You are locked in a room.
Whether it’s IRL, virtual, or some hybrid in between. Remember, as if you were there. The pinball machine, the joystick, the change machine, the automat. It’s an arcade, with the clink of coins, the flicker of screens. More than nostalgia and style. All from a time just yesterday, but just as much sometime long “before now”. It’s all tokens now. Keys to language machines that unlock encrypted paths to skills and wealth.
If we can keep up.
These are not just machines. They provoke the human in us, stitch together the chance to create surplus value from upgraded networks, but also bring nightmares of access denied, never to be unlocked again.
There’s this promise on the other side of costly divides, and their gatekeepers. We are creators and collectors, standing at the glass window, looking in.
This is what you see. An update for the ecosystem, of what we’ve built and what’s ahead, with a closer look at what’s happening in markets and culture.
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First, a quick taste of what’s new.
Prerolls are live now, only on Coin Op.
- Generative collectible streetwear and streetart, with decentralized fulfillment spearheaded by The Manufactory.
- Token gated collectors can access the instant creative editor to make your own custom designs. Or pick up Prerolls from featured creators, and get cred each time you claim your first quests.
- Just like a retrofuture throwback arcade machine, collect and insert keys to unlock generative language machine API access.
- Prelaunch now live for all. All new players start at level 0. Level up to gain new kinds of access through token gated quests.
- And, for anyone not yet ready for the mix of Web3 and AI the “Level Up or Lose It” path challenges you to unlock your own way in.
- Accepting both crypto and card, reaching new markets with pkps and autonomous encryption.
- Collect keys to unlock new forms of social commerce. The machines challenge us to keep up.
- New creators have joined the chat. Recent updates include enhanced music and video support, with new sales, and customisable “Autograph” pages for creators.
- Is now integrated into DIGITALAX and Coin Op. Watch now or listen in while you synth new collections.
The Dial Pirate Radio
- All 13 episodes from the first season are playing at Chromadin now. One on one interviews with creators at the X of AI and web3, set to a unique anthology of generative audiovisual synths.
PKPs
- Built with Lit Protocol, Programmable Key Pairs and autonomous actions enable conditional signing, token gated access, account abstraction, and more throughout the ecosystem. Token gate a Lens post on Chromadin or encrypt your decentralized fulfillment data on Coin Op today.
- Built earlier this Summer, the Lit Event Listener SDK and No-Code Interface extend the ease with which developers can integrate encrypted autonomous actions into decentralized applications everywhere. DIGITALAX took on the engineering for this project because so many apps in the ecosystem need the flexibility and user-defined privacy offered by conditional cryptographic signing. From token gated content in Lens integrations to the private in public backbone of decentralized apparel and print fulfillment.
- And for the savvy collector keyed in to the value of autonomous networks, encryption, and generative synths, check out the Lit Fashion Collection now live on the custom built market.
Legend
- A new take on web3 social grants for public goods — currently active in advanced stages of development.
Kinora
- An enhanced Livepeer video player + SDK for AI quests with privacy preserving metrics — now starting development.
There’s a common thread that connects each component built and under development in the DIGITALAX ecosystem: to unbundle fashion design and generative manufacturing through web3 commerce.
Now what’s happening in these market layers?
Coin Op (in more detail)
A new app within the DIGITALAX ecosystem, Coin Op invites users to collect streetwear apparel and street art prints with a Preroll market. Designed by humans using generative synth models, which can be accessed through the instant creative editor mechanism. Like the automated machines Coin Op is inspired by, users can insert keys (instead of coins or credits) to operate synth machines via the API.
With the instant creative editor, collectors and creators can custom design the apparel and prints they want, or modify Prerolls into new styles. The machines required for these generative models are token gated, meaning users must collect keys through step-by-step quests and achieve the necessary entry level.
All personal information on Coin Op is kept encrypted by default through Programmable Key Pairs (PKPs), including details vital for decentralized production and delivery of print and apparel orders. Integration with Lens Protocol enables a decentralized social media layer, used within quests and for sharing synths generated through the instant editor.
For collectors not yet fluent with web3 and AI skills, Coin Op also makes a unique pregame path available. Users are challenged by the machines to enhance your skills or risk losing the cred and keys you would have gained from the monthly $25 buy-in. Here, the UX intentionally includes added friction to make the path more challenging, encouraging users to complete quests and retain skills instead of ignoring another monthly charge.
Fashion
A few insights about fashion and marketing as we continue to work to unbundle the industry:
- Personal Expression Over Too Much Design: What’s real? What’s a pose? It’s not about clothing wearing you but how you are wearing the clothing. Streetwear is an extension of the person wearing it. Be careful not to turn people into little more than a mere display for the cloth and ink. This emphasizes the individuality and unique personal expression carried through fashion.
- Start with Character and Atmosphere: In the design synthing process, start with the facial structures, personality, and ambiance of the person. The clothing isn’t a standalone item but part of a scene or story that would happen regardless of an observer’s presence. This adds authenticity and realism, making the design resonate more strongly. It’s your defiance, the “idgaf” attitude, and your stance that says, “I’m here anyway.”
- The Flaw in “Future of Fashion” Concepts: Many designers aim to innovate in fashion design by focusing too much on the technical or avant-garde aspects, like extravagant accessories or futuristic materials. This overlooks the human element, resulting in designs that may look exciting but lack depth and connection to real people and stories.
- Marketing Through Storytelling: Brands from the pre-web3 era, like Nike, succeed not merely by selling a product but by selling an experience, a lifestyle, and a narrative that resonates with people. This is one of the few lessons that carry over into web3, with even more potency than before. The product itself becomes secondary to the stories and emotions it evokes.
- The Importance of Authenticity in Communication: The success of a fashion item isn’t just in its appearance but in how it tells a story and connects with individuals on a personal level. Posed or artificial communication creates a disconnect, while natural, genuine storytelling can make people imagine themselves in the scene, wearing the outfits, and living the life.
- The Limitations of Superficial Brands: Brands that focus only on trends or price points without investing in storytelling or authenticity will be exposed as temporary or “knockoff” market players. They fail to connect with a lasting cultural impact because they don’t have a deeper narrative about the people living in their clothing, or any reason for you to remain loyal to them .
- A Lesson from Coin Op Synths: The first Coin Op synths are successful because they tell a subtle, specific story where characters feel real and within reach. Don’t lose that touch by tilting towards excessive posturing in your designs.
It’s a quest for skills, making the web3 commerce and generative AI markets not just accessible but engaging. Encryption and privacy, instead of unrelatable technical jargon, now build trust, securing your personal information and making decentralized production a reality.
It’s a world we all build through each quest, creation, platform independent social share, and purchase — where creativity meets practicality, where friction becomes a challenge, giving you a more direct way to climb Maslow’s ladder.
Coming up next: The Language Machine Challenge. But first, take a break and come back for the next post, maybe with a pic published on Lens of IRL you or your favorite synth touching grass.
