Communities have emerged as one of the most important bedrocks of the cryptocurrency industry, acting as a powerful force that helps to drive innovation and inclusion, ensuring that a project’s most enthusiastic participants can make their voices heard.Â
Crypto communities exist on online messaging platforms and forums, such as Discord, Telegram and X, and generally consist of like-minded individuals who are invested in a particular project or cryptocurrency token. They play a major role, both in promoting the project or token in question, and also in fostering its ongoing development and innovation.Â
Another characteristic of crypto communities is the assistance they provide to new users. Because members of a community generally have a common interest in a very specific subject or topic, they’re far more likely to educate and assist each other.Â
Crypto communities are therefore some of the best places to learn, providing a forum where anyone can come and talk about the technology, and discuss new concepts and advancements in the industry. Within these communities, there is generally lots of talk about the hottest new coins and trends in the industry, as well as subjects such as Web3, non-fungible tokens and decentralized autonomous organizations.Â
Where Are The Wallet Communities?
Most new projects that emerge in the crypto space will inevitably build up a loyal community of followers fairly quickly. This is true for virtually every major DeFi protocol, NFT collection, metaverse platform, blockchain game and decentralized exchange (DEX) platform.Â
But strangely, there’s one very odd exception to this rule. The vast majority of crypto wallets do not have any kind of sizable community at all. And that’s quite unusual, considering the emphasis the crypto industry places on decentralization, and the fact that the crypto wallet is the one application that every single token holder is guaranteed to use.Â
Fact is, everybody needs somewhere to store their crypto, and that almost inevitably means they’ll use a smartphone wallet or a hardware wallet of some description. Yet despite being among the most essential apps in the crypto industry, few wallets can boast sizable, active communities.
It’s a unfortunate, because crypto wallets stand to benefit more than most. Wallets are unique in the Web3 space in that their user base is generally far bigger and more diverse than other projects.Â
For one thing, it’s not just white folks that own crypto wallets. Crypto adoption is actually higher in a lot of developing nations, with millions of users in African, Asian and Latin American nations, where people generally have less access to traditional financial services and may live in countries with struggling economies. Â
There are good reasons for wallets to try and tap into this diversity too. For one thing, their diverse user base undoubtedly shares a common goal of making the wallet easier to use, increasing its functionality, boosting its security and minimizing its costs.Â
There’s also plenty of academic evidence to suggest that diversity is important. Studies show that, in the business world, diverse leadership teams consistently outperform those that are less diverse, demonstrating increased profitability, more creativity and better problem-solving skills.Â
The advantage of having many diverse voices is that more people from different backgrounds can share their own ideas, perspectives and experiences, leading to organizations that are more innovative and effective.Â
A 2018 study by Boston Consulting Group found that more diverse management teams deliver 19% higher revenues, primarily due to their superior level of innovation. It’s a significant finding, especially for organizations operating in industries where innovation is key to growth.Â
Let The Community Speak
The benefits of diversity in business are applicable to the crypto industry too, and that includes crypto wallets, where governance decisions can be among the most contentious of all.Â
One of the pioneers in this regard is Ambire Wallet, which has created the $WALLET token as its native governance token, alongside the WalletDAO, which is the decentralized autonomous organization responsible for the ongoing development of the wallet.Â
The purpose of WalletDAO is to govern Ambire Wallet’s ongoing development and decide upon its future integrations. As such, the decisions it makes will impact all of its users. Therefore, it’s only right that the community gets a say on such matters.Â
Because wallets are so focused on delivering an efficient and streamlined user experience, there will inevitably be a lot of debate regarding proposed integrations with other dApps and services. That’s especially true in the case of Ambire Wallet, which is designed to be a DeFi dashboard as well as a simple wallet. Because of this focus, decisions on which DeFi protocol should be the default swap provider can be extremely contentious. Every Ambire Wallet user will have their own ideas about which protocol is best, and WalletDAO gives them a place to voice those opinions.Â
Everytime a proposal is made and earns enough backing, $WALLET token holders will be given an opportunity to vote via a governance system that’s designed to surface the consensus of the majority.Â
WalletDAO’s first ever governance vote saw the community overwhelmingly elect to increase the burn rate for claiming $WALLET rewards to from 30% to 50%, while also increasing the lock-up period for staked $WALLET tokens from 20 to 60 days.
The vote showcased how Ambire’s users can influence its future direction, but that’s not the only benefit to holding $WALLET. In addition, users can also earn substantial rewards for participating in governance. Ambire Wallet allows direct staking of $WALLET to earn a share of the revenue it generates from transaction fees. Alternatively, users can also deposit their $WALLET tokens into liquidity pools via a number of automated market makers, or else trade the token freely on multiple crypto exchanges.Â
Ambire Wallet stands out from other popular crypto wallets due to its novel experiment with decentralized governance, and the signs suggest that this mechanism will enable the community to play a more pivotal role in its development. Because its community has a forum to discuss its ideas and vote on whether or not to implement them, it will evolve the features and capabilities that its users want, as opposed to what its developers think they want.
Also Read: Top 10 Best Crypto Wallets of 2024
Final ThoughtsÂ
Despite the crucial role that communities play in the cryptocurrency sector, fostering innovation and support among enthusiasts, crypto wallets have notably lagged in building vibrant, inclusive communities. This oversight is particularly striking given the diverse, global user base of crypto wallets, which transcends geographic and socioeconomic boundaries.Â