How Dopamine Works
Understanding the currency that powers the entire internet economy.
The Basics for New Users
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that creates feelings of pleasure and reward in the human brain. Every time you feel satisfaction from a notification, a like, or finding interesting content, that is dopamine at work.
Tech companies have spent billions engineering their products to trigger dopamine releases as frequently as possible. This is why you cannot stop scrolling. This is why notifications are irresistible. This is the currency that powers the entire internet.
The Attention Economy
The attention economy is a marketplace where human attention is the commodity being bought and sold. Every second you spend on an app, every ad you view, every piece of content you consume represents a transaction in this economy.
Companies like Meta, Google, TikTok, and Netflix are attention merchants. They provide free services in exchange for your attention, which they monetize through advertising and data. Combined, these companies are worth over $2 trillion.
The Transaction
Every interaction in the attention economy follows a simple pattern: platforms trigger a dopamine response in your brain, capturing your attention. This attention is then converted into advertising revenue, engagement metrics, and data.
Until now, this value extraction has been entirely one-sided. Users produce the dopamine, platforms capture the value. The DOPAMINE token represents a paradigm shift: for the first time, you can own a stake in the currency that powers this economy.
The Network
The attention economy is self-reinforcing. More users create more content, which attracts more users, which generates more dopamine transactions. This network effect is why platforms grow exponentially and why the attention economy continues to expand.
DOPAMINE exists on the Solana blockchain, benefiting from fast, low-cost transactions. As awareness of the attention economy grows, so does the relevance of owning its fundamental currency.
The Attention Economy by Numbers
8+ hours
Average daily screen time per person globally. Every minute is a dopamine transaction.
5 billion
Smartphone users worldwide, all participating in the dopamine economy daily.
$600B+
Annual digital advertising revenue. Pure monetization of captured attention.
2,000+
Average notifications per person per week. Each one a dopamine trigger.
Going Down the Rabbit Hole
Want to understand the full vision? Read the complete whitepaper for a comprehensive analysis of the attention economy and the role of Dopamine in it.