Unlock Blog
We're building the new business model for the web that empowers creators. Unlock the potential of memberships!
By Stella Achenbach on
A bit over a year ago, Unlock Labs integrated the Gitcoin Passport hook into the protocol. A lot has changed since then, starting with the fact that the Gitcoin Passport is now called Human Passport and has become part of human.tech and the Holonym Foundation. Human Passport has matured and is now more focused than ever on laying the foundations for an internet where people and not bots hold the keys to trust in a trustless world.Why Human Passport The internet was built for connection, but a...
By Stella Achenbach on
Did you know that Unlock DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that governs the actual protocol? These are ordinary people, like you, making decisions about the protocol and its future development in a decentralized manner, using the $UP token as the governance currency. DAO Members propose new ideas through proposals and vote on them to help the protocol be future-proof. However, aside from DAO Members, we also have DAO Contributors, Ambassadors, and Stewards. These members have ded...
By Stella Achenbach on
Hey Locksmiths!Unlock DAO enters October with an energized pulse where creators, builders, and community organizers are abuzz with new experiments and collaborative initiatives. As headlines swirl about potential shakeups in the creator economy, our commitment to decentralized creativity and open collaboration grows even stronger. In a landscape shifting beneath the feet of platforms and audiences alike, our DAO continues to put creators first, prioritizing transparency and the open internet....
By sohobiit on
For years, accessing online content, communities, or services has been reduced to a simple login: an email, a password, and often, a credit card. This traditional model taught us to rely on centralized platforms: as long as we pay and follow their rules, we have access; if we stop or the terms change, we lose everything. It's a rental system, not an ownership system. But the web is changing. With the arrival of Web3 and tools like Unlock Protocol, access is no longer just a permission; it is ...
By Stella Achenbach on
Did you know that Unlock DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that governs the actual protocol? These are ordinary people, like you, making decisions about the protocol and its future developments in a decentralized manner, utilizing the $UP token as a governance currency. DAO Members propose new ideas through proposals and vote on them to help the protocol be future-proof. However, aside from DAO Members, we also have DAO Contributors, Ambassadors, and Stewards. These members have ...
By GozmanGonzalez on
When you join a new community, there's always that moment of confusion: "Okay, I’m here… but how do I actually take part?" That’s exactly how I felt when I first started hanging around the Unlock DAO. I kept hearing about "UDT migration" and "UP governance," and honestly, at first, it sounded like some secret language only insiders understood. But here's the truth: it's not that complicated once you see the story behind it. This is my attempt to explain the shift from UDT to UP in plain, huma...
By Stella Achenbach on
Hey Locksmiths!Happy September, everyone, and hopefully, calm, relaxing summer holidays for most of you! At Unlock Protocol DAO, we are gearing up for a dynamic and exciting second half of 2025 and the next phase of DAO operations. After figuring out our organizational structure over the past year, we are now focusing our united forces on bringing revenue to the DAO. The truth is that open-source and free technology still has costs and requires ongoing maintenance. To ensure that we are setti...
By Stella Achenbach on
Until recently, Unlock DAO contributors had to rely on their popularity among fellow DAO members to receive a monthly recognition in the form of retroQF (retro quadratic funding) with our native governance token $UP. Often, the DAO members who were most frequently seen or known received the largest portion of that funding, while the newer or more introverted ones who put in the same or even more work received significantly less. We want DAO members to be recognized fairly for contributing val...
By Stella Achenbach on
Unlock Protocol has been teaming up with ApeBond, a platform that helps projects with their own token, like us, grow safer and more stable. Suppose you've ever wondered why some tokens jump in price or fade away after a big promotion. It’s often because the project doesn’t actually control its own liquidity (the money available for trading). ApeBond flips this script, helping us build DAO-owned liquidity that lasts and, in turn, makes us more stable and self-sufficient. Why You Should CareDeF...
By Stella Achenbach on
Hey Locksmiths!A new chapter has arrived! With immense gratitude and a bit of nostalgic sentiment, I am sharing that the era of "Lead Stewardness" is officially over. Together, we now move into an a new era for Unlock Protocol DAO of shared leadership, guided formally by our Steward Council (introductory article will follow soon). Decentralization is not only about the technology and the system, but also how leadership is broken down bit by bit until we as humans are collectively ready for ge...