Context: Carly Reilly, Overpriced JPGs. Rise of "Phygital", BAYC launches, Art Blocks.

[00:01] Welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of Context, Views on Crypto and Culture, presented by Voice Club, with me, your host, Blake Panukin. I have on today Carly Riley, one of my friends and host of one of the crypto industry's favorite podcasts, Overpriced JPEGs. She is really one of the most tuned in people to the pulse of what is happening in crypto, so there couldn't be a better first guest. [00:30] within the current market landscape, including how brands and projects can map NFTs onto physical product offerings, as well as take stock of the renewed volume and market activity within NFTs that we've been seeing in the last kind of month. We also dive deep into some really relevant stats around the consumer spending power of kids and teenagers and what this means for Web3 user acquisition going forward. And I think that term is one that you'll be hearing a lot more of in the [01:01] And it couldn't be my first episode without getting into Yuga Labs and the Bored Apes, and why it's especially important to be following them right now, and what you need to be watching for in their release pipeline in the coming month. I also had to include a bit of an art history detour, as we look at one of the biggest art block project releases in quite a while, the Friendship Bracelets by Alexis Andre and Snowfro, which have been recently and consistently topping the OpenSea volume charts. [01:30] why it is such a high quality art project, especially when you look at how it is positioned in relation to art historical movements of the past. I think there's a lot of differentiation with this project, so I'm excited to share that one with you. I hope this episode gives you further context on how crypto and culture are intersecting. Enjoy!

[01:54] Carly. [01:55] I am so floored to have you on as my first guest. You all know her as the host of the absolute best NFT-centric, metaverse-centric podcast in the entire industry, Overpriced JPEGs. If you haven't liked, subscribed, followed, the whole thing, this is really what you need to be listening to if you want to be up to date on the industry week to week. Her weekly week recaps are amazing. [02:25] depth. You learn something super valuable. You get insights every time you listen. So, so honored to have you on as the first guest. Thank you, Carly. Blake, thank you. You know how mutual the adoration or appreciation is. I think the absolute world of you, it is so flattering to me that you listen to my show or like my show, because I just respect you. Thank you for having me on. I'm so honored to be your first guest. So I wanted to start out with just talking about and getting your pulse of really what [02:55] thinking about right now in the crypto space? What's interesting to you? [03:00] *sniff* [03:01] So much that's interesting and also... [03:06] One thing that I'm thinking about, and there's never going to be an answer, and I will muse on this question until the answer arrives, which will be in the moment that it happens, which is like, when does it come back? And what does coming back look like? I would say, connected to that, I'm really interested right now in the dissonance between what feels like some activity happening in this space. And we saw December, you had volume coming back, and maybe some of that is tax loss harvesting. Some of that is maybe some wash trading. But it seems to be continuing in January, where there's actually activity. You've got marketplace volume happening, even when wash

[03:36] in a sensible way for blur. So the dissonance between that and then like the macro environment and the sense that we are clearly in a recession, it's going to get worse this year, sponsor revenue is drying up. Yeah. [03:49] It's kind of interesting to try and marry these two things. I think a lot about like, when will you feel a real resurgence in the market and what will that resurgence look like? I definitely fall in the camp that says – [04:01] the full crazy mania of day trading JPEGs and becoming a millionaire overnight is largely over. Probably we'll have some of that. You'll always have the funny things like bonk that'll like pop up somewhere and somebody will put all their money on it and it'll make them wealthy. So I don't think it's entirely dying, but that truly sustained period of mania I think is dead. But the question is like, will the market come back with a burst? Like will it be something along the [04:31] not specifically, maybe it's, again, loyalty programs, whatever it is, that kind of burst it onto the scene? Or is it going to be a slow roll thing? I probably fall in the slow roll camp of like some people are on board because they do a Starbucks loyalty thing and then somebody else gets one at an NFL game they go to. And over time, the number of wallets that exist are up and up. And as this young, young generation rises up, they're just using it more and it feels kind of natural. [04:56] But so I think a lot about that. I'm thinking a lot this year about... [04:59] digital. Why do people hate that word? Can we talk about this on my podcast? No, I mean, digital. I think it's because maybe people see it as a marketing executive word or something from 2006. Oh, like leverage or synergies kind of thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me right click on that. I'm like, what are you? No, we're talking. There's no right clicking in our conversation. I think it's a good word. What am I supposed to say? I think that digital assets right now are still very confusing to a lot of people who have power,

