Shant Kevonian, CEO and Founder of EtherMail
Web 3.0 communications among NFT token holders are now possible with a partnership between DeRace, a virtual horse racing ecosystem, and EtherMail, a boutique Web 3.0 messaging platform.
We spoke with Shant Kevonian, Ethermail’s CEO, to explore the paradigm and its implications.
Here’s what he had to say.
E-Crypto News:
Hi, Shant thanks for joining us today! Let’s start by looking at EtherMail’s partnership with DeRace. How exactly is EtherMail helping DeRace?
“Of course, thanks for having me. EtherMail’s partnership with DeRace enables the NFT horse racing ecosystem to maintain a direct line of communication with its current NFT and token holders. With horse NFTs being continuously rented and traded across the DeRace ecosystem, this makes it difficult to establish a clear line of sight regarding the current set of asset holders at any given time. EtherMail is helping DeRace overcome this communication challenge with our proprietary Web3 email solution that is already trusted by popular NFT projects such as Smurfs Society, Toxic Skulls Club, inBetweeners and Prime Planet.”
E-Crypto News:
What is DeRace?
“DeRace is a play-to-earn NFT horse racing metaverse powered by the DERC token, with a sustainable Play-to-Earn model that includes missions, achievements, challenges, tournaments, and rewards. DeRace provides an engaging virtual horse-racing experience that encompasses all aspects of the industry, creating a comprehensive and interactive environment for enthusiasts. The platform’s unique breeding mechanism allows players to create their own horse NFTs, which can be rented, traded, or used in races, offering a dynamic and strategic element to the game.”
E-Crypto News:
What are some of the communications challenges facing Web3 projects?
“We’ve seen it time and time again, as Web3 projects expand, the quality of project-led communication to their communities diminishes and members become disengaged. We want to help projects establish a best-in-class Web3 communication framework from the get-go. As projects grow and evolve, user engagement and maintaining a direct line of communication with their community becomes increasingly vital. Our solution enables projects to deliver real-time updates directly into the wallets of our asset holders, reflecting our dedication to transparency, decentralization, and community-driven innovation.”
E-Crypto News:
What were some of EtherMail’s highlights in 2023?
“Honestly, there have been so many. In addition to surpassing the 500,000 user milestone, we announced the launch of our DApplets feature – these are powerful plug-ins specially designed for the Web3 industry. The first one was our Moonpay DApplet, enabling users to easily buy cryptocurrency from within their inbox without having to leave the platform. We also introduced another innovative DApplet – the EtherMail Chat feature – built on XMTP (Extensible Message Transport Protocol). This serves as a Web3 SMS messaging solution for secure, private Web3 messaging.
One of our biggest announcements of the year was our $4 million USD funding round led by Tim Draper and Draper Associates, with participation from MS&AD Ventures. Having previously invested in Tesla, Coinbase, Ethereum, Polygon, and SpaceX, Draper has a proven track record in backing bonafide industry disruptors. This was a major seal of approval from one of the world’s most respected tech investors.”
E-Crypto News:
What does EtherMail have in store for 2024?
“2024 is gearing up to be a banner year in the EtherMail journey. As part of our overarching mission to bridge the Web2/Web3 divide for users and companies, we’ll be introducing exciting new product features that provide a familiar and easy Web3 entry point. We’ll also be preparing for the upcoming launch of our native EMT token, in accordance and compliance with relevant regulations. That’s all I can say for now but we’re looking to start the year with a bang.”
E-Crypto News:
Where can interested parties learn more about EtherMail?
“Anyone interested in being part of our growing community can join the official EtherMail Telegram channel and follow the latest developments on our X account. Then of course, if you’re a Web3 project looking to maintain a direct and secure line of communication with your asset holders, we can definitely help you! Interested parties can check out our dedicated web page.
Enterprises can also use our Advertising Platform to send consensual ads in the form of emails, directly to the inboxes of EtherMail users. This enables brands to email new users who are open to being contacted, but are outside their current base. Think of it like running an ad campaign on Facebook with segmenting capabilities, but in this case, the ads are emails that go to the user’s inbox. This incentivized system allows EtherMail Inbox users to opt-in to receive and engage with advertisements in exchange for rewards. This new advertising paradigm encourages more relevant ad placements based on a users’ scope of interests – creating a mutually-beneficial ecosystem that prioritises the privacy preferences of end users while helping brands execute more effective and targeted ad campaigns.
For end users, this represents a personalized protective layer for their email, to filter spam and earn rewards for receiving inbound advertising emails. Think of it as a type of virtual toll configured by a user for their inbox, allowing them to set a range of custom preferences to define what kind of content they are willing to receive in exchange for rewards in token form. They can stay entirely anonymous and while knowing their data is protected.”
