The New Internet: Why the Decentralized Web Will Disrupt the $500B Creator Economy

With Coinbase bringing the world onchain via Base and meeting everyday people's Bitcoin and cryptocurrency needs through its top-tier trading business, it's only a matter of time before Coinbase's ($COIN) impact rivals global giants like Tesla ($TSLA), Meta ($META), and Amazon ($AMZN). My goal with Calaxy is to evangelize a creator-led migration onchain.

Introduction

It's been a while since I've engaged with the web3 community. Recent tweets have drawn mixed responses, and I get it—the industry has grown chaotic. Bitcoin is mainstream, but perceptions linger of illicit activities and cash grabs by bad actors. Celebrity rug pulls and pump-and-dumps are normalized, fueled by gambling culture and the degenerate web.

For those unfamiliar, I'm Spencer Dinwiddie, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Calaxy, newly launched on Base. As an NBA point guard, I'm known from sports, with two sons, Elijah and Jeremiah. I'm a sommelier in training and tech enthusiast. This is my third crypto cycle: I bought Bitcoin in 2017, profited then lost more, but saw it as an experimental opportunity. If this is your first cycle, note I was sued by my employer for tokenizing my contract—a twist on David Bowie's "Bowie Bonds." This shifted me from speculator to believer. I partnered with Co-Founder and CEO Solo Ceesay to create Calaxy, with a simple mission: bring creators of all kinds onchain.

The Journey

My contract securitization was a deliberate blockchain use-case test. Early crypto experiences were pure speculation—buying Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins. But products lagged behind similarly valued VC pitches from my old fund days. It felt like RWAs before the term existed; I envisioned blockchain leveling the playing field for everything. Tokenizing my contract democratized sports and entertainment IP, bridging fans into the action. I'd argue it was the first real celebrity token.

The iOS beta Calaxy app operationalized this. It featured Creator "Social Tokens"—utility-backed celebrity memecoins. Fans spent them on experiences like video calls, personalized messages, or custom offerings (e.g., my jumpshot lessons—hit me up). Built around a non-custodial wallet, it offered practical utilities: tipping with $USDC, sending crypto/NFTs via Calaxy Messenger, even to phone numbers for easy onboarding.

Our mantra: "If it don’t hit, it don’t ship"—start with the end-user. After years battling Apple (in-app surcharges, crypto bans), we pivoted to a progressive web app (PWA) to bypass bureaucracy.

Apple, Google, Meta, and a few others control our industry's fate. We've improved on-ramps and seed phrases, but building high-standard products in Apple's walled garden proved impossible. In startups, time is critical, but conventional approaches fail here. These internet owners choose self-preservation over innovation, as capitalism predicts.

There's no escape from their domains: upset someone, and deplatforming or censorship follows. Algorithms can erase you overnight. Calaxy embeds Satoshi-like principles for true decentralization. Web3 UX supports Bitcoin transfers and basic DeFi but not consumer apps like token marketplaces or gated experiences. Calaxy is a social verse with self-custody—like iOS for crypto.

We aimed to build the ultimate tool for creators to mobilize and monetize communities. But it became another crypto super app, not compelling enough. Ledgers and seed phrases deter creators. We realized we decentralized the wrong elements. Lower smart-contract fees help, but decentralizing attention vectors and community management drives real impact.

Web2 platforms own all attention and users. A million followers? Just clicks—platforms can revoke them. Nothing's truly yours. To differentiate, Calaxy created WORLDS: creator-owned, controlled communities in our social verse.

WORLDS are discoverable on Calaxy and accessible via custom URLs. They're mini-PWAs mirroring Calaxy's layout. Solo's Rick and Morty analogy: Your Calaxy wallet/account is a portal gun; each WORLD is a customized dimension.

WORLDS let creators funnel attention from elsewhere into their controlled space. Why compete on Elon's timeline when you can own yours? Creators aren't on-platform—they are the platform.

Today, a podcaster can go direct-to-consumer with paywalled content in their WORLD. Tomorrow, an artist releases music independently to super fans there.

The Future

Today, I'm proud to announce Calaxy's migration to the Base network. We're excited to support Brian Armstrong, Jesse Pollak, and Coinbase's vision of onboarding the world. We've collaborated with industry leaders, but Base's trajectory aligns perfectly. We're eager to partner with ecosystem projects.

Sincerely,

26.