 Bonfire enables creators, communities, and brands to build custom web3 platforms, powered by their social token and NFTs

No-code community engagement platform for web3 creators

 enables creators, communities, and brands to build custom web3 platforms, powered by their social token and NFTs. The platform is disrupting the web2 creator economy, which monopolizes the value of creator content, by providing white-label tools and infrastructure built to properly reward creators and their communities. Upon launch, Bonfire enabled users to create token-gated audio content. After recent updates, Bonfire also includes video on demand and livestreaming using Livepeer Studio.

, met 10 years ago during their freshman year at Duke University, where they both studied computer science. Their chance meeting in the dorms led to an entrepreneurial partnership that would combine their divergent, yet complementary, experiences in web2 and web3.

Melissa was the first to catch the blockchain bug in 2015, and was so passionate about decentralized technologies she ended up founding the 

. Post college, Melissa gained experience in the web3 world as an early frontend software engineer at Coinbase. Matt’s career path started in web2, where he worked as a product manager at Uber, focusing on rider loyalty and rewards programs. His interest in the space piqued when he discovered how creators, communities, and culture could benefit from decentralized web3 tools.

With social tokens, NFTs, and smart contracts, Melissa and Matt believed web3 had the potential to create a whole new world around creators and the economies they’re able to build. Melissa brought expertise from years working in web3, and Matt had valuable experience from working with a “digital currency” (Uber Loyalty points) while helping build the gamification, personalization, and partnerships strategies for the program. They used these complementary skill sets to build Bonfire in 2021. The platform is dedicated to empowering a new generation of communities to achieve creative freedom and economic prosperity through ownership. They now have eight full-time team members and are ready to launch the latest iteration of Bonfire.

Bonfire is a platform providing tools and infrastructure for creators, communities, and brands to build and manage their community. Described by Matt as “a no-code community engagement platform for web3 creators,” Bonfire provides a web3-native website builder leveraging social tokens and NFTs which enables creators to offer utility like token-gated content, merchandise, and ticket sales on their own branded site. Creators even have the ability to reward fans through airdrops and contests, and have access to a CRM where they can view who holds their tokens.

The platform’s primary tool is Bonfire Studio, which is a Content Management System (CMS) and web3 page builder. It mirrors a simple, no-code UX found in many web2 platforms, but includes web3-native blocks including the ability to token-gate any page or piece of content.

Creators can use drag-and-drop blocks to embed content from a variety of options, like a song from Spotify or merch from a Shopify store. Beyond embeds, users can natively host audio, livestreaming, and video-on-demand content.

Audio uploading and streaming was the first type of content Bonfire added to their core infrastructure. Today, creators can easily upload and token gate audio content on Bonfire in just a few clicks. This was a critical first step as the team prioritized attracting their first cohort of creators and musicians. This proved to be a strategic move for Bonfire as they were able to partner with musicians like 

 Creators are also able to import custom NFT minting contracts from partners 

Creators can livestream directly on the Bonfire platform. Bonfire supports multiple broadcasting software solutions including OBS Studio, StreamYard, and Streamlabs.

Livestreams can be token gated, which means access is restricted to individuals holding a specific type of token (e.g. an exclusive NFT created by musicians and distributed to their fans). Bonfire currently accepts assets on Ethereum, Polygon, Rally, and POAP. 

 is the full step-by-step guide to start a token-gated livestream on Bonfire.

Video on demand is the latest addition to the Bonfire platform.

“On Demand will provide the opportunity for creators to seamlessly host video content natively on their Bonfire page. This opens up the door for all types of creators to think about more ways to engage with their community, especially as the video content can be token-gated. We’ve seen video become the biggest medium for content in web2 platforms, so there’s a real possibility for that to become true for web3 too.” - Matt Alston, co-founder of Bonfire

In its initial launch, Bonfire acted as a content aggregator, allowing creators to embed their work from a variety of different platforms. While this approach was useful for building out a minimum viable product, the lack of control created by hosting third-party content posed a serious issue. To combat this, the Bonfire team committed to upgrading the platform so it could host content natively.

While searching for the best way to add video to their web3 platform, Matt learned about other projects using Livepeer Studio. Matt discovered Livepeer Studio had everything Bonfire needed for their long-term video streaming needs, and joined as one of the first projects to implement the newly released video-on-demand feature.

