CryptoSlate’s SlateCast lately welcomed Brandon Kumar, co-founder of Layer3, to debate the platform’s mission to revolutionize crypto engagement via user-owned worth. Joined by CryptoSlate’s Editor-in-Chief Liam “Akiba” Wright and CEO Nate Whitehill, Kumar shared insights into Layer3’s enterprise mannequin, future targets, and the broader tendencies shaping the crypto trade.
Redefining Consumer-Owned Worth
Layer3’s core mission facilities on “user-owned worth,” an idea that flips the standard promoting mannequin. Kumar defined,
“When a consumer is spending time on Layer3, they’re truly capable of earn, along with discovering and discovering protocols related to their wants and pursuits.”
Not like conventional platforms like Google or Fb, which monetize consumer consideration for company revenue, Layer3 ensures customers share the financial worth generated from their exercise.
By fostering this shift, Layer3 gives customers with a extra direct connection to protocols and tasks throughout the crypto ecosystem. Kumar elaborated,
“What we’re making an attempt to principally convey is that this notion of a consumer who spends time but additionally earns financial worth whereas being marketed to.”
The Journey from Conventional Finance to Crypto
Kumar’s background in conventional finance considerably formed his method to Layer3. He beforehand labored at Accolade Companions, a distinguished different asset supervisor, the place he gained expertise in enterprise capital and know-how investments.
“We checked out what was occurring in crypto enterprise and stated it resembles loads of what was occurring within the 80s and 90s inside conventional enterprise capital,” Kumar famous.
This distinctive perspective allowed Kumar to acknowledge the potential of the crypto area early on. He emphasised that his monetary expertise taught him the significance of sturdy enterprise fashions and defensibility. “Understanding enterprise fashions and dispassionately fascinated by them was important,” he stated, including that the expertise helped him make strategic decisions in Layer3’s development.
How Layer3 Drives Engagement and Helps DAOs
Layer3’s enterprise mannequin operates as a two-sided market. On one facet, massive layer-one (L1) and layer-two (L2) ecosystems like Optimism and Arbitrum search to draw customers and builders. Conversely, customers search for significant methods to have interaction with on-chain protocols. Layer3 bridges this hole.
“Our enterprise mannequin is a two-sided market. We work with these ecosystems to assist them attain, purchase, retain, and interact customers on-chain,” stated Kumar.
For customers, Layer3’s platform gives extra than simply “quests” for rewards. As an alternative, it gives a holistic expertise that features buying and selling, prediction markets, and on-chain engagement alternatives.
Moreover, Layer3’s position extends into supporting Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). “We’re one of many extra energetic contributors in our clients’ DAOs,” Kumar acknowledged, highlighting their vital position as a delegate in Optimism and Arbitrum. The platform goals to create significant on-chain engagement reasonably than superficial exercise.
Navigating Regulatory Uncertainty
Regulatory uncertainty is without doubt one of the most vital challenges for Layer3—and the complete crypto trade. “Tempo of innovation is considerably hindered,” Kumar defined, referencing the burden of compliance confronted by U.S.-based crypto startups. “Your legal professionals principally have a heavy hand in the kind of product that you simply’re constructing,” he added, alluding to the issues of navigating rules.
Kumar additionally acknowledged the position of Operation Choke Level 2.0, through which U.S. banks have reportedly restricted banking providers for crypto companies.
“What the banking system did was principally make it such that you simply couldn’t keep payroll,”
Kumar stated, recounting the expertise of different founders within the area.
What’s Subsequent for Layer3?
Wanting forward, Layer3 goals to increase its operations into three core verticals: distribution, buying and selling, and a skunkworks division centered on cutting-edge improvement on the intersection of AI, conversational finance, and crypto. “We’re restructuring the corporate throughout three verticals,” Kumar defined, outlining how the platform will cater to its rising consumer base whereas exploring rising market tendencies.
Layer3 additionally plans to introduce a proprietary token to facilitate revenue-sharing and consumer incentives. “A share of the charges that we generate is robotically used to purchase again the L3 token,” Kumar famous, including that the token will play a crucial position in aligning incentives throughout stakeholders.
Future Tendencies: Cellular, Hypothesis, and New Consumer Conduct
Kumar foresees two main narratives dominating the subsequent crypto cycle: mobile-first improvement and the “TikTok-ification” of capital markets. “This would be the cell period,” he stated, hinting at an ongoing acquisition of a cell buying and selling platform that can mark a pivotal second for the area.
He additionally sees rising engagement from youthful generations, with Gen Z’s monetary habits formed by platforms like Robinhood, sports activities betting apps, and crypto-native merchandise. “Hypothesis of all the things” might be a core theme of the subsequent cycle, as 24/7 real-time markets develop into the norm, pushed by crypto-native instruments.
Conclusion
The SlateCast episode with Brandon Kumar offered deep insights into the evolution of user-owned worth, Layer3’s formidable plans for crypto engagement, and the position of regulation in shaping the trade’s future. By aligning consumer incentives with on-chain engagement and creating multi-product choices, Layer3 goals to redefine Web3 participation.
As regulatory frameworks develop and extra crypto-native tasks search to have interaction customers straight, Layer3’s method to user-owned worth and multi-channel engagement could provide a blueprint for the subsequent period of decentralized development.
