IreneDAO creators bank on fan economy to power SocialFi dreams

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Hello reader,

The fan economy refers to the way money is made from the interaction between fans and the celebrities, influencers, and businesses they follow. I find the idea very interesting, partly because I’ve been part of the whole thing for the last 15 years without even realizing it.

For as long as I can remember, I have passionately followed Arsenal Football Club through all their wins and losses. My fellow Gooners would back me up when I say that this is no easy feat.

I invariably end up making a new friend each time I bump into fellow Arsenal supporters because, irrespective of personal beliefs and preferences, we’ve gone through the team’s ups and downs together. Our differences seem insignificant compared to our shared passion.

This kind of environment is fertile ground for sowing the seeds of a blossoming community. However, for me, all this exists primarily in the offline world, even though somewhat controversial attempts are being made to digitize the football fan economy (Ahem… Socios).

Obviously, the fan economy can take many forms, and some businesses seem to have cracked the code – just think of platforms such as Patreon, Discord, and OnlyFans. However, these are all Web2 applications.

In our premium story pick today, my colleague, Nikita, explores how IreneDAO turned its superfans into investors and uncovers how Social Collectibles or So-Col – the startup behind this NFT collection – wants to replicate that success through its own platform in the Web3 space.

Today we look at:

• So-Col’s dreams of creating a world for superfans
• The SandBox’s latest steps in building Hong Kong’s cultural hub in the metaverse
• Other newsy highlights such as ByteDance welcoming a new C-suite exec and Bored Ape Yacht Club disclosing an Instagram hack

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A glimpse into the future?

Image credit: Timmy Loen

IreneDAO has shown that by tapping into the power of the fan economy, creators looking to monetize content can be less reliant on brand sponsorships or advertising gigs, which have so far dominated the influencer community.

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