Livepeer Studio provides a comprehensive toolkit enabling any project to seamlessly integrate video streaming. Matt’s experience 

“[in one] word - easy. If we had to create our own hosting that supports minting, metadata, hosting on IPFS, and resumable uploads, it would have required a dedicated team working exclusively on that... It allows us to get a best-in-class video infrastructure with none of the work, so we can focus on what makes us differentiated.”

Partnering with Livepeer Studio enabled Bonfire to accelerate its ability to add new content formats, prioritize their users, and establish a foundation for onboarding the next generation of web3 creators to fulfill its mission.

Bonfire’s mission is to empower creators and communities to unlock creative and economic freedom. By leveraging the power of web3, Bonfire hopes to disrupt how value flows in online social ecosystems and properly reward creators for their hard work and content. Creators are the platform, and Bonfire will make the complex and intimidating world of web3 accessible to them and their communities.

“Our partnership with Livepeer is a critical piece of infrastructure in enabling this vision for the future, enabling us to offer critical content features like token-gated video and livestreams, while staying focused on our mission of empowering creators to build strong and enduring brands & communities on their own independent platform.” - Matt Alston, co-founder of Bonfire

 to stay updated on upcoming hackathons, feature updates, and case studies

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How to Analyze Livepeer Video Engagement Metrics with Timeplus

 Lenstube offers video on demand for both long-form and short-form videos

web3 social platform for video sharing built on Lens Protocol

 is a web3 social platform for video sharing that combines the best of traditional video-sharing platforms with the latest web3 functionalities. Whether you're a professional creator or an amateur, Lenstube gives you the ability to upload and monetize your video content with ease. Currently, Lenstube offers video on demand for both long-form videos and short-form videos.

Lenstube sets itself apart from traditional video-sharing platforms by incorporating web3 features such as connecting to a crypto wallet, enabling creators to receive tips in MATIC coins, collecting videos as NFTs, and charging membership fees for subscribers. These features are made possible through Lenstube's implementation of various web3 technologies, including Livepeer, Arweave, IPFS, and Lens. By utilizing decentralized technologies, Lenstube is revolutionizing the way creators can share and monetize their content, and provides a new and exciting way to engage with their audience.

 founded Lenstube with the goal of creating a decentralized video sharing platform for content creators. The idea for Lenstube came about after Sasi saw some of his favorite creators, who were creating and teaching web3, being unjustly removed from traditional web2 platforms. This led Sasi to understand the importance of web3 for content creators, and the significance of permanent data storage and content ownership. With this in mind, Sasi set out to create his own web3 video-sharing platform. The first step in this process was to find a video-on-demand service that transcodes and serves video from Arweave.

“I knew that creating a video delivery infrastructure and transcoding videos would be a significant challenge, and I definitely didn't want to spend all my time and resources on these technicalities, especially in the early stages of development. Luckily, I discovered Livepeer on the sponsor list of one of the EthGlobal hackathons. Livepeer provided exactly what I needed to move Lenstube forward, and integrating it into my platform was one the first, and easiest, decisions I made.”

Lenstube's partnership with Livepeer has been a vital component of the platform's success. Currently, all videos on Lenstube, whether they are long or short form, are powered by Livepeer. This means that Livepeer handles all the technical aspects of video delivery, such as ingesting, processing, and transcoding. This has afforded Sasi and the Lenstube team the freedom to focus on other important growth areas, like attracting new creators to the platform and improving user experience.

“Working with Livepeer has definitely been a great experience, and we receive tons of support from the team. Recently, Livepeer launched a feature that displays view counts beneath the video player. We were able to implement this feature pretty quickly, and the team was available to answer any questions we had. Although, most of the time we don’t really need the support, as the guides and docs for the Livepeer SDK and API are awesome.”

Today, Lenstube is thriving and making significant strides in its development. The platform has reached notable milestones, such as surpassing 10,000 video uploads in December 2022, averaging more than 1,000 daily sessions, and reaching more than 50,000 average monthly users in January 2023. These milestones demonstrate the effectiveness of the Lenstube team's efforts and the growing appeal of the platform among content creators and viewers alike.

