P00LS, Lens Protocol, and Atomic Lore: Lessons for Sustainable Creator Economies in Web3
Introduction
Web3 projects often promote the idea that cultural creators—artists, musicians, writers, and designers—will “bring in the next million users.” This narrative implies that decentralized networks, token-based revenue, and community-led platforms naturally benefit creators and their audiences. In practice, many initiatives have fallen short. This case study examines:
- P00LS (a social-token platform whose creator-focused tools were phased out in mid-2025)
- Lens Protocol (a decentralized social graph with token airdrops and tipping features)
- Atomic Lore (an archival platform launched after the market shifted, intended to preserve creators’ work for research and institutions)
By analyzing each platform’s strengths and shortcomings, we identify lessons to guide future efforts toward more reliable, transparent, and sustainable digital creator economies.
1. Hype Versus Reality: The “Next Million Users” Promise
1.1 The Allure of “Creative Onboarding”
Web3 advocates often assert that supporting creatives will spark mass adoption: by tokenizing art, music, and other cultural outputs, platforms hope to attract entire fan bases. Yet this message frequently hides deeper challenges:
- Exposure-Only Offers: Early Web3 job postings and collaborations commonly offered only “exposure” instead of direct payment. A 2023 survey found that about 43 percent of freelance creatives earned under $10,000 annually, often blaming unpaid or underpaid exposure-based projects for their financial strain (Lin Kyi et al., 2025).
- Investment Focus on High-Visibility Projects: Venture capital has often gone to highly visible, speculative “pleasure projects,” while initiatives aimed at long-term community growth and creative partnerships struggle to find similar support. For example, an AI-driven creator platform raised $4.5 million in seed funding in early 2025 despite limited community engagement (Cointelegraph, 2025).
1.2 Mobility, Burnout, and Network Effects
- “Do-It-All” Expectations: Creators relying on token drops or NFT launches have faced major ups and downs. When market demand shifts, even well-known creators can see token values collapse. Creators often end up handling marketing, community outreach, technical setup, and financial management all on their own, leading to burnout.
- Advantage for Well-Funded Creators: Those with existing industry connections or outside funding navigate downturns more easily. Creators without such networks—regardless of the quality of their work—often struggle to get noticed or to make a stable living within token-driven systems.
2. P00LS: From Social Tokens to Phase-Out
2.1 Launch and Early Adoption
P00LS launched in mid-2023 as a platform that allowed creators to mint personalized social tokens and offer perks—such as exclusive content, voting rights, or special experiences—to token holders. Early promotion stressed:
- Creator Ownership: Messaging framed tokens as a way for creators to “own their economy” by forging direct financial ties with fans.
- Community Engagement: Token holders were presented as stakeholders who could help guide a creator’s work and receive rewards in return.
- Diverse Collaborations: P00LS worked with a range of creators—musicians, designers, illustrators—to display various token use cases (P00LS, 2025).
2.2 Phasing Out Creator Support
In June 2025, P00LS announced it would remove most features that supported social tokens. Creators were told they could still access wallets, tokens, and a basic interface, but all marketing assistance, community tools, and user-experience improvements would end. Instead, P00LS redirected its resources to a gaming initiative, effectively moving away from the creator economies it once championed.
Although tokens remained accessible and transferable, the shift forced creators who had built communities around those tokens to find new platforms or rebuild from scratch.
2.3 Market Forces and Creator Impact
2.3.1 NFT Market Contraction (2024)
- Volume Decline: NFT trading volume dropped by nearly 20 percent in 2024 compared to 2023—the worst performance since 2020 (Cointelegraph, 2024).
- Asset Attrition: Roughly 96 percent of NFT collections saw almost no trading activity by late 2024, indicating broad loss of perceived value (NFT Evening, 2024).
2.3.2 Social Token Volatility
Social tokens followed similar trends:
- Early Adopters vs. Late Joiners: Creators who launched tokens in late 2022 or early 2023 sometimes saw initial price gains. By mid-2024, however, demand had dried up, leaving many participants holding assets with little or no market.
- Well-Funded Creators Persisted: A subset—typically those with offline reputations or outside sponsorship—managed to maintain token value. Most others saw their token economies collapse when on-platform support ended.
