Web3 As An Interdependent Economy: A Conversation With Mat Dryhurst

I'm quite interested in the capabilities of NFT's, but I think it's more important to view them as part of an infrastructure for the certification, ownership and trading of an asset, than limiting our vision to markets for screenshottable media.

We don't really need 100 podcasts or newsletters discussing the same issue from a minutely different perspective - that is what editorial is for. The independence economy also prioritises those who can best promote themselves, or perhaps create the most eye catching content

So what makes sense is to build new institutions from the rubble of the independence economy, which looks like reimagining very useful organizations like the newspaper or the record label from the bottom up, based upon agreements between previously atomized creators.

The fact that entirely new global networks and economies were spawned by fair agreements between musicians, designers, and organisers. The individual is truly more independent under an interdependent regime, with a network of people who have their back, or an audience of people who cover their expenses.

there is also a ceiling of finances and attention. Who has time or money to consume 100 substacks a month? The redundancy question, and lack of coordination between different creators to divide up responsibilities and admin, I think also eventually exhausts the medium and ultimately the audience.

I would refer to this as a transition to an “interdependence economy,” which feels like a positive development from the experiment of the independence economy in the 2010s. I'm particularly interested in web3, DAOs and smart contract infrastructure as new tools to assist making this happen.

This emphasis on creator independence, or giving individuals tools to self publish and promote, has brought with it many benefits, however, as we discussed previously, I believe there to be a real ceiling on the heavily individuated approaches of places like Patreon or substack.

I think NFT agreements could evolve significantly when they become a claim to ownership of an asset that could be licensed in the real world.