Fact
Creator-platform economics are an unstable equilibrium
Jake Paul argues YouTube creators capture a tiny, lopsided share of the value they generate, which is why top creators are fleeing to OnlyFans, BitClout, and their own subscription platforms. Woo frames it via Netflix: YouTube gets billions in content for free and kicks back an ad-rev split.
“It's very one-sided. And I think that's why you see, you know, YouTube and creators not as, you know, in sync as before, because they're finding ways to go off platform and make money like OnlyFans, Bitcloud, their own subscription platforms. So it's not the same ecosystem that it was before, but even before it was still very, very lopsided.”
Billy
BitClout's growth hack: scrape Twitter and pre-fund influencer accounts
Shaan marvels at BitClout's aggressive growth design: they scraped Twitter profiles without permission, listed everyone's coins, raised $100M from top investors, and pre-loaded influencers' accounts with money (his had $55K) claimable only by tweeting the platform out.
“They're aggressive because They went and scraped Twitter and they put all of our profiles on their website and said, come buy their coin without anyone's permission. That took a level of aggression and sort of like willing to operate in the gray that most people wouldn't really have. And then the smart thing was they said, well, how do we make this network really valuable? Well, if we get really valuable people on it, how do we get really valuable people on it?”
Fact
BitClout is a stock market for people
Shaan's simplest explanation of BitClout: every person gets a coin you can buy and sell with Bitcoin, so you're betting on whether someone's reputation and popularity will grow over time. It's a tradeable bet on individuals.
“BitCloud is basically like a stock market for people. So me and you and Ryan and anybody else, we each have like a little coin, a price where you could buy some of our stock, let's call it. And so people are going on there and they're using Bitcoin to buy our stock 'cause they believe that we're gonna continue to get more popular and our reputation's gonna grow”
Number
Shaan had a $53K founder-reward bounty waiting in his BitClout account
Without ever opting in, Shaan found roughly $53,000-$60,000 worth of his own creator coin sitting in his pre-made BitClout account, claimable just by verifying his Twitter and tweeting about it.
$53K
BitClout founder-reward bounty waiting in Shaan's account · USD
“So I have a 60— like, last time I checked, this was a few days ago before several friends bought my coin. So I might have more now, but I had a $53,000 bounty just waiting for me. All I had to do was connect it to my Twitter account and tweet out, hey, I'm on BitCloud, you know, like, come buy my coin or whatever.”
Number
Shaan had a $53K founder-reward bounty waiting in his BitClout account
Without ever opting in, Shaan found roughly $53,000-$60,000 worth of his own creator coin sitting in his pre-made BitClout account, claimable just by verifying his Twitter and tweeting about it.
$53K
BitClout founder-reward bounty waiting in Shaan's account · USD
“So I have a 60— like, last time I checked, this was a few days ago before several friends bought my coin. So I might have more now, but I had a $53,000 bounty just waiting for me. All I had to do was connect it to my Twitter account and tweet out, hey, I'm on BitCloud, you know, like, come buy my coin or whatever.”
Fact
BitClout let you deposit but had no withdrawals
Shaan flags the core red flag: on BitClout you could transfer Bitcoin in and buy coins, but there was no way to withdraw. His theory is that allowing immediate cash-outs would crash the network, so they intentionally kept everyone holding.
“you could transfer money in and you could buy coins, but there's no withdrawals right now. You can't— what? I could go in and verify. I could claim my $50,000. What I can't do is put that in my bank account. That's a feature that conveniently is not available and not built yet.”
Story
Ryan's friends put a quarter of their net worth into BitClout and 5-10x'd
Ryan describes friends from his Summit days staying up all night trading creator coins like Chuck Norris and Gwyneth Paltrow. Some with only ~$50K saved put in a quarter of their net worth and 5-10x'd in 4-5 days, though none could withdraw.
“we're all texting all night. Hey, who's buying Chuck Norris? Has anyone figured out— like, oh, I just 10x'd on Gwyneth Paltrow. Like, a number of my friends, like guys who worked for me at Summit who have like maybe $50,000 saved, have put in like a quarter of their net worth, and in the last like 4 or 5 days have 5 to 10x their money.”
Fact
Greater fool theory underlies BitClout (and that can still be a good bet)
Shaan names the mechanic honestly: you buy a creator coin today because you believe someone else will buy it tomorrow at a higher price. He argues that even knowing it's greater fool theory, it can be a good short-term bet while the platform and creators are both still growing.
“So there's definitely like a greater fool theory that underlies this whole thing, which is that I'm buying it today because I think somebody else is going to come buy this tomorrow, either because the creator I'm buying is going to get more popular or Bitcloud is going to get more popular. In reality right now, both are going to happen. And, um, and so, so I think it's actually a good bet, even if you know going in that this is greater fool theory.”
Story
The case for BitClout: bet on Sam before The Hustle
Shaan makes the emotional pitch for betting on people: he believed in Sam before The Hustle but passed on investing in the media company. If he could have simply bought 'Sam stock' and held the person for 25 years, he says he would have.
“if you could— if I could have just bought stock in you and not bet on— like, for example, I had the opportunity to invest in The Hustle, the media company. I was like, well, I don't know if this is going to be like this humongous billion-dollar company or what. I don't know if this fits my profile, whatever. I don't know about media, but I was believing in you the whole time. And if I could have just bought Sam and owned Sam for 25 years, that's something I want to do.”