Variant Partner on Web3 Project Go-to-Market Strategy: Go Where the Wallets Are
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Variant Partner on Web3 Project Go-to-Market Strategy: Go Where the Wallets Are
In 2024, you can go where the wallets are.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Jesse Walden, Partner at Variant
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
Composability has always been the holy grail of crypto, and we’re on the verge of its breakout moment. The reason is that a new market-entry strategy for founders—going where wallets already are and building a headless marketplace—has just become feasible.
A headless marketplace leverages global on-chain identities, funds, and data to distribute markets locally, without needing to know where users’ wallets are (e.g., inside a Telegram group chat or a Farcaster feed).
Historically, major social platforms have restricted API/platform access, making it extremely difficult to bootstrap new apps or markets without performing distribution miracles. The rise of decentralized social protocols and wallet infrastructure may finally make this easier.
Now, it’s possible to reach users where they already are, without worrying about platform risk. More importantly, because decentralized social networks use crypto wallets for identity, apps can now leverage users’ existing identities, funds, and data directly.
Historically, most marketplaces were destinations—users had to visit a website or open an app, register a new account, enter credit card details, personal information, etc. In a headless marketplace, the “destination” can be the wallet inside any app the user already uses, drastically reducing transaction friction.
About a week ago, I wrote a tweet thread on this topic, using Bountycaster as an early example of a headless marketplace:
A great example is @bountycaster (on Farcaster), which uses the social network for “local” distribution. By tagging the Bountycaster bot, users can participate in a global talent or bounty marketplace. Anyone can build an interface to view market liquidity or conduct trades (many already do), but users don’t need to go anywhere—they can participate directly from their @warpcast feed.
Since then, Farcaster has launched Frames. Leveraging Facebook’s OpenGraph standard, Frames allow third-party developers to build “mini-apps.” These apps can receive signed messages from a user’s Farcaster wallet, enabling arbitrary, structured interactions with third-party services directly from the feed. Taking Bountycaster as an example, an upcoming Bountycaster Frame will let users bid on bounties or fund them directly from content embedded in their social feed.
For founders, the key point is that you can now directly leverage existing users’ attention, engagement, identity, and data when planning your GTM (go-to-market) strategy—just as Zynga did with Facebook. Only this time, users’ money is also there, and their identity and data can’t be taken away.
When new market strategies become viable, waves of innovation and opportunity often follow. In 2024, you can go where the wallets are.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
Variant
