If Live Streaming Occurred in Web3

ost, BlockBeats

Pump.fun, a Solana-based meme coin platform, has seen a recent surge in activity, with over 1.17 million tokens being released on the platform since its launch a few months ago, generating total revenue of over 50 million USD. This phenomenon has sparked discussions within the crypto community regarding the role of live streaming in Web3 and the potential for new narratives following the rise of Pump.fun.

Recently, Pump.fun officially boosted its live streaming feature again. In the early hours of November 22, a jobless youth from North America stated during a live stream on Pump.fun that he would not stop streaming until the market value of his token (LIVE) reached 100 million. This live stream was also selected by Pump's official team and featured on the homepage. After hitting 100,000 USD in internal trading, the LIVE token surged, and later KOLs like gmony participated in real-time interaction online, ultimately pushing the market value of the LIVE token above 20 million USD.

After the "live streaming guy" became popular, Pump.fun's official website saw a surge in live streaming, with various streamers showcasing their skills to boost the price of their tokens, making Pump.fun gradually resemble a "meme coin version of Kuaishou."

In traditional internet, the "attention economy" industry has developed for about 20 years, transitioning from forums and tieba to image and text microblogging, and then to short video and live streaming. Such a trajectory is also playing out in the crypto field.

On May 29, Pump.fun announced the launch of its live streaming feature. For a website focused on making money from meme coins, users indeed have no demand for watching live streams. However, as the form of communication with the highest information capacity and the most scene sense and emotional impact, combined with the asset issuance function, live streaming is a promising application scenario from the perspective of attention economy.

In Web3, the path to commercialization is entirely different from that of traditional internet, but in terms of attention economy, typical cases from Web2 can provide some insights for the crypto industry.

Taking Kuaishou as an example, in 2013, Kuaishou, which had been around for less than two years, decided to transform from a GIF-making tool into an internet community. Users produced content on Kuaishou, recording and sharing their lives and creativity through short videos, and interacting with fans. Unlike emerging platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou's user positioning is "the average person in society," primarily targeting young people in second- and third-tier cities.

In 2014, YY streamers with a loyal fan base in the sinking market joined Kuaishou, which had a monthly active user count of 1 million at that time. By the end of 2016, Kuaishou's monthly active users exceeded 64 million. During the rapid growth of Kuaishou in those two years, YY streamers occupied four of the top streamer spots on Kuaishou.

Kuaishou maintained the characteristics of the sinking market community, not signing internet celebrities or stars, not providing traffic support, and encouraging the vigorous development of UGC content through a fair algorithm mechanism. Compared to other products at the time, Kuaishou stood out with its unique "decentralized community" model.

In 2017, Kuaishou seized the live streaming dividend first, becoming the largest single live streaming platform globally. According to Kuaishou's prospectus, from 2017 to 2019, the company's revenues were 8.3 billion, 20.3 billion, and 39.1 billion yuan, respectively, with live streaming revenues of 7.9 billion, 18.6 billion, 31.4 billion, and 17.3 billion yuan, accounting for 95.18%, 91.63%, 80.31%, and 68.38%, respectively. It is evident that live streaming was Kuaishou's core business and its foundation at that time.

After its rapid development, Kuaishou had to adjust its content ecosystem. After all, traditional Web2 companies need to undergo commercialization transformation. In this process, only those content producers who meet high consumer levels, satisfy traditional social values, and survive in fierce competition can remain in the end.

Looking back, rather than saying Kuaishou successfully navigated the sinking market, it is more accurate to say Kuaishou targeted the new user market in the attention economy sector. Similarly, the token issuance platform aimed at crypto newcomers does not need to consider "commercialization transformation."

In traditional internet giants, whether content platforms or shopping platforms, they all hope to show users