Featured Writing

Crypto DeFi Article
Why Bringing Real-World Assets Onchain Is Important

Geoff Hamilton

Consumer Web3 Article
The Barrier to Mainstream Crypto Adoption Isn’t UX — It’s Product-Market Fit

Li Jin

Founder Stories VFF Article Video
Variant Founder Fellowship: Meet Our 2023 Cohort

Li Jin + others

Medha Kothari + others

Alli Pope + others

Crypto Infra Web3 Article
App-Specific Rollups: A Trade-Off Between Connectivity and Control

Alana Levin

Crypto DeFi Article
How DEXs Are Demonstrating Their Resilience

Jack Gorman

Token Design
Overcoming ‘Token Debt’

Mason Nystrom

Centralized Dapps Through Tokenized Rebates: A Modest Proposal

Caleb Shough

Consumer Tokens Should Look Like Web2 Incentive Programs

Li Jin

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Web3 Social
Variant Team Chat: Speculation as Growth Strategy for Social Apps

Variant Team

Web3 Social Networks: The Case For and Against Financialized Approaches

Li Jin

SocialFi: A Blank Canvas for Web3 Social Apps

Mason Nystrom

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Investments
Alluvial: Liquid Staking for Institutions

Jesse Walden + others

DIMO: The User-Owned Mobility Network

Li Jin + others

Shibuya and Decentralized Creativity

Li Jin

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The Barrier to Mainstream Crypto Adoption Isn’t UX — It’s Product-Market Fit

Li Jin

Consumer Web3 Article

09.26.23

Variant Team Chat: Speculation as Growth Strategy for Social Apps

Variant Team

Consumer NFTs Social Media Token Design Variant Team Chat Web3 Social Article Thread

08.31.23

‘Pop Music Is a Promise That You Aren’t Listening Alone’: What AI Music Can and Can’t Do

Li Jin

AI Art Consumer Article Podcast

08.07.23

‘This Protocol Is Brought to You By’: An Onchain Model for Web3 Advertising

Mason Nystrom

Consumer Crypto NFTs Web3 Article

06.30.23

Web3 Social Networks: The Case For and Against Financialized Approaches

Li Jin

Consumer Frameworks/Theses Social Media Web3 Web3 Social Article

05.31.23

Adventures in Onchain Ownership

Caleb Shough

AI Art Consumer NFTs Social Media Web3 Article

05.26.23

Web3 Social Media Under the Lens

Li Jin

Consumer NFTs Web3 Web3 Social Article

05.17.23

Centralized Dapps Through Tokenized Rebates: A Modest Proposal

Caleb Shough

Consumer Crypto DeFi Token Design Article

05.08.23

AI, NFTs, and Proof of Personhood: The Frontier of the Crypto Creator Economy

Li Jin

AI Art Consumer NFTs Web3 Article

04.27.23

Building Psychological Attachment — Not Just Ownership — Into Web3

Li Jin

Consumer Crypto Frameworks/Theses Token Design Web3 Article

04.04.23

Turnkey: Removing Barriers for Crypto Developers

Spencer Noon + others

Medha Kothari + others

Consumer Crypto DeFi Investments Web3 Article

03.21.23

DIMO: The User-Owned Mobility Network

Li Jin + others

Mason Nystrom + others

Jesse Walden + others

Consumer Crypto Investments Web3 Article

12.12.22

Pro Nouns

Jesse Walden + others

Alana Levin + others

Li Jin + others

Consumer NFTs Web3 Article

12.06.22

When Tokens Shape Behavior

Mason Nystrom

Consumer Token Design

10.18.22

The New Creator Playbook

Li Jin

Consumer Web3 Article

09.27.22

Fans Are the New Creators

Li Jin

Consumer NFTs Article

09.01.22

Music NFTs Can Revamp Music Royalties

Spencer Noon

Consumer Marketplaces Thread

08.12.22

What Can Tokens Do?

Alana Levin

Consumer Infra Thread

08.03.22

Joining Variant: Mason Nystrom

Mason Nystrom

Consumer Joining Variant News & Updates Article

07.01.22

The Unbundling of Wallets

Derek Walkush

Consumer DeFi Thread

06.30.22

The Garden of Magic Eden

Li Jin

Consumer Marketplaces NFTs

06.29.22

The Web3 Renaissance

Li Jin + others

Katie Parrott

Consumer Web3 Article

12.20.21

Music NFTs Are the Next Generation of Collectibles

Jesse Walden

Consumer NFTs Thread

11.08.21

Li Jin on the Future of the Creator Economy

Li Jin

Consumer

11.08.21

The Passion Economy Is the What, the Ownership Economy Is the How

Li Jin

Consumer News & Updates Article

10.19.21

A Labor Movement for the Platform Economy

Li Jin + others

Scott Kominers

Lila Schroff

Consumer DAOs Article

09.24.21

The Creator Economy Is in Crisis. Now Let’s Fix It.

Li Jin

Consumer Article

08.10.21

Bankless Podcast: Li Jin on the Creator Economy

Jesse Walden + others

Li Jin + others

Cooper Turley

Consumer Podcast

07.01.21

Ownership Will Decide the Battle Between Platform and Participant

Li Jin

Consumer Thread

06.24.21

Apple Is Holding Back the Creator Economy

Li Jin + others

Nathan Baschez

Yash Bagal

Consumer Article Podcast Video

05.10.21

a16z Podcast: Jesse Walden on the Creator Economy – NFTs and Beyond

Jesse Walden + others

Chris Dixon

Kevin Chou

Consumer Podcast

04.03.21

The Creator Economy Needs a Middle Class

Li Jin

Consumer Article

12.17.20

Bankless Podcast: Jesse Walden on the Ownership Economy

Jesse Walden

Consumer Podcast

10.12.20

Unbundling Work From Employment

Li Jin

Consumer Article

07.29.20

Four Implications of Disruption Theory for the Passion Economy (Part 2)

Li Jin

Consumer Article

05.22.20

How the Passion Economy Will Disrupt Media, Education, and Countless Other Industries (Part 1)

Li Jin

Consumer Article

05.14.20

a16z Podcast: Li Jin on How the Passion Economy Is Redefining Work

Li Jin + others

Sam Yam

Lauren Murrow

Consumer Podcast

04.17.20

1,000 True Fans? Try 100

Li Jin

Consumer Article

02.06.20

16 Key Metrics for the Passion Economy

Li Jin

Consumer Article

01.08.20

Paid Groups and the Passion Economy

Li Jin

Consumer Social Media Thread

10.20.19

The Passion Economy and the Future of Work

Li Jin

Consumer Article

10.08.19

8 Things to Consider When Building Managed Marketplace Companies

Li Jin

Consumer Marketplaces Article

08.28.19

Past, Present, Future: From Co-ops to Cryptonetworks

Jesse Walden

Consumer Article

03.22.19

The Best Marketplaces Solve a Demand Need

Li Jin

Consumer Marketplaces NFTs Thread

02.25.19

What’s Next for Marketplace Startups?

Li Jin

Consumer Marketplaces Article

11.27.18

5 Questions for Evaluating E-Commerce Viability

Li Jin

Consumer Marketplaces Thread

10.09.18