As the digital asset market continues to break new ground, seemingly with each passing day, there is no denying the fact that the adoption of cryptocurrencies continues to increase at a fairly rapid rate around the world. In this sense, it seems that the online content creation platform Patreon is actively looking to create its own social token (or “creator coin”, as it likes to call it) as a way to dive into the world of cryptocurrencies.
Executives at Patreon recently announced the idea at the 2021 Creators Economy Summit, where CEO Jack Conte appeared alongside chief product officer Julian Gutman. During the event, they both interacted extensively with the public and when asked about their decision to venture into the digital asset space, Conte responded by saying:
“I love the idea of creators owning their media and its content. […] I love the idea of taking power away from institutions and giving it to individual creators. “
Although Patreon does not have a full-time crypto-focused team at this time, Gutman stated that he is actively looking to make sure his company is not left behind and is therefore considering building a roster of high-quality talent in the field. of blockchain in the short term. “We continue to ensure that we are creating a recurring and sustainable future for creators, [por lo que] we are evaluating the cryptocurrency space more broadly, “he added.
It is worth mentioning that Conte’s statements came just a month after the company published an opinion form asking customers if they would be interested in the prospect of a creator coin and / or a social token.
The community intervenes
To get a better look at whether the Patreon movement will help content creators broaden their monetary horizons in some real and tangible way, Cointelegraph reached out to Michael Gu, founder of Boxmining, a cryptocurrency-focused YouTube channel with over 250,000 subscribers. He told Cointelegraph:
“Absolutely not only does it provide an additional source of income, but it also provides additional ways for creators to interact with their community. In fact, a situation will soon ensue where if a platform doesn’t embrace crypto content, it takes a risk. to lose their current creators in favor of platforms that do offer the adoption of cryptocurrencies. “
Cryptocito, a prominent cryptocurrency YouTuber, is of the same opinion. He thinks the Patreon move is great for the industry, as it really highlights the many real-world use cases that digital assets have to offer. Furthermore, he believes that moves like this show that cryptocurrencies are slowly but surely gaining credibility among the masses. “For content creators like me who are native to cryptocurrencies, it is definitely an interesting move that has me intrigued to learn more,” he told Cointelegraph.
In Cryptocito’s view, it is only a matter of time before news like this becomes commonplace, something he attributes to the basic nature of the internet-based economy we currently live in. He claimed that just as Uber disrupted the taxi market, cryptocurrencies can change the global digital economy; it’s just a matter of who implements them first.
The future of digital content creators
Nic Merten, the creator of DataDash, A cryptocurrency channel on YouTube with 479,000 subscribers, told Cointelegraph that Patreon’s interest in the digital asset market signals a huge step forward for the industry and should be viewed with positivity:
“For the last few years, when people asked if there was a recurring way to support the channel with cryptocurrencies, sadly, I had to give the same answer over and over again that it was just not possible at the moment. I would be lying if I did not admit to myself. I felt a bit hypocritical about it, being primarily a cryptocurrency channel. “
Furthermore, he believes that the move could not only be a great way for Patreon to expand its user base, but also for cryptocurrency adoption to grow on a massive scale, especially from a payments standpoint. “I think that while cryptocurrencies are still establishing themselves as a rising store of value, the future of payments is digital and more specifically digital assets! Given that a large chunk of Gen Z and Gen Z net worth Millennials are involved with cryptocurrencies, I think it’s not a question of if, but of when, “added Merten.
However, he admitted that there are still some unanswered questions when it comes to mainstream platforms accepting cryptocurrency donations. For example, the issue of high network fees cannot be ignored, and it will be interesting to see how these companies approach the problem. “Hopefully they will explore layer two or sidechain solutions such as the Lightning Network for Bitcoin and Polygon for Ethereum,” Merten stated.
It’s just a matter of time?
In September, social media giant Twitter launched a cryptocurrency donation feature as part of its “Tipping Jar” module, which allows users to send Bitcoin (BTC) to your favorite content creators. The move appears to have caught the attention of companies around the world, and it looks like the trend could continue to gain traction, as made clear by Patreon’s decision to potentially launch its own social token.
On the subject, Cryptocito believes that as we move towards a highly digitized future, we will continue to see a growing list of cryptocurrencies succeed thanks to their increased adoption by platforms such as Patreon and Twitter:
“We are at the beginning of entering a new era of how [formamos una] community, we transfer value, we access information and we keep track of things. Therefore, I am very excited about technology standards such as CIB or other interoperability protocols that will allow seamless connectivity and compatibility between sovereign networks and DLTs. “
Note that Patreon’s terms of service still prohibit users from using the platform to deal with cryptocurrencies in any way – with the exception of users handing out personal investment advice. In fact, in 2019, Patreon’s cryptocurrency censorship policies forced Dave Rubin to leave the platform because he wanted to start accepting donations in Bitcoin.
So it will be interesting to see how this space continues to evolve and if more companies (especially those that previously took an anti-crypto stance) will modify their current policies to make it easier for their users to transact with digital currencies.