[05:29] understand they maybe should be paying attention to them. And the concept of pairing people [05:35] physical items with digital items is a really good way to get people acclimated to the concept of digital goods. I don't know if you saw Fanatics, the sports immobilia licensing company, divesting from candy. I saw that. This must just be a balance sheet issue because when you look at where things are trending, it absolutely doesn't make sense that they would make that play. It seems like it has to be a cashflow issue. It can't be a trend issue. [06:00] To give context for people, Michael Rubin, founder of Fanatics, is like a massive sports collect, like gambling, trading. An incredible philanthropist as well, actually. Philanthropist. In any case, you know, they had made a big investment. They owned a 60% stake, I guess it was, in Candy Digital, which I'm sure folks are somewhat familiar with. And they're basically pulling out of that entire thing. They're selling their stake to a Galaxy Digital offshoot. Which everybody is selling to Galaxy right now. I mean, they just have actual- [06:30] didn't they use the term? Lunaterra? Yeah, I was going to actually use the term, they have a lot of dry powder, which to me actually falls in the fidgetal camp of language. Like that is an also like cringe word. Some of these terms to me, I'm like, it's the term you need to like, [06:45] Like double click, let's double click on that. You could say other things. You could be like, hey, would love to zoom in. Would love to learn more about that. Fidgetal actually is the word. It's descriptive. It's descriptive. It's a more efficient way to say the blending of digital and physical goods. Like, I don't know. It's just easier to say fidgetal. And here's what I will say. So, and actually we can talk more about the fanatics Michael Rubin thing. Like I know we were going to maybe do green flags, red flags, yellow flags. I see it as a yellow flag. Preview.

[07:10] We'll tease. Yeah. Yeah. [07:11] But I think that – [07:13] I understood. His point was, we're seeing that NFTs can't be standalone businesses, which is a little bit of a weird statement, but I actually don't entirely disagree. And he was like, we're seeing it better when it's paired with a physical. And I was like, you know what? I think, especially for an older audience, that is where we are in this stage of the market. I think down the line, digital goods will clearly outpace physical goods in terms of their value and as this next generation comes up. But the physical thing is interesting to me right now, in part because it feels like a really good... [07:39] it's a really clear middle step to me. It's like almost an overly obvious midway point in the journey towards being [07:47] as a society writ large, understanding the value of digital assets. So that's something I think about PoE Apps and loyalty programs I'm super, super interested in. We can get into that. But the loyalty programs being a big one because I think it applies to so much and how it relates to creator economies and I don't know, all the things I'm thinking about. Just in terms of loyalty programs, Carly's episode with the kind of Starbucks founders, or not founders, but founders [08:17] you know what we can do? Cause now I can say this cause I'm a podcast host. You can link in the show notes below. Cause it's fantastic. And it's, and it's, I even told her the other day when we were chatting that I took notes during that episode cause it was super insightful. But, you know, I also think just in terms of going back to, I think those are all fantastic insights and going back to your first one around what is actually going to tip the markets over the edge back to, I don't think it'll ever get back to what it was.

[08:47] as things evolve so quickly that we will then be in a new iteration of what like a positive impact [08:53] quote unquote bull market will look like. But will it be a older, more historic project that kind of kicks up or will it be an entirely new project that comes in and really kind of. [09:05] energizes everyone into investing and buying and trading. I think it actually, in this case, I think what's kind of spurred a lot of it. And, you know, everyone's talking about this is the airdrop. It's interesting to me that it's marketplace based, or you could argue that a part of it is marketplace based. That to me actually shows growth or development in kind of the NFT world because it's not necessarily a specific project. And I actually like that, [09:35] a big brand coming in and everyone's going to want to spend money when it's actually platform-based. I think that's maybe more sustainable. That is interesting. Where my head goes with some of that is like... [09:46] it's renewed activity and volume within the very small community that's here. What's the piece that draws the new community in? And it's not, in my opinion, going to be, it's certainly not going to be a marketplace airdrop because people who aren't already here don't get the airdrop. They don't understand it. That's a freaky thing to engage with. But I will say Blur, I don't know how much you've spent on that actual interface. It's a new way to engage.

[10:16] of data as well as whether that's visual, whether that's like numbers that you're looking at in like a new fun way. Fun maybe is an overstatement of word, but it's a- No, they do a great job. I agree. And that was clearly their value prop from day one was this, we're going to be, for the advanced trader, like we are going to be your place to go. [10:44] What I wanted this to kind of be, this segment is, you know, notable projects, events, data points can represent and lead into bigger trends or signal conversations that are actually happening within the crypto space. So. [10:57] What I wanted to lead with first is actually a stat, which is like red flag right away. Why am I leading with a stat? But it's a BlockWorks report, which was one of my favorites that I read. I will also link that in the show notes below because you all should read it. They cited it from a Wall Street Journal article, which is that kids aged 12 to 17 are spending an average of $92 a month. [11:19] on digital goods. How is that not being shared more? I mean, let me tell you, is Wall Street Journal a paywalled subscription? Absolutely it is. So maybe that's the paywall is getting in the way. But to me, that's a mic drop kind of stat. And I'm like, every gaming project, every kind of marketing exec and every Fortune 500 consumer facing company should be using this stat to prove how important it is to... What I think it represents is...

