Attention machines • TWiF #11
Hello. Before we get into the links, let’s talk about something: Onchain advertising has suddenly become a hot space. You may recall that Coinbase acquired adtech startup Spindl earlier this year, but Farcaster ecosystem experiments are what’s really sizzling. On my radar:
1// With Amps.fun, charge a fee of your choice to automatically recast or like content from other Farcaster users. You don’t get to review the casts in advance, but only users who you already follow are eligible to buy your engagement, so it’s assumed that you’re sufficiently willing to share their content.
From the advertiser perspective, Amps is “a wonderful way to pay your favorite creators on farcaster to help spread the word about what you are building,” as @humpty.eth put it. Amps recently hit the early milestone of $1k spent through the service.
2// Warpslot is a virtual slot machine that dispenses memecoins; it’s free to play but daily spins are limited. Founder @colinm explained his thinking:
i believe games of chance are a perfect vehicle for discovery. there's something uniquely thrilling about not knowing what you'll get when you spin
this element of surprise makes collecting tokens far more engaging than simply purchasing them. you're not just acquiring assets — you're experiencing the joy of unexpected wins and discovering projects you might not have encountered otherwise
Memecoin projects can partner with Warpslot to distribute their tokens, using the game to spread awareness and grow the number of holders. Warpslot touts an “avg increase of 2.5k+ unique holders per featured token” merely one week into the product’s existence. Colin continued:
with seemingly infinite tokens, Warpslot offers a valuable service of distribution for token owners, and curation for users
the goal is to help token creators increase their distribution, while simultaneously giving our users a significant enough amount of premium tokens to keep them coming back.
Warpslot has already partnered with $QR, the memecoin-as-billboard business that I consider the coolest of these experiments. (Full disclosure, I own like $50 worth of $QR. High roller over here, watch out!) As it happens, @phil, the founder of Amps.fun — everything is entangled in the small-but-mighty Farconomy — called $QR “the front page of the blockchain.”
3// Here’s how $QR works:
- The logo is, unsurprisingly, a QR code. This QR code can be updated, so project creator @jake is able to point it to any link.
- There’s a daily auction on qrcoin.fun, bidding in ETH to have the QR code link to your chosen website over the course of the next day.
- Jake uses the auction proceeds to buy more $QR for the project treasury (presumably also keeping some funds in ETH, or diversifying into USDC, etc).
- Jake posts a profile of the winner on the X account @qrcoindotfun and signal-boosts from his personal X account as well.
Stunningly, “our first 15 QR auctions have had more than twice as many bids as nouns auctions during the same period (245 vs. 116).” This is not a knock on Nouns, but a good benchmark for the excitement generated by the $QR concept.
Realistically, no one is actually scanning the QR code. The traffic to winners comes from the homepage and being featured on social media. But it’s a great gimmick that draws participation to the ingenious auction structure.
4// Zero Rights Media released an “adcoin” on Base, using Zora’s new token launcher, to promote a client. With a future perk for buyers: “Buy some of the adcoin on @zora (from the frame below), and when Alpha Dot Fun launches, you'll automatically save 20% off a subscription just for having it in your wallet.” 🤔
5// Last but not least, sports prediction token $bracky just partnered with Warpcast for an airdrop. Apparently more airdrops are coming soon. “Goal is to make Airdrop Offers a great way for developers to get their first 1,000 aligned users.”
Podcast
Imagine running a small business onchain. Now imagine that your business has nothing to do with crypto. So why bother?
@samantha joined TWiF to explain why Humankind Candles has such a presence on Farcaster, plus the ins and outs of Humankind operations. The episode is available on Pods, YouTube, and Spotify.
If you’re coming to Farcon, pick up a Farcandle!
Links
Incoming: “A proposal to make Warpcast's Direct Casts an open standard that any Farcaster client can use.” Review it on GitHub.
Primary address: “Choose a preferred address for rewards, airdrops and payments.”
DC search: “Search results now include messages inside conversations that match your search terms.”
Boost your account credibility: “Verify your X, phone and onchain addresses to improve reputation.”
The docs for frames (soon to be rechristened mini-apps) are getting some love, and your engagement in the process is desired.
Neynar free tier: “Read user and cast data, and write casts for free (with rate limits).”
Also from Neynar, “a quickstart script to help frame devs with local frame v2 server development as well as production-ready builds,” available on GitHub.
native Farcaster user resolution is now live on all Zapper API endpoints⚡
this means any token holders, transaction participants, or NFT owners can resolve automatically to FIDs & metadata. allowing you to combine onchain + farcaster data out-of-the-box
Apemash is "a frame that lets you create token clashes and let the market decide who wins."
“Gina started out as one of the first AI agents that lived on the Farcaster feed. Over the last few weeks, we have significantly improved her capabilities.”
"This March Madness you can message me in-feed to trade live games with $bracky."
Hometown hero @pugson launched Pixeldrop, an iOS app for très aesthetique photo redaction, to general aplomb.
Megapot is “the world’s largest onchain jackpot,” and the team is hiring engineers.
"Most things we buy onchain are driven by social signals — who’s talking or swapping. But there wasn’t an easy way to track how coins flow through the feed." Which is why @tomu made checkr.social.
“yesterday, i vibe coded an farcaster frame app that lets you distribute ether or tokens to multiple farcaster accounts at once.”
Privy raised some money and is hiring.
Commonware is also hiring: “Looking for folks who are experienced & deeply technical in the blockchain space and interested in helping build out our Rust-based framework and services.”
“In Stoke Fire you grow your village onchain. You gather resources and can steal resources from your friends!” Now playable as a Farcaster mini-app.
Quidli’s updated mini-app makes it easy to airdrop your favorite ERC-20 tokens “to fc accounts directly from warpcast based on engagement (ex. your followers, channel followers/members, tokens held (erc20, 1155)).”
Bankr Club is live and accepting signups. Membership unlocks premium features.
Deep dive on Clanker mechanics from @matthewb — anatomy of the OG token launcher agent.
Speaking of token launchers, widely beloved wallet Rainbow now includes that functionality!
Phew, that’s all for this week. Did I miss anything? Hit reply and let me know.
Cheers,
Sonya
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