Lenstube boasts a user-friendly interface that includes all of the features commonly found on traditional web2 video sharing platforms. The front page prominently showcases the most recent and popular short-form (Bytes) and long-form videos hosted on the platform, which can be filtered by video category for easy browsing. Users can log in with their Lens handle on the top right corner of the page. Additionally, various exploration tools can be found on the left-hand menu bar for easy access.

Bytes are short-form, vertical videos that are similar to TikToks and YouTube Shorts. Users can scroll through a feed, like and dislike videos, subscribe to channels, and share Bytes via URL or embed videos directly on websites. Additionally, Bytes can be easily shared on Lenster, Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn.

Sasi and the Lenstube team have recently made a concerted effort to develop the Bytes feature. This effort was motivated by the increasing popularity of short-form videos on web2 platforms. Not only do short videos have high user retention rates, but they also provide creators with an effective way to capture an audience and lead them to content on other platforms.

“In my opinion, short-form videos are one of the most effective ways to share content with a wide audience, and they offer creators greater opportunities for engagement. We predict that the use of short-form videos as NFTs will become a popular trend in the web3 community."

Do you want to build your own web3 short-form video app? Disrupt TikTok with this 

 walking through the key components of building a social app with quick, bite-sized video.

Lenstube also enables creators to upload long-form, horizontal videos that are similar to standard YouTube videos. In addition to features found on Bytes, these long-form videos also include view counts, video descriptions, and a comment section.

Every video hosted on Lenstube is equipped with a variety of web3 features. These features not only enable content creators to earn revenue from their videos, but also provide fans with a way to support their favorite creators. This is what sets Lenstube apart from traditional web2 video sharing platforms. Some of the web3 features that Lenstube offers include:

Mirroring across Lens, with custom referral fees

Default sharing of all Lenstube videos across Lens ecosystem apps

Lenstube’s frontend was built using Next.Js, an open-source React framework for web applications. Lenstube uses Apollo Client to manage local and remote data, and to fetch data and do mutations through the Lens Protocol’s GraphQL backend.

Middleware is like a “software glue” that acts as a bridge between different technologies, tools, and databases so they can be integrated into a single system. Lenstube uses Lens Protocol’s indexer for its middleware, and this indexer streamlines data between Lens contracts and viewers. The Lens indexer is a GraphQL server that listens to events from Lens contracts and stores the data into a database. This indexer enables viewers to quickly and efficiently access video data, which leads to a better user experience.

Lenstube’s backend consists of four main components: Livepeer, Arweave, IPFS, and Lens

Lenstube uses Livepeer to process and play back video. Livepeer is a protocol built on Ethereum that distributes video transcoding work throughout its decentralized network. The protocol provides cost efficient, secure, and reliable infrastructure. Livepeer's mainnet launch took place in 2018 and the network now processes millions of minutes of video each week.

Lenstube stores its video files on Arweave and IPFS, web3 protocols that offer data storage on decentralized networks. Arweave and IPFS offer permanent and immutable data storage, and anyone can store data in the networks or offer storage space, without there being a centralized point of failure.

Lenstube uses Lens for its social graph. The Lens social graph is fully composable, open source, and decentralized. This helps transfer full rights and complete ownership of content into the hands of creators.

Sasi intends to improve the Lenstube platform by adding new features, with the primary objective of providing exceptional user experience and boosting user engagement on the platform. Furthermore, Sasi is currently building a mobile application that specifically caters to short-form videos, which will be released soon. This further solidifies his belief that short-form videos represent a rapidly expanding area in the video industry and is positioning Lenstube to capitalize on this growth potential.

If you’re a developer that would like to build your own web3 video app, check out these 

 to get started. If you have any questions about building, 

Lenstube is a web3 social platform for video sharing that combines the best of traditional video-sharing platforms with the latest web3 functionalities. Whether you're a professional creator or an amateur, Lenstube gives you the ability to upload and monetize your video content with ease. Currently, Lenstube offers video on demand for both long-form videos and short-form videos.

How Lenstube Changed Video Sharing in Web3

Founded in 2021, Bonfire enables creators, communities, and brands to build custom web3 platforms, powered by their social token and NFTs. The platform is disrupting the web2 creator economy, which monopolizes the value of creator content, by providing white-label tools and infrastructure built to properly reward creators and their communities. Upon launch, Bonfire enabled users to create token-gated audio content. After recent updates, Bonfire also includes video on demand and livestreaming using Livepeer Studio.

Building a Web3 Bonfire for Creators