[11:48] genuinely a cultural shift of what's important to people coming up. Kids, teenagers are prioritizing their spend on. This is not just a niche crypto thing. This is a general thing, which speaks to then... [12:02] the problem that crypto, particularly NFT technology, is solving, which is providing real [12:08] dare I say, utility, real ability to own, sell, do what you wish with those $92 that you spend every month. So I think it speaks to what crypto is solving. [12:19] Yeah, that stat was really impressive to me as well. And I had Mattel on the podcast, the company Mattel on the podcast. And the next episode was Kids Rule Our World, because that's something they say at Mattel. And what's striking too is that it's actually getting younger. So historically, you've always had teenagers, maybe early 20s are the drivers of culture. And it's getting earlier and earlier in some ways, leading culture because they're on TikTok now. I was going to say, they're the actual real digital natives. They've never [12:49] I've never been in a world without an iPod and TikTok. And that was my big takeaway with this stat is kids rule our world. You should be thinking about kids. I mean, I think about this when we look at NFT projects. [13:02] To me, the ceiling for... [13:05] doodles, for example, is higher than the ceiling for yuga. And it's interesting to see in the long term, right now, yuga, I would say, is clearly on top there. Will that be sustained? Because yuga has a very [13:17] edgy adult brand. They are Adult Swim. They are Rick and Morty and they're doing really amazing things. They're doing a great job and it'll be... But...

[13:25] If you can target that family-friendly demo and you can appeal to the parents and you can appeal to their teenagers and to their children, that is the sweet spot. And this stat is showing that. And of course, then also they'll grow up and be digital – [13:39] asset natives. The flip side to the, I agree, this is deeply bullish for crypto, but the flip side is that you could argue the system is working. And I think there's people, I was talking to Zedekia, he was like, crypto gaming, people don't necessarily want the stress of those things being financial assets. They enjoy that it can be purely for fun. I could give you the counter to that, which I have, and I'm obviously very bullish, but you could say, hey, they're spending [14:09] ownership. I don't like that position, but. But I think, and I think they're both very fair. I think the big key kind of differentiator is choice. You give them a choice. So it's like, you can, you can step away, but you can also step in. And I think that's where the, like the real game changer is, is that you can choose. And before you couldn't, and you were kind of just like in these walled gardens of Roblox or whatever. And I think then, you know, for big brands or any brand, it's like, you have to meet consumers where they are. [14:36] And that is online. Like you need to be considering if you don't have digital items, digital twins, dare I say, [14:42] a fidgetal strategy, then you need to think that through. And I think Gucci's done a fantastic job around this in particular. Obviously, Nike with Artifact has been thinking this through. Dot swoosh. There's some stat about what percent of their revenue they want coming from digital sneakers and they're heavy in it.

[15:03] Exactly. The stat that I had is they've done 185 million dollars. [15:07] That's crazy. Which, you know, these are astonishing numbers. And I think this really falls into this new category that I've read, but I also want to call kind of Web3UA, Web3 User Acquisition, where I think there'll be Web3UA's, [15:23] in UA specialists, like in every big company. And if you have the skill set of understanding how to engage with tokens and NFTs to, dare I say, on board or to inspire people to get interest in your product, that skill set. [15:39] will be so incredibly in demand. And it'll open up kind of, again, it's just, it's a new... [15:46] form of marketing. It's a new, very skillful way to engage in an audience and Web3UA, I think, will continue to grow. [15:53] That's so interesting. So is that a combination of a certain level of technical skill set and marketing targeting skill set, or it's entirely marketing targeting how do you reach the consumer you want, educate them simultaneously? Because it's marketing, but... But technical integration of what we're working with around tokens and NFTs at the same time. So maybe a bit of both. It's an education problem, right? Like Nike, when they market, they're not used to having to educate their consumer per se. I mean, there's some level of it. You're [16:23] about a product. Yeah. It's a higher lift and it's a higher spend. [16:26] You need to get somebody to own a wallet? Like what? Yeah, good luck. Good luck. Yeah, peace be with you there. Yeah, I think it's going to be a new kind of,

