Over the past years, we’ve seen cryptocurrencies, web3, and NFTs emerge. These tools have begun to redefine ownership, shared incentives, and community governance of digital assets. At OAK, we’re imagining how we might use these tools to build a more collaborative, regenerative, and empowered local community in Oakland, California with its long standing commitment to community values.
The people of Oakland have a long history of organizing to make the world a more fair and just place. We believe if the web3 industry truly wants to deliver on the promise of redefining community ownership, power, and governance, it must build with rooted communities who have been redefining community ownership, power, and governance for generations.
Or as the phrase goes, “Nothing about us without us.”
This is why we partnered with NFT Oakland powered by ZORA. It’s not your average crypto conference that talks about reimagining power but is produced by those who have always had power. Nor is it a rally with people power movements at the forefront but lacking technology to scale their movement. It’s a rare instance where the technology is combined with the people doing the work. It’s an iteration, an instance, a foundational version of the ongoing movement we are seeking to build. It’s gathering all of the ingredients needed and planting seeds toward our vision for a better city and community.
NFT Oakland: Community, Creativity, and Crypto from the Ground Up
ZORA as main sponsor teamed up with NFT Oakland, OAK, MOVES into web3, VO1D, and NFO to produce a deeply diverse and engaging crypto gathering within the existing, intentionally constructed crypto community. NFT Oakland put community first when it came to distribution, onboarding, curation, impact, performances, and continuity. We helped over 400 people get their first crypto wallet and launched the NFT Oakland Festival Pass that gave attendees free food at the venue and discounts on food and drinks at participating local restaurants throughout the weekend; their first digital asset with real-world utility.
By building NFT Oakland by and for communities historically left behind, we created a safe and welcoming space for everyone to learn about web3, NFTs, and cryptocurrency.
Distribution: How we got the word out.
NFT Oakland wasn’t your typical crypto conference. By prioritizing local outreach, the NFT Oakland team attracted a wider and more diverse audience. Here’s what we did:
- Prioritized high-trust networks in communities who had low trust in crypto.
- Used in-person and organic social media word-of-mouth to reach them.
- Solicited a local street team to post flyers in high visibility places throughout Oakland.
- Invited existing partner organizations who were already rooted in community.
So often we see people building “web3 communities” around an NFT project or a technological solution. We turned that on its head and looked at partners as “community-first, crypto second.” We can teach people about web3, but trust is crucial to reach the people we’re seeking. This comes through trusted relationships with strong, interconnected, and interdependent local communities.
Onboarding
Aside from celebrating dope artists and throwing a fire festival, we wanted to give hundreds of Oaklanders their first web3 experience. OAK handled the onboarding, inviting guests to scan a QR code. This code led to a web form where guests entered their name and phone number. They received an SMS with a link from our partner Linkdrop to download a wallet app like Coinbase Wallet and claim the NFT Oakland Festival Pass NFT for free on the Polygon network. Most folks were able to go from no wallet to NFT within two minutes.
This way, our guests’ first web3 experience could immediately provide tangible utility in the real world. Presenting an NFT Oakland Festival Pass entitled holders to free food within the block party and a 5 percent discount at 6 local restaurants, plus a 5 percent donation to local community nonprofit partners. One restaurant partner even gave Festival Pass holders a free drink!
For anyone struggling with wallet setup, our staff and volunteers stood by to guide them through the many clicks and screens. The experience of setting up a wallet, switching to the Polygon network, and claiming an NFT can be confusing. By personally walking people through the process, we were able to build trust and confidence in those who are new to crypto technology.
Inclusive by Design
NFT Oakland was created with the intention of being a more community-driven approach to the crypto space. The festival prioritized programming for those typically left behind by the tech industry, for first-time artists, and for small local businesses. This helped create a more inclusive environment where everyone felt welcome and able to participate.
In addition, crypto has a diversity and financial inclusion problem, and we have set out to change that. We surveyed those who claimed their NFT Oakland Festival Pass and were quite pleased with the demographics. All told, 449 new wallets were created on-site and 314 people claimed Festival Passes. Festival Pass holders identified as:
- 35.4% female
- 9.81% non-binary
- 54.3% male
- 76.82% BIPOC (40% Black, 13% Asian, and 11% Latinx)
- 15.9% White
The demographics we list are just one indicator of how we are seeking to create a culture and environment where people feel welcome. Other characteristics require more effort to measure, such as attendees’ attitudes and opinions toward creating a more just, equitable, and collaborative world. While we have not directly surveyed this, our messaging and that of NFT Oakland called for those building a more regenerative and collaborative ecosystem. The demographics we see support that vision.
