Podcasts about with nfts

In this episode of the Web3 Marketing Association Podcast, hosts Suresh Balaji and Dave Wallace are joined by Matt Smolin, co-founder and CEO of Hang.xyz, to explore the future of loyalty and membership programmes in a Web3 world.Matt shares his entrepreneurial journey from trading desks in finance to building consumer tech, and ultimately pivoting into Hang after an earlier business was disrupted by COVID-19. He explains how Hang was founded in late 2021 with the mission to reinvent customer engagement through NFT-powered loyalty—creating membership systems that are more flexible, interoperable, and rewarding than traditional models.The discussion covers the shortcomings of legacy loyalty programmes—closed systems, extractive models, lack of interoperability—and how Web3 technology can address them. With NFTs, loyalty becomes portable, tradable, and even tiered in ways that benefit both consumers and brands. Dave and Suresh explore scenarios ranging from airline miles you could rent out, to employee loyalty schemes validated on-chain, to interoperable memberships that travel with you across platforms and experiences.Matt stresses that the value proposition for brands isn't “NFTs” as a buzzword but solving real problems: rising customer acquisition costs, fragmented data, and the need to build lasting community-driven engagement. He outlines practical paths for CMOs—from layering Web3 onto existing loyalty programmes, to experimenting with VIP segments, to creating new models entirely off-chain-compatible but Web3-enabled.The episode also touches on the regulatory and financial implications of tokenised loyalty, the challenges of moving liabilities off balance sheets, and the potential role of agencies and consultancies in scaling adoption.For marketers, the message is clear: loyalty is evolving from transactional points systems to community-driven value exchanges, where customers become stakeholders rather than just consumers. Web3-powered loyalty isn't just the future—it's already here.

In this episode of the Web3 Marketing Association Podcast, hosts Suresh and Dave Wallace are joined by Adam White – now known as Phoenix – entrepreneur, visionary, and founder of Edge.gg and the new project Spirit Tribe.Phoenix shares his journey from sports law and esports innovation to building Edge, a platform often described as the “Uber for influencers,” designed to validate and monetise creator content. He reflects on the evolution of Edge, its acquisition journey, and the role of Web3 in unlocking authenticity, ownership, and trust for creators and brands.The conversation then shifts to Phoenix's personal transformation and his latest venture, Spirit Tribe. This bold initiative blends community building, spirituality, and Web3 technology, aiming to create global tribes where members share resources, embrace authenticity, and live beyond fear. With NFTs, festivals, and shared land ownership, Spirit Tribe seeks to redefine wealth and community in a post-matrix world.Key themes explored include authenticity as the foundation of Web3 marketing, the power of community over audience, the potential of NFTs as enablers of identity and ownership, and the intersection of spirituality, sustainability, and technology.The episode offers marketers a thought-provoking look at how Web3 can foster communities with genuine purpose – and why the future of identity, belonging, and brand engagement may lie well beyond traditional frameworks.

Stop playing video games. They said. get a real job. They said. I've tried so many online money making methods in the past I've taken surveys on mTUrk. I freelanced audio production and voice work gigs on Fiver and E-lance. I've even taught kids in China on VIPKid. But nothing comes close to the profit I'm making with NFT games. I mean let me tell you a secret: I'm making more income playing games in a SINGLE DAY than any of these other online money-making methods, yet alone a "real job" had me earning in a full WEEK. Guys I am 100% serious when I talk about this. But NFTs are changing the gaming industry as we know it! With NFTs and the Blockchain technology, we're able to effectively verify that YOU own an item that you won from a game. It's not something your in-game avatar wears or holds. It's something you legitimately own. And just like anything you own in real life, like a book, instrument, furniture, whatever, you can buy, sell, and trade it on the market. It's no longer just "pixels" on a screen. It can now be traded for real fiat, real currency, through the use of the blockchain and crypto coins. The MetaVerse is building and we're blurring the lines between actual reality and virtual reality. This is just the beginning, fellow procrastin8rs. You can sit at home and PLAY A GAME to earn a real asset then sell that asset for money. Are you understanding me? Please tell me you follow. Okay, let me break this down for you, real simple: This is the lazy opportunity we've been waiting for! You can make money sitting on the couch playing video games. No need to grow an audience or following. No need to look pretty for the camera as you stream. No need to set up sponsors or affiliate links. You literally...just. play the game. Now I'm gonna be covering in-depth reviews/guides in the on coming weeks about some profitable NFT games I've been playing recently. Last week, you heard of BombCrypto and this time I want to introduce to you a little Play to Earn NFT game called Heroes and Empires. It's a medieval fantasy themed idle game. Even if you aren't much a gamer, it's very easy/semi-passive income. Just click a few buttons each day to do quests and battles. It's auto battle, so no actual skill or reflexes required. If you can browser a website, you can play this game! Read the full Transcript/Blog & Find Mentioned Links: http://www.procrastin8r.com/blog/heroesempires Subscribe to the Newsletter: http://www.procrastin8r.com/subscribe

