The problem Onchainads solves

The digital content marketplace is undergoing a seismic shift, with millions of creations now sold as NFTs or RWAs. This transformation is coupled with a growing preference for cryptocurrency payments among consumers. However, Shopify merchants find themselves at a crossroads, unable to fully capitalize on this burgeoning market due to a critical lack of Web3 integration.

Shopify's e-commerce platform, while robust for traditional online sales, lacks the necessary tools to tokenize digital goods or accept cryptocurrencies seamlessly. This technological gap has left merchants unable to tap into the expanding crypto-native audience, exemplified by platforms like Farcaster with its 500,000+ engaged Web3 users.

The problem is twofold: Shopify merchants can't offer their digital content in formats preferred by Web3 users, nor can they effectively reach and engage this crypto-savvy audience. This disconnect is causing merchants to miss out on a significant market opportunity and limiting their competitiveness in the evolving digital content landscape. Bridging this divide is crucial for Shopify merchants to remain relevant and thrive in the Web3 era, allowing them to unlock new revenue streams and connect with a financially potent user base that values direct creator-to-consumer relationships and blockchain-based ownership.

OnChainAds bridges this gap with a comprehensive Web3 solution. Our solution enables merchants to:

• Create on-chain wallets easily using passkeys via Coinbase Smart Wallet.
• Generate blockchain-based ads for digital content, including NFTs and tokenized goods.
• Automatically top up ads with native DG tokens, ensuring built-in value and liquidity.
• Distribute ads on Farcaster, reaching crypto-native audience

A key feature is the decentralized affiliate network, allowing Farcaster users to recast ads to their followers and earn revenue, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem of content distribution.

Challenges we ran into

1. Integrating Web3 functionality into the Shopify App ecosystem presented significant obstacles. Our objective was to achieve frictionless implementation of wallet signature verification and smart contract interactions directly from the Shopify Dashboard. We encountered compatibility issues between Shopify's node versions and native Web3 libraries. Ultimately, we devised a solution by crafting custom wrappers atop WAGMI providers to surmount these technical barriers.

2. Non-availability of native view data in a Farcaster frame to judge the engagement with the content/ad

3. Difficulty in implementing Paymaster integration for sponsoring gas in user transactions