Tokengated Commerce

Moreover, collaborative tokengating is an inherently superior format for anything that involves remixing community signifiers and endorsements: in our gated collab example, it’s not like we want to gate to a specific set of people, we want to gate to a specific set of accomplishment-holders, which is a far more flexible and remixable format.  

when we look back ten years from now at 2022 and ask, “What was really obvious and in front of our faces that whole time?” I think one answer will be that collaborative gating will be the mechanic that dramatically simplifies how brands collaborate and endorse each other, and that simplification will mean that community commerce is about to get a l... See more

OK, that makes sense, but there’s a big open question for me. When I read “tokengated commerce” or “x-gated commerce,” the first thing that comes to mind is, “Why in the world would you want to gate your commerce? If you’re selling something, why not reach the widest audience you can? Why not just one-click check out?”

We should ask: how does a community endorse another up-and-coming community on the internet? With collaborative tokengating: when two brands get together, and flip exclusivity into reciprocal inclusivity.

What are tokengated collabs? When The Hundreds does a collab with Deadfellaz, and you can unlock limited edition merch with an NFT from either of their collections, that’s a tokengated collab. When Superplastic does a collab with Gucci that’s gated to holders of a secret SUPERGUCCI NFT, that’s a tokengated collab.

There is going to be a generation of very successful apps built on Shopify that give storefronts new kinds of powers, and today we have four amazing tokengating apps live - PERC Engage, Manifold, Shopthru, and Lit Protocol - powering tokengated commerce for merchants now, with several more behind the scenes that we’ll get to see soon enough.

Two things I like there: 1. The idea that experiences can be open to anyone, but more special for NFT holders. I think music NFTs are really good at this: anyone can listen, a few can be visibly big supporters and get access to special tracks and meet-and-greets, etc…2. Here it is again. What crypto lets people become.

When we bet on crypto “happening”, we’re betting on two things:1. Wallets change how people behave, 2. Over time, this behaviour will win.  

How come? Because the things we own through our wallets mean something. When we show up with our wallet, we show up as us. And when we connect our wallets, and feel that magic moment where suddenly the world changes - it sees us, and opens up - that’s a pretty awesome feeling.