🔮 Case Study on Satoshi.Money: How to Build a Waitlist for Crypto

At GetWaitlist.com, we've helped power thousands of launches for crypto and web3 projects over the years, including titans like Rainbow Wallet and Uniswap. There are now so many cryptocurrencies that it can be hard to stand out when launching a new wallet, token, coin or NFT project. So marketing really matters in crypto, and that means that a viral-loop growth strategy is super important for any new crypto project. Driving viral engagement with referral marketing is key, and that's where Waitlists come in. Today we're going to talk about Satoshi.Money, one of our customers. We're going to cover their launch strategy for their software product, and the pre-launch waitlist campaign that they're running.

Unlike many of the Web3, DeFi, or NFT projects that were popular in crypto in previous years, Satoshi.money is designed as an all-encompassing Bitcoin application that streamlines various Bitcoin-related activities into a single platform. That's right, this crypto app is purely about Bitcoin. As they say: Bitcoin, not blockchain. This "super app" aims to simplify the process of buying, paying, earning, learning, spending, and borrowing Bitcoin for its users. It offers features such as instant and recurring Bitcoin purchases, lightning-fast payments through the Lightning Network, and the ability to earn Bitcoin through various activities within the app, including a referral program. The app also provides educational content to help users at different levels of Bitcoin knowledge, and it introduces a way to spend Bitcoin with a Satoshi Card, alongside the option to use Bitcoin as collateral for borrowing dollars.

This means that if you want to make it as a new crypto app or blockchain startup more generally, you need to have a smart, powerful strategy for advertising to your audience before you launch, and building as many viral loops as possible to increase referral and word-of-mouth marketing. Additionally, waitlists allow marketers to gather valuable data and feedback from a highly targeted audience, enabling them to refine their offerings and tailor their strategies to better meet the needs and preferences of their market. In the context of crypto, where trust and credibility are paramount, waitlists also help in establishing a foundational user base that can act as advocates and influencers before the official launch date, further amplifying the reach and impact of marketing efforts.

First things first, you always have to think about a Waitlist in the context of its landing page. The folks at Satoshi.Money have done a really great job at creating a well-designed, accessible, but educational crypto-specific landing page.

Right off the bat, that's a good-looking, simple landing page. It tells you that the app is all about Bitcoin. There aren't too many navigational elements, all the text is nice and large and clear. All the calls-to-action (CTAs) make sense and have simple descriptions. The Waitlist CTA is the most important CTA on the page. That's why it's right under the header, in the center of the landing page. It's clear: the "Join Waitlist" signup button is what the designers want you to click. It's really easy to enter your email address and submit: Satoshi.Money is using our default mini waitlist widget embedded in their landing page. After inspecting it, it looks like they wrote the landing page themselves in React/NextJS, rather than using one of the many landing page builders that are popular with a lot of smaller projects. In fact, they even wrote some custom CSS for their waitlist widget to make it fade in when the landing page loads:

Cool! If you load their landing page, the waitlist widget fading-in it does give it a nice visual effect. But evaluating Satoshi's landing page is not just about the core CTA and the style of the waitlist widget, but about the rest of the landing page, too. The team has done a great job in including lots of well-designed graphics, and easy-to-read captivating copytext on the homepage. This does a great job at pushing the user toward the desired call-to-action, which in this case is joining the Waitlist.

Satoshi.money is actively utilizing various marketing channels to enhance their presence and attract users to their platform. Their primary marketing efforts are concentrated on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, where they engage with their audience by sharing updates, insights, and information about their app's features, which include buying, paying, earning, learning, spending, and borrowing Bitcoin. Additionally, they have leveraged YouTube to reach a wider audience by participating in interviews and pitches that delve into the intricacies of their Bitcoin app, its unique selling propositions, and the vision behind its creation. This includes detailed discussions about the app's comprehensive features and the convenience it aims to provide to users, as well as insights into future plans for expansion and development. Heavily engaging prospective users on social media, educating them, and building an audience is exactly the right way to build a pre-launch waitlist for a crypto project.

