Preserving Precious Moments for Commercial Use Cases

A Brief History of POAP

From its humble beginnings at ETHDenver 2019, the Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) has strived to create an ecosystem for the preservation of memories by minting precious digital collectibles. Over the years, POAP has evolved from a protocol for attestations to an ambitious project aiming to curate human history and its most significant moments. By decentralizing the production of human history and taking it on chain, POAP has become a primary source for collectively remembering the true course of events, the people involved, and the roles they played.

As POAP has grown in popularity and adoption, we’ve increasingly started seeing commercial use cases. In tandem with this shift, issuing precious digital collectibles has become more industrialized, at times transforming POAPs into promotional freebies in ways that don’t align with our mission. POAP has always been about the preservation and celebration of remarkable moments, from crafting beautiful experiences to fostering meaningful interactions. Commercial use of POAP can align with this ideology, but making POAP available for free to commercial users has created an incentive structure that doesn’t support this alignment organically.

After much internal deliberation, we’ve realized that articulating a commercial use policy is needed to help issuers better understand the POAP vision, and to encourage the creation of high-quality experiences for collectors.

Understanding the Distinction: Personal vs. Commercial Use

Going forward, POAP drops will be divided into two distinct categories – personal and commercial:

Personal use cases: This includes events like weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, vacations/travel/holidays, and "you met me" POAPs.

Commercial use cases: This includes corporate gatherings and initiatives, large product launches, business and marketing campaigns, and trade show activities.

This categorization will enable the POAP Curation Body to respond more appropriately to the needs of POAP issuers and open new doors for commercial drop opportunities.

Terms of Commercial Usage

Going forward, POAP Drops will be reviewed according to the following:

• POAP will remain free for personal use, with all associated costs subsidized by POAP Inc.
• Issuers can now indicate that their drop is intended for commercial use through the POAP Drops portal, by buying POAPs in packs of 100.
• Preferential pricing will be made available to support issuers through the transition. Issuers who choose to opt-in to commercial pricing will be grandfathered in at a rate of $25 per 100 POAPs.

By purchasing POAPs, issuers can signal their interest in using POAP sustainably, by offering guarantees around appropriate drop sizing and distribution. To date, the commercial use program has supported drops which would not have been possible otherwise with several pilot communities. We hope this model continues to pave the way for fun interactions and exciting mechanics.

You can find the Commercial Use Policy published here.

Supporting Personal Use Cases

POAP remains committed to subsidizing drops for intimate events, precious moments with family and friends, organic communities like book clubs, events run by qualified non-profit organizations, and other personal uses of POAP. This approach enables us to continue providing a valuable public good for the preservation of precious memories while accommodating the growing demand for commercial applications.

Toward a More Sustainable POAP

We remain committed to the preservation of memories - from the minting of precious digital collectibles to the commemoration of historic moments to the creation of shared meaning. This change represents a significant milestone for the POAP ecosystem as it opens up new opportunities to support the production of culture. As POAP grows, it will necessarily need to evolve, and your support in stewarding these developments is invaluable along POAP’s road to becoming a digital public good.

To discuss the new commercial use policy, please join us on Discourse.