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Discord To Integrate With MetaMask, According To CEO

source-logo  tokenist.com 10 November 2021 10:13, UTC

According to Discord’s CEO, the chat platform is planning on bringing MetaMask and NFTs to its millions of users. This will also allow users to verify their NFT collections more easily for profile pictures and show off their artwork to friends.

Discord To Add MetaMask Functionality

By providing seamless integration with all major web browsers, MetaMask puts users just one click away from thousands of dApps running across blockchain platforms.

Whether you are into trading, blockchain gaming, or NFTs, MetaMask facilitates cross-border transactions without mediators. It is then no wonder that MetaMask has grown from half a million users in July 2020, to over 10 million in September 2021 — a 20x growth rate mirroring the rapid ascent of the DeFi ecosystem as a whole.

MetaMask Monthly Active Users. Source: Not Boring

Yesterday, Jason Citron, CEO of Discord, tweeted a screenshot, suggesting the popular communication platform will integrate with MetaMask.

Discord Integration with MetaMask. Source: Twitter

The tweet was a direct reply to Packy McCormick, the writer of the Not Boring blog. He formed a vision of a near-future in which gamers meet blockchain with Discord as the facilitator. If Citron, now 26 years old, follows through on his teasing, it will represent major crypto adoption acceleration. Although Twitter has already announced Bitcoin tipping and NFT integration, Discord is a different breed when it comes to social platforms.

Discord and Web 3

Discord is many platforms in one: Skype, Slack, Telegram, and Reddit, to just name a few. You can use Discord as a forum of forums, chatbox of chatboxes, VoIP, a simple instant messaging platform, or for video conferencing. However, not only does it merge all forms of commutation, it offers a great deal of customization to boot.

Users can create their own private or public servers and nurture communities with their own set of rules. As building blocks go, this positions Discord at the forefront of Web 3, which will allow users to take greater control of their social media spaces.

Discord’s CEO clearly sees the company’s future in this direction, demonstrated by its previous integration with CollabLand. This community-building tool uses tokens to create a monetary stake for community members, also known as DAOs – Decentralized Autonomous Organizations.

For example, when CollabLand’s bot is linked with a Discord server, the server host can then create a requirement for a certain amount of token holdings to become a part of the group, such as NFT tokens. If a member breaks the community rules or sells their tokens, the bot promptly evicts them from the server. It is then a small step for Discord to integrate MetaMask as the next crypto milestone.

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Discord’s Origins

Jason Citron made his first public tech appearance with an iOS game called Aurora Feint. Launched in 2008, players of Puzzle Quest will be familiar with this type of gameplay. Instead of a battlefield as we know it from shooters, one needs to match stones to beat their opponent.

Aurora Feint 3, image credit: YouTube

However, it is the way Aurora Feint was launched that made Discord what it is today. Startup incubator YouWeb helped Citron create the game. In exchange for handling marketing and ideation, the incubator would receive 50% of the sale proceeds. Down the line, Citron upgraded the Aurora Feint series with chat rooms, asynchronous multiplayer, and leaderboards.

This led Citron to create OpenFeint, a mobile social gaming platform, which later sold for $104 million to Japanese GREE. In the wake of this life-changing sale came Discord, which was developed together with Stan Vishnevskiy and eventually launched in 2015 in San Francisco.

Since then, Discord’s market share as a communication platform has been phenomenal. Discord’s spokesman claimed the server count to around 19 million in H1 2021, of which almost 70% are dedicated to gaming content.

Image credit: The Tokenist, sources: Business Insider, Techspot

Will Discord Go Public?

Aligned with exponential monthly active users (MAU) growth, Discord’s estimated value surpassed $7 billion as of November 2020. The company’s income largely comes from Nitro subscription packages, fees from sold games on servers, and server boosting – enhancing servers with extra features to make them more appealing. Nonetheless, Discord’s default features remain free to use.

Image credit: The Tokenist, revenue estimates provided by: Forbes, WSJ

Interestingly, Discord rejected Microsoft’s bid of $12 billion this April. It was then rumored that Discord was going to go for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) instead, just as Robinhood did. If Discord is to follow the IPO route, it certainly has less baggage than Robinhood, whose CEO had to sell $45 million in shares amid a questionable valuation.

Following the busted Microsoft deal, Discord partnered with Sony in May, to integrate its server model into the PlayStation Network next year. Given that GameStop, Twitter, and Meta (Facebook) are embracing NFTs, it could be argued that Discord’s modular structure is suited the most to tap into this growing trend.

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Have you ever used a Discord server for purposes outside of gaming? Let us know in the comments below.

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