This post is from when this website was on a different platform called paragraph.xyz

In setting up this blog/newsletter, I wanted to experiment with token gating the daily posts, ones that are more my stream of consciousness rather than well thought out pieces. Paragraph offers what appears to be a seamless integration for this functionality where you can require a reader to have an NFT in order to access a particular post.

The process of setting up said token gating however made me realize how confusing the developer/creator experience still is in Web3. Paragraph allows you to create the NFT you want to gate with from its own interface (great!) but that feature is limited to Polygon. I don't want to mint the NFT on Polygon, and would rather mint on an OP chain, because that ecosystem feels like it has higher momentum, is more developer friendly, and is setup for better composability.

Ok fine, I go to zora.co because I know Zora's focus is creators. The creator flow looks great, but I realized Zora forces you to mint on the Zora L2, and Paragraph does not support Zora, only Optimism and Base (among the OP chains). Annoying. I then opted for highlight.xyz because I had seen that service be used by some of the more slick looking NFT mints. Highlight only had options for Optimism and Zora. I would've preferred to go with Base because I know there's a lot of momentum there (and I'm an ex-Coinbae so feel closer) but tough luck. I end up going with Optimism.

At the end there is success, meaning if you are reading this dear reader you are the proud owner of 1 of 100 ETEKIS NFTs; but the plethora of options and having to navigate the composability is not for the faint of the heart. And this comes from someone who knows all the different options and potential issues with the fragmentation of all these ecosystems.

In summary

1. The fragmentation of the L2-centric ecosystem path Ethereum has opted for is real even today. The Solana maxi composability-bugs have a valid argument.

2. Despite the issues Ethereum L2s will be a main, if not the main, platform for Web3 apps. However this will allow large and well funded developers such as Coinbase to have massive distribution and go-to-market advantages over smaller newcomers. The idealistic level playing field Web3 we've all dreamt of is not a possibility.

3. There's a lot that needs to be fixed in the DevX/CreaX of Web3. I remain concerned the next bull market (if it is indeed coming) will fail again at creating apps/content with massive reach.