Long Live Talent Tokens
TL;DR:
Talent Protocol is discontinuing Talent Tokens.
Visit your wallet to unstake and convert your Talent Tokens to virtual $TAL.
But we’re shipping new innovative features and products faster than ever.
In November 2021, Talent Protocol was unveiled as a platform where builders could launch their very own social token. This allowed supporters to invest in their careers, unlock unique perks, and earn rewards. Fast forward to today, 959 talents have launched their talent tokens, with 1,589 supporters staking over $820K! Along the way, we've distributed 40M+ $TAL in rewards, which is worth over $2.4M, considering $TAL’s current valuation. Yet, as with all things, evolution is inevitable.
The Vision Behind Talent Tokens
Talent Tokens are more than just digital assets: they’re public and transparent, they’re scarce, interoperable and they allow for true ownership, with no intermediaries. But they also represented a bond, an alignment between talent and their supporters, recorded forever on the blockchain. Our goal was simple: use crypto to foster genuine connections, allowing supporters to invest in talents, not just financially, but emotionally. Talent Tokens were never about fundraising; they were about community-building.
Tokenomics: Staking or Speculating?
Our vision was clear, but the path was uncharted. The biggest decision we ended up making was to remove the speculation element from the token design, and choose a staking model instead. With a staking model you’re not really investing, but more like depositing crypto to signal you believe in someone’s potential. Buying talent tokens was more like vouching for a talent than investing in their careers. But if the price is fixed, what’s the incentive to buy tokens? The incentives to buy came from the $TAL rewards distributed by Talent Protocol.
Summary of the Talent Token model that we implemented:
Talent Tokens are ERC-20 tokens.
Talent Tokens had a fixed price, instead of a bonding curve and a dynamic price.
New Talent Tokens were only minted when someone staked cUSD or USDC, which was immediately converted to $TAL and locked as collateral.
Talent Tokens had a maximum supply of 1M tokens, which meant a maximum of $100K could be staked.
Reflections on Talent Tokens
The journey wasn't without its challenges. The crypto landscape was still young 2 years ago, and web3 onboarding was a hurdle. The concept of Talent Tokens, while revolutionary, was complex. The staking model, though well-intentioned, had its pitfalls. It inadvertently encouraged passivity among supporters and lacked immediate financial benefits for builders. Our biggest realization? Speculation, often viewed negatively, should be harnessed positively.
Transitioning from Talent Tokens
In August, we stopped distributing $TAL rewards to Talent Token holders, and we paused the creation of new Talent Tokens as well as the ability to stake. Today, we're announcing the official discontinuation of Talent Tokens on Talent Protocol.
If you've previously bought Talent Tokens, you can now convert them into virtual $TAL. Simply visit your wallet to unstake all your Talent Tokens.
Clicking “Unstake” will transfer the $TAL locked as collateral to your virtual wallet in the app (5 $TAL per Talent Token you own).
While the financial aspect of Talent Tokens has ceased, their symbolic value remains, a testament to your belief in a builder’s potential. Talent Tokens remain in the blockchain (both Celo and Polygon). They are still ERC-20 tokens owned by you, in your wallet, that you can use as you see fit.
Looking Ahead: Builder.fi and Voting with $TAL.
We’re delivering new innovative ways of leveraging crypto to help talented builders succeed faster than ever.
Great examples of this are our two most recent experiments: builder.fi and the voting system for Take Off Istanbul. You can read more about both projects here.
Talent Protocol Redux – Part 2: Introducing BuilderFi
While we're closing a chapter with Talent Tokens, we're simultaneously opening several new ones filled with promise and potential. As we move forward, we're embracing speculation more, prioritizing seamless onboarding that abstracts web3 complexity, and looking for more short-term utility as long as it’s focused on our mission.
We invite you to test these new products and share your thoughts. Your perspective, as always, will be instrumental in shaping the future of Talent Protocol.
Let’s do this!