Our guests this week are Vibhu Norby and Degen Poet. Vibhu is the founder of DRiP, a platform that allows users to receive free NFT collectibles, commissioned from artists and projects across the landscape of crypto. The project has grown exponentially since its inception, with over 300,000 wallets receiving at least one NFT a week. Degen Poet, a prolific artist on Solana, has been a key collaborator on the project. Vibhu and Degen Poet discuss how DRiP is changing the game for NFTs and why the first experience people have with blockchain should be through art. Plus, they share their unique processes for creating and distributing NFTs, and why they choose to plant their flag in Solana. Show Notes:0:56 - Latest News3:05 - What is Drip?        5:22 - Origin story of Degen Poet, starting working in Solana and Vibh10:13 - Workflow with NFTs12:54 - Working with other artists16:01 - How Drip helps Degen Poet's work17:51 - Only on Solana21:42 - How is drip breaking phantom?22:50 - Future looking like Instagram26:53 - Platforms like Drip vs. traditional mediums30:40 - Things to change /have changed in the industry    33:52 - A builder they admire in the Solana ecosystem? Full Transcript:Brian Friel (00:00):Hey, everyone and welcome to the Zeitgeist, the show where we highlight the founders, developers, and designers who are pushing the Web 3.0 Space forward. I'm Brian Friel, developer relations at Phantom. And I'm super excited to reintroduce our first repeat guest, Vibhu Norby, as well as Solana's very own Degen poet, Vibhu and DP, welcome to the show. Vibhu Norby (00:27):What's up? Thanks for having me back. Degen Poet (00:30):Hey, thanks so much for having us. Brian Friel (00:32):Vibhu, I mentioned this before recording, but you're a friend of the pod. You're the first official repeat guest of the Zeitgeist, and the last time we had you on was October of last year and you were working on Solana Spaces, which was a really big and audacious project I'd say, and a lot has happened since then and you're still working on big and audacious projects on Solana. Can you walk us through what has changed in the last couple months and what are you working on today? Vibhu Norby (00:56):Good times, good memories. Yeah. What happened in between October and now? What changed? Funnily enough, Drip actually started that same month. We actually started sending NFTs to people starting with Vincenzo in late October. I think we did two drop before Breakpoint. Yeah, things were going fine and then our world got flipped upside down once again by those who must not be named. For a couple months there, I think we were trying to figure out how we were going to continue to operate the stores. Obviously Phantom was a major benefactor of spaces along with Solana Foundation, but they who must not be named were also major sponsors and it was kind of the three pillars of our business and one of them got pulled out. And simultaneously with all of that, Drip was blowing up and changing everything for us internally. Coming into January, every single week we were stacking at 15, 20% week-over-week growth on the list organically. (01:51):And between December 1st and the shutdown of Spaces, our Twitter following more than doubled and all of the new growth were people coming to us for stuff related to Drip. And so I was spending my time going between doing customer service for Drip, talking to artists, and then the store was starting to feel like it was losing its voice a bit kind of naturally in that. Yeah. I mean as much as we loved it for a bunch of different reasons, it just made sense for us to take this traumatic pivot from physical retail stores to free NFTs. I think it was a really good decision. I think one of my best decisions so far in life because since we closed down Spaces, Drip has grown five, six x since then. We've really greatly expanded the product and kind of the vision for it and I think we're making a big impact on Solana and crypto in general. Brian Friel (02:45):You mentioned that this was born out of Solana Spaces originally, it was almost just this separate side thing you were doing and became this absolute beast that had to be unleashed. For those who aren't familiar with what Drip is, can you describe what Drip is, how it operates today, and then maybe talk a little bit about the scale that you guys are currently operating at? Vibhu Norby (03:05):Yeah, sure. Really simple value prop. You sign in with Phantom, you get an invite code and you start getting free collectibles. You can kind of engage with the product as much or as little as you want. By default, you get a free collectible from us every Wednesday and those collectibles are NFTs and they're real on chain Solana NFTs and we commission those pieces from artists and projects, not just now within Solana but across the landscape of crypto. And we pay for the airdrop costs and it's totally free. It's one of the few things in all of our industry that starts at free, ends at free. You don't need any tokens in your wallet, you don't have to go through KYC with an exchange. More recently, a couple months ago in March, we started adding these additional lists that you could subscribe to. Degen Poet was number one, but since then we've added another seven creators and we launched two new streams every Friday. (03:57):Those work the same way. You sign up for an individual creator that you love, can be an artist, could be a brand, could be NFT project, a video creator, influencer. They send you free collectibles on some regular basis and you can collect them, you can trade them, you can hold them, you can brag to your friends about what you got. In terms of growth, we've continued to grow 10, 15% a week even at a very big size now. There's two kind of stats that kind of matter. One is we consider non-fraudulent wallets as many people tried to farm Drip in the past. That number in real time right now is 300,000 and we're sending out at least 300,000 NFTs a week on showcase right now. But in total, every single week across all of our creators now, we're sending well over a million collectibles every single week. This is unbelievable groundbreaking stuff. It's not happening anywhere else in our industry, but people fall in love with Drip every single day. It's been awesome. Brian Friel (04:49):Yeah. I've been a day one subscriber of Drip. I love it. It's such a delightful thing to have all this new art coming in your inbox every day. You kind of hinted at this only possible at Solana, which I want to dive into too. But you did mention there, Degen Poet, and I'd be remiss if we didn't introduce Degen Poet now to the show. I think if you're a listener and you've been around the Solana space, especially on Twitter, you've seen Degen Poet, I'd say one of the most prolific artists on Solana for some time now. Degen Poet, for those who don't know, can you introduce who you are, how you got started on Solana, and then how you also started working with Vibhu? Degen Poet (05:22):I guess I'm Degen Poet. I live in Chicago with my wife and a couple dogs. I got started in Solana in the summer of 2021. I was just basically doing trading and stuff in Bitcoin and then trading all the other coins. I did some leverage trading on CuCoin and then found Solana through the whole Sam Coins DeFi on Solana first. I think Radium was my first stop. That's kind of my first experience with it all. I thought NFTs were garbage and a silly idea and all those things. I had probably been out of poetry for, I don't know, seven or eight years at that point. I did all of my college education and got an MFA in poetry and then just decided that it wasn't a great career path as far as the money you could make and what you had to do to support yourself as a poet is pretty difficult in the real world. (06:16):I gave that up and just kind of did business for a living, did computers, Excel, stuff like that. That's how I kind of made a living and then found Solana through all this. I started buying some stuff on Digitalize. I bought a Solana Monkey, a viking I think pretty early on and papered it way too early. But I think it was at that point where I decided maybe I should try poems as NFTs just because nobody else was doing it. I figured it'd at least be a unique way to try. The first thing I got started on was gmu poems, which was basically an NFT, which was a list of words. And at the time they were going really hot because they were based on this Eth derivative of something called Loot, I think. But I was mad at it because I was like, how is it worth so much money and doing so great? And it's literally just a random list of words, but instead of being mad at it, I decided to kind of embrace it and then just filled in the spaces between the words with poems. (07:11):And I did 200 of those in a month and that's how I got my start on Solana. And then just was making NFTs nonstop ever since, mainly through Exchange Art, doing one of one art. And then over the last year or so since Editions opened up, did additions on exchange art, and then that all just kind of led me to Vibhu and Drip. I really like serving a large audience with art. I mean that was always really fun with Editions. And then with Additions, I wanted to deliver them at a low cost, but that just invites bots to basically come in and flip your stuff. Bots were making way more money than I was off my art just because of the setup, you know what I mean? That's, I think, what intrigued me about Drip is I could achieve this thing that I wanted, which was giving art to all these people on Solana for free basically. And then there's no real bots, everyone's trying to sign up as an individual and gets it airdropped. It's not like a mint. Yeah, I think that's kind of where it all started and how it all made sense for the way that I was distributing my art. Brian Friel (08:12):Yeah, you hit on a lot there. I think that journey of trying out Solana for the first time, this new primordial soup of ecosystem projects and then this totally irrational NFT market, everyone gets dive into it. I think a lot of people can resonate that picture. Vibhu Norby (08:26):Right. I got to interject here because Degen Poet just introduced himself for five minutes and not one time did he mention the word typewriter, which is what he's most famous for of all things is that he didn't say the word typewriter. Brian Friel (08:42):Yeah. Vibhu Norby (08:43):But how did you find a typewriter? Just tell us that quickly. Degen Poet (08:47):Let's see here. I was cleaning out my sister's ex-husband's parents' basement and we found a typewriter when I was in college, and I think I just got really into them at that point because I was doing poetry and stuff and just would smoke tobacco pipes and type on a typewriter pretending I was some guy. I think that's where it all started. And then it picked back up again around Solana or whatever. My wife bought me a typewriter as an anniversary present. That was the first one that I really beat the crap out of for Solana. That's, I guess, what started it. From poems to trying to make something visually more appealing is really what it all clicked with. With NFTs specifically, I started out with just Photoshop and text and I needed some way of making it visually more appealing because that's how you get sales. But that basically took me from a poet to someone who makes art with a typewriter was kind of because people really pretty pictures on NFTs and turns out I like making them. There you go. Brian Friel (09:51):I think Vibhu brings up a great point there. I mean, Degen Poet I think is prolific and well known for having this unique process with a typewriter. If you could expand a little bit on that, Degen Poet, how do you go about creating these collections and is there anything that you do with Drip in particular that is different from either your normal flow or other flows that you know of of NFT artists on Solana? Degen Poet (10:13):Yeah. I mean I guess one of my main things that I've sort of been consistent with are the profile pictures. As a legendary, I'll take an existing Solana profile picture and just kind of do a typewriter version of those. For that process, I basically sketch a version of the profile picture with a pen, and then those were sort of my guides for the typewriter. I've done it freehand on the typewriter before, but you're only exposing a small portion of the paper at a time and it's really hard to get the proportions right. It's helpful to kind of map them out with a pen or marker sketch first. And then I do go through with a detailed typewriter version of it. I try to pull in words or traits or something to do with the NFT as part of the words that make up the image just as a piece of interest if you zoomed in. (11:03):And then I'll print out another copy of that. I'll do another sketch or sometimes I'll just paint on the typewriter piece itself and I'll use oil pastels or watercolor. At the end of the day I'm layering two scans. One of them is basically just the typewriter ink and then another one is this sort of painted version and I layered them on top of each other so you get a colored version of a typewriter piece, and that's kind of how all the profile pictures start. I think that's definitely pretty unique, just using all the physical pieces and really trying to make it all from physical scans versus any sort of digital pieces. And then anything digital is really for animation. Sometimes I'll type out every single frame and I'll make individual frames physically for everything that I'm animating. Other times I'll just cut out a piece of the eye or a piece of a lip or something like that on Photoshop and move it around, save a few different images or change colors or something. I do some Photoshopping to get the pieces animated, which I think just kind of adds another level to it. Typewriter is such an old physical looking thing. And so it's interesting, I think, to see it in an animation style. That's something I've really leveled up with Drip. I feel like I've done way more animations with Drip than any of my art sort of previously. Brian Friel (12:22):You hit a lot there throughout the intro and throughout describing your process, but basically this journey, I think a lot of people resonate with coming to Solana, seeing this fragmented NFT landscape ripe with speculation. That doesn't always make sense, but I think Drip's unique in that it's changing all these models, it's flipping them on their head. Vibhu, can you speak a little bit to who you're working with? Who are these artists that are now reaching out to you? I think you've proven this model with the Degen Poet, but when you talk to artists on Solana, what's attractive to Drip for them? Vibhu Norby (12:54):Yeah. I want to touch on something that you reminded me of, which is that the transition from Spaces to Drip, although on the surface is very jarring, the thing that kind of ties them together was that when we were meeting people in real life trying to introduce them to blockchains, what we found time and time again was that it was the art and the PFPs that were resonating with people in the store. It wasn't all the other stuff. And yet the way that most people have gotten into here is through an exchange where it's all about trading. And so I put this on Twitter many times, but things would be different today and they will be different in the future if the first experience that people have of this amazing technology is art, right? It's la piece from Degen Poet. It just changed everything. What am I looking for in artists?n (13:38):I probably talk to between 20 and 30 artists every single week, artists, projects, creators, and we probably filled about 100 requests per week, I would say right now. We have a really high bar. There's only three slots per week now. There's a showcase and there's two channels. And we book these things out for months in advance. The thing that resonates to me the most is artists that see themselves as more than just putting their pen or their paintbrush on paper, whatever their medium is, but as content creators as well. I think what attracted me to Degen Poet for a long time and I think why people love Degen Poet, yeah, the art is really good and I think that has to be there, but there's a lot of really good art. It's Degen Poet's personality. It's how that comes out in his work. (14:22):It's how he tells a story around his pieces. He publishes videos of the typewriter itself and the creation process. To me, we definitely have an eye for these kind of super artists who are brand building for themselves and have a vision for how to take care of their community in addition. To me, I mean, there's a lot of amazing artists in the world and if you just take blockchain out of it, you can walk into any gallery and see these incredible things. But there's this disconnect between the thing that you're buying and the person that made it and you. And in crypto, it gives this opportunity to cut out that piece and just connect directly with the creator. And if the creator takes advantage of that, that's very attractive to us. That tells me that they're thinking differently about what crypto can add to them. We have a pretty high bar, to be honest. (15:08):I mean I think we could fill up Drip with illustration and other techniques. There's a lot of amazing photographers, but I think at least in the early stages here, we have the opportunity to be curatorial a bit and relentlessly, we've been programming out our new channels trying to bring something different to the table each week. I think if you fast forwarded a year, it's going to be full of the same stuff that Instagram is full of and other big networks, it's just kind of natural. But right now we have an opportunity to keep a vision for what a collectible can kind of be. I don't know. I kind of know when I see it, but that's probably my framework. Brian Friel (15:44):Yeah. You hit on a couple things there with, not just just filling with great art, but the way that this can change the relationship between an artist and their fans. Degen Poet, from your experience, how has working with Drip influenced both the way that people discover your content, but also the relationships that you have with your collectors? Yeah, Degen Poet (16:01):Yeah. I mean it definitely makes it a much wider net, which is nice. They have a larger community to gather around. It feels like everyone who's kind of a channel in Drip is part of a little club or group or something. And so a lot of the same collectors will collect from multiple channels across Drip and things like that. There's more going on than just my art, but it still feels like a piece of a larger community. Everyone's kind of bringing a different style of Drip to the table. It takes less pressure off of my shoulders where I have to have my own Discord or be so focused and all these things. I could do that if I wanted, but I don't have to. Drip is big enough and has enough engagement from the tools that they provide that it helps sustain that better than I could than when I was alone. (16:47):And yeah, I guess you get a lot more people, right. You really do get people who would never have bought my art. And it's not because they didn't like it, they probably couldn't afford it or they didn't really know about it, but they happened to get in through Drip. And so get new people who earnestly really enjoy the art because that's how they found it. They found it from something free, they weren't trying to flip it and that's how they found it. Yeah, I don't know. It definitely casts a wider net and I feel you do boil up more people that just truly enjoy what you do versus the other side. Yeah, that's been great for that. Brian Friel (17:23):Yeah. I want to pause here and just dive into a topic that we mentioned briefly at the start, which is Solana. Degen Poet, you described your journey to finding Solana and I mentioned that I think if anyone's been around crypto Twitter, they know who you are. Prolific typewriter artist of Solana. Vibhu, you've been deeply involved with Solana for over a year and now. Why do you guys plant your flag in Solana, and what about Solana is able to make this a reality where no other blockchain