2.3.3 Consequences for Creators
- Creators Without Major Funding: Those lacking large fan bases or marketing budgets watched their tokens underperform. Without P00LS’s promotional tools, they had little chance to attract new supporters.
- People New to Web3 Later in the Lifecycle: Creators who joined after the initial wave often found their tokens lacked liquidity or visibility. Many had to rebuild their audiences on other platforms.
3. Lens Protocol: Token Airdrops and Tipping Dynamics
3.1 Overview of Lens Protocol
Lens Protocol—developed by the founders of a leading DeFi platform—offered an NFT-based social graph on a Layer 2 blockchain. Users “owned” their profiles as NFTs, meaning they could move social connections between apps built on Lens (Zen Media, 2023). Key features included:
- Token Airdrops: Early participants received $BONSAI tokens based on previous activity in related communities.
- Tipping Functionality: Followers could send cryptocurrency tips directly to creators, providing a micro-patronage option (Lens Chain on X, 2024).
3.2 Airdrop Outcomes and Speculation
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Early vs. Later Participants:
Early power users of the Lens ecosystem received $BONSAI tokens during the initial airdrop. Those active in related DeFi or NFT communities were therefore rewarded with $BONSAI tokens, which quickly gained value as a de-facto currency on Lens (CoinGecko, 2025; CryptoBriefing, 2024). Creators who began contributing content or building communities after the airdrop did not receive comparable token allocations—even if they significantly grew the network—resulting in unequal rewards (CoinGecko, 2025). -
Speculative Behavior:
Many recipients treated $BONSAI as a short-term investment, selling immediately rather than reinvesting in Lens-based services or creator tools. While this behavior generated liquidity for traders, it did little to help creators build stable, fan-based revenue streams within the Lens ecosystem (CoinGecko, 2025; CryptoBriefing, 2024).
3.3 Tipping Function Realities
- Initial Enthusiasm: Tipping was initially promoted as a way for fans to directly support creators. Micro-patronage was meant to complement token airdrops and offer ongoing income.
- Passive Viewership: Over time, many users treated Lens as an entertainment feed, consuming content without tipping or otherwise compensating creatives for their labor and efforts. Only a fraction of followers contributed financially, leaving most creators with insufficient income.
- Income Gaps: Tips often fell below production costs. Creators reported that tipping felt more like a novelty than a reliable revenue source, pushing them to seek other ways to monetize.
3.4 Support Beyond Tokens
Despite Lens Protocol raising $31 million in late 2024 and another $15 million in early 2025, details about direct support for creators were scarce (TechCrunch, 2024; ChainPlay.gg, 2025). Without dedicated grant programs, mentorship, or curated showcases, many creators felt their ongoing contributions—like content creation and community outreach—were not sufficiently recognized or rewarded.
4. NFT Market Dynamics: Speculation Versus Community
4.1 Contraction in 2024
- Trading Volume Drop: NFT trading volume in 2024 declined by about 20 percent compared to 2023 (Cointelegraph, 2024).
- Most Assets Idle: Approximately 96 percent of NFTs experienced minimal trading by year’s end, signaling widespread loss of market interest (NFT Evening, 2024).
- Buyer Motivations: Research showed that 39 percent of NFT buyers were primarily motivated by long-term profit, while nearly 70 percent judged an asset’s value for its potential return rather than artistic or community factors (App Developer Magazine, 2024).
- Wash Trading Concerns: Up to 30 percent of reported trading volume on major platforms was driven by wash trading—where a single actor repeatedly buys and sells to inflate metrics (Cong, Li, & Tang, 2024). This practice distorted real demand and hindered creators trying to build genuine followings.
4.2 Brief Resurgence in May 2025
- 15 Percent Sales Uptick: May 2025 saw $430 million in NFT sales—a 15-percent increase over April’s $373 million (AInvest, 2025).
- Speculation-Driven Growth: This resurgence was led by a handful of high-profile, heavily marketed collections—celebrity drops and branded releases—rather than by grassroots or creator-driven initiatives.
4.3 Implications for Creators
- Short-Term Gains vs. Long-Term Viability: A small group of creators involved in early “blue-chip” projects made significant profits. However, most creators faced losses or barely broke even once market excitement faded, especially if they lacked large collector networks.
