Over the past two months I’ve spent some time on Abstract, a blockchain built by Igloo Inc. (also the team behind Pudgy Penguins). Although there are something like 1399489529 blockchains in existence at this point, I’ve leaned into Abstract ever since Luca Netz shared his vision around Abstract’s ‘consumer-specific blockchain’ approach in contrast to the ‘generalist’ blockchain approach.

And if Abstract is actually dialed in to being a consumer-focused blockchain, chances are they’re going to do some things differently. Whether it’s the way they’ve positioned themselves, how they attracted different communities across the broader crypto ecosystem, or how they’ve turned criticisms against them into memes for them, there’s a lot we can learn from.

The most interesting piece of the Abstract ecosystem however is the Abstract Portal, the one-stop shop for the Abstract ecosystem.

Breaking down the Abstract Portal

From a consumer POV, there are 7 main components and we’ll go through them sequentially.

1. Wallet

The Abstract Global Wallet (AGW) is what you might expect for a crypto wallet, but a little simpler since it’s specific to the Abstract ecosystem. Because of that, you don’t have to worry about changing networks or installing a yet another wallet extension onto your browser lol.

On top of that, the wallet is visualized as a shiny card, which makes me feel a little more exclusive. The card color changes based on your rewards tier, which we’ll get to later.

One caveat to Abstract’s AGW approach is that this is a new wallet address specific to the Abstract ecosystem, so there are tradeoffs and bridging funds is required.

The banner at the top promotes the Portal’s trade function, and I imagine this can be interchangeable or eventually turn into a rotating carousel. The wallet UI also has 3 tabs broken out into Tokens, NFTs, and transaction history.

IMO the most notable observation of the Wallet page is that because the wallet UI is on a webpage vs. an extension, there’s a lot more real estate to display the same information. Banners are stylized with a proper CTA button instead of a small ribbon up top in size 8 font.

This isn’t going to make or break Abstract, but it’s worth noting if they plan to onboard first-time users who aren’t familiar (not to mention possibly intimidated) with this space, this is generally a friendlier UI.

2. Discover

This section highlights different apps in the Abstract ecosystem broken down into 3 categories: Spotlight Apps, Live Streams (another section which we’ll get to), and Explore All Apps.

This reminds me of app stores and their editorial process, featuring different apps and encouraging users to download and engage with them.

Although app stores tend to be more opaque around their editorial process, Abstract is relatively transparent with how they curate and select apps for the ‘Spotlight’ feature, focusing on criteria such as user experience, ease of use, design, and more.

The Discover section is another great way the Portal functions as a hub for users. If you want to try out a new Abstract app, you can conveniently check out some featured apps, or browse through the comprehensive list of them.

Lastly, you can upvote apps you like. Although it’s a vanity metric, it’s a directional signal that helps users, builders, and Abstract itself understand what’s more or less popular. And for some reason, these upvotes are also onchain transactions 🤔 Possibly another way to gauge user engagement and sentiment?

I exercised my right to vote as an Abstract citizen 🫡

3. Trade

In addition to trading apps outside of the Portal, you can trade tokens directly in it.

This is convenient for users who don’t want to deal with leaving the Portal and using another app, but it also provides a monetization opportunity for Abstract through fees.

Do you think crypto needs to be more consumer-friendly? If you responded no, share this with 100 people!

4. Stream

As the name implies, Stream is the Portal’s in-house version of Twitch. Although it doesn’t have to be, the livestreamed content primarily consists of apps they’re playing within the Abstract ecosystem.

A couple things about the Stream section stick out to me:

Streamers can highlight the app they’re playing and a CTA pops up encouraging viewers to play
Viewers can tip ETH, PENGU, or USDC

The second point is particularly notable as there are already creators who are earning a meaningful amount of ~~tokens~~ money through streaming tips. For example, Cryptotea has earned almost $7,000 in PENGU and ETH from streaming over the past two months via 4,172 viewers tipping 8,967 times.