can really do what Drip is doing? Vibhu Norby (17:51):I'm trying to refashion myself a little bit in our narrative because I mean you'll see on our Twitter page and on our site, occasionally we'll talk about Solana, but we've been trying to focus on the collectibles. I mean even with NFTs, I've eliminated using that word on our corporate account entirely in very specific cases. I don't think anybody on the consumer side really cares about that. But from the builder's perspective, two aspects. One is that they pioneered the state compression model, which allows us to do NFTs at a very, very big scale relative to the old version for a very low cost, a couple $100 per million, totally affordable for a business like us. And I think the second thing is that Solana has a really active developer community and some really amazing devs inside of it that are hunting for things to build. (18:35):And it's really competitive too. All the infrastructure around anything new on Solana develops fast. Perfect example of that is Tensor. We went live with it March 22nd, three months ago, and it's certainly been a couple weeks, maybe two or three weeks because they went live with trading on there. And it's an amazing experience and people can trade these compressed NFTs, 200 at a time and there's a brand new kind of thing, right. But it's not just them, there's B Man who built this tool called PopKey, it's Keerel who built the Drip tracker. There's just all these amazing 10X engineers, if you will, itching to be involved and be part of the Solana community. And we feel like anything that we can't get to, someone else is just going to build anyway. And hey, when we're ready, maybe we'll pick it up. Or maybe that tool just kind of develops its own path and we don't have to touch it. (19:28):And that thing is unique to crypto too because all of our NFTs are composable. It just really does. We're kept to such a high bar of development 'cause if we don't reach that bar, then three other companies are going to recreate what we're doing, do it better, and then people also going to just take our content and then do it better on top of our content and our data. I don't know about other chains, maybe they have that too, but I've just observed that Solana is, because of the size of our community and the energy there, seems to attack these things with a lot of vigor that I didn't see, at least in Ethereum when I was first getting into this space. Brian Friel (20:02):No, I couldn't agree more. I think Solana has carved out its own kernel of a genuine dev community. It's a double-edged sword like you say, because it's highly composable and you have this great force everyone will want to build with you, but it invites a lot of competition where if you do slack, there will be people who will take what you do and run with it. But I think so far you guys have done a really great job of really leading in this vertical of Solana. DP, do you have anything to add to what Vibhu said with respect to Solana, maybe from an artist's perspective? Degen Poet (20:31):As far as only possible on Solana, I definitely think it comes down to the compressed NFT. You can't cost effectively drop a million NFTs a week on any other blockchain, not even close to a 1,000X, not even close. I think that's the core of it that allows us to be different on Solana. But then all that other stuff, the unspoken kind of stuff is just the energy of the people here on the chain and the fact that Tensor and all the rest, not only do you have to be able to mint one million NFTs a week for low cost, but you also have to have people that can build stuff to do with them. And that is, I think, an underappreciated aspect of Solana. And I feel like Drip, from my perspective, all we have to do is just kind of continue growing the market for compressed NFTs, continue add channels and add people kind of doing stuff with compressed NFTs and then Solana will provide. As you get bigger and there's more market, more people want something, then Solana starts to make those things happen. I think we'll see that and that will be incredible. Vibhu Norby (21:32):I'm going to flip it back to you, Brian, as well. How is Drip breaking Phantom and what does Phantom need to address? Degen Poet (21:37):Yeah. When can I hold 5,000 NFTs please? Vibhu Norby (21:38):There you go. Brian Friel (21:41):Yeah, no, I would say from a dev perspective at Phantom side, we were early to support compressed NFTs, but it's almost a naive assumption that hey, we ship support and we'll be good because it basically is opening Pandora's box where now people just go wild whenever they're given a new medium to express with this kind of stuff. And we saw it firsthand with Tensor launching their NFT marketplace. We're getting requests, why can't I sign 5,000 transactions at once? You guys can't simulate 5,000 different transactions, but it makes us go back to basically first principles and what is the wallet being used for here? How should we be basically specializing the wallet and what do our users really want this for? And I think, Vibhu, you painted a great story at the start of this where eight months ago, the world was ending for all of Solana, they who should not be named. And in six to eight months, you've gone from that state to completely bootstrapping an organic network with hundreds of thousands of users who love and use this product every day. (22:34):How do we stay adaptable enough for that, huge question and a huge challenge and was really the fun of what's working in this space I think is all about. Vibhu, you mentioned a little bit too on the future of, I think you hinted a year out from now looking like Instagram. Can you say more about that? Vibhu Norby (22:49):Yeah. Depending on the day I wake up and I think about YouTube or Instagram or Twitch or Patreon or Roblox or you name it. There isn't a perfect analogy for this stuff because it kind of is a blend of a lot of different things. I mean literally every single day we're trying to address a problem in our product and we search for some mental model from some other place and see if that kind of makes sense. And not all of it does, but Instagram is such a simple product to talk about because it is a simple product. Everybody, not just creators, but normal people post photos to their feed or stories and then you follow their friends and you follow the celebrities or influencer, whatever that you like and that stuff shows up in your feed. And you think nothing of it. Okay, I go about my day, I open the app, I click something and I'm good, I'm happy, I close it. (23:43):But what's sitting underneath of Instagram is this advertising industrial complex that is calculating an enormous amount of data for every single thing that you do on the app. You open the story, how long did you open the story for? How many people are you connected to that also did the same thing? They're building profiles. I used to work on this stuff. I know this is what we do. Yeah, there's a reason for it. I don't think it's bad. I don't think advertising is bad. I want to put that out there. I know Anatolia thinks it's evil and it's part of the reason why he talks about Solana as the anti-spam control network, but it is good for small businesses, but the group that gets abused in that situation are the users and the creators that actually use the app. You go talk to any creator on any network that's not on the top 1% and they're making almost no money from these things. (24:33):We have an artist that's launching tomorrow called Bangers. He has 200,000 on Instagram. He has three and a half billion views of her content on Giffy. 'Cause she makes all these animated gifs and she told me that she made $20 from Giffy and almost nothing from Instagram ever. I mean we just don't think about it. But people build their livelihoods and businesses on these social platforms and increasingly so. I mean young people today, you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, it's not a firefighter. They want to be content creators, they want to be YouTubers, they want to be TikTokers, literally what they want to do. But when we examine these platforms and how they treat all of the kind of participants in that ecosystem, you just see this thing where all the power and all the money is aggregating inside of these couple of companies, ByteDance with TikTok, Facebook, Google, Amazon. (25:28):The trifecta of these trillion-dollar companies. Where I want to take Drip is, hey, let's take that model that we know people because people like to just follow someone and see their content, but let's start to tweak the internal economics of each of these components and do it in a way that over the next couple years, creators can make more money from this stuff. Even users might be able to make money, which is a very new concept, but it's something that is normal in crypto and just not normal in Web 2.0. If we can successfully build a model that's better, there's no reason why creators won't come over, it's just an awareness thing. Can we get the word out and can we make this easy to use and safe? I don't know if that's Instagram or it's YouTube or whatever. Instagram is the easiest thing to talk about. I think Drip is a really big idea. I hope that there's many other entrepreneurs that are looking at what we're doing and thinking, hey, maybe this kind of thing could apply in other categories too, and together we can come after these conglomerates, give the power back to the people and that would be a beautiful thing. Brian Friel (26:31):I couldn't agree more. Degen Poet, when you hear that and you take into consideration everything you told us about your journey starting on these fragmented marketplaces and everything and now everything that you've been doing with Drip, how do you think your relationship with Drip will evolve? Do you foresee the majority of your art being now distributed via platforms like these versus traditional mediums? Degen Poet (26:52):Yeah, for sure. Solana NFTs in the first place gave me a place for my art. I tried to be a poet in the real world and didn't really see the value in it even to publish a book and to get nothing back and to spend all the money to publish it, that kind of thing. Just NFTs and Solana in general as a first step was incredible to me to be able to make any kind of money off of my art period. And then that is what led me to become an artist. I wasn't making pictures or whatever before this, so it allowed me to exist as an artist in the first place. And then I guess I got hungry for the idea that you could live off this as a career or something. For me, I guess, I just want to create a space where people after me, people around me can do this seriously as 50% or more of their income for their lives. (27:45):I guess that's what I want to continue to push on at Drip, things like donations, et cetera, but finding a way to make them work and have them be something on a consistent basis that again, another artist can use that model and create a source of income that's reasonably dependable. A weekly Drip of donations I think is way more sustainable and understandable than when you're going to sell in your next auction. You sort of have a steady growth than all the rest of it. And so I don't know, it's just a better model to actually build a true career off of. Yeah, I don't know. For me, continue to find ways to take advantage of Drip and put all my work there that makes sense. I still have some one-on-ones outside of Drip, but I might even incorporate those into Drip someday. Yeah. I mean for me, as long as they let me Drip, I'm dripping. As long as the door is open for me, that's what I'm going to do for sure. Yeah. Vibhu Norby (28:43):Degen Poet is actually more close to the prototypical Solana artist than you would think. When I'm talking to an artist, I always ask, what's your full-time job? Very few of them are artists full-time. I mean that is really uncommon and it's really hard to make a living that way. Most of the artists that we work with are graphic designers and they make websites for clients and they're being creative maybe in some other way, but it isn't their source of income. And I don't think that if you look at this generation that wants to be content creators, that all of them can be content creators and make a living. Someone has to put food on the table, right. But you can add a little bit of extra for some of these folks and for the top 1% of them, or top 5% or top 10% of them to be able to make a reasonable living from doing this, I think is possible. (29:33):And my gold star metric for, I'm going to use Degen poet as our test baby, is how close can we get to replacing the income from his W2 job over the next year? We're actually not that far away. We're making progress and we continue to tweak that and it will pay back dividends. If he can be full-time on this and he'll be able to have, I don't know how he has a full-time job already. That part's a mystery to me, but in theory, more art, more content, more delight for people, that will help us grow too. DP and I are very aligned on that as a kind of a side quest to just getting art into people's hands. Brian Friel (30:08):Yeah. I think that's a great first goal. When you guys think about how we get to a world where the Degen Poets of the world can do this full time no questions asked, it's like an afterthought to even consider another job. Are there anything that you think that we need to change as an industry, something we should stop doing? And I ask this question because last time we had you on the show, Vibhu, you had a couple hot takes that you dropped, mostly around how a number grow up is very bad for the industry. I want to ask, has that thinking evolved at all for you, Vibhu? And then I also later want to hear some Degen Poet has any ideas on that as well. Vibhu Norby (30:41):I'm still on the same train. Number go up, number go down both equally bad in many different ways. The only thing is I really feel it when if you're sitting on Twitter all day, you really feel the price. You don't even have to look at the tweets. When Bitcoin was over 30K yesterday, I felt it. I didn't even have to look at my app. When Solana's down, you feel it. For better or for worse, the audience there is highly effective. And so I can't help but be empathetic to it, but it's actually an imperative for our industry to survive, especially in the US for us to move past the tokens, we have to. I strongly feel that, this is going to offend some people. I'm just trying to be careful how I say this. I think that the OG crypto community who was here in 2015 to 2017, the ICO era and these people are holding our industry back in a lot of ways. (31:37):I think they're all over our biggest applications and our biggest exchanges and this and that. And I think somewhere in the back of all these folks heads, they can't get over the fact that the bull market's going to come back again and they're going to have a Lambo. And it just doesn't make sense if we're serious about this being in the hands of billions of people, sorry, we can't make a Lambo for all seven, eight billion people on earth. Some of us have to drive a Honda Civic, some of us have to drive a bike. Can we get bike money for everybody? Can we get there first and let go of the kind of grasp of all the token people? That's where I'm at. I could be wrong. Maybe I'm flawed, maybe everyone can have a Lambo. I would love one, but that's not where I see the future. Degen Poet (32:20):Yeah. I mean I guess I feel similarly. I guess you want to create a space in the blockchain where the number go up and down doesn't really affect your day to day of enjoyment. You don't think about the price of a t-shirt or a box of Legos or whatever it is going up and down. You still just consume them because you want it or you like it here and there. I think of the Pokemon card analogy when it comes to this. I think with Drip House where they're just cards in general. I think there's a space for the legendaries or whatever it is, smaller supplies, having numbers go up. I do think that creates a lot of fun and excitement, brings people on, all that, but it really needs to be balanced with the day to day. Your reason for being here can't be that, because if it is, then it's like yeah, it doesn't feel sustainable and you're just building a system where there's a small amount of winners and most people are losers. And so it's like what are you really doing for the world at that point? We need to find a way to create value for digital assets that's just inherent in whatever the object is. It's not because of a price or a speculation, it's just because you value whatever the thing is. Brian Friel (33:31):Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think you guys are on the right path here and I think a lot of people who use Drip every day are resonating with what you guys are doing. Well, guys, this has been a really awesome conversation. One question we always ask our guests, I'd love to hear this from each of you, maybe starting with Degen Poet, is who is a fellow builder that you admire in the Solana ecosystem? Degen Poet (33:52):I really like the Foxes a lot. I like drags and I like the Foxy Dev. I think that they've done an awesome job of trying to find actually useful stuff that people could use on Solana and bringing it into their system and I've seen them do some stuff overnight for people and all the rest of it. Really like them. Really like the guys at Tenor too. I mean the stuff that they've done for us in compressed NFTs is pretty incredible. Everyone on those teams is great. Brian Friel (34:21):I agree. Vibhu. Vibhu Norby (34:22):I'm going to recall 'cause I'm a second time guest, the answers I gave last time, 'cause it's kind of funny in retrospect. I think I mentioned Ahkshe from Super Team who I would give again and again. He's been such an amazing supporter of me and Drip and places before that. And I think at the time I also gave Frank Deca as my other answer. I still have a soft spot for him. I know he left Solana, but I can't help but admire the fanatical community building that he has. But yeah, I mean today, the couple of people that came to mind for me were, yeah, I mean the Tensor guys are amazing. These guys are just... A hilarious story. I pinged Ilia, the founder, yesterday and I asked them, hey, can I have a vector version of your logo? And I kid you'd not. The second I typed that, I see Ilia is typing and then three seconds later the vector file was there and I was like, did you just have this sitting on your desktop ready to drop into this? Brian Friel (35:15):Copied on the clipboard already? Yeah. Vibhu Norby (35:17):They really don't like that. Just really responsive. I respect that a lot. I want to give a shout-out to a guy named Carol who I won't dox him. He's a really impressive guy in real life and I got to know that after I spoke to him. There's these people in our community that are anonymous. I think he's an OK Bear or whatever, maybe a monkey business, and you find out their real life and they're like some VP of some big company. You just never know who you're talking to. But he's been, both for Drip and for Dialect, who I also listed as my admiration for, he's just been building stuff for free that benefit our communities and hundreds of thousands of people use those tools every single week to track their Drip collection. He's KIRYL_SOL, I believe he is his Twitter handle. Yeah, huge ups to that guy for carrying collectibles into the future. Brian Friel (36:06):I love it. These are all future guests of the podcast we're naming here. We have to get these guys on, have them tell their story as well. But yeah, Vibhu, Degen Poet, I just want to thank you guys from the Phantom team. We love everything that you guys are up to. We really think that Drip House arose at a time when Solana needed it most. We think you guys really carry a light forward for a way that pioneer's a new model for art on Solana, for artists making a living. Really excited for everything that you guys have to come. Thank you so much for your time on Zeitgeist. Degen Poet (36:33):Thanks for having us. Vibhu Norby (36:34):Thanks. Bye.  

