Variant Partner Li Jin: Building unprecedented new products with cryptocurrency
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Variant Partner Li Jin: Building unprecedented new products with cryptocurrency
A new wave of innovation, which I call "only with crypto."
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Li Jin, Partner at Variant
Translation: Luffy, Foresight News
I’ve observed two broad paths for the future of consumer crypto:
Crypto began in 2009 with just one asset: Bitcoin, designed as stateless money. Bitcoin is a classic example of a crypto product where crypto is the “why”—meaning the crypto asset itself is the primary reason people want to use it.
In these products, crypto is very visible—it’s the whole reason people come. Other examples in this category include memecoins, PFPs, and other products that place crypto at the core of their value proposition.
The target users for such products are typically early crypto adopters, degens, etc.
But crypto is more than just money and assets—it’s also a technology. In recent years, we’ve begun to see builders treating crypto as the “how.” In these products, crypto is merely a technical tool enabling certain functionality. Crypto becomes invisible; users may not even know blockchain exists.
These products target mainstream users who have real pain points and simply want better solutions.
Both types of products are growing, and I believe both will achieve massive success.
But what we’re now seeing is a new wave of innovation I call “only with crypto”: products that leverage crypto’s unique capabilities to create entirely new experiences.
In this category, crypto unlocks a new design space, enabling compelling experiences that were simply impossible in Web2.
Products built “only with crypto” possess features uniquely rooted in crypto:
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Global payment rails
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Composability of on-chain assets and identity
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Creation of new markets and new assets
Together, these elements unlock novel experiences.
Let’s look at some examples.
Last month, I participated in "Crypto: The Game," a two-week Survivor-style online game show.
Certain aspects of the game could only be realized through crypto. First, it was built using crypto payments, enabling real monetary rewards and making it globally accessible from day one. Founder Dylan Abruscato said he couldn’t imagine building this game on any other payment system.
Looking ahead, you can imagine games introducing various novel mechanisms powered by crypto—such as prediction markets allowing viewers to bet on upcoming events—adding another layer of engagement beyond anything possible in Web2.
Another example of “only with crypto” is networks that couldn’t exist without crypto.
From over seven years of market investing experience, I’ve realized there should be entire categories of markets and networks that benefit end users—but don’t exist because they’re extremely difficult to cold-start.
Examples range from new dating apps to hyper-local social networks to marketplaces for various services. Many Web2 founders have tried building similar networks but faced significant hurdles in launching or scaling them.
You can use tokens as a new bootstrapping mechanism to build these networks. What excites me about this category is that you’re not recreating existing Web2 networks with tokens—you’re building entirely new networks that currently don’t exist.
Another example enabled only by crypto is new composable applications and distribution channels that connect directly to users’ wallets for richer interactions.
Last month, Farcaster launched Frames—a framework for building mini-apps distributed within Farcaster.
In other words, these apps meet users where they already spend time, with wallets already connected. We’ve already seen developers use this new framework to create experiences ranging from ordering Girl Scout cookies to minting NFTs directly from social feeds.
As an extension, composability allows you to create headless markets leveraging global on-chain liquidity, while the end-user experience remains frictionless wherever wallets are connected. The result? Reduced transaction friction and stronger network effects driven by deeper liquidity.
For instance, we’ve already seen prediction markets built with this framework, letting users bet on outcomes directly from their social feeds.
These are just a few examples of “only with crypto” products—and new ones emerge every day.
This is the category of applications and networks I find most exciting, and I believe it will drive the next wave of users. Just as tech companies in Web1 and Web2 could only exist on those new computing platforms, Web3 applications will leverage the advantages offered by crypto to deliver differentiated experiences unavailable elsewhere.
As a long-term investor in consumer crypto, I’m incredibly excited about this future!
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