[16:35] job title coming up, whether it takes that exact title or not. That's kind of the idea. But I did not want to kind of release my first episode without talking about Bored Apes. Now, you love them, you hate them, doesn't matter. [16:50] My personal opinion, it's more on the form of love. Sorry, just how I feel. I think that the Bored Apes are representative of this, the new generation of crypto. And I kind of, [17:01] look so fondly upon that, which people are probably horrified on. But I really want to talk about them because of how important they all are culturally, how I believe that they're the main project that actually was able to burst outside of the crypto bubble and get into mainstream culture in a different way when you have, you know, our Canadian King, Justin Bieber, posting them on Instagram. Like it's just, it's a new level and you can't tell me it's not. So [17:31] a little time talking about them, in particular their new launch. Also, just to say that, [17:36] I mean, when you look at the top NFT projects by market cap, they have six out of the top 10. [17:43] Like that is wild. So you can't, you might, that's actual domination. It's CryptoPunks, it's MeBits, it's Bored Apes, it's Other Side Deeds, it's Mutant Apes, and it's Bored Ape Kennel Club. [17:54] all in the top 10 by market cap. You have to be looking at them. You have to be following them closely if you're interested in crypto culture in general. So wanted to just get into that they've released their kind of first new set of lore. That's a total of six chapters within the kind of Borde Ape Yacht Club expansion with the aptly named trial of Jimmy the Monkey acting as the

[18:24] That was released in the second half of December. Really, it's a two minute long kind of animated little short centered on a character named Jimmy. Features a box and a key presented to a group of partying Bored Ape Yacht Club members. [18:40] As you can imagine, super crass as it all was at the beginning. So I'm like, does this represent an evolution in the NFT space and the maturity? Does it shift the needle of the industry in any way? Are there any key indicators that you're looking for in terms of the success of the rollout? Kind of what are your thoughts on it all? [18:59] Yeah, I think it could mark an evolution. I think this will probably mark something in one direction or another. I think it's too early to declare victory because it has to work. So when you talk about success indicators that I'm looking for, is the story – [19:16] Can I curse? Do we curse on this show? Absolutely. You can say whatever you want. The story fucking interesting. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, this has been the core problem that plagues crypto and NFTs is it has gotten away with things getting attention because they're a novelty without the core thing having to actually be interesting. Absolutely. And so Bored Apes has to... [19:37] has to now show us, can you build characters and IP that we give a fuck about outside of the fact that it's made us a bunch of money for the last two years? And that could be in gaming. That could be in because they launch a game that is genuinely fun. It could be because they launch the best damn metaverse where people actually want to hang out and socialize and you feel immersed in it and it's sick and 5,000 people, 10,000 people, 20,000 people can concurrently hang out somewhere in a way that's never been feasible online before. It could be because they create an epic six-part

[20:07] And I'm having the time of my life engaging with it in a mint way and I feel more connected to a story. Like clearly NFTs are on the frontier of the evolution of storytelling and movies and the ability to be more interacted and more connected to stories that we watch and we consume. [20:24] whether or not Bored Apes... [20:26] is hypothetically that or is actually that, will come down to the execution of things like this. I'm nervous for Yuga because I think... [20:36] They held up so damn well over this last year. And part of that was- And they continue to. And they're continuing to hold up well. Everything is double. I mean, at the time of filming, all the collections have doubled since their lowest, since their all-time lows. Now, they've also halved since their peak, but you know. Details, Carly. Details. But I'm with you. I think they continue to hold up well. They held up incredibly well. [21:06] been able to maintain this what's coming next thing. And at some point, it can't just be about what's coming next. It's got to be identification and love of the thing that's happening now. And they haven't really had to face that, right? Because they had the hype of this last year of announcing other side of doing the Lanzo, which was not a great Lanzo. That experience was bad, but having the really impressive showy 4,500 people on all at once, they've been very good [21:36] rubber could meet the road this year in terms of when people are actually faced, and it could be for no fault of their own. They could execute brilliantly. And it could be when people are actually faced with the reality of, okay, this is what it means. It means you're a part of these cool stories. Do people still think it's worth $70,000 plus? And we'll have to find out. I think they have proven themselves in many, many ways, incredible executors. They are incredible partner selectors.

