Dare Market Raises $2M for Crypto Stunt Platform

Dare Market operates on two primary funding models that leverage cryptocurrency to fuel its ecosystem of viral challenges. The first model allows users to post dares with attached bounties, where participants upload videos of themselves completing these challenges on social media, and the original proposer selects the winner. The second model, called ‘Fund-My-Dare,’ enables users to set their own stunts with specified funding goals. If 69% of the dare’s funders validate that the user successfully completed the challenge, the deposited USDC or SOL is released to the performer.

The platform captures value through a 6.9% fee taken at settlement, creating a revenue stream from the transactions flowing through its ecosystem. This structure transforms what might otherwise be random viral moments into structured economic opportunities, with founder and CEO Isla Rose Perfito describing it as ‘the internet on steroids’ that offers ‘the two things this generation wants most: money and fame.’ The platform also allows for customization, enabling dares to target specific individuals like notable streamers or split prize money among multiple participants.

Dare Market enters a space with concerning precedents, particularly from Solana meme coin launchpad Pump.fun, which spawned dangerous stunts that put humans and animals at risk. The platform explicitly references this history while positioning itself as a safer alternative. Perfito told Decrypt that any dares ‘that put any individual in harm’s way’ or encourage ‘self-harm [or] drug usage’ will not make it onto the platform, directly addressing the type of content that made Pump.fun controversial.

The cultural relevance of such platforms was further highlighted when Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror’ parodied the concept in April, depicting a site where users got paid for performing increasingly extreme stunts. Dare Market’s moderation approach involves both automated systems and human review before dares are posted, creating a gatekeeping mechanism absent from previous crypto stunt ecosystems. ‘I think it’s the [expectation] with some businesses and individuals out there that in order to go viral, you have to do something that’s so ridiculous at the expense of people or yourself. And that’s just not true,’ Perfito explained, outlining the company’s safety-first ethos.

The $2 million pre-seed round, led by Karatage and Paper Ventures with participation from NBA star Tristan Thompson, crypto influencer Ansem, and gambling firm Super Group, signals investor confidence in the platform’s potential to monetize internet culture safely. The funding will support the platform’s launch, which includes several dare markets already funded by companies looking to promote their brands through viral challenges.

One early example comes from WTF Leagues, which is daring people to scream ‘What the fuck?’ in public in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards. This mirrors recent crypto culture phenomena, such as when a project called POIDH placed a $28,000 meme coin bounty on beating the Guinness World Record for skateboard kickflips—a challenge successfully completed by Dave Bachinsky. The types of content Dare Market promotes can be seen through creators it sponsors, like Penofein, who records himself having fake arguments in public and performing other harmless pranks.

Perfito positions Dare Market as ‘the inverse of Polymarket,’ drawing a distinction between prediction markets that bet on outcomes and her platform’s focus on creating those outcomes. She explained that while platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi serve as ‘great truth marketplaces’ where users bet on scenario outcomes, Dare Market represents the ‘dare’ side of the popular party game ‘truth or dare’—creating the scenarios themselves rather than predicting them.

This positioning comes at a time when attention has become ‘one of the most scarce resources on the internet,’ as Perfito noted. ‘Everyone is fighting for it. It’s one of the most difficult things to earn, and almost impossible to keep. Dare Market fixes that.’ The platform aims to capitalize on this attention economy by providing a structured, monetized environment for creating viral moments while maintaining the safety measures necessary to avoid the pitfalls that doomed earlier, less-regulated attempts at stunt-based entertainment.