Web3 Ecosystem Earning Models: From Browse-to-Earn to Play-to-Earn

The Web3 ethos is all about the type of decentralization that is capable of preventing any one single point of failure; whether that applies to technological primitives or economics matters not.

As far the digital marketing industry is concerned and as it relates to the Web2 ecosystem—it has proven itself to be a self defeating, self-cannibalizing advertising model. Super publisher giants have accrued and transferred so many of the formal benefits away from their user base, that their monetization models of serving ads are beginning to unroot themselves.

By transferring as many of the formal benefits away from their end-users as possible, the very ads that these super publishers serve are no longer effective due to the fact that the user doesn’t have the disposable income that they once had.

Dislaimer: I am the Co-Founder and CEO of Wyrlds (one of the companies mentioned below).

The Different Types of Web3 Earning Models That Exist Today

What Web3 advertising models are capable of doing is to not only decentralize but to democratize the antiquated Web2 economic models that have proven themselves to be less-than-adequate; in this case the advertising industry.

Below are a list of Web3 projects that allow their network participants to earn coin; sorted in alphabetical order by the type of earning model.

With the exception of one, what all of these projects have in common is that they require the attention resource, are subsidized by advertisement revenue-share models, and are unobtrusive in that the user does the same daily activities that they have come to know and love.

Brave Browser

Status: Live

Earning Model: Browse-to-Earn

Coin: Basic Attention Token (BAT)

Whitepaper: t.ly/l-ih

Website: https://brave.com/

Launched in 2020, the Brave Browser was co-founded by Brandon Eich who also happens to be the creator of Javascript and Firefox. Brave is heavily focused on user privacy and helps facilitate the trade of their user’s attention resource with an ad revenue-share model. Users are allowed to browse the web as they normally do, and overtime they accumulate the BAT token which can be traded on the Gemini exchange.

Wyrlds

Status: In development

Earning Model: Digest-to-Earn

Coin: Solana (SOL)

Whitepaper: t.ly/iKrua

Website: https://wyrlds.co/earn-sol/

Wyrlds is a discoverability hub and publication for Web3 games. Wyrlds is still in development however you can subscribe to their Digest Newsletter to be grandfathered into a 2x earnings multiplier once they go live.

The team at Wyrlds is focused on bridging the gap between mainstream Web2 and Web3 gaming by deploying a Web2.5 platform. By using an ad revenue-share model, users will be able to earn SOL just by discovering new games and by viewing and sharing the latest gaming content with their family and friends.

Ethermail

Status: Live

Earning Model: Email-to-Earn

Coin: $EMT

Whitepaper: Not available

Website: https://ethermail.io/

The team at Etheremail is redefining email for the Web3 ecosystem.

Just think about how many 3rd party brands and companies want to be at the top of your inbox every second of the day. With Ethermail, these brands can now pay you $EMT coin for your attention in order to get to that very same spot.

Itheum

Status: Live

Earning Model: Generate Data-to-Earn

Coin: Itheum

Whitepaper: t.ly/Caq5

Website: https://www.itheum.io/

Itheum is all about the decentralization and democratization of data. According to the Itheum roadmap, their platform will allow for 3rd party companies to trade consumers for their continuous longitudinal data feeds. In fact, Itheum goes as far as empowering individuals to give out consented access control to their data by using on-chain technology; effectively unlocking legacy data silos.

Because data privacy has been such a conflicting problem in Web2, the most prominent browsers are now eliminating 3rd-party cookies entirely, forcing the largest advertisers to create what are known as walled gardens. On the one hand this may seem like a problem for brands, but with companies like Itheum, it’s a step in the right direction for both the consumer who can now monetize their data streams, as well as the brands who want to enrich their 3rd party consumer identity data.

Audius

Status: Live

Earning Model: Listen-to-Earn

Coin: Audius (AUDIO)

Whitepaper: t.ly/i-Lk

Website: https://audius.co/

Audius is a Web3 streaming platform that allows users to upload, share, and listen to the latest songs while earning coin. The team at Audius has made a platform for the music community that allows artists to upload free or paid songs, and listeners can listen to songs while earning the Audius coin.

EV.IO

Status: Live

Earning Model: Play-to-Earn

Coin: Solana (SOL)

Whitepaper: Not available

Website: https://ev.io/

EV.IO is a fast-paced, in-browser First-Person shooter game that allows players to earn the native E token that can be swapped for SOL. EV.IO partners with brands who are interested in blended in-game advertising, and a portion of that budget goes to the players who earn the E token for every successful kill.

Solcial

Status: Live

Earning Model: Socialize-to-Earn

Coin: Solcial (SLCL)

Whitepaper: t.ly/AbA

Website: https://solcial.io/

The team behind Solcial created a social media platform that is the pinnacle of form and function. The platform’s industry leading UX/UI is backed by a tokenomics structure that is as brilliant as it is equitable.

Both content creators and users are able to monetize their contribution to the platform. All users are able to mint their very own token and then use this token to speculate on the sociability performance of their peers. In addition, content creators are able to publish premium content that requires the native SLCL token to unlock and view.

REWARDED.TV

Status: Live

Earning Model: Watch-to-Earn

Coin: Replay (RPLAY)

Whitepaper: t.ly/aoGcA

Website: https://rewarded.tv/

REWARDED.TV is a next-generation Web3 movie streaming service that uses gamification to reward and incentives their audience. Viewers are able to earn RPLY, badges, and digital collectibles (NFTs) by simply watching their favorite movies and shows.

In order to view premium content, viewers can redeem their RPLY earnings to unlock even more rewards. Additionally, REWARDED.TV is implementing social features that include live watch parties and a SuperChat; making watching TV remotely with family and friends a pass time to enjoy.

Earning in the Web3 Ecosystem Recap

The Web3 ecosystem is blossoming and is placing the end-user at the forefront of the monetization experience. Instead of a greed first approach, Web3 companies and their developers are heavily focused on decentralizing not only the infrastructure that underpins their products, but also the economic models that rest on top.

What’s most important to note is that this list of Web3 products are passive in their very nature—meaning they don’t require the user to change their daily habits of making the most out of what the web in general has to offer.

As Web3 continues to evolve and gain more traction in the mainstream, there’s really no telling of the windfall of benefits that will entice not only industry leading developers to jump onboard, but any network participants for that matter.