[22:00] And so I have faith that they could create an incredible story. I mean, the Daniel Allegri thing, you want to talk about what the mainstream should pay attention to? Not the trial of Jimmy the Monkey yet, which hasn't actually – it's Daniel Allegri and the hiring of the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. And who also has the Google pedigree who has decided to come on and lead this company. That's just the Wall Street Journal, more than the trial of Jimmy the Monkey. But Hollywood should pay attention to this regardless of its success or failure in some ways. [22:30] entertainment via NFTs that [22:32] Is that at the very least interesting? [22:34] Yeah. And I think too, I mean, there becomes, because there's going to be this multi-week interactive mint that does sound new to me. And yeah, [22:44] As they try to do more, obviously there's more execution risk. I'm like, I lack the creativity to know what that actually means. [22:50] Like you just play a series of games that unlock things that end up being the mint at the end. That's what I'm like, or you'll have to, there'll be expectations around what you have to do. Kind of, you know, like how Gucci did a lot of stuff in Roblox around like you had to play like five games and it took like five days to actually get one of their like special edition bags within the actual world. It's like, that's a lot of work to get like a free, I mean, I would do a lot of

[23:20] Yeah, you know, but it's interesting. That's the thing. It's like, ooh, that sounds new. That sounds unique. But like, will it actually be that? Or will you just have to like, click a survey and then that's your kind of move for the... [23:34] You're definitely right. They'll do it well, right? But that's part of the benefit, too, of being Yuga is that people actually care to get your product at the end of that. Yeah. Like, you know, the – [23:45] Thank you. [23:45] the doing a longer term mint or you have to play games. Yeah. I want the thing on the other end. I want a handbag on the other end. I want a board ape. I want a yuga asset on the other hand, because it's quite literally a pot of gold at the end of that. It's worth putting the time in. [24:00] Yeah. And the question then continues to become, what is the relationship between the NFTs and the world themselves that are built because of the NFTs? And I mean, to be fair, you know, you could watch or engage with these videos without owning the NFTs. [24:17] Um, so I hope that there is continually ways in to engage and to go into these worlds where you don't, where ownership is not actually key, but how there's upside to ownership, but it's not necessarily demanded. Um, so it's that hard balance. You need to entice people to want to be a part of your club. So you need to put out enough content. Well, that's exactly it, right? To buy, to be a part of the club. So you have to have enough content out there that somebody like me who doesn't own an ape [24:44] wants to own one because I'm seeing the content and it feels cool. But while preserving enough that feel exclusive and interesting to holders themselves, it's a tough balance. And I mean, and we talked about this on your show, but I think a lot of these projects are really to drive value to the coin itself as well. I mean, they have their...

[25:04] multi-month, multi-year staking kind of experience or project in place at the moment. And it's also the whole purpose is to really drive value back to the NFTs, but where else does it really go and kind of be sustainable? So I think those are all... Can you escape velocity outside of Ponzi so that you, again, have actual volume and you're not [25:29] selling so that you can sell more so you can sell more to more. Yeah. Yes. Correct. [25:37] Game of Thrones. Don't know if you'd heard about this, Carly, is coming out with an NFT project. No, I don't even know what they're doing. Okay, good. Because I, you know, as strolling around and rolling around Twitter, as I do all the time, I just happened to come across this. I, too, had heard like nothing about this, which I think both of us who are literally in the NFT world, like every second of every day, did not know that this was happening. [26:05] Why I wanted to bring this up is I think that it's representative of this disconnect between obviously like literally one of the most highly rated TV shows of all time, one of the most highly watched TV shows of all time on one of the most respected network respected networks being HBO. Clearly one of the best of all time, one of the GOATs. [26:24] But when it comes into Web3, it seems that there is such like it is the opposite or at least somewhat of the opposite in terms of the execution style, the communication style just seems to be so off. Just to give you a tiny bit of an intro for people listening, because I'm assuming you haven't heard of it either. If you're listening to this, it's called Build Your Realm and it's built as this digital collectible experience.

[26:54] platform is releasing it. [26:58] But this really seems to me, Carly, like a bull market product. I will tell you this at time of filming, they have not tweeted on their official account for a week. [27:09] And the mint is supposed to be this month. [27:12] This is one of the most like dominant cultural shows of our, dare I say, of our time. Just to get dramatic with it. But it's true. So I Googled you now, just officially mentioned it, but I was just confirming that HBO is owned by Warner Bros. And I have to say, and I hesitate to say this because I would be open to them sponsoring on my straight pegs sometime. Sponsor, sponsor still. I do think Warner Brothers has really strong. I know, I know. With the Lord of the Rings too? That's exactly what I was going to say. So Warner Brothers is Lord of the Rings. [27:42] was also just missed the boat and felt cash grabby. And I was hesitant... [27:48] about them. They were like, it's a Web3 experience. And I'm like, just stop using the word. Like, just create cool experiences. New language, please. As there was new language for Lord of the Rings, he invented a whole new language for that. like four different languages before he started writing. Yeah, come on. Yeah. Yeah, I think, and if you look at what the asset they were selling itself was essentially like people, this was the joke, but was like the DVD thing [28:10] screen, you know, when you would have a DVD and it was like the picture, it was like moving DVDs, like home screens. And look, like I want to give credit for anybody who's trying and still trying. I think the problem and the criticism for our Warner Brothers here is that [28:24] It does still feel so often cash grabby. So like if I had a Warner Brothers exec on. And I'm like, what cash are they trying to grab? I know. And that's where maybe we're wrong. Like maybe they deserve more credit in the sense that maybe, you know, if you had somebody from their team on, they'd say, no, we're truly trying to experiment. And I guess we're missing the mark. But like we're actually trying to figure it out. And it's not a cash grab. In the bull market, this stuff just felt like such a cash grab. Yeah. In the bear, to your point. But it is. It's just poorly. They haven't tweeted in a week.

