I’m back just a day later, which means I’ve either discovered that I enjoy writing or that I’m addicted to dopamine and constantly seeking approval—or maybe it’s both (but we don’t need to unpack that today).

Today’s topic: building the next great consumer crypto app.

I’m pretty bearish on “consumer crypto”—at least in its current state. That might sound surprising coming from a consumer crypto founder, but nearly every consumer crypto app I hear about these days is forcing onchain mechanics onto use cases that simply don’t need them.

If you’re a consumer founder intrigued by the idea of becoming a consumer crypto founder, here’s what I’d ask myself—and what I’d do:

Start with the idea first.

Then decide if building it onchain makes it a better product—not the other way around.

Take Crypto: The Game, for example. The idea for a live, interactive, Survivor-inspired game came to me back in 2018 while working at HQ Trivia. I was brainstorming new formats beyond trivia and pitched this concept internally, long before it had any crypto component.

Fast-forward five years, and I still couldn’t shake the idea. This time, I realized that crypto made it better.

At HQ, we saw firsthand the pain points of using PayPal to pay winners: long turnaround times, high transaction fees, and withdrawal minimums.

"Crypto fixes this" may be a meme, but for CTG, it was true. I couldn’t imagine building a game that pays winners on any other payment rail.

And self-funding CTG without outside capital meant bootstrapping the pot. Convincing hundreds of normie friends to spend the equivalent of $300 on a novel internet game would have been impossible. Crypto made it feasible—and fun. Which brings me to my next point.

Crypto makes the internet (and some ideas) more fun.

In Season 2 of CTG, players minted an NFT to secure their spot in the game. As they got closer to the end and the winning pot, they could hypothetically sell their entry NFT for more than they paid for it—creating a Deal or No Deal-style mechanic only possible with crypto.

Another great example is Pixie Chess, which I’ve had the privilege of previewing. In the game, players bid on chess pieces with magical powers (think a knight that can move anywhere on the board, breaking traditional chess rules), add them to their deck, and use them in tournaments funded by chess piece purchases. This experience is only possible onchain—and it’s more fun because of crypto.

The takeaway?

Ask yourself: does adding crypto make this a more fun user experience? If the answer is yes, go for it. If the answer is no, don’t force it. Your idea is just a consumer app—and that’s okay, too.

CTG never would have had the impact it did if I had sat down at a whiteboard trying to brainstorm a crypto game. It started as an idea—and building it onchain made it more fun.

That’s it. If you enjoyed this, let me know on Twitter (@dylanabruscato). Maybe I’ll be back tomorrow.