Blur was gamified, Memeland was very gamified and Blast has been the most gamified. Public farming is the playbook for airdrop 2.0: points + post on X = airdrop. This is very different than the old days of “use protocol” and airdrop from there.

In this article, I will explore key considerations of launching a points system, what’s shaping up to be the standard playbook and a framework on IF you should launch an off chain points system.

The latest off chain points drop (of large scale) was done by Rainbow Wallet. An Ethereum wallet with a significantly improved UI & social contact features.

I wanted to share some back of the envelope thoughts on launching an off chain points system.

Key Considerations for Launching a Points System:

I think with any project whos launching points, you want to identify what actions you deem desirable for your users, create a loop around both acquiring those points AND spending them in order to drive KPIs you want to increase.

For instance, Rainbow is a crypto wallet. An otherwise commoditized tool in this space. One of their key KPIs likely have to do with driving transactions to generate fee revenue.

If I were them, I would have the points lead to some type of discount on gas fees exclusively on their wallet.

So the higher the points tier, the higher the discount you get on L1 gas fees....Each time you "use" your points, the balance drops and you need to complete "actions" to re up your balance - this is the loop that drives a flywheel of customer acquisition (discounts on gas) AND retention (completing actions to re-up your points balance).

The 3-Pronged General Playbook

There also seems to be a standard playbook being built around an off chain points design go to market strategy. It usually follows a 3-pronged list:

#1 Initial Points Distributions: How users will get rewarded points. This usually comes with a mix of high level actions and lower level actions. Points rewards need to balance retroactively rewarding long term users (retention) while also getting new users (acquisition) on the hook.

#2 Ongoing Rewards Mechanisms: This is how points are being rewarded for those ongoing user actions. See the loop laid out above. Below is a snapshot of actions Rainbow Wallet has deemed “desirable”

#3 Social Farming Component: What’s the value of your points if none knows about them? Typically users can earn more points if they tweet out the automated “claim” message they get when they earn their first distribution of points. This leads to virality on twitter, more users check their points balance or download the app and network effects increase substantially as a part of this.

Side note: Often times this can be seen as scammy and gimmicky to flood the timeline with points farming posts. $PORTAL coin is the poster child for what not to do in the case of social points farming.

So, Should You Launch a Points System?

Maybe.

If you..

• Are post PMF (but are still on an upwards growth trajectory)

  • You need a product with users to incentivize and actions that you’re able to properly assign points to based on real data

• Have a large addressable userbase to cater to (your product is not super niche)

  • For instance, NFT marketplaces, social networks and maybe DEXs work well for points farming, but arcane, uber-niche networks probably aren’t good candidates for large scale points farming

• Have intent with your points system (a clear way to earn and consume these points)

  • The key here is to create ways to consume (spend) these points in order to create strong user behavior loops

• You’re near a fungible token launch (3 - 5 months from launch)

  • There have been enough examples of OCPs leading to points that it’s almost common knowledge that launching a soft currency will lead to a hard fungible token launch in the coming future

..You might be a good candidate for an off chain points system. Off chain points of course, are not a silver bullet and should be taken into consideration as one piece of a puzzle for ecosystem growth.