The famous crypto influencer Irene Zhao launched IreneDAO NFT to show her promise in the decentralized web3 social media project SO-COL.

Over the weekend, Irene’s NFT blew up the cryptocurrency market after its launch on Friday, 14 January.

The 28-year-old Instagram model recently left her job as a commodity broker to pursue a career into the crypto industry. 

Irene has a fair amount of experience in social media after building a following of 500,000 across Instagram and Twitter. She also mentioned SO-COL is aiming to be a decentralized alternative to the major social networks of Web2.

She dropped hints on her DAO last November as seen on her twitter.

IreneDAO started out as a sticker collection featuring an assortment of photos of her in various poses. Each photo features text overlay with popular crypto memes such as “WAGMI” (meaning “We’re All Going to Make It”) and “gm” (“good morning.”).

The various stickers were tokenized into 1,107 NFTs and provides access to the DAO’s “Genesis Tribe”. They were distributed as a free mint but now trades at 2.9 Ethereum on OpenSea (at the time of writing).

SO-COL to transform social media

IreneDAO originated as a social experiment to prove its core concept of empowering creators through NFTs. Their aim is to create thousands of such communities through the SO-COL platform. Regardless of the community size, the platform serves as a utility for the creator’s very own ‘collectables’.

SO-COL (Social-collectables) core values are SIMP: Simplicity, Integrity, Meaning, and Purpose. It’s a grassroots movement, where anyone can grow as content creators, metaverse influencers.

To be an all-in-one alternative to platforms to Discord and OnlyFans, powered by NFTs. Creators can bridge their social accounts to web3 and use NFTs as a basis to manage their memberships and communities.

Be expected to see more of DAOs from various celebrities, the success of IreneDAO will spark many clones. Irene’s project is the proof of concept for other influencers to mimic and do good for their fans.

Logan Paul apes into IreneDAO NFT

Amidst the buzz and hype on IreneDAO’s NFT, notable influencers like Logan Paul bought over 20 Irene NFTs. These 20 NFTs amounted to approximately US$280,000 in his open sea wallet.

In my opinion, Logan Paul is a great businessman. His conviction in the Irene’s project might bring light to other influencers to adopt similar concept as their very own.

Having a fellow influencer, who is big in the cryptocurrency space, endorsing the first ever ‘fanclub’ DAO brings credibility into where this project might take us in 2022.

Furthermore, the potential for what other celebrities can do in adopting similar concepts for their followers will be immense. The ability to reach the masses easily and giving followers exclusive access might be a game changer for the web3 social media space.

Irene’s NFT Invitation to Three Arrows Capital

In her private discord channel, Irene reached out to co-founder and CEO of Three Arrow Capital, Zhu Su. Three Arrow Capital is a leading fund manger firm which exhibited outstanding growth since its formation in 2012.

Irene’s action might have been intentional in reaching out to the huge institutional player. By stringing in institutional whales in her project, she might have found a new avenue of promotion and potential financial backing for SO-COL as she embarks into the web3 social media space.

Closing thoughts on IreneDAO NFT

In my opinion, Irene really is a marketing genius. Her seven years in the marketing field shined through with every aspect of the the project (I am not simping).

Imagine this, the 1000 digital assets in the project is her very own marketing tool for herself. The buzz created with the huge success in IreneDAO only increases her personal brand, positively influencing her image in the space.

Too many Web3 platforms focus on what they are (NFT platform on XX chain) rather than why they exist and how they benefit users. Good technologies should be invisible to the end users.

Irene Zhao

By bridging blockchain technology with web3 social media, Irene might have creating a created a new wave for other influencers to do the same. Being the first fanclub DAO, it is a proof of concept for other influencers to venture into, possibly exploding the narrative of web3 social media.

The social media bubble will keep evolving. From web2 to web3, there will always be new and innovative ways in approaching social media. Will this be sustainable in the long run? or will overcrowding in this space arise to new ‘first world problems’? I guess time will tell in this very speculative and experimental direction of the ‘new’ social media.

Also Read: NFT Sales Volume Has Surged To Over US$12 Billion – Are They Here To Stay In 2022 And Beyond?