Collecting content online is a new behavior emerging in the crypto space that users are increasingly adopting. Over the next 5+ years, this will likely become a mainstream behavior. Users will prefer engaging with creators that they can create tangible connections with and have potential upside in. And creators will choose better relationships with their audience and improved economic models. The relationships that are forming onchain are already more substantive than anything we have in today's platforms, and they will continue to be surfaced and extended upon.

The Spectrum of Tokens

The types of tokens span from high accessibility (large number of editions, lower prices per token, greater liquidity) down to exclusivity (scarcity, less liquidity, higher prices).

1. 1/1s: Unique, one-of-a-kind pieces (highest exclusivity)

2. 1/1/x: Unique pieces within larger generative collections

3. Limited Editions: Fixed-quantity batches of identical pieces

4. Open Editions: Unlimited minting during a specific timeframe

5. Coins: ERC20 tokens with large supply, low unit price, and high divisibility

The Onboarding Path

The consumer crypto space has built this funnel in reverse to how users would onboard - starting with building 1/1s and most recently getting to open editions and coins- reaching closer to broader adoption over time. Back in 2020-2021, I even used to advise artists to start with 1/1s to start your collector base, move to editions to meet further collector demand, then move towards bigger editions and open editions before eventually one day moving to a coin, or at the time I was calling a Creator DAO which I believed would be a canonical coin for the creator backed by their other tokens. Each stage increasing the creator supply to collector demand.

But isn't the reverse actually way more logical? Start with attracting the largest possible audience with the least friction for your content, allowing new fans to become collectors and owners. This relatively mirrors how creators in web2 operate today, by starting with free content before moving followers to premium features or exclusive content.

The lower priced, more accessible, and sometimes liquid tokens such as open editions and coins are at the top of the funnel, converting new users to collectors. Then, as collectors deepen their relationship and invest longer term, they can move towards more exclusive, higher priced, less liquid tokens.

Of course, it's a spectrum and can't all be generalized under one approach. It likely differs by creator type - for example, a fine artist is more likely to start on the exclusive side, while a video creator is more likely to start on the accessible side.

Onchain Ads, or ‘Incentivized Minting’

You're probably thinking - collecting content is supposed to disrupt the advertising and subscription model for content - correct. This is a new type of ads in an onchain native form. Using tokens to reward users to collect content. Imagine if Mr. Beast had programmatic money to scale from rewarding 1 person each video to rewarding and engaging with his entire audience.

The process rewards users with tokens for minting, essentially acting as a rebate with upside in some network. The token distributed could be the token of an advertising product/community, the token of the product you're using, and/or the creator's own token - the potential for creators using their own tokens like coins is very compelling given the virtually free cost to the creator and creating ways to advertise themselves. This is all in addition to the reasons you might already be collecting, such as wanting to own that specific content, social signaling, supporting the creator, etc.

Incentivized minting attracts new users to the top of the funnel in hopes of retaining them and moving deeper into the creator's funnel. Platforms like Blueprint, Pods, and Coop Records have pioneered this strategy and have quietly driven growth in creators and mints by applying this approach.

Social

The social layer has naturally become a part of the funnel in a couple of ways: by improving the distribution of created content to new users and existing collectors (as with Farcaster Frames), and by making onchain content creation more accessible for the long tail with platforms like Rodeo, Zora, and Moshicam creating Instagram-like experiences. The default token type approach for these platforms is open editions or coins and they’ve created and focus on their mobile apps.

Creator - Collector Takeaways

The main takeaway here is that the ecosystem has, over time, flipped the model of starting scarce and growing from there on its head. Now creators are leaning into more accessible forms of content to grow their audience and funnel them deeper into their collector base. A couple of key areas putting fuel on the fire for onchain content are incentivized minting and the social layer. The experiments in the onchain content area will continue to evolve the funnel, getting us closer to converting users and developing the collector consumer behavior that will eventually become mainstream.

Cover image: Collector funnel diagram (left) credit to Zora

APPENDIX

The Timeline of Token Types and Platforms for Creators

1/1s: SuperRare (2018), Zora (2020), Foundation (2020), Catalog (2020) 1/1/x: Art Blocks (2020) Limited Editions: Nifty Gateway (2020), Sound (2021), Zora, Mirror (2021) Open Editions: Sound, Zora, Pods (2023), Coop (2023), Blueprint (2024) Coins: Pump Fun (2024), Clanker (2024), Zora

This timeline is non-comprehensive, and may contain errors.

Case Studies

XCOPY Started with 1/1s on SuperRare → limited editions on Known Origin → Open editions on Nifty Gateway → generative editions on Async Art → "Mutatio" open edition with 1,023,831 mints

Pudgy Penguins & Yuga Labs Started with 10,000 PFPs → released 88.8B supply PENGU coin