Token Tests
Last week I created and experimented with my first valuable ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens on Ethereum using Mirror. I have learned so much by doing this. I want distill this into a frame: Token Tests
The term “token” is a catch-all term used in crypto for all kinds of assets that are described on blockchains. My focus is on the Ethereum ecosystem and the tokens that live there. I will be referring to the two most popular token standards:
ERC-20 - The original token standard defined by Ethereum community to describe assets that are the same as one other. In technical terms, this means that each token is fungible. Your $USDC is the same as my $USDC—they are interchangeable.
ERC-721 - The cultural token standard which unlock the creative revolution in 2021. Non-Fungible Tokens are usually unique in some way. They are not interchangeable with one another. Your cryptopunk is NOT the same as my cryptopunk.
Token Consumption vs. Token Creation
I used to think I understood these standards pretty well. I did not.
Like all things: when you create something, you really start to understand it.
I made a website when I was 11. I got paid by a website I created when I was 18.
I made a token when I was 29. I got paid by a token I created at 33.
These experiences have profoundly changed my relationship with the Internet and with Ethereum.
$BAE Token Ticketing
I have been throwing free parties for years. I love to do it. However, one thing always upset me: no one donated to the artists. I would see over a billion dollars of net worth show up to my events and zero donations would be sent.
It really upset me.
I decided to test people with a token. Will you stop being so cheap? Will you pay for creativity? Will you fund art? Will you fund more Bay Area Excitement?
The experiment worked! We sold out the crowdfunding. I added liquidity to Sushiswap & Uniswap. Then the token started to moon. $BAE has a $500,000 market cap. The artists are over the moon!
Balance Beskar App Icon NFT
In the last 3 months, dozens of people have asked me if they can invest in the new version of Balance. I have always said the same thing: let us ship something great first, then you can back us.
The other morning I realised that there was something we could sell: an NFT that unlocks the best app icon we have in the studio. Chris Downer, the magical man behind Sketch’s design, forged this for us. We decided to sell it so Balance could start generating revenue.
This token is a test: if you really want to back us with lots of money in the future, buy a small token from us today.
You can view it as your token of appreciation.
We have already generated over 1.33 ETH from the sale of this NFT. These funds are going to be used to pay engineers to build incredible open source code.
When we do a crowdfund for Balance in the future, we will prioritise people who have the earliest versions of the NFT.
There is now a queue to invest. If you want to get in line: buy our token.
ricburton.mirror.xyz/dDdOFCxEYBJhBeobnIFXuYMdwZEJ5JQ4469MULnNgeg
Tokens Test You
Going through 4 crypto market cycles has taught me 1 thing. When the speculators are manic, buy something real. When they are depressed, send money to ethical founders. That strategy has secured my family, my car, my home, my tools & my future. I am economically free from banks and debts. My personal balance sheet is robust.
Now I can focus on one thing: building for Ethereum.
Token trading tests you in ways that rewire your brain for failure. I believe that trading algorithms are worse that feed algorithms. They get young men addicted to leverage that they cannot handle. It kills their creativity completely.
If you want to pass the ultimate token test: here is my advice.
Stop trading shitcoins. Start creating tasteful tokens.
Stop degenerately adding leverage on your own. Start thinking about how to build communities together.
Stop chasing yield farms that rug you. Start investing in people who hug you.
That is how to pass the test of the token.
I wish you well.