Expanding ApeCoin Participation: Chicken or the Egg?

[CryptoLogically]

I’ve been thinking about the sorts of AIP ideas that have been surfacing, and it has me curious as to the best way to bring ApeCoin to new users and new wallets.

There are two types of potential future $APE holders: those with Yuga assets that don’t hold any $APE, and those who hold neither Yuga assets nor $APE. Lately I’ve been admittedly critical of proposals that aim to expand the Yuga asset base or that cater directly to BAYC/MAYC holders, as my initial reaction was that we should be focusing on people who may not even hold a single NFT (or perhaps even know what an NFT is in the first place, for that matter). I’ve been viewing this as a governance token first, rather than a currency or a staking device; one that can enable communities to have a say and write proposals about things that matter most to them… and perhaps this is the wrong way of thinking about it.

What comes first? How does this best grow organically? Should we be prioritizing working on getting current Ape holders who don’t hold any $APE on board before we can take on “cold calling” non-Yuga holders? On the one hand, they may be the easiest sell since they’re already familiar with the ecosystem and brand. On the other, they likely may be the most disinterested as many current holders were airdropped a substantial amount simply for holding and then proceeded to sell that stack into something else. Staking of course is going to play a role for current holders, which will naturally grow the ecosystem wallet count. But will that increase DAO participation?

Non-Yuga holders (including total crypto newbies, those in crypto but not NFTs, as well as NFT holders who don’t hold any $APE) clearly comprise the largest pool of potential new entrants to the ApeCoin ecosystem. The downside is the lack of familiarity with our present ecosystem, potential mistrust of Yuga and/or NFTs in general and our association there, and of course (in the case of total crypto newbies) the obvious hurdle of onboarding new users from scratch.

How to best approach this is a topic I’ve been pondering considerably lately. Of course, there’s no reason a blended approach couldn’t work as well, but strategic implementation is always at the forefront of my thinking and targeting specific communities with clear intention is going to be critical for moving us forward.

I’d love to hear the community’s thoughts on this.

[ssp1111]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this.

I’m not sure if the question is a “this or that” or the solution is a “hybrid” of the two – I believe the answer is an “all of the above”.

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Examples:

• ApeComms is an infrastructure play, so they are mostly serving existing ApeCoin Token Holders in need of ongoing communications within the DAO. They will no doubt reach non-token holders when holding Spaces, but that is not their main clientele.

• Forever Apes are targeting existing BAYC/MAYC (and soon other projects) NFT holders with their custom designed and manufactured products.

• IRL Events WorkGroup is a top of funnel entry-point to Web3 for folks that may have wallets but no $APE Coin and the crypto-curious using in-person events to introduce, educate and safely onboard.

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Perhaps each AIP should (if they don’t already) declare the audience segment they are hoping to reach and maybe this could be tracked within one of the several dashboards that are being proposed.

All these efforts, and hopefully many more, serve a variety of individuals at various stages of their Web3 journeys.

You said it well here:

@CryptoLogically

targeting specific communities with clear intention is going to be critical for moving us forward

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Notes:
Identify the communities that will attract the best type of $APE Coin DAO member – someone that is active, engaged and committed to help grow the DAO in a sustainable and positive manner.

Just my own thoughts to add to yours.

Cheers – SSP

[0xSword]

Well, I suppose my views on this change based on weekly needs. Participation (to me) used to mean finding helpful forum users. We now have an active forum w/ reliable users. Not all comments on AIPs are helping the proposer to better integrate $APE yet, but that’s a work in progress. Attracting and retaining active forum users (I hope) becomes less of an active process.

Attracting builders to the ecosystem is (what I feel) is most important at this time. Having said that, what is not happening right now is wide-spread sharing of existing ecosystem projects. Forever Apes, Niftykit, Snag Solutions. Even extending that to projects still in the AIP process or building independently could have incredible results.

If we all turn on notifications for these projects, the network results would be incredible for them. 20,30,50 of us retweeting to bring awareness to their projects would be powerful. It’s attractive to other projects also. One thing we all could do, is reach out to our favorite project or organization. Say “you should make an AIP,” and offer a short zoom call. Identifying projects that could successfully integrate $APE takes thought & time.

@CryptoLogically you have access to the information, resources, and people to rally around projects that you care for. There is a lot you can do for the causes you love that also benefit $APE by approaching projects that align!!!

[Mantis]

Attracting builders to the ecosystem is (what I feel) is most important at this time. Having said that, what is not happening right now is wide-spread sharing of existing ecosystem projects. Forever Apes, Niftykit, Snag Solutions.

Agreed 100% with a bullet: These technologies must be put together in forms that meet people where they are. For instance, Niftykit is a great step forward in the no-code space. But relatively few people need no-code NFTs because very few people, relatively, care about dropping NFT projects. If this advancement was put into a platform that reached out to a wider audience based on a larger idea, say business event planning, it could go not only into web3 but also web2.

I’ll keep going back to this, but that’s what Bluetail was all about. Taking Ape tech that appealed to a niche audience (Silo Finance, Ape Tapes, Thank Ape, ThriveCoin) and putting it all into a package that is based around the more easily marketable idea of music.

Expanding participation, to me, takes the melding of ApeComms, IRL Events, and Ambassadorships. Everyone must be focused on the idea of creating marketable, big idea projects and taking those projects to the world through every available outlet. NounsDAO is doing this well.

If we all turn on notifications for these projects, the network results would be incredible for them. 20,30,50 of us retweeting to bring awareness to their projects would be powerful.

I like this idea, but I also don’t like the notion of my timeline being cluttered with projects without the true vision of who the audience really is. What we might do is encourage the creation of Twitter Communities and Lists that have people with specific interests, and market the projects to them.

More ideas are welcome. This is a big topic.