Web3 can automate real estate purchases while cutting out the middlemen and minimizing the costs. With NFTs you can do the entire thing in 15 seconds! Sanjay Raghavan, Head of Structured Securities At RoofStock, explains. RoofStock: https://www.roofstock.com/ Sanjay Raghavan: https://twitter.com/eth_sanjay ►► JOIN THE FREE WOLF DEN NEWSLETTER https://www.getrevue.co/profile/TheWolfDen  GET UP TO A $8,000 BONUS IN USDT AND TRADE ALL SPOT PAIRS ON BITGET FOR ZERO FEES! ►► https://thewolfofallstreets.info/bitget   Follow Scott Melker: Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottmelker  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wolfofallstreets   Web: https://www.thewolfofallstreets.io  Spotify: https://spoti.fi/30N5FDe  Apple podcast: https://apple.co/3FASB2c  #RealEstate #NFTs #Web3 The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own and should in no way be interpreted as financial advice. This video was created for entertainment. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision. I am not a financial advisor. Nothing contained in this video constitutes or shall be construed as an offering of financial instruments or as investment advice or recommendations of an investment strategy or whether or not to "Buy," "Sell," or "Hold" an investment.

Would you like to dive into the NFT world? Agencies are finding ways to use NFTs to connect their clients with their audiences. What's an NFT and how can you get in on it? Today's guest has worked with big companies that recognized their potential as collectibles. He also created his own NFT project with a charitable and environmental focus and now shares his experience. Chris Madden is the cofounder of Matchnode, a digital ad agency with clients that include the Chicago Bulls, Lending Tree, New Balance, and many more. He also started Seabums, an NFT project that focuses on massively improving ocean health that has donated more than $140,000 to ocean charities. Chris had been studying the rise of NFTs and learning how his clients were successfully implementing them into their businesses. Eventually, he decided that diving into the experience was the best way to learn. In this episode, we'll discuss: How to land big brand clients. How to get started in the NFT world. Getting creative with NFTs for clients. Sponsors and Resources Wix: Today's episode is sponsored by the Wix Partner Program. Being a Wix Partner is ideal for freelancers and digital agencies that design and develop websites for their clients. Check out Wix.com/Partners to learn more and become a member of the community for free. Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher | Radio FM Podcast Takeover!! Get to know your Smart Agency Guest Host:  Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the co-founder of Rise25, an agency that helps companies launch and run podcasts profitably. He followed Jason's podcast and eventually joined the mastermind and has been a guest on the podcast before. Today, he's helping Jason bring something new to the Smart Agency podcast audience by interviewing a special guest and bringing a new perspective to the show. From Starting Small to Getting Their Dream Client Matchnode started as a small agency with no outside funding and worked with whatever clients they could get. It was mainly a Facebook agency and expanded to Google ads and other paid ad platforms. Chris and his partner slowly built the agency and one day they got the most amazing lead off their website: the Chicago Bulls. By that point, they had done the work to be visible by such a big organization and were ready for the task. Basically, his agency helps the team sell tickets by promoting things like family night or different theme nights. They have a budget for each season and an expected return (about four dollars per every dollar spent). They then meet with the Bulls' creative team to figure out how they can turn their digital content into great paid social media ads that drive returns. There are a lot of moving parts to figure out, but they are continually working to track better and convert better. Overall, it has been a great experience and has led to several other clients in that space. These opportunities are thanks to all the work they did since their first year. Helping Clients Transition from Traditional to Digital Marketing Now the agency works with big established brands who, after a long history of working with traditional marketing, are embracing digital marketing. Their marketing budgets used to focus largely on traditional marketing and now it is more focused on digital. Matchnode helps them make the transition. It's very different from working with digital native companies where the senior executives may understand the importance of having a presence in the digital space. With these types of brands, there is some resistance from executives who don't really understand digital and need to be won over. Because of this, the language they use to talk about metrics, and way that they approach the problems changes. According to Chris, one of the most effective weapons against this resistance is numbers. With digital, the numbers are so clear that clients unfamiliar with this space are often surprised. They may be familiar with more traditional means like a billboard, but when they see how detailed the results for a digital ad are, it's very convincing. Diving into the World of NFTs Chris had been watching the development of the crypto space and wanted to dive deeper. As a digital ad agency working with the clients they worked with, it became clear to him that digital experiences were moving toward NFTs. He decided the only way to really learn was to jump in with a project of his own. He created Seabums, an NFT project with the mission of massively impacting oceans' health. The first collection dropped in December 2021 and so far Chris has been enjoying the experience. Working a lot with Facebook, he and his team witnessed how the digital space was changing. They purchased bitcoin as an agency and prepared for a future in which digital interactions and digital networks would be owned by people instead of centralized systems. With NFTs came the chance to own any digital object. In the broader landscape, NFTs are still limited in terms of their use but Chris believes what really matters is the piece of the crypto industry that has garnered more attention from the general public. They seem easier to understand than previous crypto movements that were truly financial in nature. It is a really fun and accessible way to dive into crypto. He also had the opportunity to see how some of his clients were using NTFs. For example, Matchnode works with the Chicago Bulls, and they started to offer NFTs as collectibles that could win fans special perks. Fans with a certain pair of the collection win tickets or a day on the bench, which added to its value and turned it more into an experience. Creating an NFT Project With a Charitable Component As he got into NFTs, Chris saw one of the criticisms was that they are shallow and short-termed. Therefore, adding a charitable component seemed like the best way to add meaning. Chris had been playing with ideas to organize an environmental project to do cleanups. Once he found a partner, they defined the project, centered it around the ocean, and got to work. There are 10,000 pieces in the collection, all completely unique. Basically, those who purchase these pieces will get full ownership and the right to do whatever they want with them. For instance, they can build a business around it and create and sell merch. 20% of the amount paid will go to charity. They're also working on future components for this project that include a space in the Metaverse and games exclusively based on Seabumps. Chris actually set up his NTF project in a way that he cannot change the price after they have been put for sale. Back when they were getting ready to launch their project, they studied the market and looked at similar projects. Since they had the charitable element and the idea of making this a project that would invite people who had never engaged with NTFs, they settled on a lower price. Things like NFTs and the Metaverse are signs that the virtual world is becoming increasingly important for people. Through them, we now have ways for users to own digital objects and create their digital identities. Want the Support of Amazing Digital Agency Owners? If you want to be around amazing agency owners that can see you may not be able to see and help you grow your agency, go to the Digital Agency Elite to learn all about our exclusive mastermind.

NFTs are part of a new wave of digital currency. While their popularity soars high in ecommerce, how do they fare in the legal standpoint? Florida-based Attorney Robert Kain explains how NFTs are more than just digital images but are assets that can get you access to lucrative opportunities. Like modern-day currencies, NFTs need legal support to secure their investors' ownership and protect them from potential hackers.Robert also cites the legal aspects that cover NFT copyright and how this can be traced through the data embedded in the blockchain. With NFTs now being popularized in the digital world, there are present-day lawyers crafting legal policies that will solidify the value of these tokens and enhance cybersecurity as technology continues to innovate.  ResourcesVisit Concept Law: https://bit.ly/3zGM1arConnect with Atty. Robert Kain: (754) 300-1500 NFTs Made Simple Cheatsheet: https://bit.ly/3b9x5Zb Chapters0:00 Introduction2:47 NFTs Are a Radical Change4:25 Does the Blockchain Invalidate Banks?6:50 NFTs Offer New Systems8:35 NFTs Are Not .JPEGs9:40 NFT Copyright11:24 Digital Rights Management13:14 Legal Enforcement15:35 Example of Transaction21:26 NFTs and the Creative Community28:00 Platforms and Imitations30:09 Miami as the NFT and Tech Capital35:10 Real Estate and NFT37:26 Connect with RobertGet your FREE NFT Cheatsheet

Trump on Musk literal violence. Now you can eat the rich at $10 a pop. Do you make more per month than Xi Jinping? Sri Lankan uprising. Biden reads teleprompter instructions. The wall building never ends, even though the chanting has. Mayor Pete makes pathetic plans. Limewire's back, this time in NFT form. Akshualee, it's good that things are bad. Bolton/Pompeo scream the quiet parts. More Uvalde horrors. It's so hot that birds are falling out of the sky.Commiserate on Discord: discord.gg/aDf4Yv9PrYSupport: patreon.com/heatdeathpodGeneral RecommendationsJD's Recommendation: 2666 by Roberto BolañoJNM's Recommendation: God Jr. by Dennis CooperFurther Reading, Viewing, ListeningTrump on Musk Truth Social Violence"Eat the Rich" ice cream truck sells $10 popsicles shaped like Bezos, Musk, otherXi Jinping Makes less than $2000/monthFollowing president's resignation, political turmoil in Sri Lanka intensifiesBiden reads the teleprompter instructionsNew Biden border wall plans would put an end to Friendship ParkBiden administration ‘slowballing' border wall construction by calling for studyWhat Does Pete Buttigieg Think the US has to Teach the World?Limewire's return? With NFTs?Article describing “The Benefits of World Hunger” published by the UN goes viral, netizens confused whether it is real or satirePay raises are getting smaller. That could be a good thing for workers.John Bolton casually takes credit for organizing coups on CNNMike Pompeo: We lied, we cheated, we stole: The Latest Uvalde Revelations Show Exactly What's Wrong With US PolicingBeat by beat commentary on the new Uvalde footageBirds are falling from the sky in India as a record heatwave dries up water sourceLocationless Locationsheatdeathpod.comEvery show-related link is corralled and available here.Twitter: @heatdeathpod

With NFTs and cryptocurrencies becoming more accessible, people have started conversations on whether cold storage or hot wallets are better to use. In Episode 61 of the My NFT Journey podcast, Andy will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both storages in terms of convenience, speed, security, and many more. Want to know more? Hit subscribe now and start listening! Find out more by visiting https://www.andystorch.com/nft (https://www.andystorch.com/nft) Follow Andy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyStorch (@andystorch) Follow Andy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andy_storch/ (@andy_storch) Mentioned in this episode: Check out Voice.com Check out Voice.com, a carbon-neutral and easy way for creators to create NFTs. https://mynftjourney.captivate.fm/voice (Voice.com)

There's been an uncanny buzz around investing in the metaverse, and despite a pull back in the markets, that buzz is still going strong. For metaverse enthusiasts and builders there's a sense of urgency to invest in what seems could turn into the next trillion dollar opportunity. The internet and Web 2 builders encountered incredible skepticism and doubt but look where the believers ended up today. They are the titans of our economy (on a global economic scale). NFTs and crypto involve so more than just collectible art. They are part of a Web3 infrastructure on which to build business. With NFTs, you can own an asset that allows you to exist in a community. And then, you can build a game on top of that community. The limits of what you can build are only limited by our creativity. The opportunities are endless in the metaverse because it's a digital re-creation of the world we live in today and offers many of the same opportunities and more. Join Jeff Kelley, Eathan Janney, and Josh Kriger as they talk to Mario Nawfal about building businesses in the metaverse. Mario is the co-founder and CEO of NFT Tech. At first he too was a non-believer of NFTs but now he deeply believes NFTs are the future. Tune in to understand what's incredibly appealing about investing in crypto, NFTs, and metaverse now to build the foundation for long-term wealth. Learn more about metaverse investing and marketing, OpenSea insider trading, the Vayner3 NFT consulting firm, and more. 