A drop in the bucket compared to the top streamers, and yet:

She receives the tips immediately
Abstract doesn’t take a cut
Tips are directly coming from viewers
These are only tips, suggesting there are many more avenues for monetization such as subscriptions, ads, sponsors, or merch sales
A few days ago a streamer received a 2 ETH (~$4,000) tip

And actually…I take the ‘drop in the bucket’ comment back, because I think we often have skewed impressions of how many people really make it to the tippity top. Take it with a grain of salt, but Reddit says:

So $7,000 in 2 months is actually 🤯. And yes Cryptotea has 168k X followers, but there are nowhere near that many viewers on her streams.

5. Rewards

Obviously everyone’s favorite section because XP only means one thing: an airdrop 🥳

I gotta say, Abstract makes the experience of racking up XP more enjoyable and visually pleasing. Let’s break down this section:

Earning XP

XP is earned by engaging with the ecosystem in a variety of ways (minting NFTs, swapping tokens, using the apps, streaming, etc.).

The exact criteria of how much XP is earned for what actions is undisclosed, but to simply put it: more engagement = more XP.

XP Tiers and bonuses

If you hold specific roles in the Abstract Discord or hold Pudgy Penguin NFTs you earn a XP multiplier, and if you hold PENGU you earn extra XP.

Everyone starts off on the Bronze tier and level up to Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers with higher XP requirements (eg: 100k XP to get to Gold, 1M XP to get to Platinum). The wallet changes with the tier, which explains why my wallet is currently silver.

Badges

Users can earn badges which range from simple actions like upvoting an app or connecting a social account to engaging with a specific app via Flash Badges.

XP Weekly Recaps

XP is updated once a week on Tuesdays. Why once a week instead of real-time?

Although real-time XP updates sound nice in theory, they have more potential for abuse to reverse engineer what activities provide more XP and farming them
It creates something for the community to look forward to

Abstract is able to create spikes in content and mindshare around XP updates every Tuesday with higher confidence that it will new audiences. It’s also easier for content creators to talk about XP updates once a week vs. constantly. Projects also benefit from all the chatter about XP as users share what apps, games, and activities they engaged in for that week on various channels.

Perks

Guess we’ll have to wait and see 👀

6. Develop

Although the Abstract Portal is home base for consumers, developers get a dedicated section as well, with docs, popular links, and a published app section for the Discover section. Sorta like a super lightweight version of App Store Connect or Google Play Console.

7. Profile

With many apps, the profile button typically is at the top or top right, but in the Abstract Portal it sits at the bottom. Each part of the profile is more appropriately associated with a different existing section.

Outside of some profile settings (username, social links, etc.), Profile is what other users see when they come to your page.

For example, when I go to Cryptotea’s (the streamer I mentioned earlier) profile, I see this.

What does the future of the Abstract Portal look like?

Even as I write this piece, the Abstract Portal makes more and more sense. Fragmentation is a big issue in this industry and it sorta makes sense since decentralization is one of its core principles. There are many chains, many virtual machines, bridging, geo-restricted apps, ephemeral metas, information asymmetry, a gajillion conferences and side events, etc. However, fragmentation for user experience is…no bueno.

This fragmentation isn’t just an industry-level problem, it’s an ecosystem-level problem as well. How does an ecosystem balance builder support, user acquisition, user retention, an eventual airdrop, everything that happens after an airdrop, while trying to be unique in a largely commoditized blockchain space?

Building a hub like Abstract Portal helps to check at least some of those boxes and has the potential for more:

Social features like an inbox + DM’s would make sense. Projects could target specific user profiles (creators, accounts with a balance of X, gamers, etc.) and incentivize them to use the app
Apps could directly sponsor streamers through the Portal
Rewards can expand beyond an eventual Abstract token, and details around Perks haven’t been revealed yet…

To stand out from the competition, ecosystems need to build their respective home bases for users, and Abstract has done that with the Portal.

See you next week!