Upstart ‘Degenerate’ Crypto-Culture Publication Bets on Print

A one-month-old magazine, Superbasedd, which has deep ties to Los Angeles and aspires to be a lifestyle publication, is considering launching a print version tailored for the cryptocurrency market, appealing to its more primal interests. The cover will feature a woman, while the back page will display a man who looks like a successful startup founder. The content in between will include stories from the battlefields of crypto trading.

As a researcher studying consumer behavior, I’ve come to understand a fascinating truth: men, often with unique tastes and preferences, have a profound appreciation for women. This insight serves as the cornerstone of our brand, Superbasedd, as we cater to this very demographic.

Women serve as a captivating attraction for the global audience of McHugh and his team’s pioneering yet edgy magazine, bridging the gap between web3 culture and male demographics. Engage readers with enticing visuals and subsequently deliver high-quality cultural articles and profiles that shed light on this intriguing industry.

The question remains whether sex and culture continue to be attractive for magazine sales. Playboy is planning a comeback with an annual glossy edition, recalling its past status as a widely-read institution offering articles of interest to those following the culture. On the other hand, Superbasedd aims at a much smaller demographic of younger men interested in cryptocurrency. However, McHugh emphasizes that their marketing strategy targets a broader audience of “men” overall.

1. Superbasedd’s “risky” content approach aligns with its team members. Jake Hillhouse, McHugh’s lean-built business partner, was initially scheduled to fight on the undercard at the upcoming Karate Kombat event in Singapore within a few weeks. However, he injured his elbow in a dune buggy mishap; when we met for an unexpected interview, he was wearing an arm sling and a hospital ID band, which were barely 48 hours old.

Despite needing to spend some funds, the publication has sufficient resources available for now. Earlier this month, Superbasedd made nearly $1.1 million by selling NFTs that include a three-year subscription, which hasn’t started yet. Another subscription choice will provide one year of access for only $99.

McHugh intends to highlight an aspect of cryptocurrency that mainstream media outlets are overlooking or neglecting. Among the prominent crypto-centric publications, only Decrypt assigns journalists to cover the eccentric methods by which industry players communicate their ideas and actions.

The tales frequently border on the absurd and, at times, inappropriate. It seems every week, the meme-coin production site Pump.Fun witnesses another outlandish antic by token creators, who go to great lengths – sometimes even harming themselves – to boost their token’s price. For instance, remember when a man live-streamed himself smoking crack and got his head shaved by a stripper?

“Our edginess is going to start with the girls and then end with crackhead dev,” said Hillhouse.

Superbasedd intends to share stories about cryptocurrency, focusing on detailed portrayals of key male figures within the industry. During our conversation, McHugh hinted at inviting Solana’s co-founders Raj Gokal and Anatoly Yakovenko for the inaugural edition scheduled in October.

There’s something deeply strange about a crypto-focused publication betting on print for distribution. It’s a critically endangered medium within the twenty-first century’s fast-dying institution, journalism.

Superbasedd’s team believes that tactile formats will still be effective when combined with the lessons learned from the Instagram era. To initially grab men’s attention, they could use visually appealing images of women. Once attention is captured, maintaining it can be achieved by delivering engaging articles that narrate stories in a simplified manner, possibly structuring them like a series or thread on X.

McHugh envisions transforming Superbasedd into an elite, sophisticated brand, worthy of being displayed on any affluent coffee table in the Hollywood Hills. He believes that by tapping into America’s pervasive celebrity culture, the magazine will become widely relatable.

Currently, Superbasedd appears to be focusing more on initiatives that might be comprehensible solely to the most ardent enthusiasts of NFT trading on the Solana blockchain, a platform which seems to be favored by our publication’s management.

More recently, Superbasedd acquired the intellectual property of Catalina Whale Mixer – a renowned NFT collection previously valued at around $2.5 million – for significantly less than $50,000, as reported by McHugh. They are now looking to acquire the Thug Birdz NFT collection next.

According to McHugh, who has attended twice before, the three-member squad from our publication is collaborating with mtnDAO on efforts to connect with other pioneers in the cryptocurrency sector. Crypto-focused shared workspaces can facilitate quicker progress for startups when it comes to the unique business concepts of this field, such as launching a token.

At this bi-annual hacker residence (now in its 6th iteration), the participants’ backgrounds differ significantly from the standard. Specifically, every August and February, an increasing number of Solana developers migrate to Salt Lake City for a month, where they collaborate on various projects, many of which focus on innovating financial foundations.

“We’re not devs, we’re not builders, we’re startup, content guys,” McHugh said.