There's been an uncanny buzz around investing in the metaverse, and despite a pull back in the markets, that buzz is still going strong. For metaverse enthusiasts and builders there's a sense of urgency to invest in what seems could turn into the next trillion dollar opportunity. The internet and Web 2 builders encountered incredible skepticism and doubt but look where the believers ended up today. They are the titans of our economy (on a global economic scale). NFTs and crypto involve so more than just collectible art. They are part of a Web3 infrastructure on which to build business. With NFTs, you can own an asset that allows you to exist in a community. And then, you can build a game on top of that community. The limits of what you can build are only limited by our creativity. The opportunities are endless in the metaverse because it's a digital re-creation of the world we live in today and offers many of the same opportunities and more. Join Jeff Kelley, Eathan Janney, and Josh Kriger as they talk to Mario Nawfal about building businesses in the metaverse. Mario is the co-founder and CEO of NFT Tech. At first he too was a non-believer of NFTs but now he deeply believes NFTs are the future. Tune in to understand what's incredibly appealing about investing in crypto, NFTs, and metaverse now to build the foundation for long-term wealth. Learn more about metaverse investing and marketing, OpenSea insider trading, the Vayner3 NFT consulting firm, and more. More from Edge of NFT:

Composability is a major component of web3, where creators can combine different components together into larger structures. A bit like Legos, but with crypto, finance, or... art. With NFTs, artists can indeed unleash their creativity and merge different disciplines together to provide their communities with unique experiences.This is exactly what our guest today does. After 20 years in the music industry, Jeff Nicholas is now the creative director of WarpSound, and leads WVRPS - a new NFT project that can be described as hybrid of generative PFP art, AI-composed music minted on the Ethereum blockchain.Want to find out how machines and humans can collaborate to enter a new era for music composition and distribution? Want to know when DJ and AI will be able to do back-to-back dj sets (spoiler: they already do)? Want to know how it feels to sell your Bored Ape too early? Then sit back, relax, and listen to this new episode of On the Ledger. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Blockchain Technology is booming and generating intense hype around the perception of digital art and collectables. You must have heard about the Nyan Cat gif, which is popular on the web and was purchased for $561,000. Jack Dorsey, CEO at Twitter, vended his first Tweet as an NFT for over $2.9 million! NFTs have existed since 2017. However, now they attract substantial attention as an evolution of fine art collecting. Since November 2017, people have spent an impressive $174 million on NFTs. Shortened from a non-fungible token, NFT might be in a form of a digital image, card, song, video or any other digital item representing a real-world object. Every NFT has a unique code proving ownership over a specific item. With NFTs, the opportunity to “brag with one's rights” is often as valuable for owners as the item itself. For instance, many people can buy reproductions of Van Gogh pictures, but the original belongs to one person only. But NFTs are often not about mere art or recognition of one's ownership. NFTs have now become a symbol of unity in an attempt to save the lives of dozens, hundreds, thousands and even millions of people, animals or the planet. BLockchain Technology to Help Ukraine Since their emergence, NFTs are frequently used for charity and fundraising, among other use cases. In 2018, a drawing of a cat turtle called Honu raised US$25,000 for ocean conservation charities. A non-profit Rewilder organizes NFT auctions to raise funds to buy land for reforestation. They claim to have raised US$241,700. Charmin and Taco Bell were also among those who engaged in NFT world to raise funds for charity. NFTs can also be used to stop wars or to help people who have lost their homes or have unacceptable living conditions and insufficient food and water. After Russia has initiated a full-scale horrific war in Ukraine leading to thousands of deaths of innocent people, Ukrainians turned to this creative tool to raise money and support the Ukrainian army as well as people who are suffering from war consequences. The global crypto community could have participated in several NFT-related initiatives so far. Among them, The UkraineDAO fundraiser organized by Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova has raised 2,174 ETH, which converts into over $5.7 million for training, ammunition and technologies for the Ukrainian military. Another NFT initiative, The Ukraine Relief NFT collection, was launched by an American of Ukrainian origin. The campaign targets to raise money that is transferred to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC) and will further be used to help Ukrainians suffering because of the war. Fortza Ikonia's Stand With Ukraine program is also focused on NFT. In collaboration with Felipe Posada, they intend to mint one NFT per Ukrainian, resulting in over 43 million NFTs, each can be purchased for $10. 100% of the raised money are to be transferred to charities helping Ukrainian people. A similar initiative was launched by RELI3F, a web3 initiative, which united 23 artists in support of the Ukrainian people. A Fresh NFT Initiative to Save Lives in Ukraine Recently, the Ukrainian NGO «Noosphere Association» has also launched a fundraising campaign called Art for Life for the needs of the Ukrainians using the artwork created by Ukrainian artists in a peaceful time. Long before the largest and most dreadful war in Europe in 80 years, in 2021, Ukrainian artists have created 23 art rockets to demonstrate the country's engineering and creative potential and a desire for peaceful space exploration. The rockets decorated a park in Dnipro city, where everyone could come and get inspired by their beauty and deep meanings. Now Ukrainian cities are under continuous attacks: artillery shelling and airforce throwing bombs on civil buildings, hospitals, nuclear power plants and killing civilians. The physical rockets are safe. And under such circumstances, the creative effort got a second chance to help Ukraine in a war against ...

Dunkin' and Elf Beauty just teamed up on a line of donut makeup because collabs are a hit with a brand's fans. You're dipping back into denim, but Lulu stock jumped 10% because it's the Old Money of Wall Street. And France's President has a favorite startup: It's Sorare — and they just reinvented fantasy soccer. With NFTs. $ELF $LULU Got a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYork Want a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9 Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewform ID: 2103943 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is a Non-Fungible Token and should you be buying or creating them?NFTs and Web 3.0 have the vision to return ownership and value back to creators and their communities, but can that vision turn into a reality? After seeing news headlines like one of Beeple's NFTs selling for $69 million, there are a lot of questions floating around this relatively new technology. In this week's episode, Brandon Averill and Justin Dyer are joined by Erik Averill to discuss how NFTs work, why they are not a get rich quick scheme, finding the true value in the technology, and where they might fit in an investment portfolio.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:(1:01) What is an NFT? Should I create an NFT? Should I buy an NFT? (2:26) Always understand what you're investing in. This goes for NFTs, too. (3:00) An NFT is a non-fungible token. A dollar bill is a fungible. They are all the same. Non-fungible would be if President Biden signed it specifically made out to you. This makes it one of a kind and unique to you. (4:28) NFTs offer the promise of being the only one of its kind in existence.(5:52) Beeple's NFT sold for 69 million dollars. But it's more than just a digital image.      (7:10) You are buying more than a digital image when you buy an NFT.(8:05) This is not a cash grab or get rich quick scheme. If you approach NFTs that way you will not have a good investing experience.(9:11) Web 3.0 is the redistribution of ownership back to the community. Creators and the community want to cut out the middleman.   (10:10) Beeple's digital art is directly comparable to the physical art world. Just like the Mona Lisa is valued highly by the art community. (11:15) Signaling within the Web 3.0 community is driving a lot of these headline grabbing prices for NFTs. (12:05) NFTs like other collectibles (art, wine) will not end with good results for most investors. (12:55) Buying an NFT is buying into a community of people. This community can be where the real value is to NFTs.(15:00) There is extreme hype right now in NFTs and crypto. Top Shot is one example of that. (17:05) There is a ton of innovation that will change the landscape and disrupt many current competitors in the NFT space.(19:00) Be aware of copyright protection. As a creator, you want to ensure the value you have created comes back to you.(21:15) The technology is incredibly young but the innovation within technology is tangible to so many.   (22:22) Applying the principles of other investments to NFTs is crucial. Investing in NFTs must be done in the same way as other assets. (23:38) Gary V, one of the biggest crypto supporters, believes 98% of them will go to zero.(25:00) It's an exciting space but any money put into NFTs should be coming out of your speculative/entertainment bucket.(27:13) Picks and shovels. Investing in the companies that stand to benefit from creating NFT communities is a great way to gain exposure.(27:25) Returns only come from the top decile in venture. With private investments and NFTs this will likely be happening here too. (29:40) With NFTs, we would rather be good than lucky. What kind of value is being created? How do you create a community? Think of it like a business and how you can do the work to capitalize on the NFT business.

 With NFTs being the biggest buzzword of 2022 thus far, Rohma Theunissen caught up with Rami Kadi, the visionary Lebanese-American couturier on the verge of launching his first NFT collection, to find out the key things that brands and individuals need to consider before diving into the realm of NFTs. NOTE: This episode was recorded virtually as Rohma was in Dubai and Rami was in Beirut – so there are a few glitches in sound but we think that makes the conversation even more authentic!Hosted by: Rohma TheunissenAbout Rami KadiA Lebanese-American fashion designer and creative mind, Rami Kadi is rapidly gaining international recognition. At the early age of 25, in May 2011, Rami started paving his professional designer career, with the launch of his own showroom and opening of his first atelier in the heart of Beirut. A place for him to present his Couture creations and to craft unique pieces attracting a wide range of international clientele including royalty.With a solid commitment and incredible aspiration, it was only natural that, in 2014, he started showcasing his collections in the capital of luxury and glamour, Paris, during the city's official fashion weeks. While maintaining extraordinary craftsmanship, he held his debut Fashion Show during Paris fashion week in January 2019. Along the same vein, Rami Kadi pioneered the environmentally-conscious fashion cyber-show in 2020, which was the first in the Middle East and that served as an expression of keeping abreast with technological advances and the idea of universal connectivity that these advances enable. This show reflected Kadi's mission to reduce the overall carbon footprint that fashion contributes to.Recognized for his strong commitment to environmental causes within the field of sustainable fashion, Rami Kadi was designated the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Fashion in West Asia as of September 2020.Rami Kadi owns and manages his couture house from Beirut, Lebanon, designing evening and bridal couture dresses and operating his label worldwide. Today, his glamorous impact appeals to celebrities on the red carpet and international press, evidently portrayed by taking over the 72nd & 74th editions of the Cannes Film Festival, in addition to the 76th, 77th, & 78th editions of the Venice Film Festival, and becoming the name to wear for internationally recognized stars on the red carpets as claimed by prestigious world-known press organizations. Rami Kadi is a contemporary Couturier passionate about modern tailoring. He stands out with his distinctive creations and nouvelle couture, as he includes technology and innovation in his work.  He leaves a unique mark in his masterpieces, offering a kaleidoscopic explosion of colors and sparkles, high finish, and definite impact. Being hip and young, he embraces embroidery as the essence of his creations. Through his collections, he pays tribute to “hand-made” work, the art he is particularly fond of. His masterpieces were worthy of global press recognition as Kadi was mentioned in the top leading international fashion and style magazines.

