Content Coins, Airdrops and a Power Outage
A rundown of onchain and offchain events from the past week...
Hello friends,
You might have noticed a delay this past week—an atypical radio silence from my side. The truth is, I haven’t been able to sit down and write an issue, mainly because of two things.
The first was a power outage that hit Southern Europe earlier this week. It set me back for 24 hours—but realistically, it affected me for longer. As you may know, Spain, Portugal, and parts of France and Italy lost electricity for over 15 hours (depending on the region). That might not sound too bad at first, but the reality is the entire country was out—trains stopped, traffic lights were off, internet was down, and telecom networks were overwhelmed. Basically, everything went dark.
I used this time to do things I usually want to do but don’t find the time for—reading books I had lying around and catching up with family and friends, fully offline. While working wasn’t an option, it was actually refreshing. Sure, it created serious issues for people caught mid-travel, but overall, it reminded me: always keep some cash in your pocket. Apple Pay and crypto won’t help much when the power’s out.
As for the cause? Still unknown. Companies and government agencies are pointing fingers while we wait for an explanation. Cyberattack? Officially ruled out… kind of.
The second reason I’ve been quiet: I’ve been heads-down working on Indexy, a new way to track and understand crypto markets using smart indices. If you're curious, I wrote a piece a while back on why I'm building Indexy. The product has come a long way—thousands of index views, lots of visitors, and real-time metrics across 50+ chains. It’s helping bring structure to the chaos of crypto markets. If you’re on Farcaster, you can check out Indexy via the mobile mini-app (coming soon to Coinbase Wallet too).
That’s it from my side. But what’s been happening out there in the crypto streets? Quite a bit, actually. Let’s dive in.
Zora Airdrop and Content Coins
Zora—the platform where you can post anything onchain (memes, art, videos—you name it)—launched its $ZORA token last week through a major airdrop. I’ve mentioned Zora a few times before, as I often post articles and podcasts there.
Before the airdrop, Zora quietly shifted its whole system: moving from NFTs to tokens. The rollout took months, including experiments on an alternative platform before they made it official.
They’ve now landed on the term “content coins,” and the idea has strong ties to Base and Jesse Pollak (the creator and lead of Base). Jesse has been a vocal supporter—buying, sharing, and even launching a content coin signed by Base itself.
This shift is a bold one. Naturally, it’s drawn criticism and sparked a lot of debate. Content coins are polarizing. Here’s the breakdown:
Each content coin has a fixed supply of 1,000,000 tokens.
When you create a content coin, you instantly receive 10% of the supply and can buy more before the public.
You earn trading fees (split with Zora).
Unlike NFTs, all coins are liquid from day one—no “graduation” system like pump.fun.
It’s an abundance model, not one based on scarcity. Supporters want to “tokenize everything,” and the supply model reflects that. When Base launched two content coins, it frustrated traditional traders who are used to scarcity. Launching multiple tokens dilutes volume and price—so it’s a mindset shift.
Critics argue this model benefits Zora (volume = revenue) and devalues creators—especially compared to the scarcity-driven fine art world.
So, who are content coins for? At the moment, it seems ideal for people like me.
I’ve been exploring tokenized content for years—from article NFTs on OpenSea and hic et nunc (Tezos), to more recent platforms like Mirror, Paragraph, Pods, Zora, Rodeo, and subscriptions via HyperSub. Why? Because I’m a media creator. My goal is distribution—getting content seen by as many people as possible—not maximizing the price of a single edition. In that sense, content coins are a great fit.
Will I use them? Yes—I’ll keep experimenting.
Are they for everyone? Early signs suggest no. But brands, creators, and artists might find creative ways to use them depending on their goals.
It’s a complex topic with lots of moving parts. Most people don’t understand the difference between coins and NFTs, so the conversation is still very niche.
But here’s some good news: If you’ve received my airdrops or collected any of my articles or podcasts, you might be eligible for a $ZORA allocation. Check and claim here.
Speaking of airdrops…
I’m planning some surprises over the next few months... and for it to actually be a surprise, I’ll need your wallet address.
Note: Adding your email or social handles is optional, but it helps me see how active you’ve been across the newsletter and podcast, and remove bots.
Fxhash Protocol and Airdrop
Back in December, I wrote about fxhash’s announcement of an upcoming airdrop.
The fxhash airdrop
If you’ve been around the generative art scene, fxhash needs no introduction. Since 2021, they’ve been a major force in open, code-based art, with 5,500 artist released collections, 1.8 million artworks minted and $33 million traded in secondary volume.
If you read that, you probably expected the airdrop by now. But the team has taken a cautious approach. While there’s no confirmed date, they said the airdrop announcement will come when development is 95% complete. Feels like we’re getting close.
They also shared updates about the future of fxhash. Like the rest of the NFT and generative art market, things have slowed down massively over the past year. But fxhash is going all-in on what they’re calling the fxhash protocol, powered by the $FXH token.
Details are still vague, and it feels like many design choices are still being figured out. My guess: we’ll see more interactions through tokens and fewer pure NFTs. That’s in line with current trends—coins are on the rise. fxhash is in a unique position to experiment with both.
Curious and excited to see where this goes. Maybe it’ll reignite some energy in the gen art movement.
Crypto Is Ready for New Chapters
This year’s been another rollercoaster for crypto. From Trump’s election win (which sparked extreme bullishness), to a brutal market dip, and now… some breathing room.
Global markets are still shaky—economic conflicts are straining international relationships, and both consumers and businesses are feeling the pressure. Despite that, Bitcoin is at $96K as I write this. ETH is lagging behind BTC, but development—especially around Base and Farcaster—is strong.
Since I’ve been working on the Indexy mini-app (which runs on Farcaster and has deep ties to Base), I’ve had a front-row seat. Most users are focused on ETH tokens, and I can see momentum building.
That said, there’s a creativity gap. A lot of projects are just clones of things that worked before (launchpads like Clanker/pump.fun) or casino-like games—sticky, addictive, but lacking new use cases. On the bright side, gaming is booming. The top games are putting up monster numbers. I think we’re close to seeing the first true breakout onchain game—think Axie Infinity v2, but sustainable this time.
Other ecosystems I’m watching: Abstract (from the Pudgy Penguins team), Monad, and ZK tech. I haven’t had time to dive deep yet, but expect a deep dive soon. If you have a preference, reply to this email or leave a comment—I read every message.
Where Are the NFTs?
Feels like there’s a real drop-off in NFT-driven projects. Many are calling NFTs a passing trend. But there’s a smaller crowd (myself included) who think a comeback is brewing. This could be accelerated by the newer rules, where Apple is forced to allow NFTs and external links into their apps.
Not the same old pattern though—not crazy launches that bring in millions or JPEGs flying on secondary markets. That playbook’s worn out. What’s more interesting is building NFT-driven experiences, especially now that L2s offer faster, cheaper interactions.
I don’t think art will be the main banner this time. I see “games” and “collectibles” leading the charge. Hope that makes sense. It’s a great time to experiment.
Wait, where is AI? Didn’t mention it much because it’s already everywhere—quietly powering most of what we use. No need to remind everyone. It’s baked in.
That’s it for today, folks. I’ll be back with some deep dives soon.
Until next time,
– Kaloh