070. BitClout is giving $10 to literally everyone.
Hello legends,
New day, new week … and exciting times on BitClout! Today, as announced by the big brain @salilsethi, the BitClout blockchain saw its 50,000th block mined 🧱⛓️:
Can’t wait to see you all at block 100,000. We should probably have a block party when the 100k time comes 😉... For now, we’re proceeding with business as usual; we’ve got lots to catch up on from the weekend. Lez do it 👇
Guest cover designed by @WilliamLaurent
Bits on the menu tonight:
BuzzClout: Exclusive updates from @bitcloutsignal and @bithunt ⚡️
Ubiquitous UX drops: roadmap updates from the top-down 🗺️
Gas on the fire update: BitClout rolls $10 promo for KYC ⛽🔥
Project in focus: Introducing @Doodles academy season #1 🐕🏫
Diamondhands’ drops 💎
#1 BuzzClout
First up? Movers & shakers, courtesy of @bitcloutsignal. You know the drill:
Second? @bithunt’s got the community projects in focus tee’d up for us:
#2 Ubiquitous UX drops: roadmap updates from the top-down 🗺️
ICYMI, before we get to the BIG update (covered in the next section), let’s catch up with updates that @diamondhands and co have been busy making with respect to their near-term plans for getting BitClout amped again ⚡. First and foremost, @diamondhands had the following to say last night as far as their ‘gas on the fire’ plan is concerned ⛽🔥:
If you’re just catching up, ‘gas on the fire’ refers to the inflection point when the core BitClout team will start actively promoting BitClout, i.e. actively trying to attract new users. Right now, the foundation is being laid. @diamondhands most recent post lets us know that incentives for devs will play a key role in ‘gas on the fire’ as well. 👨💻
This makes sense and isn’t entirely surprising; a strong base of developer activity is critical to any blockchain protocol. We’re glad to get confirmation that gas on the fire won’t just be bounties for new users or big celebs to join the platform. Its key BitClout continues to innovate to keep up with competitors, especially if the core team is eventually going to ride off into the sunset, leaving us to our own devices.
Of course, some devs are getting a tad weary of waiting for the gas to come. We can’t blame @mubashariqbal for putting his head down and proceeding with business as usual, rather than waiting for support that hasn’t yet materialized. If it comes, great. If not, it better to have been working all the while 💡:
Looking for more to get excited about? In a comment thread on one of his post, @diamondhands also noted there’ll be something big dropping this week for us to keep eyes on 👀…
As you can see above, this did come amidst a touch of controversy as to whether engagement has actually picked up surrounding the NFT release. From our vantage point, in terms of DAUs, it hasn’t meaningfully — But engagement seems to have. It looks like a lot of the usual suspects are having a ball with NFTs, and yes, there are some high-profile new artists. But there isn’t a wellspring of new, interested users joining us from other social platforms. Yet at least … read on…🌊
#3 Gas on the fire update: BitClout is giving $10 to literally everyone⛽🔥
Whether or not this next update from the core team constitutes the aforementioned big release that @diamondhands teased would take things to the next level (covered in the above section), it has the potential to shake things up on BitClout significantly. As of around 8pm EST this evening, there’s a new $10 incentive to go through a KYC (know-your-customer) flow, whereby you verify your identity. After completing the simple process, the homie @merlin hooks you up with your reward 🎁. Good deal, eh?
Here’s what @diamondhands had to say about the drop 💦
And this is the new BitClout homepage (for non initiated users), which definitely hits the point about targeting new users home 🚨:
We did already know BitClout would institute KYC (via integration with Jumio), as we covered in edition 065. Back then, we speculated it might be to thwart bots. It looks like the update is also intended to be a reward for early adopters and users who are currently active on the platform, as well as key incentive to attract new users. Embedded within it may also be an attempt to keep up with an increasingly watchful eye of regulators on the crypto space.
And while some of us joke (and perhaps lowkey worry) about the centralized implications of KYC, it will also help unlock a bevy of other promotional efforts. For instance, if the BitClout team wants to provide $clout to active users w/ network usage rewards, u gotta weed out bots first 🤔. One can only dream.
Regardless of the combo of motivations that led to this roll-out, there are many happy clouters tonight. Anyone got wild plans to spend your $10? More importantly, as 💎🙌 noted, this is just one small step in the roll-out of gas on the fire. Viewed in the mosaic of NFTs and 5–10 other initiatives we imagine will still be in the pipeline, however, this could be one big fire 💪.
Ready to claim your free $10? Create your BitClout account and get your free $10 here!
#4 Project in focus: Introducing @Doodles’ Academy season #1 🐕🏫
Did y’all enjoy reading up on 5 of the members of the first cohort of @Doodles’ Academy on Friday? We sure appreciated the personal introduction to clouters who will be making a huge impact on the future of BitClout. Rounding out the first cohort, today, @Doodles has 5 more stellar creatros to introduce. Let’s give them a warm welcome! ✨
@kelsto is big into sports & crypto. He formerly worked under Nigel Eccles at FanDuel & currently works under him at Flick building a badass BitClout mobile app (Flick app). Professionally, he does a bit of everything! 💪
@lisamariette is a spiritual teacher, holistic wellness coach and yogi. Through her online wellness center Lapa Yoga, she helps people use the tools of yoga, meditation and Ayurveda to achieve health, healing, happiness, and personal transformation from the inside out. 50% of net profits will go towards supporting her World Schools Project white paper. She’s very excited to not only be a part of the initial Doodles’ Academy cohort, but to also be able to share her love of development work and social entrepreneurship with others on the BitClout platform as we grow this amazing ecosystem together. 🧘
@lenaouen is a 19 years old realtor and full-time entrepreneur who dropped out of college to pursue a career in the real estate industry. Now she is very involved with social media and content creation. She prides herself on being the “cheerleader” for people and strives to strengthen the female and POC representation on BitClout. She also hopes to become a seminal female figure in real estate. No goals too big! 🔝
@Kerstineymers is an award-winning marketer and business consultant who leads multi-million dollar campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. She is a strong advocate for women and underrepresented groups and got invited to the Forbes Women Network, a community for female leaders and change-makers. She is on a mission to eliminate toxic workplaces and holds degrees in leadership psychology, agile coaching and marketing. 💁♀️
@gracebaseme is a Designer and Brand Strategy Consultant based in Geneva, Switzerland and France. He helps entrepreneurs develop brands, grow revenue and earn returning customers, without taking uncalculated risks. 📈
Thanks for jamming with us today gang! Hope you’re ready for an amazing week. Adieu for now,