[28:54] nail on it like who i'm like they don't have someone to write tweets and i'm like yikes just get get your cmo to just rip a rip a tweet here or there or retweet or something you know and i think what's interesting too is you know if it is in fact an experiment do not go with your biggest ip first go with like small like like these are too visible and i understand that these have such diehard fans that you know that this is not deterring for for people this isn't going to change how people relate to the show at all they're going to love these shows no matter what [29:24] you know, you're missing the mark like so deeply. Yeah. These companies see NFTs as an extension of their merch line. It's like a kind of a schlocky happy meal thing. They don't see it as a way to really engage their fan or their consumer in the story or in something richer. And it shows they're burning their best IP on it. [29:43] And that's the shame of it. And it needs to be a tool. As you mentioned before, like storytelling needs to be at the forefront of all these kind of [29:52] like TV show, like narrative extensions. It needs to be seen as a narrative extension, I think. And when it's not, and it's just billed as a collectible, it just doesn't work as well. And that I think is where that opportunity comes from. But, you know, for all of you that are Game of Thrones fans, I would encourage you to check it out. Maybe you can get a cheap mint and it'll be good. I mean, not investment advice, let me tell you.

[30:22] the last segment of the show, which is called Under the Radar. And I mean, we could have put Game of Thrones in this one, let's be honest. But deeply under the radar, neither of us knew about it. But I just wanted to highlight one project that I think is under the radar that everyone should check out. The one that I chose, and I'm super excited to get your thoughts on this, Carly, are the Art Blocks Friendship Bracelets. Now, [30:47] I feel like everyone's like, excuse me, they're literally top of the volume on OpenSea. Our Blox is not under the radar. No, our Blox is not under the radar. Like, how dare you think that? [30:58] I know, I absolutely know. But what I do genuinely think is under the radar, particularly about this project, is [31:06] is the depth and quality of art. [31:09] um and the art historical references that the piece is actually steeped in and i couldn't go in my first podcast without getting into a little bit of art history and how important it is around this piece um just to kind of tie like quickly introduce them is that um if you own an art blocks piece in your wallet in um october of 2022 um you were eligible then to claim two friendship bracelets so cute you can obviously keep one and give one to someone um and it was a collaboration [31:39] So it was conceptualized by Snowfro and then aesthetically and programmatically designed by Alexis. And to me, this piece just has like art history undergraduate paper written all over it. I once was a million years ago, a art history undergrad, and I would have been so excited to write about this piece, deep dive into it.

[32:00] But once you mint it, it includes instructions to actually make a friendship bracelet with like, you know, $2 like worth of thread. And I think it's this beautiful combination between like generative art and this like ephemeral physical object that has novelty, it has kitschiness, it has like nostalgia. And just just like, [32:22] So, I mean, you're going to be like, this is so not underrated when I read these numbers out. But at the time of filming, it's like a 0.5 ETH floor with 4,700 ETH in volume. And there's 31,000 items. [32:35] I'm like, that's a massive mint to keep that type of floor. [32:40] I don't know if you have thoughts, Carly, before I kind of get into the, like, why I think it's, like, so beautiful as an art historical reference. Like, if you have any thoughts on the kind of, like, airdrop mechanics, which I think are super brilliant, and the kind of, like, audience engagement tool that this has been for the Artblocks community. [33:01] I – you are so much more art block savvy and art savvy than I am. So I feel like your opinion carries more weight. I would say – oh my gosh. Some of these are – [33:12] Beautiful. Very beautiful. Yeah. I'm looking at number 36 right now and I'm so into it. I think art blog. Link in show notes below. Link in show notes below. Link in show notes to friendship bracelets, number 36. Number 36. Amazing. Beautiful. Love. [33:24] I think they execute... [33:27] Just brilliantly. I think Snowfro has such a pulse on what Artblox is meant to stand for, and he steers that ship –

