
100k+ tokens: 1 mint available
200k+ tokens: 2 mints
300k+ tokens: 4 mints
The snapshot will run at an undisclosed time between tomorrow and June 17th.
Allowlist mints are priced at 0.011 ETH [currently ~$30]
After 24 hours, any remaining pieces will be available for a public mint at 0.016 ETH [currently ~$43]
As noted above, I love tinyrainboot, so this structure successfully got me to spend ~$60 to amass 100k $PRO. I anticipate spending at least another 0.011 ETH to pick up one of the NFTs. When you do in fact feel the FOMO, FOMO marketing works!
Predictably, this allowlist setup is controversial, especially the choice to charge for each mint on top of requiring a large-ish token balance. Thing is, Procoin needs revenue to maintain project velocity — and thus attention share — in order to have any chance at growing its market cap.
Creator mjc716 stated bluntly: "We have earned some trading fees, but it's not close to enough to fund long term development. Especially so after taxes. You also cannot pay an artist in community vibes."
In my view, fair game. For one thing, no one will force you to mint the NFT. Just don't buy it, or wait to see what's left after the allowlist takes a crack at the collection. Personally, I am very curious to see how well this incentive structure works — inspiration for the next $interlock experiment? Perhaps, perhaps.
Builder bulletin
The big news of the week was Stripe acquiring Privy. The team definitely deserves to get its flowers! Just one example: the "invisible crypto" approach to consumer apps, tailored to actually recruit net-new users (?!), is largely powered by Privy.
The company enables developers to connect the powerful open financial networks of crypto to the smooth, intuitive UX that "web2" software has long established as table stakes. It'll be interesting to see what Privy does under the auspices of an established and deeply resourced fintech player.
A few other items of note…
Haptic feedback supported in mini apps. Back navigation supported in mini apps. Share extensions for mini apps: "Turn every Farcaster cast into an entry point for your product." Meanwhile, "we're working on unifying all the Farcaster developer legos under the Mini App standard."
Interesting architecture details: "rundown of the different Ethereum accounts that are part of your Farcaster experience."
From Neynar, "advanced notification analytics for customers using the Neynar starter kit or the MiniAppProvider from @neynar/react."
Surprisingly, Farcaster's first "native nft marketplace mini app," created as a Procoin contest entry.
Wallet and transaction UX problems, crosschain and otherwise.
Plans for the Degen Farcaster client: "Think Reddit-style convos. No messaging, no frames, no bloat."
Indexy launched a project token.
That's all for this week! Sayonara.
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