From Game Streamer to Brand Owner: How I Met My Global Fans Halfway

My name is Aze. I've been a game streamer on Twitch for five years. I've built a community of loyal fans from all over the world. We share the joy of gaming and talk about life's ups and downs. When my fans suggested I release some merchandise, I decided to create my own fashion brand, printing our community's culture on t-shirts and hoodies.

After my independent site went live, orders flew in from across the globe, which deeply moved me. But problems soon followed. My fanbase is very young; many are students who don't have their own credit cards. A fan from the Philippines sent me a private message saying, "Aze, I really want to buy your new hoodie, but I don't have a Visa card, and my mom's card won't work for the payment. It's so difficult!"

Reading messages like that made me feel terrible. My original intention for creating the brand was to give back to my fans and connect with our community, but now, the barrier of payment was shutting out many of my most sincere supporters. I felt like I was letting them down.

I started looking for a solution. I noticed that in the gaming and esports world, using cryptocurrency for tips and transactions was already very common. My fans are extremely receptive to new technology, so this seemed like a viable path.

I needed a payment tool that was incredibly user-friendly for a novice, ideally as simple as applying a bandage. On a friend's recommendation, I learned about BlockATM. Its one-click copy-and-paste embed code feature allowed a tech newbie like me to set up the payment function on my website in just over ten minutes.

I added a USDT payment option to my site and shared the new feature with my fans during a live stream. I told them, "Guys, I don't want payments to be a barrier between us. No matter where you are or how you pay, I want to be able to get our culture into your hands."

The response was beyond my expectations. Many fans who couldn't pay before successfully placed orders that day. They thought paying with a crypto wallet was as cool as buying a skin in a game. This small change not only solved the payment issue but also felt like a "tech upgrade" for our community, bringing me closer to my fans. Now, my brand is more than just merchandise; it's an identity badge for our global community.