It’s been 20 days since Solana released Blinks, and we’ve seen a lot of Blinks use cases emerge, rewarding creators, improving interaction efficiency, and other interesting ways to play.
The most intuitive function of Blinks is to “reduce redirects”. Friends who have worked on products know that reducing one step of redirects will at least double the conversion rate, and vice versa.
In specific user scenarios, I think Blinks has three meanings:
On a micro level, Blinks greatly shortens the distance between creators and fans, helping creators monetize; it also improves the efficiency of various on-chain interactions;
Going further, Blinks, as a "container", encapsulates complex on-chain operations in a button, which is friendly to newcomers and can derive new use cases, such as trading and transferring directly in the chat;
From a macro perspective, Blinks can make any Web2 application a Crypto-enabled application. Twitter has taken the lead in becoming a Crypto playground, and Reddit has also been integrated. If it can further penetrate YouTube, Instagram, TikTok... Crypto can be expected to achieve Mass Adoption.
In fact, this is also what all consumer-facing on-chain infrastructure (Farcaster, $TON ) are doing, but the entry point is different and the user base is also different.
Blinks is available on the PC web version, which is in line with the usage habits of European and American users, with a PC usage rate of over 50%;
Ton is based on Telegram, making games and payments, and entering the market from developing countries (China, India, Russia, Asia, Africa, and Latin America);
Farcaster develops an independent client, based on the core circle of the Coinbase/Ethereum ecosystem, occupying the commanding heights of social media and spreading downward.
For the purpose of learning, I compiled this article and divided the 33 Blinks usages into 5 categories. Welcome to read, share and discuss :)
Creator Economy / Content Monetization / Influence Monetization
Trade in chat
Turning social behaviors on Twitter (such as voting) into on-chain interactions
Enhanced interaction with other scenarios (such as wallets)
Blinks Third-Party Tools
Some of these usages have been implemented, and I have attached links; those that have not been implemented may be opportunities for developers haha.
All usages are thanks to the builders for their construction and sharing, including @zen913, @JupiterExchange, @AccessProtocol, @Meteora, @Tensor, @SEND. I have sorted and compiled them, enjoy~
1. Creator Economy / Content Monetization / Influence Monetization
1 / Tip on social media
This is the most popular method and one that has many implementations. Here is a version implemented by @zen913.
Programmers are also important creators, and if a button with Blink could be integrated into GitHub pages, people could tip or sponsor their favorite developers.
Star: It is actually the onchain version of buymeacoffee
2/ Send red envelopes on social media
This is also a popular idea, @zen913 is developing it
3/ Send coins directly on Twitter
It can be used for crowdfunding or hype, turning the entire Twitter into your playground.
I have to admire @zen913’s fast development speed!
Ma Yilong: Don’t forget, Twitter is the amusement park I bought for 44 billion US dollars.
4/ Buy coins directly on Twitter
The next step after issuing coins is trading to expand the influence of the token or meme.
@JupiterExchange has implemented Blink for buying coins on Twitter, and also supports private messaging chat interface
5/ KOL leads the rebate
Blink supports one-click purchase of coins on Twitter, so who will spread the word?
Through Blink, we increase rebate incentives and turn Twitter KOLs into “Taobao customers”, bringing
The shortest path to purchase: When you see a local dog on Twitter, click and buy it with one click
The strongest communication intention: Kol recommends Tugou and gets a commission directly, so there is no need to buy and then sell to retail investors to make money (by CJ_Blockchain)
Below is the commission rebate implemented by Meteora Blinks
6/ Paid Subscription
Through Blink, paid subscriptions are put in place upfront, so users no longer need to go to third-party platforms.
Web3Brand has partnered with Access Pool, a Web3 subscription solution. I also tried the corresponding Blink.
About how Access Pool supports creators in an interesting way while lowering the barrier to entry for subscriptions.
7/ NFT Minting and Bidding
Building a no-code tool that lets anyone create, mint, bid on, and buy NFTs using Blinks on their X Feed.
ft. @solanapoet
Tensor has made Blink that supports direct purchase at floor price, and can also support traits dimensions
8/ Paid messages
Paid messaging is an important source of income for creators.
Build a tool with an interface that lets users generate blinks so that others can send them paid messages.
Users can send messages from their feeds, and creators can view/reply from one dashboard.
ft. @aeyakovenko (Solana Labs Co-Founder)
Star: This can be seen as the Blink version of Friend Tech, with a lower barrier to entry. But it is also competing with Twitter's paid subscription business, so be careful of being blocked by Ma Yilong.
9/ Use pump.fun directly on Twitter
Including creating a profile, and following others
10/ Token-Gated Activity Eligibility Check
Community activities usually require the input of NFTs, proof of registration, and other requirements.
Enables registration and checking eligibility on Blinks by having users connect their wallet to an event post on X.
ft. @helium
11/ Token-Gated Content
If the Token-Gated community is already quite large, then the ceiling of Token-Gated content is higher. Through Blinks, you can allow creators to unlock their content (comics, videos, blogs, etc.) using NFTs, payments, etc.
ft. @dReaderApp @RadiantsDAO
12/ Time Buying (Blink version by @timedotfun)
Imagine buying the time of your favorite Cypto Twitter influencers directly from Twitter/X.
13/ Integrate Blink in GitHub README
Help developers directly earn revenue from their open source work.
