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The promise of blockchain technology has been clear to me ever since I started using Bitcoin to buy weed back in 2012 on Silkroad: decentralize power, return value to users, and create transparent systems where everyone benefits.

But, as I’ve learned over seven tumultuous years, having a vision and making it accessible to the masses are two entirely different challenges.

Like many entrepreneurs in the Web3 space, I believed blockchain could fundamentally restructure how digital platforms operate - shifting from extraction models where corporations harvest user value to participatory ecosystems where users become stakeholders. The question wasn’t if this transformation would happen, but how to make this revolutionary technology comprehensible and useful to everyday users.

Act I: The Knowledge Revolution (2017–2018)

My journey into building software products in the blockchain space began in 2017 with Trybe, a tokenized knowledge base built on EOS. The concept was ambitious yet simple: reward people with tokens for creating educational content about blockchain technology. We wanted to democratize knowledge sharing while proving that communities could own and govern their own platforms.

Trybe gained remarkable traction, growing to 40,000 users who were genuinely engaged in learning and teaching about this emerging technology. For a brief moment, it felt like we were witnessing the birth of a new internet — one where contributors were compensated fairly for their efforts instead of tech giants capturing all the value.

Then 2018 happened. The crypto crash wasn’t just a market correction; it was an extinction event for early Web3 projects. Trybe, like countless other blockchain ventures, couldn’t survive the crypto winter. Our community disbanded, our tokens became worthless, and our grand vision temporarily died.

Act II: DeFi Dreams and Terra Nightmares (2020–2022)

After licking our wounds, we pivoted to decentralized finance in 2020, and built a DEX (decentralized exchange) on Terra. The timing seemed perfect - DeFi was exploding, Terra was gaining momentum, and we had learned valuable lessons from our first venture.

Our DEX achieved considerable success, reaching $150 million in Total Value Locked (TVL). For a moment, we thought we had cracked the code. We were facilitating real economic activity, users were earning yields, and the platform was generating sustainable revenue.

But lightning struck twice. Terra’s collapse in 2022 wiped out our DEX along with billions in user funds across the ecosystem. Once again, we watched a promising Web3 project crumble due to forces beyond our control. The pattern was becoming painfully clear: betting everything on emerging blockchain ecosystems was a high-risk game.

Meanwhile, my other business - a live music venue I had operated in Melbourne for nine years - was dying a slow death due to COVID lockdowns. The irony wasn’t lost on me: while trying to build the future of digital platforms, the pandemic was destroying traditional venues where artists and fans connected in person.

Act III: Finding Purpose in Music (2022-Present)

With both my digital and physical businesses in ruins, I had a choice: abandon Web3 entirely or find a new approach.

The music industry, which I understood intimately from running a venue, presented the perfect opportunity to apply hard-earned lessons.

The problems in music were glaring: streaming platforms like Spotify extract enormous value while paying artists pennies; record labels maintain opaque accounting practices; and fans have limited ways to directly support or invest in artists they love. Here was an industry crying out for the transparency and user-ownership that blockchain technology promised.

But there was still one lesson left to learn: blockchain people don’t understand the music industry, and musicians don’t understand blockchain technology.

Adapting the technology

After a lot of frustration (trying to get musicians and people in the music industry to use blockchain technology) we realised we had to do something radically different: make blockchain’s benefits obvious while making the technology itself invisible.

Instead of leading with tokens, NFTs, or decentralized governance, we focused on solving real problems that artists face every day.

Initially, we built a digital store where artists could sell NFTs with tangible benefits - digital files, exclusive music, concert tickets. But we quickly realized artists didn’t need another platform to manage. They needed their own digital infrastructure.

This insight led to our next product: a website builder that allows artists to create their own branded spaces where they can sell both digital and physical products (backed by NFTs and blockchain technology) while engaging and rewarding fans for promotional activities.

The magic happens in the background. When a fan purchases music, they’re not just buying an MP3 - they’re receiving a blockchain-verified NFT asset that proves ownership and can include exclusive perks and future resale value. When fans share content on social media, they earn tokens that can be redeemed for merchandise or exclusive access. Artists maintain full control of their audience data and revenue streams.

Finally cracking the nut with Loop Fans: A Simple Website Builder for Musicians…

After years of building in relative obscurity, we’re finally getting noticed by the music industry. The difference? We stopped talking about blockchain and started talking about artist empowerment, fan engagement, and revenue optimization. We built a simple website builder for musicians that artists can use for free - something many artists are looking for.

The journey to this point has been exhausting. Seven years of surviving market crashes, regulatory uncertainty, industry skepticism, and global pandemics. There were countless moments when pivoting to traditional tech or abandoning entrepreneurship entirely seemed rational. Even our families starting asking us when we were going to give up our crazy dreams and get real jobs!

But persistence has its rewards. We’re not just building another music platform - we’re creating foundational infrastructure for creators where fans become stakeholders by default. This model has applications far beyond music, potentially transforming how any content creator or service provider interacts with their community.

While Loop Fans is currently a website builder for musicians - it is set to become a complete fan engagement platform - where any creator or brand can engage and reward their brand in new and unique ways - through digital and physical products, through rewards for social interactions, and through personalized messaging. These days, with the lack of transparency on major social platforms, knowing who your true fans (or customers) really are and being able to engage and communicate with them directly is essential for any community related business.

Looking Forward: The Stakeholder Economy

The future we’re building isn’t just about better tools for musicians. It’s about proving that platforms can be designed to benefit users rather than exploit them. Every fan who earns tokens for promotion, every artist who retains ownership of their audience, every transaction that happens transparently on-chain is a small victory against extractive platform capitalism.

We’re still early. Mainstream adoption of Web3 technologies requires more than just better products - it demands a fundamental shift in how people think about ownership, value, and digital relationships. But after seven years of building, failing, and rebuilding, I’m convinced that patience and persistence will eventually overcome the friction of innovation.

The music industry, with its passionate fan communities and dire need for fair compensation models is the perfect place to prove that Web3’s promises can become reality.