[33:38] just consistently in that direction. And it's, it's amazing. In a lot of ways, the reason that I like this friendship bracelet drop is because it seems a bit more accessible. And like, oh my gosh, like friendship on the blockchain, you get to mint too, they're quote, I mean, free, nothing's free in this world, as we know, but you know what I mean? Free enough. You don't have to pay for this drop. And, you know, there's some type of accessibility. I refrain, I don't love using the word accessibility when it comes to crypto, because it's just, [34:07] it's really still not very accessible. Nothing's ever actually accessible. No. And it's like, you know, Artblocks has a very high floor most of the time. But I think there is this like, [34:15] kind of, [34:16] easiness and there's an easier entry point. And it's a way for people to get into art blocks, perhaps, and purchase an art blocks piece by literally one of the most iconic generative artists and crypto artists, in my opinion, of all time being Snowfro. You know, Donald Judd has, they've always mentioned Donald Judd as a real inspiration for art blocks. And he's really the founding father or one of the founding fathers of minimalist art, which is really associated with [34:46] people like Dan Flavin, Anne Truitt, Agnes Martin, Carl Andre. If you know those names, if you don't, [34:52] Don't bother. But next time that you're wandering around, you know, an American or really any kind of big modern art museum, you will see these names. And really, you know, minimalism was all about, you know, they were interested in making art that avoided the appearance of fine art.

[35:22] between what art can be and where art stops and where kind of like normal life begins. And like, maybe there is no boundary, you know? [35:32] And of course, I'm describing minimalism here, but I think I could very well be describing this project. So I just thought that they pulled really thoughtfully from the movement. And, you know, it's thought provoking, it's action provoking this project, because it literally includes instructions to make a friendship bracelet. And I also just think it's a great piece of art. So, you know, if I was a freshman in college, do writing an undergraduate paper, it would be for me. So I just had to include at the end. [36:02] Or you know you were an undergraduate art historian, or I should say art historian period, when you say, this art asks those questions. Let me tell you, my definition of art. [36:10] or like a good piece of art is that it makes you understand yourself better or someone else better. [36:21] Overpriced gin, which again, for me to just [36:24] kind of, you know, introduce it a tiny bit before you get into it. Cause I, I really, I don't think it's been talked about enough. So I'm excited to, to chat through it, but, um, [36:34] I think that there's what you've done with your product is it's been a super creative evolution as to like what merch can actually be. And I think it's open ended to kind of where you can take it. And I think, you know, a lot of Web2, Web3, just projects in general have been trying to figure that merch piece out. I think Boys Club does an amazing job. They have the best clothing merch like of all time, but very few projects can actually execute it in that way.

[37:04] So I think that you've actually brought a new and innovative kind of product to the market with what you've done. So I'd love to just hear kind of the rollout and the inspiration behind it and where you see it going. [37:16] Well, thank you so much. [37:19] You know, it's funny being an NFT podcaster and not having your own NFT, which was the position I was in for a long time. And that was very intentional. And I've even spoken publicly about why I didn't launch an NFT or why I didn't want to launch an NFT. And I think part of it was that I was in a bit of a narrow mindset about it, which is as a podcaster, as a media business person, I felt like if I launched an NFT, what could I offer for me? [37:41] which is like alpha chats or you end up being something like what Proof has done or admit one though. Obviously both have now branched out in all sorts of ways, but it was like that was sort of a model. You're stuck in a discord. Correct. I'm stuck in creating an alpha chat and I did not want to create an alpha chat. I've been very public about being like I'm actually somewhat introverted and the idea of having to always be on or always responding to people online or running a discord would be very energy draining for me and was not something I was willing to do. [38:11] I saw the value in having an NFT and the experience of building an NFT program out. And I'd advise projects, so I wasn't entirely unfamiliar with that by any means. But the path hadn't immediately been there. So I – simultaneously, I'd been advising a company called Liquid Collections founded by Kit Kodik, who founded Liquor.com, turned Liquor.com into really like the premier BevAlk trade industry publication. Wild URL. Like that is the URL. Yeah, he had the URL.

