Gerald Heydenreich , President and co-founder of EtherMail, believes email — one of the internet’s oldest tools — may hold the key to the next wave of crypto engagement.
In a conversation with TheStreet Roundtable , Heydenreich shared how EtherMail’s newly launched platform, Stake4Ads, is reshaping how projects reach users by blending email with blockchain incentives.
“The challenge in Web3 marketing is predictability,” Heydenreich said. “Budgets are tight, audiences are fragmented, and traditional platforms don’t speak the language of crypto. We wanted to fix that.”
Launched in 2022, EtherMail is a blockchain-based email platform designed for wallet-to-wallet communication. It enables users to receive authenticated, on-chain messages from DAOs and crypto projects while protecting privacy. The platform also lets users earn rewards for consenting to targeted content.
What is Stake4Ads?
Launched on May 5, Stake4Ads lets companies stake EMT tokens to earn recurring ad credits — instead of spending tokens on one-off ads. These credits guarantee email placements in verified wallet-to-wallet inboxes, reaching users active in DeFi, NFTs , DAOs, and governance protocols.
“By staking, you’re not spending,” Heydenreich explained. “You’re allocating resources to access attention — attention that’s measurable, consent-based, and tied to real wallets.”
In short: marketers lock up tokens, and in return, they get reliable access to crypto-native inboxes. This is a big shift from relying on social media, influencers, or paid campaigns with vague returns.
Why it matters
EtherMail’s platform is built to support direct, privacy-preserving communication between wallets — meaning users can get messages from token issuers or DAOs without giving up their data. Users can also set preferences and earn from receiving emails, making the relationship more balanced.
It’s a win-win: projects get consistent delivery with built-in fraud protection, and users only receive content they’ve opted into — sometimes with incentives.
“You can still market without market-making,” Heydenreich said. “You’re not burning tokens. You’re using them as a signal of intent.”
Early results show higher open and click-through rates, and EtherMail is offering a 25% performance boost for campaigns in their first month — a smart move to capture attention in the crowded Web3 space.
Agencies are taking note, too. Stake4Ads gives them a quantifiable, blockchain-native way to deliver for crypto clients — not just views, but performance.
“It’s not just about ads,” Heydenreich added. “It’s about performance. Staking makes that performance auditable.”
From email to infrastructure
While email may sound old-school, EtherMail sees it as a powerful tool when combined with blockchain principles.
“This isn’t about reinventing email,” Heydenreich adds. “It’s about giving it a decentralized backbone. We just happen to think staking is a better way to earn attention than spending blindly.”
With Stake4Ads now live, EtherMail aims to make email not just useful, but central to how crypto projects communicate — one staked token at a time.