These marketing initiatives are designed to drive potential users towards the waitlist on Satoshi's landing page, building anticipation and establishing a strong user base ahead of the full launch. By utilizing a blend of direct engagement on social media and giving interviews on platforms like YouTube, Satoshi.money is creating a multifaceted content marketing approach that not only educates potential users about the benefits of their platform but also fosters and educates a community of engaged Bitcoin enthusiasts. These enthuasiasts are the best evangelists for Satoshi's waitlist. All these people are interested in the product, probably passionate about crypto, excited to use it and better invest and manage their finances. Satoshi is using a standard referral marketing strategy where users are rewarded by moving up in line if they refer their friends and share their waitlist referral code. This has brought the waitlist for this bitcoin super app to many thousands of user signups.

The team at Satoshi.Money are on the Waitlist Pro Plan, which allows them to customize their emails and send them from their domain. That's exactly what they're doing. They've customized the default Waitlist Signup email to use a template that suits their brand. This is how it looked for me when I signed up:

Looks good! The waitlist email message is simple but tells me everything I need to know, and points me to my referral link, suggesting that I should be referring my friends. One thing that's cool about using GetWaitlist.com's Pro Plan is that we let you send emails from your email domain — note how this is coming from and not from . We've made it really easy to connect that email customization, and the automated emails coming from your domain is a good way to signal trust and professionalism.

The Satoshi.Money case study underscores the importance of a clear, compelling landing page for blockchain projects aiming to build a robust pre-launch waitlist. For future waitlist creators, the first takeaway is to invest in a user-centric anding page that immediately conveys your project's value proposition. Ensure your landing page is streamlined, with an unmissable call-to-action that guides visitors towards joining the waitlist. Leveraging visually appealing elements and straightforward copy can significantly enhance user engagement and conversion rates. Additionally, customizing your waitlist widget to seamlessly integrate with your site's aesthetic can offer a unique user experience, and help you stand out against all the other blockchain-themed landing pages, which are often not well-designed.

Secondly, a multifaceted marketing strategy is crucial for building anticipation and drawing potential users to your waitlist. Satoshi.Money's approach, which includes a mix of social media engagement, content marketing, and community building, exemplifies a blueprint for success. Future projects should aim to create educational and engaging content that resonates with their target audience, driving interest and sign-ups. Platforms like Twitter (especially Crypto Twitter!), Instagram, and YouTube offer opportunities to reach diverse audiences, share your project's story, and build a community of early adopters. Engagement shouldn't just be about broadcasting your message; it should also involve listening to and interacting with your prospective users, fostering a sense of community and belonging around your project.

Lastly, incorporating referral marketing into your waitlist strategy can significantly amplify your project's reach and adoption. Offering incentives for referrals, such as advancing positions in the waitlist, not only encourages current subscribers to spread the word but also leverages their networks for organic growth. This approach turns your waitlist into a viral marketing tool, exponentially increasing visibility and interest. For blockchain projects, where community endorsement and word-of-mouth are particularly influential, referral marketing can be a game-changer. By combining a well-designed landing page, a strategic marketing mix, and an incentivized referral program, you can create a powerful foundation for your project's success even before its official launch.

In our opinion, Satoshi.Money is doing a pretty great job in using a pre-launch waitlist to drum up attention and get the word out to early customers before they launch their product. Since Satoshi will be an iPhone App, the only other relevant pattern that we've seen here is to actually launch a "landing page only" iPhone app, get early downloads, and have users sign up to the Waitlist from inside the iPhone App. Getting the user so interested with your pitch that they download the iPhone App, and then they're on the Waitlist, is an even stronger way to drive conversions and get the user to feel invested in using your product when it comes out. That's the only other pre-launch waitlist strategy item that we like to recommend to our customers, but it's specific to building waitlists for iOS apps.