Alex Danco: Tokengated Commerce - [Web3 Breakdowns, EP.28]

My guest today is Alex Danco from Shopify. Alex is our first triple crown guest, having first appeared on Invest Like the Best in 2019, Business Breakdowns on Shopify in 2021, and now Web3 Breakdowns. Our conversation today focuses on a new concept, tokengated commerce, and how Shopify is building around this theme. Given the market turmoil in crypto assets, we talk about true use cases of tokengated commerce and why blockchain technology is unlocking something that was not possible otherwise. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Danco.  

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

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Show Notes

[00:02:16] - [First question] - What Shopify itself is as an ecosystem and service

[00:05:14] - An example of interoperability and the power of platforms outside of Shopify 

[00:07:02] - How interoperability and platforms come together

[00:12:08] - Where a a constraint-standard resulted in failure 

[00:14:26] - Why Shopify is so heavily invested in tokengated commerce

[00:17:10] - Lessons learned about the scarcity function of tokens and how they’ll work

[00:20:34] - Whether or not Shopify will be building their own crypto wallet  

[00:24:48] - The important role blockchains play in tokengated economics

[00:28:16] - Overview of the mechanics and offering Shopify is building 

[00:32:16] - Tokens help establish protocol adoption

[00:34:27] - Which blockchains and protocols will be mostly used in Shopify’s endeavor  

[00:36:33] - Why can’t it be key-gated instead of tokengated

[00:39:00] - Conjuring demand and how Shopify will create demand for their new system

[00:45:46] - The differences between someone's identity and a token holder

[00:47:55] - Signals that suggest tokengated commerce will be a big thing 

[00:51:02] - Why this concept hasn’t been more widely adopted already

[00:54:39] - When there will be a solution to easily create and distribute tokens

[00:56:39] - Where things will go from here 

[00:59:35] - Reasons why this might not have taken off in five years

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