LOS ANGELES—Cryptocurrency is growing in popularity, but enthusiasts still ponder why there are so many skeptics. A newcomer to the space, Praise, believes the solution lies in custom experiences rooted in human connection.
Created by marketer and product-designer, Jesse Tevelow, Praise is a gamified digital currency platform that makes money feel fun. The company was founded earlier this year amidst the global pandemic and a historical shift of political power in the United States.
The feel-good digital currency is designed for the millennial generation. Praise partners with top brands, creating 3D-rendered, limited-edition NFTs. The NFTs are special coins that act as keys—unlocking new experiences and content over time for the owner.
Users can collect and trade the NFTs using the Praise app, which has its own native currency (called Praise) to power the network. Its first NFT drop is with Rock Mafia, the music collective that collaborates with household names like Eminem, Miley Cyrus, and Zedd. Other drops will follow, says Tevelow.
After confounding a game company through Techstars in 2007, Tevelow went on to launch an international marketing agency that has served over 50 clients. Working with various companies helped define his own priorities for Praise as an organization. Among them is culture. “Eventually, you realize the companies with staying power are always built on a strong culture, and culture begins with the founder. My personal culture rubs off on the first few team members. Their culture extends to the next group of team members, and so on.”
With such a firm mindset, Tevelow has built a consistent internal culture that flows into the public sphere, laying the foundation for the brand. The approach has brought big names into the fold, including James Sommerville, the former Global VP of Design for Coca-Cola.
Tevelow’s background in gaming has been influential as well. It gives him an edge in designing features optimized for both growth and retention. Praise is gamified at the core because new Praise is added to the network whenever existing Praise is exchanged. The sender is credited with a portion of the new Praise as a bonus.
At pre-programmed network-wide transaction thresholds, the reward percentage is reduced across the entire platform, making the rewards bigger in the beginning and smaller as the market grows. With this mechanism in place, users are encouraged to share Praise, which increases the stability of the entire ecosystem.
Tevelow is confident in his identity and goals. When asked about the future, he said, “I envision myself in a room with friends and colleagues, all of whom are culturally aligned and more talented than me, building Praise into a globally recognized digital currency with true utility.”
Learn more about Praise by visiting their website.
