In the 46th episode of Cointelegraph’s podcast, “Hashing It Out,” Ray Chan, the CEO of Memeland, a Web3 venture studio established by 9GAG, discusses the reasons behind the Web2 company’s foray into Web3, the significance of decentralized social media, and how social finance (SocialFi) could be the driving force behind Web3 development. Chan also recounts his experience of purchasing high-profile nonfungible tokens (NFTs) during the peak of the bull market and becoming a member of exclusive crypto communities.
Prior to launching Memeland, the founder of 9GAG, who already had a substantial following, gained recognition for his acquisition of esteemed blue-chip NFTs. According to Chan, the main motivation behind these purchases was to learn from the industry’s best, who were part of exclusive communities formed by top NFT collections. Although Chan admits that his extensive NFT acquisitions during the bull market resulted in financial losses, he believes the lessons he learned were valuable in shaping his approach to Memeland, his own Web3 project.
Chan argues that SocialFi may not accurately describe the developments in the Web3 space, unlike decentralized finance. He explains that SocialFi tends to evoke associations with social media and finance, even though these platforms are not solely focused on monetizing social relationships, but also aim to disrupt the creator economy. He suggests that most projects in the SocialFi ecosystem would benefit from marketing themselves as the “creator economy on blockchain.”
Moreover, Chan believes that decentralized social media is still in its early stages and has yet to gain momentum, with most users seeking opportunities to earn through “farming.” However, he remains optimistic that this will change as more individuals enter the Web3 world through social applications. He also notes that social apps are a more accessible onboarding product since almost everyone uses some form of social application, while the number of people using trading applications is comparatively lower.
To listen to the latest episode of “Hashing It Out,” you can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or TuneIn. Additionally, you can explore Cointelegraph’s extensive collection of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.