Proof Collective opens up to moving beyond stereotypes
Unfortunately, the “crypto bridge” stereotype is not entirely without traction. At the time of writing, most people active in the Web3 space are men, and the NFT space should do more to uplift black artists.
But now Web3 companies are paying attention. Some even seem to have policies focused on accountability. And Proof Collective is one of the most prominent Web3 players trying to do just that.
If you haven’t heard of the group, you probably know their work: The collective is the exclusive members-only NFT community behind projects like Moonbirds, Oddities, Grails and others. Recently, the company announced that it had welcomed seven Web3 organizations into the Moonbirds community by giving them 400 Oddities NFTs, according to information shared with nft now via Amanda Gadbow, head of culture and community at Proof Collective.
In an effort to better align with the values of diversity, fairness and inclusion that the wider NFT community has criticized the group for lacking, the Proof Collective chose Endaoment, Unicorn DAO, 50mm collective, [email protected], Human DAO, Decaand BFF to be recipients of the NFTs.
The 400 Oddities that Proof gave to the organizations, whose missions all center around philanthropy and equal opportunities for historically marginalized groups, came from 400 Moonbirds holders who had not “nested” their NFTs and were therefore ineligible to receive an Oddity.
Nesting a Moonbird simply means “locking” the NFT and making it impossible to trade. Staking a Moonbird NFT is one way Proof encourages its NFT holders to stick with and actively participate in the community.
Increasing diversity in Web3
“One of the criticisms we get is that because we didn’t go through the normal permission list process for Moonbirds, the only people who knew [the collection] come was anyone really dialed into the Proof network,” Gadbow explained in an interview with nft now. “And it was a very narrow range of people who were able to see that. And often that narrow range of people look the same – they’re usually white men.”
Gadbow elaborated that, as a global brand that values diversity, Proof Co-founder Kevin Rose brainstormed ways to address these concerns and achieve the company’s internal goal of making their NFT community as diverse and uplifting as possible.
“When I joined the company, I took in all the comments, all the comments, all the criticism and said, ‘Let’s actually lead with some of these community initiatives,'” Gadbow continued. “There are a large number of ways to do that – this NFT gift was one of those ways.”
The move could be an encouraging step towards aligning a collection from one of the most exclusive organizations in the NFT ecosystem to more inclusive standards. With the help of co-founder Justin Mezzell and the rest of the Proof team, Proof Collective has turned into an absolute juggernaut of a Web3 player. Moonbirds launched on April 16, 2022. The collection took the NFT world by storm, launching itself into the top 10 highest grossing NFT projects of all time less than a week after its release.
When asked how she identified the seven Web3 communities to which Proof donated Oddities, Gadbow said she wanted to make sure the company chose groups truly dedicated to making Web3 more accessible to marginalized communities.
“The idea of making Web3 more accessible to women is something that is very important to me.”
Amanda Gadbow
“Before I started working at Proof, I co-founded a small group called Token Clubwhich is focused on uplifting and empowering marginalized communities in the space,” said Gadbow. “The idea of making Web3 more accessible to women is something that is very important to me. I took the time to make sure these seven communities [inhabited that spirit].”
Gadbow is well aware that the gift may appear as a one-off PR stunt to create the optics Bevis needs to avoid further criticism of this kind. But she believes that this is simply not the case.
“The ultimate goal is to expand our network and create more awareness of our brand,” Gadbow said. “One of the bigger things we’re doing is making sure we continue to have a relationship with all of these members.” In fact [email protected]who “are a group of black builders in space. By bringing them into our world, we were able to take a look at some of the [Web3] tools that the community built, and now we have meetings to explore how we might be able to use some of these tools in our community as well.”
Gadbow also said the company has seen promising signs of collaboration and interaction in the few weeks since Proof gave the seven organizations Oddities.
“Seeing people come in has been so cool,” noted Gadbow. “One of the chats we have in the Moonbird Lounge is called Ladybirds. And to be able to see all the BFFs come in and be so embraced. We don’t have too many women in Moonbirds. But they want to be able to grow and expand their reach. And now we have several who [otherwise] would not have had the opportunity to enter.”
Crucial, she continued, is the idea that society should expand and pay it forward. Proof plans to keep the channels of communication open and asks these seven communities to be on the lookout for even more communities in the Web3 space that they believe are doing good work. Through these partnerships, Gadbow explained, the company would like to help build out alternative NFT spaces that “we just don’t typically see.”
Whether Proof Collective keeps its promises to embrace diversity in the long run remains to be seen. Either way, as a new global infrastructure for the internet, Web3 needs more diversity initiatives, which means we need more people like Gadbow, who recognize that small steps forward on these issues are critical to changing the bigger picture for the better.
