How Crypto Can Save Internet Treasures

Co-founder of Zynga, Mark Pincus famously co-founded the term Internet Treasure where he defines an Internet Treasure as “An internet treasure is a service we can’t remember life before or imagine life without.”

Renowned venture capitalist and co-founder at Union Square Ventures, Fred Wilson expanded on that definition stating “An Internet Treasure is a service on the Internet that is wide open, gets better when more people use it, and solves a need that many/all of us have. Reddit is an Internet Treasure.”

Reddit is a wonderful website. It’s the “front-page” of the Internet. Millions of individuals comb Reddit threads asking questions and receive detailed answers out of the kindness of stranger’s hearts. Over time, Reddit threads have grown into powerful communities evident from the recent events of r/WSB.

The Problem with Internet Treasures

Both Pincus’ and Wilson’s definitions of Internet Treasures are valid, but I believe that there’s an additional component of their definitions miss – Internet Treasures are undervalued often because they are poorly monetized.

The problem with many Internet Treasures (e.g. StackOverflow, Quizlet, Wikipedia) is that they usually don’t have great business models. Internet treasures create tremendous value, but capture very little of it.

Wikipedia is the quintessential example of an Internet Treasure. It’s public and open for contributors, the service gets better the more people who contribute, and the website helps billions of people find information every day. But, there’s a reason that every third time you view Wikipedia, they’re asking you for donations. Wikipedia doesn’t capture value, in part because of its ethos (e.g. the site refuses to put up ads).