14/ YouTube integrates with Blinks to empower creators
Allow YouTube creators’ viewers to reward creators by sending chat messages with cryptocurrency during live broadcasts.
@TipLinkOfficial allows creators/viewers to create a wallet using their YouTube email ID, lowering the barrier to entry.
2. Trade in chat
15/ Trading in DM
Each messaging interface sends smart messages via Blinks.
Build a no-code tool that lets users send, buy, and trade memecoins, NFTs, and more directly from your chat.
ft. @tensor_hq
16/ Transfer and payment in DM
Send or request USDC in group chats with friends and settle transactions within the chat interface.
ft. @PayPal @circle
Star: Isn’t this just transferring money within WeChat or Alipay messages? Haha😄
17/ Multi-signature using Blink in DM
Have a multisig with your friends or co-founders and need them to approve a transaction? Just send a blink and have them sign directly in the chat.
UX similar to @SquadsProtocol
You can even automatically create a group chat when creating a multi-signature
18/ Blink + DMs are a perfect match for Telegram
Anything that can be done in an X DM, should be done in a Telegram DM.
Enable sending, receiving, trading, minting NFTs, tokens, and more from TG’s API. The user experience is smoother than ever.
Star: This... A TON of you can agree to this, haha
3. Turn social actions on Twitter (such as voting) into transactional actions
19/ Prediction Market
Voting is already available on Twitter. With cryptocurrency, you can spend your money on what you support — betting on sports, predicting the outcome of events, or voting for future policy proposals. All from within your X feed.
Nick Tomaino, a founder of the well-known crypto investment institution 1confirmation, also wrote an article "Skin in the Game or STFU" to explain the importance of "prediction market"
It’s hard to know what is true today.
We know the U.S. government often captures corporate media (see the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird) and social media (see the Twitter files) to spread lies for their own interests.
Markets are the Best Source of Truth
A prediction market is an open market that enables anyone with knowledge on a future outcome to contribute that knowledge in the form of a bet where they make money if they are correct and lose money if they are wrong.
The Biden dropout market on Polymarket has long been the best way to get a realistic picture of Biden's participation in the 2024 election. Back in October 2023, the market indicated there was a 26% chance that Biden would drop out. Meanwhile the NYT and the rest of corporate media continued to spew lies about Biden's mental state.
Note: The on-chain prediction market Polymarket is a portfolio of 1confirmation. After the shooting, Trump’s chances of winning rose to 70%.
20/ Mini Games
Make interactive on-chain mini games and quizzes that take input directly from users’ feeds.
Additionally, it is possible to check if a player is eligible to participate in a tournament by looking at the NFTs in their wallet.
ft. @chompdotgames @blessed_burgers
21/ Deregister accounts that only have junk NFTs, junk, and tokens (and make money!)
Helps users to easily burn unwanted NFTs and tokens directly through Blink to clean up their wallets and recover the funds used to create the wallet (usually ~0.002 SOL or ~$0.3).
ft. @solincinerator @EasyEatsBodega
Star: This Blink has been implemented by Send, and I successfully recovered 0.002 SOL haha
22/ Gadgets around Memecoins
Create mini-games and tools to engage directly with your memecoin community and get more memecoin communities having fun on Twitter (like Bonk).
ft. @bonk_inu
23/ Validators Staking
If you run a validator, just create a Blink, which makes it easier to attract liquid stakes and native stakes.
ft. @OverclockSol
24/ Claim Token
This may be the most important means to attract Web2 users. Create a wallet account with one click through a social account, pay a little gas fee while claiming, and you can open up subsequent transactions.
25/ Airdrop Inspector
Check NFT and token airdrop status by signing a message
You can also charge users a tip (about $0.1) for convenience and generate easy income.
ft. @ZheSolworks
26 / More application operations: voting on DAO proposals, long/short operations, etc.
By publishing actions directly in X News, crypto native apps can better interact with users
For example:
→ Fees collected from @FlashTrade_
→ Implement on-chain like/dislike to approve or reject DAO proposals ( @MetaDAOProject )
→ Use @DriftProtocol for Long/Short operations
4. Enhanced interaction with other scenarios (such as wallets)
27/ Enhance wallet interaction
Action in NFTs
In @phantom’s preview, it was demonstrated that NFTs can be used for a variety of interactions through shortcuts, improving their practicality.
28/ Blink NFTs
Likewise, Blinks also allows for easy crypto operations with NFTs within the wallet. Send, buy, bid, and trade NFTs from the wallet interface.
29/ Apple supports cryptocurrency through Blinks
Wrap Blink links in NFC and App Clips to quickly access crypto wallets
5. Blinks Third-Party Tools
30/ Blinks browser, where users can explore different Blinks
・Discover Blinks by category
・Use Blinks directly on the browser and sign transactions locally
・No permission is required to submit any new Blinks
It is essentially a ProductHunt for Blink. Send also drew a prototype for Phantom, which is indeed very suitable for being made in a wallet.
31/ Blinks No-code template marketplace
Launch Blinks using existing templates and dApp integrations
Submitting a new Blinks template
Essentially a Shopify third-party tool marketplace for Blinks
32/ A no-code tool for creating forms with Blinks integration
Creating a form with multiple input fields and a single submit button
Support Token / NFT Gated
Support crypto payments
Like @TallyForms, but publishes forms via Blinks so users can fill them out directly in their Twitter feed.
33/ Finally, will there be a Blink version of Twitter?
Is it possible to be built into the Saga phone haha?
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