[38:41] back in like the mid 2000s or whatever it was. I was like, great, I'm going to turn this into a thing. And he did. And then he sold it. And now he's starting a company called Liquid Collections and he has a tremendous Rolodex and contact list within the BevAlk industry. So I'd been helping him out, making some Web3 connections for him. He's just a phenomenal person. And when the one-year anniversary of Overbrice JPEGs was... [39:05] coming or happening, I was like, hey, could we do like a bespoke spirit for overpriced JPEGs that we gift to guests of the show and friends of the podcast, et cetera. So that was the genesis of this. We did this as a gift. I partnered with Amber Vittoria to make the artwork with Liquid Collections, the design of the bottle. It looks amazing. It looks beautiful. And [39:24] After we launched that kit from Liquid Collections and his partner came to me and they were like, you know, Carly, it's really hard to start a craft spirit line always. That's just a difficult thing. It's a sexy industry. It's a highly regulated industry. [39:36] With all that said, we've been in this industry, both of us, for 20 years and have a lot of [39:42] overpriced gin as a name, as a brand, the look, the feel, you and your story have the ingredients [39:49] to make a go at building [39:51] a craft spirits brand. Would you be interested? And I was like, yeah, a hundred percent. Absolutely. And so that's what has kicked off this next phase where we started by doing an open edition sale that's actually still ongoing because I want to make like, I want to give people a little bit more of a sense of what we're doing, which- That'll also be linked in the show notes below. So you guys can go and buy one. Carly was kind enough to give me a gift. And I also bought one, of course, because I needed to support. But it's a really easy imaging experience and it's very affordable.

[40:20] It's 0.065. That was the big thing was I was like, you know, when we thought about pricing it. So what I've put out there is, you know, you buy this NFT, you can redeem it for a bottle of gin. [40:30] we were saying end of February as with everything in this piece. I think it's probably going to have to be more like March. Exactly. Yeah. Hey, time is a construct. It doesn't matter anyway. Time doesn't exist. It'll almost certainly be this quarter, but it looks like it'll probably be early March as opposed to late February. And so you can redeem it for a bottle of gin. There are restrictions. We can't ship internationally. We can't ship to every state in the United States. So if you really want it and you're in a state we can't ship to, I'm going to do everything I can to get you one. And so you can redeem the bottle and then this [41:00] We're going to be doing this year virtual and some IRL stuff. So more to be revealed on that. But I was like, you know – [41:08] We're pricing this at 0.065 ETH. [41:11] because I want to just know that I can deliver the value I'm asking for you. Like we're not making money, any money we're making, we're completely deploying back into these things. And we're still going to be paying sort of out of pocket and through sponsors for most of the stuff we're going to do for this because – [41:26] I was like, I just want to create value. Like I'm not in a place in my career where I'm trying to ask for stuff from my community so much as like I want to give more value than I can ask for. So always like, you know, don't treat this like a financial instrument. Hopefully you want to get access to the IRL and virtual stuff and you want some gin and that's why you buy this. But I'm just so excited and it does – it just becomes fun to brainstorm. Not everything is going to be possible but different things you can do with it. And I'm excited to –

[41:53] which we haven't kicked off yet and probably won't for another number of months because we've got [41:57] things we're doing in the meantime, but like you starting to play around with, if we were to build this in a brand and it's now beyond web three and it's, it's using web three as the origin, but like what else could we do with this? And I think that's unique in that you're actually starting with web three as the origin and then going and moving into a physical product. Like people, like that's very new. Like that's something that you're doing that like, [42:20] that's a new concept. And I think like the doors are open and like you're leading the way on what that looks like and what that really means. Thank you. Yeah. And thinking about it from the out the gate as like not thinking of the NF, the NFT is the product and it isn't right. It's the portal into the product, but also then can be used for, yeah, totally. Which is always true about NFTs. NFTs are always a portal, but I think, I think we're, there's been a lot of history of people not really necessarily fully getting that or projects like [42:50] like the product. And that was my fear with an alpha group is that the NFT essentially gets treated as the product, even though the alpha is the product. It just, it gets messy. So I'm really happy that this is the route we were able to go. And I think one of my big takeaways is like, there's so much that's exciting. And for me, what gets me excited is finding the right partners. So having partners like Kit and Liquid Collections just made this such an easy yes, because I wasn't, I'm not going it alone. And so Kit's going to come on the podcast soon, so people will get a sense of it more. Exciting. [43:18] Anyway, yes, thank you for letting me opine about it. No, no, it's very exciting. And, you know, I just I think that, you know, you have such kind of high value collaborators as well. And I think one of the big takeaways, even from, you know, you just you just sharing here is that there's more to come with it. Maybe there's IRL events. Who's to say you did mention you just said that? Who's to say? I don't know. But you are hinting. We won't get into it.

[43:48] you might be able to experience outside of just like drinking some nice gin. There might be more. So you can take that as you may, or as you wish. But it seems like there's some exciting things to come. Thank you so much for being here. [44:00] This was a blast. I cannot wait for your show. I will be the first in line to listen to everything you do. And I just appreciate you having me on.