Content
@
https://farcaster.xyz/~/channel/gift-economics
0 reply
0 recast
0 reaction
Trigs
@trigs.eth
Speculation and the gift economy? I think this is a great little story-problem to address the issue of speculative markets in terms of gift-based economies. Can you give gifts when there's a speculative opportunity for reward? I don't know, but I really like how @abundance is framing this to draw attention to how adding a speculative loop to the core function of value exchange does not inherently align interests. Is it possible to have interested aligned around a speculative value proposition? Probably. But when it comes to supporting content creators, speculation and extraction are exactly the opposite of the goal: Supporting creators. Nothing about speculation is inherently supportive or motivating for creators. Speculation motivates and supports people who enjoy gambling, and in blockchain specifically trading. Traders love speculation! Why? Because they have outsized opportunities to extract value from speculative assets. And that's why it is inherently in opposition to the goal of supporting creators, because if traders have outsized exposure to upside, it means creators have outsized exposure to loss of value unless they *become* traders. Maybe a hot take, but I think the majority of people will never become traders and never want to be. Speculation needs to live in secondary markets where the core value being created is at least somewhat protected from the volatility to ensure creators are properly incentivized to continue creating quality content and not sniped into gaming the speculation.
2 replies
2 recasts
7 reactions
Mike | Abundance 🌟
@abundance
just to point out that speculation plays an important part in markets; it's the other side of hedging one party wants to minimize risk and is willing to pay a premium for that. the other party is speculating — taking on risk in exchange for the premium this is taken to an extreme in casinos, where the house takes a premium while speculators produce no tangible value other than their own entertainment (and potential reward, which on average of course is a loss) applying this system to rewarding creators is a bit of a misdirection: you're still playing a casino game. you're still doing it for your own entertainment. the casino (platform) still takes it's premium, but now the creator also gets some crumbs (and you get to virtue signal that you're not "just" playing a casino game)
1 reply
0 recast
2 reactions
Trigs
@trigs.eth
Yes, well said. Very important to call this out with prejudice. The virtue signaling is so dangerous because people's expectations get out of control when they think it's something that it's not. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for speculation and markets. I just think they need to stay in their lane. Not everything works better as a speculative marketplace.
1 reply
0 recast
2 reactions
Mike | Abundance 🌟
@abundance
💯 we need markets (and we need to build better markets!) speculation has an important role to play in markets, but it has to be secondary to value creation
1 reply
0 recast
2 reactions
Danica Swanson
@danicaswanson
Well said, both of you. In general I think gift economies should be considered as a complement to market economies, not an "alternative" to them. Speculation and markets have their place. But I agree with you both: actual value creation comes first, and markets "need to stay in their lane" (love that phrasing) rather than extracting most of the value created by the gift and turning it into private profit.
1 reply
0 recast
2 reactions
Trigs
@trigs.eth
"rather than extracting most of the value created by the gift and turning it into private profit" Such a crucial part to get right! I think this is exactly where the struggle is. I think this is why I'm so nerd-sniped by the concept of a gift "increasing in value when it's given". Not invested. Not speculated on. Given. Investments and speculation can also have this 'increasing' effect, but when talking about the context of creator-content and funding things that aren't so easily quantified into a token... this is where the giving part becomes so crucial in order to get that exponential value creation effect. Invest in a creator: now the creator is beholden to your investment and obligated to pursue a return vs pursuing their creativity. Stunted. Speculate on a creator: now the creator is incentivized to prioritize pumping the speculative behavior so that they can extract value to pay their bills. Rugged. Give freely to a creator: NOW suddenly the creator has their bills paid, and they are untethered and free to explore their creativity. This is when value can be created! Once value is actually being created, suddenly there becomes market potential for people to invest and speculate, because there's something real to invest in and speculate on. Gift-giving is the necessary precursor to market activity when it comes to creative content. Without it, the market will always be dominated by mass-produced, low-quality content that feeds the lowest common denominator: short-term attention.
1 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