In Episode 6 of Probably Nothing TZ (@TZhongg) and Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) chat with with Bobby Hundreds (@bobbyhundreds), founder of streetwear brand The Hundreds. Bobby is also the creator of the Adam Bomb Squad, an NFT project consisting of 25,000 pieces each related to the history of the Hundreds company. In this episode you'll hear about the similarities and differences of building a streetwear company versus an NFT project. You'll also learn about why community and durability are so important to building a brand, and whether Bobby considers The Hundreds to be a successful brand after 18 years in existence.- Links and References Mentioned in This Episode -  About the Hundreds What NFTs Can Learn From Streetwear The Hundreds Blog This is Not a T-Shirt by Bobby Hundreds Beeple Sale The Robots - Timestamps -2:00: Who is Bobby Hundreds?04:50: How did Bobby move a web2 company into the web3 space?09:09: What is most important for the Hundreds?12:40: Community and its importance to brand building.17:00: How did Bobby first get into NFTs and what helped him understand them?22:00: How does building the Hundreds compare to Adam Bomb Squad?26:05: Why projects become cash grabs.32:34: How will The Hundreds maintain a brand quality in a decentralized world?39:50: Desert Island NFT- Mentions - Trevor McFedries (@whatdotcd) Dee Goens (@dg_goens) - Highlights -*Web2 and Community*“I didn't want to be in the stage, I wanted to be on the floor, in the mosh pit with everyone else, and the microphone gets passed around.”Bobby didn't have the tech knowledge at that point on how everyone could participate and rise up together. So he was doing it from within their brand and other brands trying to establish their community.“If there is any web2 company that I feel is sympathetic to what is happening in web3 and decentralized, but really embodies that spirit. I think it's us” Bobby literally wrote a book on building brands around community. What really makes The Hundreds function is the community. Their entire company is based on community. “In telling someone else a story we are telling a little bit of ours” It was never about The Hundreds being the winner. It was about telling the story, which is why they invested so heavily in collaborations. Their mindset was that they were all part of this ecosystem together. “As the tide rises, we lift all the boats together.” They were doing it in the industry and now they are doing it through the community. A lot of established brands are looking at web3 and are scared because they have a lot to lose but for Bobby it's inspiring. “To think that every single day I might lose this company entirely to the community is electrifying”Bobby wants to get to a point where he can completely lose himself to the community and everything is entirely decentralized.“All signs point in that direction. They've tried so hard to make it the other way for the last 10-15 years and it caused a lot of distressed and made me unhappy.” Bobby has lived with this guilt because he has been convincing young people that they aren't enough unless they have a product. A simple consumer to business brand never sat right with Bobby even when he was a kid. He felt like he was a walking billboard for someones company. *Community and Ownership*“We've always endowed upon the community this sense of ownership, they've always felt like they own this brand.”People buy brands for community, identity, and because they have a sense of ownership.“When young people are getting our logo tattooed on them, it's not that they are a fan of me, they feel like the brand belongs to them.” Bobby is constantly promoting the brand as a community. Their consumers support and represent The Hundreds not for Bobby but for themselves because they feel like the brand belongs to them when it really doesn't. Bobby wants The Hundreds community to feel like the brand belongs to them and actually have a sense of ownership. *Becoming Immortal*“As an entrepreneur if people are alongside you saying ‘I don't work for you, I am not your fan, we are all in this together we are all equally invested' I feel invincible.” No matter how many people have been invited we are all in this together. In Bobby's opinion, when Steve Jobs died he thought it was a problem because Apple's entire brand was centered around one man. This got Bobby thinking that when he is gone, will his brand also be gone. For some people they want their company to go down with them to show how great they were. But that is not the case for Bobby, he wants his brand to live on forever. “What the brand is and the community is, is very special and unique in history and I don't ever want that to die.”That was a concern of Bobby's, he worried about what would happen to the brand if something were to happen to him. Now he doesn't have to worry about that because of the community.“I feel like the brand is immortal because it's not just me, it's not just these community members, it'll get passed onto generations. The technology lives forever so the brand lives forever.“*How did Bobby first get into NFTs and what helped him understand them?* This time last year there was news about Beeple's sale. Trevor McFedries (@whatdotcd), who has been a part of The Hundreds for a while, tweeted about the Beeple sale. The Beeple sale didn't make sense to Bobby, and it scared him. At first he got really mad about it, the number was so big at the time. Then he became curious. *On brand building*“Brands require time and discipline, passion and patience, and the ability to maintain that passion long term.”A lot of projects today are “fast rise fast demise” and that never ends well. Bobby has seen it multiple times in the fashion industry when he sees brands have a lot of hype and take off for a few months but eventually die.“I'm not interested yet in calling Adam Bomb Squad a brand. I call the Hundreds a brand because we have been around for 18 years and to me, that's still not nearly enough.”*Building for the long term* The streetwear era of Bobby's generation was very cash grabby and short term. Bobby wanted the Hundreds to be like Levis, they never took outside money, they wanted to move very organically and authentically. Bobby believes that a lot of people, in the NFT and Brand space, don't intentionally build for short term. They think you are supposed to move fast and take the money, which does look cash grabby but they didn't go into it with that goal. He believes that people think the hard work only has to be done before the drop is released and they don't realize the hard work if after the drop. With NFTs, Bobby didn't understand the hard work that would come after you drop until he got there. Once he got there he realized he was really starting at zero but he was used to it because he had been doing it for years with the Hundreds. “I'm accustomed to this lifestyle. Where 24 hours 7 days a week I am pouring myself into the project, and constantly innovating and adapting.”*Being selfish vs building a team* For Bobby, the Hundreds started as a very selfish project. Most founders start their company because they feel their voices aren't out there, they don't see themselves and their passion represented. So they stand up and start building. Bobby felt like the world needed his art, and that it needed to be represented. “I started this project from a selfish point of view, as a creator and artist.” Bobby'a business partner, Ben, told him he needed to hire someone because he was holding them back. Bobby refused to have someone else create his art to keep it pure. It took Bobby a while but he started hiring designers to build a team. The work is still to this day never held up to the standards he wants. “As an artist, you are never going to get the results you want or 110% how you would do it because there is no one else like you. You hire people to work with you not for you.” The people you hire are just collaborating and designing pieces of what they interpret of your art. Bobby didn't appreciate the help until years later when he realized that the project is really not about him. “You project is not about you, it left your mind and entered the universe.” People that support your projects, don't necessarily support you. They support the brand. Bobby compromised with the team on a lot of the clothes in a way he would never design it. But that made the brand stronger, because it is a mosaic of Bobby's vision and all the other talented people. “The kind of clothes I want to design by myself is awful, thank God I have a team.”*Hobbies*“Your job as an artist is to make the world look better, that's why we have art. It's not for you, it's for everyone.”If you want to work alone and not take anyone opinions then do it as hobby*Desert Island NFT*Bobby wrote an essay that he minted earlier this year called The Robots. The moral of the story is about how humans need our imperfections to heal each other. Robots, on the other hand, are perfect and we always think we want perfections.“I'm not proud of because it sold for $10 million like a crypto punk or because I sold 25k like Adam Bomb Squad. I'm proud of it because it means something to me.”

Jon Burgerman Jon's https://jonburgerman.com/ (website) Social Media Twitter - https://twitter.com/jonburgerman?lang=en (@jonburgerman)  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jonburgerman/ (Jon Burgerman ) https://www.facebook.com/jonburgermanartist/ (Facebook) Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jonburgerman (Jon Burgerman) Shop https://www.burgerplex.com/ (BurgerPlex) Art listed on https://niftygateway.com/marketplace?artistId=4267 (Nifty Gateway) https://superrare.com/jonburgerman (https://superrare.com/jonburgerman) https://foundation.app/jonburgerman (Foundation) Time Stamps [1:01 – 3:41] Jon was introduced to NFTs in 2019-2020 when he was approached by https://twitter.com/niftygateway (Nifty Gateway) (founded by https://twitter.com/gcockfoster (Griffin Cock Foster) and https://twitter.com/DCCockFoster (Duncan Cock Foster) and later acquired by https://twitter.com/Gemini (Gemini) run by https://twitter.com/tyler (Tyler Winklevoss) and https://twitter.com/cameron (Cameron Winklevoss)) to drop NFTs on the then new platform. He began working on NFTs in the spring of 2020. The first drop sold out quickly. Jon credits this with giving him a lifeline in the pandemic when everything else was being cancelled and closing down.  [4:40 – 6:34] Jon doesn't know why Nifty Gateway contacted him early on, but says they saw his work in other forms, and imagined it would work on their platform. Jon has a traditional background, but his work has existed across different mediums over the years, including digital stickers and wearables for https://twitter.com/PlayStation (@PlayStation) Home. [7:35 – 10:26] Jon says his career is like a pizza with each slice it's own medium (painting, books, etc) but as a whole it's complete. His advice is to make your work and put it out there. Once you make something, people see your concept and how your work would look. People are looking for good work and good artists - it's important to make your work discoverable. [10:45 – 12:36] When working in different mediums, Jon leans into what that medium can do that others can't. With NFTs he likes that you can interact with people, build up collections and have drops. The goal of the work is the same, just different outlets for creativity that are distributed in different mediums. [13:45 – 15:12] Jon is still adapting to the community aspect of NFTs. It's a time investment to keep up with the social aspect of the NFT community using channels like https://twitter.com/Twitter (Twitter) and https://twitter.com/discord (Discord). This is a different skill set and a different kind of art will emerge from it. [15:28 – 16:17] Collectors of Jon's NFTs are different from collectors of physical works. In 2020 early adopters were buying NFTs, but there is still skepticism and a long way to go for mainstream acceptance. Many of Jon's physical collectors aren't interested in NFTs. [16:49 – 19:49] Jon discusses the blurred lines between collectors and artists with the engagement thru social media, discord, etc. When artists engage with the collectors it takes away the art being fully in control and the fans start to shape the work. He compares this to https://twitter.com/Marvel (@Marvel) or https://twitter.com/starwars (@starwars) films where the feedback loop from fans alters the next installment which pleases the most vocal fans, but not the entire fan base. [20:26 – 23:07]  Jon hopes galleries and traditional spaces will learn from the NFT space and update how they are run. These institutions won't disappear. If you have a good dealer or gallery, everyone benefits while helping push the art in the direction that they all want it to go in. Collaboration is necessary in some form to get your art out there.  [23:24 – 26:12] Jon discusses his creative process. He needs emotional connection or interest in the work to make it interesting for him. He discusses creating and how many things don't work, but others hit a...

Stop playing video games. They said. get a real job. They said. I've tried so many online money making methods in the past I've taken surveys on mTUrk. I freelanced audio production and voice work gigs on Fiver and E-lance. I've even taught kids in China on VIPKid. But nothing comes close to the profit I'm making with NFT games.  I mean let me tell you a secret: I'm making more income playing games in a SINGLE DAY than any of these other online money-making methods, yet alone a "real job" had me earning in a full WEEK. Guys I am 100% serious when I talk about this. But NFTs are changing the gaming industry as we know it! With NFTs and the Blockchain technology, we're able to effectively verify that YOU own an item that you won from a game. It's not something your in-game avatar wears or holds. It's something you legitimately own. And just like anything you own in real life, like a book, instrument, furniture, whatever, you can buy, sell, and trade it on the market. It's no longer just "pixels" on a screen. It can now be traded for real fiat, real currency, through the use of the blockchain and crypto coins. The MetaVerse is building and we're blurring the lines between actual reality and virtual reality. This is just the beginning, fellow procrastin8rs. You can sit at home and PLAY A GAME to earn a real asset then sell that asset for money.  Are you understanding me?  Please tell me you follow. Okay, let me break this down for you, real simple: This is the lazy opportunity we've been waiting for! You can make money sitting on the couch playing video games. No need to grow an audience or following. No need to look pretty for the camera as you stream. No need to set up sponsors or affiliate links. You literally...just. play the game.  Now I'm gonna be covering in-depth reviews/guides in the on coming weeks about some profitable NFT games I've been playing recently. Last week, you heard of BombCrypto and this time I want to introduce to you a little Play to Earn NFT game called Heroes and Empires. It's a medieval fantasy themed idle game.  Even if you aren't much a gamer, it's very easy/semi-passive income. Just click a few buttons each day to do quests and battles. It's auto battle, so no actual skill or reflexes required. If you can browser a website, you can play this game! Read the full Transcript/Blog & Find Mentioned Links: http://www.procrastin8r.com/blog/heroesempires Subscribe to the Newsletter: http://www.procrastin8r.com/subscribe

