Thread by @AllysonDowney

Can we talk about NFT “whitelists”?

Before even digging into how problematic the existing structures are, let’s take the simpler first step of not using the term whitelist at all. (1/x) 🧵

You know how everyone keeps saying “we’re early” in this space? That means it’s early enough to easily make a correction and stop using a loaded term. (2/x)

vice.com/en/article/v7d…

The connotations of whitelist reinforce the exclusionary behaviors that are already prevalent in the very nascent world of NFTs.

Some alternatives:

✅ presale list
✅ mintlist
✅ allowlist
✅ diamond list
✅ goldlist

(3/x)

We’ll be using goldlist at @meta_angels. We like the natural associations: heart of gold, golden opportunity, gold standard, golden ticket.

(I’m going to use whitelist to describe the current standard, and goldlist for an aspirational standard.) (4/x)

Think of an NFT mint like buying concert tickets: there’s a published on-sale date and time, and there’s a limited quantity available, so once they sell out, they’re gone. (5/x)

And you know how some artists’ concert tickets are *really* hard to get? Like, you need your finger hovering on the buy button and the fastest reflexes? Same with buzzy NFTs. (6/x)

The “best” (read: most anticipated and talked about) NFTs sell out in minutes, and it’s even hairier than clicking refresh on Ticketmaster, because that sudden high demand skyrockets “gas” prices. (7/x)

Gas is essentially a transaction fee, and when demand is high, so is that transaction fee.

You can also cut the line if you pay for extra gas when you mint your NFT. (8/x)

Imagine if when you’re on Ticketmaster, you could tell Visa, “Hey, here’s an extra $300… put my transaction through first.”

Crazy, right?

There’s a shortcut around all of this madness, and that’s through a pre-sale before the public sale. (9/x)

Pre-sales are only accessible to people whose wallet addresses were pre-approved by the project’s creators. (For the newbies, your wallet address functions kind of like an email address.) (10/x)

This list of pre-approved wallet addresses is the “whitelist.” (Again, problematic term that needs to be retired.) (11/x)

So how do you get on that whitelist? A few common ways:

1⃣ You own an NFT the project has partnered with.
2⃣ You get a whole bunch of other people to join the Discord.
3⃣ You “prove yourself” committed to the project by being highly active in the Discord.

(12/x)

Now, it’s in the interest of the project founders to build a whitelist populated by people likely to buy and hold (not flip) their NFT.

And the above are often useful signals. But they’re also radically exclusionary. Let’s break it down. (13/x)

1⃣ General estimates right now are that most NFT communities are 80%+ male. Prioritizing entry to people already in those communities perpetuates that imbalance. (14/x)

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

2⃣ New entrants to the NFT space don’t have people to invite. They’re buying the NFT in part so they can connect with a community. It’s a chicken and egg problem. (15/x)

3⃣ Discord engagement requirements encourage noise, not signal — and most people just don’t. have. time. for. chitchat. (16/x)

Okay, so what’s the NFT alternative to prioritizing people who are already insiders or who've jumped through a bunch of time-consuming hoops?

Who else is likely to buy and hold?

Women. (17/x)

blog.massmutual.com/post/women-inv…

There is a two-birds-with-one-stone solution here that both meets the needs of project founders (they need hdolers!) and pumps the brakes on the inequity that’s currently festering in NFTs. (18/x)

(Jargon timeout: the term hodl originated from a typo of the world “hold” — as in, I’m holding my Bitcoin long-term — and in the crypto world, hdol has usurped the proper spelling.) (19/x)

The solution here is a really, really simple one: create an alternate presale/goldlist path for underrepresented community members. (20/x)

When @CuriousAddys was preparing to mint, their #women-in-crypto channel had a shortcut to getting on the presale list:

Invite *one* woman, and you’d both have access to the presale. (21/x)

I wound up inviting *ten*, because @CuriousAddys made minting an NFT so accessible and (relatively) unintimidating.

The same can (and should) be done for BIPOC community members. (22/x)

Will there be bad actors who pretend to be something they’re not to get access to a buzzy presale/gold list?Probably.

But I’ve got reasonable faith that those will be few in numbers. (Bad karma!) (23/x)

But the upside is enormous: building more equitable presale/goldlists is an opportunity for an early correction in market inequality, AND is likely to increase community value by bringing in more hdolers. (24/x)

The ultimate gold standard for goldlists (see what I did there?) should be gender equity and racial diversity that matches population distribution.

It’s going to take some time to get there. (25/x)

But project founders need to put a stake in the ground now to signal their commitment to #changetheratio.

(#changetheratio was coined by @rachelsklar in 2010 to encourage inclusivity and equity in the tech community. The crypto community needs it just as badly.) (26/x)

So here’s my call to action:

📌 Project founders: establish the shortcut path to goldlisting for women and BIPOC community members. (27/x)

📌 NFT purchasers: support the projects that are committed to equity and inclusivity. Don’t mint the ones that aren’t. Will you be leaving money on the table? Maybe. But I’m asking you to take a long term bet that inclusive projects will provide better returns. (28/x)

📌 And everyone: please, please… stop saying “whitelist.” (29/x)

And a lesser call to action: follow what we’re doing at @meta_angels and join our Discord. (30/x) discord.gg/RNuGpkNkts

We’re committed to NFT accessibility and building an inclusive community, and if it’s something you care about too, we’d love to have you among us at @meta_angels. (/end)

Made it this far? Back to the top to retweet!📌

https://twitter.com/AllysonDowney/status/1477410149191069697?s=20

(And a big h/t to @tinybear_eth for proposing the term goldlist. 👑)