I have an idea about how to create a livelihood in the Web3 era that I want to explore. As a relative newcomer to this parallel world, I am often still in the mode of wandering around wide-eyed, thinking of nothing much deeper than the flashing lights and absurdist glitz of the global casino I have stumbled inside. But here's what I think we should consider: what if beyond the chaotic and confusing surface appearances, the future of work in Web3 was more like farming than gambling?
The two activities seem almost totally juxtaposed. Farming is a patient and laborious process, where the initial work and the end result can be separated by years in some cases. Gambling is the height of base-instinct gratification, dopamine flow synthetically generated by uncertainty, instant feedback and high risk. And at first glance, the emerging Web3 space, filled with markets evolving at breathless speeds, endless parades of new and memes and jokes enticing you to make degen decisions in favor of valueless chips at an ever-spinning roulette wheel, has been accused constantly of being identical to a casino in functionality and moral effects. This view isn't entirely inaccurate. The ease of access and creation has allowed for many coin projects and NFT collections to be basically elaborate shell games to separate excited hodlers from their quick gains. But this initial period of frenzy is common to many innovative spaces in technology, looking back historically. As trends stabilize and the fast money works itself out of the system, we are beginning to see the emergence of a whole world of possibilities.
We all know how to practically approach the Web3 world as a casino. Since you're reading this, I can safely assume you're at least familiar with the process if you haven't already taken the plunge yourself. Load up a brand new crypto wallet, hit Twitter or Coinbase or Opensea, ape, repeat process until moon or broke. But I am beginning to see recent developments that signal a change, as a new type of crypto native seems to point to a totally different emerging economy. Decentralized finance, which allows for a holder's tokens to be "yield farmed" through smart contract lending, has allowed income streams to be generated for those with the patience to lock up their tokens. NFTs, while they are the poster children for the insanely swingy and risky side of crypto, are also creating an emerging dialog about blue-chip projects demonstrating a history of sustainable price growth for those committed to holding rather than flipping. Not only that, but projects experimenting with staking of NFTs are unlocking even more sources of income for those with the vision to wait.
Alongside these new opportunities is developing a new type of Web3 native, from what I can see. Unlike the full-time and feverish twenty-something basement traders, these new farmers are often family men or working moms, closer to middle age and with responsibilities at home. You can start to see them populating the Discord servers of popular NFT projects, because instead of asking "wen moon" and trying to flip their way to riches, they're asking about the project's utility, encouraging long-term holding in the community, and posting homebrew research explaining the benefits of, essentially, making a small buy and then doing nothing. Working on a time horizon that can be measured in years rather than weeks, this approach seems quite odd in the fast-twitch world of meme coins. But it illustrates something important: too often we look at the bad effects of a technology and ascribe them magically to the code or the protocol. But these inanimate tools are simply extensions and multipliers for our human desires. Humans made them, and we have the choice to use their power to build something beautiful slowly and carefully, if we want.
In a sense, it is the very chaotic power of Web3 markets that make them useful for the farmer as well as the gambler. The asymmetric risk curve of constantly shifting and innovating markets means that gamblers are almost always on the bleeding edge, pooling their stakes into a single bet hoping to moon. Not so farmers. Instead, they have the vision to see the bubbling sea of chaos as a field, rocky and unplowed. The Web3 farmer scatters his tiny seeds widely, poking some into the choicest-looking corners his research tells him will produce excellent yield, dribbling others almost at random. He knows that some will find purchase in the soil and flourish, past his wildest expectations. He expects many to die sooner or later, but by the very fact that each individual risk is so small, he is unconcerned. He feels no need to obsessively check on his growing bounty or second guess his sowing decisions, because he knows simply doing nothing at all is one of the most powerful tools he possesses for creating yield.
The farmer is constantly planting, an altcoin here, a new NFT project there, a little of the monthly paycheck stored in a blue-chip token over there. He is much more careful about harvesting. Unlike the gambler's huge and confident entries and exits, the farmer chooses to trim his largest plants for cuttings rather than yanking up the shoots as soon as he can see them. His goals are different, and so is his timescale. He would rather a constantly fruitful and fecund grove of small resources that he can harvest through his lifetime and bequeath to his children then a single towering statement to his hubris that may not even survive five years. The central act of the farmer's investment process is faith. Faith that if he risks his assets little by little, the return will be worth the lost comfort of hoarding in a bank account. Faith in the Web3 ecosystem as a whole, belief that we are in the early stages of a transformative historical shift the likes of the Industrial Revolution. Crypto is a space where faith can act in the place of capital, where conviction is a special type of leverage all its own.
Speaking personally, it requires faith in God's provision, and letting go of my own “wisdom,” for me to invest in this way. Given my extremely risk-averse natural personality, my transformation into a farmer has been slow. My hunch is that many people see Web3 as a space only for gamblers, a massive casino where wealth is required for entry and removed from the bearer before exit. I certainly thought so during my time on the sidelines. I believed in the mystical abilities of the protocol, as if it transformed normal people into slavering degenerates overnight through its irresistible greed magic. Of course this isn't any more true than to say that Facebook transforms kind and loving people into political rage monsters or Instagram turns humble and happy people into preening neutron stars of narcissism. These technologies simply reveal and amplify who we truly are, showing us our own desires and capabilities with brutal honesty. But this also means that they have immense benign power, if wisely used. The narrative of helplessness in the face of inexorable technology is, to put it bluntly, massive cope designed to soothe the yawning guilt of watching ourselves evolve into the logical conclusion of our deepest shames and fears. It's up to us.
The Web3 revolution has made it possible for anyone with a small stake of discretionary resources to compound them in previously impossible ways. Normal people have increasing access to tools usable to alter the trajectory of their financial life, invest in others, and create real abundance. My hope is that more and more of us realize the promise of slowly cultivating a small plot of land, patiently growing something that will bless our families well after we are gone.
"He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." ~ Matthew 25:24-29
These letters are only half of a conversation. Please reach out below so that I am not simply sending self-important essays into the void. Thoughts, disagreements, objections and further reading are all appreciated. And if you haven’t already, subscribe to join our small band of happy futurists. So glad to be taking this journey with you.
WAGMI, Together 😎