In Episode 4 of Probably Nothing TZ (@TZhongg) and Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) chat with Noah Davis (@NonFungibleNoah) of Christie's. Noah is the former Head of Online Sales for contemporary art at Christie's, but is now primarily focused on NFTs and crypto related digital art projects. Noah discusses how he first got into NFTs, and how he was able to convince a 200+ year old company to begin auctioning NFTs this year. TZ, Alexis, and him also discuss a bit of art history, how NFTs align incentives between artists and curators/collectors, and the future of smart contracts in the art world. This wide ranging discussion shows how NFTs are starting to bridge both the fine art world and the crypto community.Links Mentioned in this Episode Beeple's first Christie's auction MakersPlace NFT NFT Now Christie's x OpenSea Timestamps00:30: Noah Davis intro01:20: How did Noah convince Christie's to get into NFTs?02:30: How did Noah first get into NFTs and what helped him understand them?04:20: What is the future of NFTs in the art world?06:50: Art Basel NFT prediction?11:30: What was the internal process on convincing Christie's to do a project with OpenSea?14:08: wen christie's dao?16:12: What was the process like of promoting Beeple's sale on Discord?19:40: What is "absurdist post-war French theater" and why did he study it in school?24:00: Secondary sales in a world of smart contracts28:40: Future hope for artist and smart contracts29:50: Working with artists compared to working with collectors32:48: Noah's experience in the NFT space33:34: If you were stranded on an island which NFT would you take from your collection? What about anyone's NFT collection?Mentions Beeple - @beeple Tom Sachs - @tom_sachs Damian Hurst - @hirst_official MakesPlace - @makersplaceco NFT now - @nftnow collector 33 - @33NFT Justin Aversano - @justinaversano Superrare - @SuperRare Joshua Davis - @JoshuaDavis fewocious - @fewocious  Punk 4301 Show NotesWho is Noah Davis? Specialist at Christie's in the contemporary arts department with a focus in NFTs. He started working on NFTs in March with his intro to NFTs during the first Beeple @beeple sale. Getting into NFTs and bringing them to Christie'sHow did Noah first get into NFTs? "NFTs really found me." Before he was head of NFTs at Christie's, he was the head of online sales for contemporary art. He was in the office last January to see an IRL piece of art for an auction. His colleague, Megan Doyle, brought an NFT opportunity to his attention. She had been contacted by MakersPlace for a possible NFT consignment, and asked Noah if he would be open to putting an NFT in his sale. Noah barely knew about NFTs. All he really knew was that Beeple sold his NFT at Nifty Gateway for $6 million, and that NFTs are a new asset class running on a blockchain foundation. What drew Noah into NFTs, beyond the art, was the promise of decentralization and the things that blockchain can do.  "We are heading towards a future that will have a foundation in blockchain. You can either end up with the state run dystopian future or you can build one yourself." Noah wants to see a future where there is a decentralized metaverse that is owned by the people for the people. If he can help do that within Christie's, a 200+ year old company, that could be really significant. Bringing NFTs to Christie's In the first conversation Noah had with Christie's they mainly talked about cryptocurrency.  Noah knew that some of their top clients were into crypto. He believed that NFTs were the perfect opportunity to jump into the space. The fact that it was ephemeral wasn't daunting to them. Christie's has sold dinosaur bones. If they can create some kind of excitement around an auction, Christie's will find a way to make it work. "I am really grateful towards Christie's for lending me such a long leash." NFTs have been reliably profitable for Christie's. They are now approaching $120,000,000 in total volume for the year. It's going to be 5% of their turnover. For the first Beeple sale more than 90% of applicants were not previously known to Christie's. Although this was more the NFT community and Beeple's community, Noah will continue to set the stage for artist to showcase their work. How did Noah's college degree in English with a focus on Absurdist post war french theater play a roll in Noah's love for NFTs? The absurdity of selling an asset that doesn't physically exist was extremely attractive to him.  "I think a lot about the theater of the absurd in the context of NFTs. What really drew me in was how counterintuitive NFTs are to the standards of the 21st century contemporary art world." Noah never felt like he completely fit in. He was sort of put off by the pretentious vibes in contemporary art, and how people tend to take themselves too seriously. Eugene Ionesco's play, The Bald Soprano, plays a huge role in understanding Absurdism.  The story behind the play is that one day while Ionesco was learning French and English, he was reading the textbooks and thought it was absurd that they were trying to teach him family dynamics. This then lead him to believe that the foundation of language is super shaky and unreliable. In the play, The Bald Soprano, nothing makes sense. It is indebted to people that question the moral and aesthetic values, at the time, by way of absurdity. "Ionesco would love NFTs." NFTs and ArtWhat is the future of NFTs in the traditional art world?In the traditional art world, you will see a lot more adoption from contemporary artist who dabble on digital media.  The more mega blue chip galleries that jump into NFTs, the more inspired artist will be to take the leap. To understand and overcome that stigma of NFTs as a step below "intellectually speaking" what contemporary art normally is, is a very challenging medium to master. "As more artist embrace this, we will see really dynamic projects coming forward and new amazing 1 of 1 art work from amazing talented bluechip artist."  Right now people like Tom Sachs (@tom_sachs) and Damian Hirst (@hirst_official), are the only real Fine Artists from the blue chip world that have mastered this. They are playing by the rules of the NFT space, but they are speaking directly to a crypto native audience. However, there will be artist that enter the NFT world, play by the old rules and somehow succeed. It's going to be a difficult bridge to build and the needle has really only been threaded once successfully with Christie's auction of Andy Warhol NFTs with the Andy Warhol foundation. They tokenized digitally native works that Andy made for the amiga computer. Art Basel NFT prediction?There will be a base line of friction from two different worlds. That's good because those sparks is where you get something creative.  “There will be a lot of chatter around NFTs for sure.” Christies is collaborating with NFTnow during Art Basel to host an event. They have built a, 2400 square foot, space in a bank building and repurposed it as an art gallery. Superrare and Collector 33 will have a presence there. “To see all this art, in this environment, is going to be interesting because we haven't really nailed the exhibition component of NFTs yet.” They have learned a lot and they are going to be applying all of it in Miami. You need to correctly activate the immersive quality of some of these artworks. Christie's and OpenSea sale? So far all the NFT sales Noah has conducted at Christie's have been off-chain, and because they are off-chain it is hyper manual.  All of the movement of the tokens are analog and payment is pretty clumsy. "It's like we are operating in this new dimension, but we are still pushing the buttons and pulling the string from the old one." This is their first collab with Opensea, if it goes well there is no reason why Christie's should auction their NFTs off chain. There will still be a place for traditional auctions, like the Beeple (@beeple) one they recently sold. But, if they are selling an ether rock and they are marketing that to a crypto native audience they can't get away with off chain. When's Christies DAO? "The idea of a DAO is an incredible thing." As much as Noah is really fighting to push things forward. There are things he wants to be really careful with. Like building in the metaverse and thinking about airdrops. Regulation is going to catch up with us and until these unknown areas are become more defined. There's no reason for a corporation like Christie's to dive in the front. NFT space and ArtistsWhat was the process of promoting Beeple's sale on Discord? Noah wasn't really involved in the promotion of the first Beeple sale.  At the time he was going more of the traditional media route, and still learning about NFTs and crypto. "The first time I heard someone refer to Ethereum as ETH, I took a beat and I had no idea what that meant, I didn't know what it was. I bought my first Ethereum in April." Noah didn't join Discord until after the Beeple sale. Because he hasn't used social media in a long time, he was very cautious. Justin Aversano (@justinaversano) invited Noah into Cryptopunk's Discord channel to promote the sale of a Cryptopunk that Christie's was having in May. He felt like he didn't belong there. He felt like he was the corporate salesman. Now he has his ens name in his username. But it took the same push to get him on Twitter too. Noah was so scared, his username was "Noah the Poser". Secondary Sales in a world on Smart Contracts. The first big contemporary art auction took place in the 80s.  The artist themselves were at the auction, and they accosted the seller because he bought the photos for $1,000's and he was selling them for $10,000's. "There was an intense animosity at the moment between the artist and the collector because it felt like it was deeply unfair, and it is." There are certain places in Europe that already have a resale royalty, and California was really pushing for this too. Noah strongly believes that artist should absolutely have these royalties.  With NFTs and blockchain, the artist and the creator have complete control over this. "The blockchain doesn't care. What you tell it to do, it is going to execute it. It is never going to make a mistake"If you program it with protocols that are fair, those will be the rules forever. Right now is the time to make sure that these rules make sense, are fair, and are equitable. Artist should own their smart contract, and have their own independence so that they can never get duped. That kind of responsibility and independence is very admirable. It is the way forward. Manifold is behind a lot of artist's smart contracts. Their philosophy is that artist should own their own smart contract. Working with artists "I love artists. I like to make art when I am not working for Christie's." Noah used to only get involved with the collectors or estates, and rarely with artists. Unless they were complaining, which is reasonable.  When contemporary art comes to auction it is usually not under the best circumstances. There's an industry term referred to as the "three D's". Divorce, debt, and death are the three major driving forces that bring contemporary art to auction. You are starting from a place of negativity. Working with artists, however, is all about positivity.  Noah feels such an incredible bond with the artists, like Beeple. He's made art with Fewocious (@fewocious) and has had lunch with Joshua Davis (@JoshuaDavis). "I hang out with these guys and it just feels right." Before he felt weird and almost felt like the enemy. Now he feels like he is helping these artist tell their stories. "The NFT space is magical. Everything I felt frustrated with in the contemporary art world is not at play in this space." If you were stranded on an Island and you could only take one NFT from your collection or any collection, which would you take? From Noah's collection, he would take his CrypToadz or his Deadfella. From any collection, Noah would take CryptoPunk 4301. It's from the collection of Sov.eth. It's a wild white hair with VR and pink lipstick. Noah was glowing while he was talking about this.

This episode is sponsored by Quantstamp, Nexo.io and KuCoin.This week's “Money Reimagined” podcast comes to you from Miami, where the annual Art Basel event spawned an explosion of sub-conferences and parties associated with non-fungible tokens (NFT). There, we ran into Pierina Merino, the founder of FlickPlay, an exciting new app that combines real-world, camera-captured imagery with digital artifacts so that users can create and place geo-located NFT collectibles. It's best described as a merging of Pokémon GO with TikTok and NFTs. Co-hosts Michael Casey and Sheila Warren sat down with Merino to discuss her vision for this project. What emerges is a fascinating discussion around how we human beings project our own “storylines” and how content-generation technology is allowing the merging of the digital with the physical realm. Merino's background as Venezuelan-born, U.S.-trained architect (as in a physical building architect, not a software engineer) is part of what makes this conversation so interesting. She speaks to how that sensibility with the limits of physical space shapes people's creativity and their self expression for how they live in the world. What does this all have to do with money? A lot more than you'd think. With NFTs now in the mix, this combination of identity, user-generated content and hybrid physical-digital content constitutes a new form of value creation and transactions. This episode was produced and edited by Michele Musso with announcements by Adam B. Levine and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is “Shepard."-Quantstamp is the leader of blockchain security, having secured over 100 billion USD worth of digital assets. Visit quantstamp.com to learn why top DeFi projects like Maker, Compound and BarnBridge trust Quantstamp to secure the financial infrastructure of tomorrow. Learn more at quantstamp.com/blog.-Nexo is a powerful, all-in-one crypto platform where you can securely store your assets. Invest, borrow, exchange and earn up to 12% APR on Bitcoin and 20+ other top coins. Insured for $375M and audited in real-time by Armanino, Nexo is rated excellent on Trustpilot. Get started today at nexo.io.-KuCoin was listed on Forbes Advisor's “The Best Crypto Exchanges Of 2021,” which highlighted hundreds of tradable coins, low fees, plus automated and margin trading. Sign up NOW to claim a $500 welcome bonus at KuCoin.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is sponsored by Quantstamp, Nexo.io and KuCoin.This week's “Money Reimagined” podcast comes to you from Miami, where the annual Art Basel event spawned an explosion of sub-conferences and parties associated with non-fungible tokens (NFT). There, we ran into Pierina Merino, the founder of FlickPlay, an exciting new app that combines real-world, camera-captured imagery with digital artifacts so that users can create and place geo-located NFT collectibles. It's best described as a merging of Pokémon GO with TikTok and NFTs. Co-hosts Michael Casey and Sheila Warren sat down with Merino to discuss her vision for this project. What emerges is a fascinating discussion around how we human beings project our own “storylines” and how content-generation technology is allowing the merging of the digital with the physical realm. Merino's background as Venezuelan-born, U.S.-trained architect (as in a physical building architect, not a software engineer) is part of what makes this conversation so interesting. She speaks to how that sensibility with the limits of physical space shapes people's creativity and their self expression for how they live in the world. What does this all have to do with money? A lot more than you'd think. With NFTs now in the mix, this combination of identity, user-generated content and hybrid physical-digital content constitutes a new form of value creation and transactions. This episode was produced and edited by Michele Musso with announcements by Adam B. Levine and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Our theme song is “Shepard."-Quantstamp is the leader of blockchain security, having secured over 100 billion USD worth of digital assets. Visit quantstamp.com to learn why top DeFi projects like Maker, Compound and BarnBridge trust Quantstamp to secure the financial infrastructure of tomorrow. Learn more at quantstamp.com/blog.-Nexo is a powerful, all-in-one crypto platform where you can securely store your assets. Invest, borrow, exchange and earn up to 12% APR on Bitcoin and 20+ other top coins. Insured for $375M and audited in real-time by Armanino, Nexo is rated excellent on Trustpilot. Get started today at nexo.io.-KuCoin was listed on Forbes Advisor's “The Best Crypto Exchanges Of 2021,” which highlighted hundreds of tradable coins, low fees, plus automated and margin trading. Sign up NOW to claim a $500 welcome bonus at KuCoin.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With NFTs continuing their rapid advance into mainstream cultural awareness, how much is FOMO (fear of missing out) and how much is real? This time Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine discuss the evolving battle lines in the nascent world of triple-A gaming NFTs and whether these early announcements are a signal or just noise. Electronic Arts Ubisoft Epic Games Steam Xbox Later, the hosts explore the still-to-come moment when the behemoths of game publishing select which blockchain or blockchains will be their native NFT layer. Are we in for a repeat of the corporate adoption story? Or will big-budget games become a new differentiating factor, elevating their chosen partners to de-facto “incumbent” status? Photo by Igor Karimov on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/originalltb/message