Who shows up is a reflection of our outreach, the artists selected, the programming offered, and the demographics of the local population. We sought to reach the local Oakland community and the regional web3 community to create a welcoming environment for crypto enthusiasts and crypto-curious. By prioritizing those traditionally left behind, our aim is for everyone to feel welcome.
Impact
NFT Oakland puts the community first financially. Five percent of all NFT Oakland collection sales went directly to the Oakland community treasury to support quadratic funding for local public goods. These donations build on our first-of-its-kind Gitcoin quadratic funding round that allowed donors to fund real-world public goods in addition to open source software projects.
We want everyday Oaklanders to benefit from the success of this and future festivals. So we’re laying the foundation for community celebrations to be an engine to finance public goods, creating a regenerative circular effect.
Performances
NFT Oakland is a community-driven approach to crypto that focuses on culturally relevant performers from the local Oakland community.
These carefully curated performers set the vibe, which signals who is welcome. When we feature artists people relate to, they feel like they can relate to the rest of the festival’s content including panels, workshops, and educational talks. Representation matters. Folks feel seen, heard, and valued when they see their lived experiences reflected back to them from the power of the stage.
This includes local favorites like Grand Nationxl, in addition to broader reaching artists like Latasha, Mick Jenkins, and Heno. By putting these artists front and center, NFT Oakland is attracting the community we are seeking to serve.
Education
In addition to featuring local and up-and-coming talent, NFT Oakland also hosts accessible workshops and events that aim to educate the broader community about blockchain technology and its potential applications. We educated first time artists by walking them through minting their first NFT, we educated small businesses on experimenting with NFTs for loyalty programs, and we helped guests set up their first crypto wallets.
By bringing people together from all walks of life, NFT Oakland hopes to create a more accessible and user-friendly approach to crypto that can benefit everyone.
Continuity
Since early 2022, OAK has been engaging local leaders, businesses, artists, and community members to build a base and nurture the beginnings of a local Oakland crypto ecosystem that empowers everyone. We were able to integrate NFT Oakland into that existing base instead of trying to manufacture something out of nothing. In doing so, we came one step closer towards building the kind of crypto community we want to see.
A Call to the Crypto Industry
While a lot of media attention focuses on a vision of crypto that can be exclusive, extractive, and speculative, NFT Oakland represents an ascendent trend. We’re calling our space to a higher plane of collaboration, inclusivity, and empowerment. We’re rooting new technology for financial collaboration within an already deeply collaborative community.
Many of us came to this space seeing crypto as a new technology for how community retains value, empowers ownership, and gives holders a voice. What many don’t know, and what we want to make clear, is there is a long history of rethinking ownership, government, and relationship with capital. We’re not the first. This is a vision Oakland has been pioneering for generations.
We stand on the shoulders of giants like CL Dellums, The Black Panthers, Ron Dellums, Fred Korematsu, Assata Shakur, Pat Parker, Wilson Riles and countless others erased from the annals of history. If we want to fulfill the promise that brought us here, we must build with the people who brought us here.
As the impact of the pantheon of Oakland leaders referenced above have rippled out into the world, we also hope what we are building at OAK serves as an inspiration and a model that can be freely replicated in other cities. OAK is our gift, not only to Oakland, but from Oakland to the world. We hope the open source offerings we build can be replicable in other cities through our parent organization, City3.
What is OAK?
OAK is a community currency for a thriving Oakland. We envision a future where community residents steward Oakland’s wealth — land, housing, culture, and businesses — towards collective prosperity. To make this happen, we intend to use crypto to build a just economy and responsive governance structure. To make this happen, we intend to use crypto to build a more just economy, a responsive governance structure, and the foundations for fractional ownership of community assets so community can own itself.
Join Us
If you’re interested in learning more or getting involved in the local crypto community, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and join our Discord.
Community Call August 23rd
Our next community call will be on Tuesday 8/23 at 5:30PM PST. Drop in and hear about the progress we have made on our current projects as well as what we have in store next.
🔔 Set a reminder on the OAK Discord.
Intro to the Oakland Crypto Community August 24th
The best onboarding experience in the Bay! Bring your crypto-curious friends + fam, web3 skeptics, and everyone in between. We will demystify crypto jargon, contextualize the blockchain movement in Oakland, help community members create their first wallets, and take a deep dive into one new local project each month. This is the perfect opportunity for both blockchain beginners and web3 veterans to come together and help our community transition to these new tools.
Tell Us
What are some regenerative, inclusive, and empowering values that you would like to see in the crypto community? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
