This week, we continued to focus on converting key features into live campaigns, with gift cards taking center stage. While some items remained in UAT and planning, we saw solid momentum in content creation, homepage improvements, and our push into community growth channels. Here’s everything that moved across the board.
Discount Codes (in UAT)
The discount codes feature is now fully tested and ready for real-world use. No obstacles remain, and we plan to activate it next week as part of the upcoming gift card promotions. This will be our first live use case and an exciting test of both backend functionality and frontend engagement strategies.
Seller Onboarding (in UAT)
Seller onboarding on the dev side remains in a holding pattern, simply waiting for a new seller to test the system with. While no new development progress was made this week, the system is stable and ready once a seller is available to onboard.
Gift Card Promotion (New)
Jose and John kicked off the planning phase for Hamza’s first gift card promotion campaign. Several technical hurdles were identified early on—such as linking front-end awareness with our new payments and discounts—but solutions are now underway. One blocker was acquiring a credit card to promote the campaign on YouTube, which was resolved this week. Efforts are now shifting toward “recon” work: figuring out where gift card buyers are most likely to be found online, with more insights expected next week.
Pitch Deck Revamp
Mike and John began revamping Hamza’s pitch deck, aiming to tighten messaging, visual clarity, and alignment with investor expectations. The first phase of the new deck is ready to present, and a meeting is scheduled this week to review and refine.
Homepage Improvement
Our homepage revamp is nearly complete. Chris reported that most of the work is done and the redesigned experience is on track to launch this weekend. The new layout will improve product discovery, user trust, and overall aesthetics—an essential upgrade as we prepare for higher traffic from promotions and SEO.
Frictionless Checkout (New)
A new initiative to create a frictionless checkout flow was introduced this week. The dev team has completed early planning and addressed the primary technical hurdles. Development is scheduled to begin next week. Once launched, this improvement will make it easier for users to check out without login or complex steps, especially for crypto payments.
HNS Chat
There was no new progress on HNS Chat this week. The project remains on pause for now while other seller-facing tools are prioritized. Once other onboarding features are solidified, work here is expected to resume.
Seller Onboarding – Customer Support
No sellers were onboarded this week by the CS team. Jose noted that no new seller applications were in queue, so support will resume onboarding as soon as the next opportunity arises.
Decom Talks (YouTube & Twitter Spaces)
Jose published two new YouTube Shorts this week as part of ongoing Decom Talks content testing. The first video leveraged a current event—“War or Sanctions Won’t Stop THIS Marketplace”—to connect Hamza with trending discussions. The second was more product-focused, featuring an auctioneer-style format showing various Hamza items and their prices, intended to increase product visibility. Separately, Anne began running YouTube promotions with the “Kung Fu Hamza” video, but the campaign was flagged by YouTube’s ad system due to crypto-related policy sensitivity. As a result, we’re learning more about how to shape content that aligns with platform guidelines moving forward. Next week, the focus will shift to creating videos that support the gift card promotion launch.
Investment Search
Mike connected with a Singapore-based firm that specializes in helping Web3 startups access grant opportunities. A follow-up call is scheduled for Wednesday. This outreach continues to build our long-term runway while aligning our messaging with the needs of potential funders.
Buyer and Seller Acquisition / Management
Anne launched a multi-pronged push to prepare the user base for our gift card promo campaign. She published a new blog post, Buy Gift Cards with Crypto, and sent out an email newsletter introducing the feature. The post also promoted our newest sellers—The Living Crystal and Global From Asia. Organic traffic came from X, Facebook, and Instagram. Additionally, Anne initiated a small follower boost on YouTube and X to help early content appear more active. She also reached out to Erwin from Handshake Australia about running a gift card giveaway during an upcoming Handshake Mastermind space. Finally, a Zealy account was created to support community engagement. Anne and Mike are both familiar with the platform (formerly Crew3), which is popular among Web3 communities. They’re now evaluating the premium plans as a potential workaround to restrictive ad policies and a platform for incentive-based growth.
Conclusion
As July begins, the Hamza team is zeroing in on campaign-readiness. Discount codes and homepage upgrades are in place, frictionless checkout is on the horizon, and our gift card promos are taking shape across both content and growth strategies. While seller onboarding and HNS Chat are quiet this week, new traction in marketing and investment could unlock the next phase of adoption. Let’s keep building—on-chain, on-brand, and just getting started.