We’ve all heard the line: “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
But most people don’t do what they love. They work jobs they tolerate to earn enough money to someday do what they actually enjoy. Society has conditioned us to grind through our 20s, 30s, and 40s so we can finally enjoy life in our 50s or 60s —travel, outdoor activities, time with family. That’s the “normal” path.
There’s also a growing wealth divide. Even a good job with a solid salary often isn’t enough to buy a house. To afford a home by your 30s, you need to outperform the market dramatically in your 20s. That pressure is fueling the rise of speculation. Millennials and Gen Z are in a go big or go home era—trying to beat inflation, scarcity, and a system stacked against them. Which is likely where a lot of the memecoin traders come from, they’re everyday people just trying to outperform the market so they can “buy a house”.
If you’re more realistic and not trying to dramatically outperform the market you have a side hustle - ride sharing, food delivery, etc. Nearly half of Millennials and GenZ have a side hustle, and a third of them need the side hustle to make ends meet. These are the same young people getting crushed by inflation trying to figure out how to buy a house and start a family but less risky and more hard work.
But wouldn’t it be awesome to make a living—or even just cover your side hustle needs—by doing something you actually want? And to earn that money earlier in life, when you’re young enough to enjoy it the most?
What about being a creator, artist, gamer, or collector? These are the things people do for fun growing up—only to be told later it’s just a pipe dream and they should get a “real job.” And that’s understandable—only the top 4% of creators make a living from it. For musicians, it’s closer to 1%. For gamers, just 0.3%. But what if it didn’t require being the very best? Maybe you’re just willing to put in the time and effort, good at spotting early talent, or early to the best apps.
Crypto has made it possible for anyone, anywhere in the world, to earn. Most people think of it as zero-sum memecoin flipping—a space that often resembles casinos more than productive markets. And sure, there’s a place for that. Some people genuinely enjoy it. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. What’s more exciting is the wave of crypto products that let everyday people earn by using them—products that are actually fun.
Onchain products create new ways for people to earn by doing things they already love—whether it’s creating content, playing games, being social, collecting, or betting. You can earn like a professional by being the best, but you can also earn by spotting talent early, discovering breakout apps before the crowd, or simply by putting in the time. Just like a side hustle, consistent effort with crypto products can turn into meaningful, steady income—only this time, it’s fun.
Have fun making money by:
Creating on platforms like SuperRare, Zora, Rodeo, Coop Records, or Pods
Collecting early works from artists on those platforms, or cards on Courtyard
Playing Fren Pet, Realms, Onchain Heroes, or Cambria
Predicting outcomes on Polymarket
Advising people on Time.fun
And many more… Either earn fees and rewards in real time or build reputation and usage that gets rewarded when the app distributes ownership of itself to its users. Over time it will become a natural part of the app's lifecycle.
Notable examples of applications rewarding their users:
Uniswap rewarded $525M to its early users at one point worth $5.25B
SuperRare rewarded $75M to its early creators and collectors at one point worth $300M
Zora rewarded $20M to its early creators and collectors
Axie Infinity rewarded 20% of its tokens through play to earn mechanics at one point worth $8B
Hyperliquid rewarded $1.2B to its early users now worth about $12B
OpenSea and Pumpfun are major apps releasing their tokens soon
No matter the type of product, one thing is clear: crypto products will reward their users. And we’re still early—many of the most impactful consumer use cases haven’t even been built yet. But even now, if you’re good at spotting new categories and emerging apps—like great investors are—you can earn simply by being an active, engaged user.
Some people might use crypto products just to make money—but ideally, they’re having fun too, or even fun first and foremost. And since most crypto products eventually launch a token, being early to something you genuinely enjoy using can lead to real upside. If that product or network succeeds, simply being an engaged user can turn into life-changing earnings.
Crypto is making it more possible than ever to make money by having fun.
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