- Hype Over Community: Well-funded, celebrity-backed NFT drops attracted headlines but failed to build lasting communities. Creators focusing on steady audience growth found it challenging to compete with speculative projects.
5. Atomic Lore: A Post-Market Archival Initiative
5.1 Purpose and Promise
Atomic Lore launched in late 2024 as a platform aimed at preserving Web3 creators’ work in a research-ready format. Its main goals:
- Standardized Metadata: Applying clear schemas—such as creator backgrounds, technical methods, and contextual notes—that fit academic and museum standards.
- Immutable Timestamping: Leveraging decentralized ledgers to lock in proof of creation and provenance, ensuring work remains verifiable even if market values change.
- Institutional Access: Creating straightforward ways for universities, libraries, archives, and museums to ingest, check, and preserve Web3-native works alongside traditional collections.
5.2 Timing and Scope
- “The initial cohort of about 50 creators worked in … and by early 2025 many had already lost token-based income, leaving little time or funds for archival work.”
- “Although Atomic Lore’s design matches archival best practices, only a handful of large institutions had committed to ingesting its data, so creators saw limited pathways to exhibition, grants, or academic citation.”
- “Atomic Lore arrived ‘too late’—had it launched in 2022 or 2023, creators might have used it for lasting visibility. By mid-2025, most had moved on from token-based strategies, reducing their incentive to invest in archiving.”
5.3 Who Benefits: Select Few
- Established and Well-Funded Creators: Those who maintained token value or held strong offline reputations could use Atomic Lore to justify gallery exhibitions, academic citations, or curatorial projects.
- New or Less-Funded Creators: Limited token income and a lack of institutional invitations meant many did not have the resources to complete metadata entry and archival uploads.
6. Practical Lessons and Recommendations
6.1 Introduce Archival Tools Early
- Embed Archival Infrastructure from the Start: Archival solutions—like Atomic Lore—should launch alongside token ecosystems. By setting up standardized metadata and institutional ties early, creators gain recognition that does not rely solely on volatile market values.
6.2 Diversify How Creators Are Paid
- Beyond Exposure and Micro-Tips: Decentralized platforms should provide transparent baseline support—small ongoing stipends or regular micro-grants—rather than depending exclusively on “exposure,” airdrops, or tipping.
- Clear Revenue Shares: Implement royalty splits for secondary sales and guarantee minimum payouts for curated platform features or dedicated showcases.
6.3 Align Funding with Long-Term Outcomes
- Measure Projects by Community Growth: Investors and Grantmakers should look at metrics like audience growth, repeat engagement, and collaborative projects—rather than focusing only on token or NFT sales.
- Designate Funds for Direct Creator Support: A portion of all fundraising should go to application-based grants, skill-building workshops, and mentorship programs.
6.4 Clarify Token Incentives and Distribution
- Transparent Airdrop Roadmaps: Token distributions should come with clear, multi-stage support plans—follow-up grants, discoverability boosts, or staking rewards—to prevent recipients from selling tokens immediately without contributing to community growth.
- Educate Users on Tipping: Offer guidance on how small contributions can grow into reliable, ongoing support.
6.5 Build Stronger Institutional Partnerships
- Engage Cultural and Academic Organizations Early: Museums, libraries, and universities can create “Web3 Labs” or dedicated collections to preserve decentralized content. Partnering on archival standards helps ensure that Web3 works become part of broader cultural records.
Conclusion
The experiences of P00LS, Lens Protocol, the broader NFT market, and Atomic Lore highlight a key challenge in Web3 creator economies: short-term speculation often takes precedence over steady, community-focused growth. While the idea that “creatives will bring in the next million users” remains promising, it must become more than a marketing slogan to truly be effective.
To close the gap between promise and reality, platforms and funders should consider:
- Introduce archival infrastructure early, ensuring creators’ work remains visible regardless of market swings.
- Offer diversified payment models that go beyond exposure and micro-tips.
- Invest in initiatives measured by long-term cultural impact, not just immediate token gains.
- Forge collaborations with cultural and academic institutions to grant Web3 works lasting recognition.
By taking these steps, Web3 can become a more reliable, fair, and lasting space where creators truly lead digital innovation and community growth.