DepressiveHacks: Through 2025 and Beyond
It’s been a little over a month since my last blog post, but it feels like it’s been longer. Time is a construct in Web3. So much is going on these days, I feel like my head is spinning. I’m going to try to use this to summarize what I’ve been up to, where I’m focused going forward, and how you can help.
I have been seeing a lot of growth lately with DepressiveHacks. At the end of last year, I started expanding to more platforms. Since then, I’ve seen improvements both in the general conversation surrounding Web3 on various platforms, as well as the number of native Web3 users and industry professionals branching outside of only spending time on X. Don’t get me wrong, X is a key piece of the puzzle (more on that later), but people need reliable and trustworthy folks to help them learn how this technology works beyond stealing their money and dumping their bags.
This expansion of DepressiveHacks has made me think about content in an entirely new way. I don’t talk about the same topics everywhere. A lot of the more niche Web3 stuff stays on X. I try to bring bits and pieces of it with me to other platforms, but it’s often too in-the-weeds for the audience. As DepressiveHacks continues, you’re going to see this catered approach continue to try to reach as many people as possible with quality information about the blockchain.
Outside of socials, I’m expanding DepressiveHacks into offering writing to projects and companies. My first company blog article should be coming out sooner rather than later, and I’m very excited for you all to see it. I think that I should’ve thought about doing hired writing for entities a long time ago, but monetization has always been one of the toughest things for me to tackle with DepressiveHacks.
I’ve also been beta testing a bunch of onchain products, which is honestly some of the most fun I’ve had since coming to Web3. It is refreshing to see so much more being built onchain and be able to participate in a way that doesn’t require trading actively or having large amounts of free cash flow or capital. Sure, some of the things I’m trying and learning about are financial products and require me to fund them, but many others are not. Here is a quick list of the things I’m focused on:
InfoFi - still in its infancy, there is a lot of room for improvement. Farming is the opposite of what InfoFi seeks to reward, but the promise of making monetization easier for quality information on smaller social accounts across social media as a whole is promising. I was able to capitalize on already being in the SEI ecosystem from my time in their Creator Grant program last year and receive a reward for being on their leaderboard. I’ve been using these funds on SEI ever since. I also have been discussing Elympics, specifically the way that they’re attempting to address tokenized rewards in gaming. I expect to receive something from their upcoming airdrop.
Abstract - XP simply for holding assets on the chain seems like a no-brainer, especially when Luca is involved.
Magic Eden - I staked my initial drop a while ago (I know, sell the airdrops…), and got zero rewards in Season One. I’ve made sure to pay better attention in Season Two, and I hope my efforts pay off (literally). Yes, this means I’ve actually had to start listing some assets and selling some things. I’ve long had cash flow problems with DepressiveHacks because the only time there are new funds is when I have new money to purchase crypto with. I still remain a long-term oriented investor, and remain patient, but will be taking more opportunities to free up capital going forward than in the past.
The Base App - a lot of new things are happening with onchain socials, and the announcement of the rebranding of Coinbase Wallet only shows the advancements being made in this vertical. I have been beta testing the app for a few weeks now, and I think a one-stop shop to show folks a broader array of what is out there to do onchain will only help onboarding efforts.
Tokenized Content - while I’ve long been hesitant to launch onchain assets associated with DepressiveHacks, I must admit that the messaging about monetization being incredibly difficult resonates with me. I’ve long been intrigued by Paragraph, which recently added coins to their platform in addition to NFTs, and I’m hoping that I end up being proven wrong on this front. I still plan on patiently waiting and watching, but I must admit that I’m intrigued.
Moonwalk - I’ve found that as I’ve become busier in Web3, I’ve also become very stationary in real life. I need to get back to participating more again, but Moonwalk was truly helpful in incentivizing me to go outside, walk, move my body, and get rewarded for it beyond the obvious physical and mental health benefits.
There are a bunch of other things I am also exploring, but for the sake of time, I won’t list every single thing. When I say I’ve never been busier, this is what I mean. I’m trying so many new things in Web3, exploring more ecosystems than ever before, meeting new people, and learning more and more about the potential of the technology that I interact with.
Finally, more interviews are starting to come out again. We hit some snags in June with publication, but expect these to start rolling out more steadily again. If we previously discussed an interview, I’m still very interested in speaking with you and discussing what it is that you’re doing and why. While I do want to create more and better writing for new people, I also value the native folks I’ve met over the past few years when nobody else wanted to be here. We all have gone through a lot, and I appreciate your trust in DepressiveHacks to bring you interesting updates about what’s happening around our industry.
One last ask before we get out of here. The DepressiveHacks X account is very close to being able to apply for subscriptions, which would be a huge unlock for monetization of my writing. If you have been following along and want to support, this is a low-hanging fruit to lend a hand. My plan with subscriptions is to make them very affordable and put out more niche writing about Web3 for subscribers. I want to be able to better cater various topics to my audience and allow people to engage with DepressiveHacks at a variety of levels. Subscriptions would help drive additional revenue to DepressiveHacks, which has always been the long-term goal since creating this over three years ago. Up to this point, ad share on X has really been the only revenue source, and payments are inconsistent at best. While airdrops/claims and hired writing offer some additional sources of revenue, the consistency and reliability are even less than X payments, so subscriptions on top of ad share would majorly help me to be able to pay for the next leg of the journey. As a reminder, I have never taken any money for DepressiveHacks. Everything I have done has been self-funded. Everything I explore utilizes only my own capital. Bringing in more revenue will mean I can do more in Web3. I had to sell some assets earlier this year to keep myself afloat amidst some life changes, and I will continue to do that as needed, even when it pains me.
As always, thanks for being here. I’m excited to see where the rest of 2025 goes for DepressiveHacks. Stay tuned!