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io.With NFTs continuing their rapid advance into mainstream cultural awareness, how much is FOMO (fear of missing out) and how much is real? On today's episode we investigate and discuss the evolving battle lines in the nascent world of triple-A gaming NFTs and whether these early announcements are a signal or just noise.Recent statements or comments:Electronic ArtsUbisoftEpic GamesSteamXboxLater, the hosts explore the still-to-come moment when the behemoths of game publishing select which blockchain or blockchains will be their native NFT layer. Are we in for a repeat of the corporate adoption story? Or will big-budget games become a new differentiating factor, elevating their chosen partners to de-facto “incumbent” status?-Nexo is a powerful, all-in-one crypto platform where you can securely store your assets. Invest, borrow, exchange and earn up to 12% APR on Bitcoin and 20+ other top coins. Insured for $375M and audited in real-time by Armanino, Nexo is rated excellent on Trustpilot. Get started today at nexo.io.-Photo by Igor Karimov on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of BitcoinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With NFTs on the rise, I think I have completely cracked the code. And with now two trips through FF14, I take a look through the progress of the game and why only now it's really hitting it's stride. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/eagleeyesontech/message

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english. Today: Are NFTs just good for speculation, or are they a new way of helping artists? Last time we discussed how NFTs get so valuable, but we didn't talk about their real world use. Clearly, you've asked yourself: Does this actually solve any problems for artists? Yes it does! Let's dive in! First, selling artwork as NFTs opens up a whole new market for artists who were traditionally constrained to selling locally - through galleries for example, which can also want a big commission. With NFTs, artists can theoretically reach the entire world through websites like OpenSea. Second, some NFTs also allow artists to make a commission every time their artwork changes hands. Imagine you create a painting, sell it as an NFT for a few bucks, but it takes off - like those cryptopunks. With physical art, you'd never see any money after the initial sale. With NFTs, you could. Third, NFTs allow artists to sell rights to the same artwork more than once. It's like Picasso using print techniques to create a series of the same painting – it allows for more people to own and enjoy the same piece, and potentially more revenue for the artist. And tomorrow we'll wrap our series on NFTs with a look into the most unique, valuable, and bizarre NFTs that exist out there. Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/cryptohunt/message

With NFTs entering the cultural spotlight more than ever, what kind of opportunities does that create for artists, creators, and brands in the center of culture? Chris Carella joined us to talk about TRUESY, a new NFT platform that aims to create a singularly unique space for creatives and collectors to engage with art and each other. Learn more about Chris Carella's journey to becoming the Product Lead at TRUESY, how it's creating unique opportunities for both artists and collectors, and why Tezos is the blockchain of choice for this unique, curated NFT platform. Stream this Session to learn more about how TRUESY is helping shape a new era of creative culture on Tezos.

The theme this week on the One Minute Retirement Tip podcast is Non-Fungible Tokens (or NFTs)...explained.  Today, I’m talking about the difference between collectibles and NFTs. On the surface, it seems like NFTs and collectibles are basically the same thing. And I think that’s a good way of thinking about NFTs, but with one clear difference.  When you buy a physical collectible, like a one-of-a-kind piece of art, that collectible is a physical item. You would never buy that piece of art if you couldn’t take possession of it and hang it in your home or office or wherever.  What’s different about NFTs is that you buy the piece of art, like in the case of Mike Winkelman’s art that recently sold for $69 million as a NFT. Someone paid $69 million dollars for a piece of art that they don’t even physically own. They just own the proof of ownership that exists with their non-fungible token. If it sounds downright absurd to you, that’s because it is. If you go on YouTube, you can watch a video of Mike Winkelmann himself explaining the absurdity of his art fetching that kind of price tag.  Similar to collectibles though, the sky high prices for some NFTs can be better understood by looking at the collectibles market. Value is in large part driven by scarcity and uniqueness of the collectible, and the same is true for NFTs.  There are some practical applications for this. Digital files like artwork, memes, and audio or video files can be easily and endlessly duplicated. If you downloaded songs illegally and directly to your computer in the 1990s via Napster, you know how easily digital files can be copied.  With NFTs, artwork can be "tokenised" to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold, solving a lot of the problems that currently exist for creators of digital art. Seems like a good solution if you’re an artist trying to sell your work, which is probably not most of you listening. So tomorrow we’re going to turn to the investment implications of NFTs and discuss whether NFTs as an investment makes sense.  That’s it for today, Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.  ---------- >>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP >>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs >>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/ ---------- Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance

NFT's Solve a Difficult Problem for Digital Creators on the Internet: How to make your creation scarce and more valuable. It uses the same technology behind cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to create a certificate of ownership. This means, With NFTs, digital artwork can be "tokenized" to create a digital certificate of ownership that can then be bought and sold. In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of NFTs *If you enjoyed the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes. It takes less than 60 seconds and It will really make a difference in supporting the show. We read every review! Where to buy NFTs: OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, Nifty Gateway, Foundation, Axie Marketplace, BakerySwap, NFT ShowRoom, VIV3 Nbatopshot, cryptokitties Follow the Show twitter.com/5050techflix instagram.com/5050techflix Follow Sayla twiter.com/SaylaVdeGoede Instagram.com/sayla_vee clubhouse: @sayladegoede Follow Richardson twitter.com/richardsondx instagram.com/richardsondx youtube.com/richardsondx clubhouse: @richardsondx Thanks for being a supporter, and have a great day! This episode was brought to you by the 'Share Button' :). The easiest appreciation you can give without spending your money. The share button helps us reach more people and grow our audience. So If you know someone who might enjoy this podcast, Use the 'Share Button' and Share The Caring Effect. Every Share Helps.

Each week, I cover the “So what?” of 5 key crypto stories in about 5 minutes. Let’s go. This week:Federal Reserve OutageMIT to strengthen bitcoinCoinbase is $100B NFT record art sale Dubai Fund sells bitcoin, buys Cardano and PolkadotFederal Reserve outage exposes single point of failureFederal Reserve Bank’s payment systems were out of service for several hours due to an operational error. The impacted services include but not limited to FedACH, FedWire, FedCash, and settlementFedACH system handles direct deposits of payroll, Social Security and income tax refunds as well as scheduled payments for mortgages and utility bills. It supported 62 million transactions a day in 2019. So what?The outage disrupted payment transactions across the economy and highlighted the single point of failure. A pattern could be emerging as FedACH had 2 disruptions in 2019. Recently, I read Sandworm by Andy Greenberg, this book helped drive home the point that the next great war might be fought in cyberspace. High traffic systems with a single point of failure built on dated technology are attractive targets. The US might be better served by a more resilient decentralized system perhaps one that leverages blockchain technology MIT to strengthen bitcoinMIT’s Digital Currency Initiative has launched a 4-year R&D effort to strengthen bitcoin security The program has been endorsed by cryptocurrency industry leadersSo what?Bitcoin ascended from an obscure project to a robust network that secures over $1 trillion in value due to millions of hours invested by open-source developers The program will contribute neutral, expert resources to improve the robustness of Bitcoin protocol and security. This could include exploring new programming languages and pre-emptive investigations against possible attacksI think this is great news particularly in light of the recent outage at the FedCoinbase releases financials ahead of $100B IPOCoinbase, the US leading digital currency exchange, is now expected to be valued over $100B at IPO In 2020, Coinbase reported $322M profit on $1.28B revenue. The company also served 43M retail investors and 7,000 institutional investors. 76% of customers are based in the US. So what?The Block Research has forecasted that Coinbase could generate $2.4B revenue in Q1 2021 alone. That’s more than 2x full year 2020 in the first quarter. IPO at $100B would make Coinbase a top 20 financial services company right below Goldman Sachs and above S&P. The data implies about 10% of Americans have a Coinbase account. It is not farfetched to anticipate the valuation rising 5-10x as adoption of digital currencies scale. Some industry observers believe Coinbase will become a trillion dollar company. Select Coinbase Financials from The Block ResearchNFTs: Beeple art sells for record $6.6M Mike Winkleman is the artist also known as Beeple. Everyday for the last 13 years he creates one piece of digital art. This week, one of those pieces was sold as an NFT for a record $6.6M.Next week, Christie’s will begin a 2-week auction of 5,000 pieces by Beeple with payments accepted in ether. So what?NFTs have been booming lately. The market size grew over 700% from $42M in 2017 to $338M at the end of 2020 according to NonFungible.com Think of NFTs as a new type of file like JPEG or MP3. NFTs are encrypted files authenticated by blockchain technology. They are not limited to art, for instance NBA Top Shot enables fans to purchase officially licensed video of key plays. NFTs are ushering a new era for creators. Leonardo da Vinci painted Salvatore Mundi which sold for $450M in 2017 setting a world record. Yet, in his lifetime, he likely was a cut or two above a starving artist. With NFTs, in the future, the creator or their estate could receive commission (~10%) upon the resale of their workBottomline: Digital Art and NBA Top Shot are opening doors for new consumers to engage with cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications Crossroads by Beeple sold for $6.6M this weekDubai fund sells $750M Bitcoin to buy Cardano and Polkadot FD7 Ventures has $1B under management; the crypto fund’s thesis is that Cardano, Polkadot and Ethereum will be the foundation of Web 3.0 So what?Investors are going beyond bitcoin. FD7’s decision highlights growing excitement about Ethereum, Cardano, and Polkadot; these blockchains support greater functionality than Bitcoin. Cardano is a third generation cryptocurrency network, it aims to improve upon Bitcoin by having faster and more secure blockchain. It is also more scalable and safe than Ethereum. There are pilot projects in Ethiopia and Tanzania leveraging Cardano to extend financial services to the unbanked. Polkadot aims be the platform for Web 3.0 by connecting a new web of decentralized blockchains. In Web 3.0, trust is built in the network, individuals have more power than corporations and governments, and people own their data. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afolabio.substack.com