Bowie Bonds as Early Creator Tokens

When constructing a creator token, I think the first big question is determining what assets back a creator token. I imagine it’s actually somewhat of a tricky process, so let me illustrate it with an example:

Mimicking Bowie Bonds seems to be the most straightforward path, but really only works under a narrow set of circumstances.

Something like a newsletter, however, is trickier. If that newsletter generates revenue by selling ads on a weekly basis, there’s no passive income (excluding referral links embedded within older articles). Consistent output is required to make money. Essentially two options arise. First, the token could be tied to the creator — in which case, if t... See more

What would I actually be buying? What income streams back the asset? Would it be a portion of the income from her channel’s advertising revenue? What about all of the sponsorships she does? When she started Chamberlain Coffee in 2019 — whose success is arguably tied to her popularity on YouTube — would the company’s earnings flow into the token? Wh... See more

The central question behind these questions is whether the token is tied to the creator or the creator’s work.

If it’s tied to the creator, the income from everything that they build should flow into the token. But if it’s tied to a set of work, the creator is free to start new business endeavors without feeling like they’ve already sacrificed a significant portion of their equity. That then leads to another set of considerations. If all of a creator’s exis... See more

There’s clearly no one right answer for crafting a creator token.

Web3 is often referenced as an important part of the “ownership economy,” in large part because it enables creators to monetize in creative ways while owning both their work and a part of the platforms. But creator tokens can start to take us down a more dystopian path in the ownership economy — one where the fans start to own the creators. The (of... See more

True creator tokens will be difficult to design, and even more difficult to successfully implement. I think we’re going to see a lot of trial and error — and that’s ok. The overall goals are admirable: enabling creators to access additional sources of capital, allowing fans to share in the upside from investing time and money into supporting their ... See more