Supporting NFT Artists – Stazie

Supporting NFT Artists - Stas

Participants:

• Nadja Bester (CEO & Co-founder of AdLunam)

• Stas Zlobinski (Co-founder of OG Hedgie & Founder of NFT Goat)

00:22

Nadja

Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening, everyone. Can I please get your favorite emoji if you can hear me so I can do a sound check? Alright, awesome. So good day, web3 twitter. Before we get the show on the road, I'm going to allow some time for more folks to come into the room. In the meantime, if you have been wanting to get involved with AdLunam's non-fungible talent, season one, great news. Over 150 entries and counting. The deadline has been extended, so get your entry in all details available on the AdLunam twitter. And then I also have a very special announcement. Because of what we are talking about today, we have a very cool topic that we'll be talking about supporting NFT artists with our guest speaker who is the co-founder of Hedgie. We will also be raffling one OG Hedgie NFT during the show.

01:28

Nadja

So please stay tuned until the end of the hour when we will be selecting a winner. So with that, I think we've got a couple of people in the room. So I am going to kick off today's show. Hey, web3 world. This is Nadja Bester from AdLunam, and you are listening to the Future of NFTs, the show that looks beyond current NFT use cases and dives into what Non Fungible Token technology is evolving into. All this as seen through the eyes and built by the minds of the fascinating, absolutely fascinating guest speakers that we speak to each week, AdLunam is the only IDO Launchpad that rewards attention with allocation. Our Engage to Earn platform features, dynamic NFT investor profiles, NFT allocation fractionalization, and our one of a kind Proof of Attention allocation mechanism. You can catch the Future of NFTs live on Twitter spaces every Tuesday same time, and also subscribe to us on your favorite podcast streaming platform for any of the episodes that you have missed out on.

02:39

Nadja

03:54

Nadja

So I'm very excited to be talking today to Stas Zlobinski, co-founder of Play to Earn NFT Game Hedge, and also co-founder at NFT Goat Studio, a web3 creative agency that curates and organizes NFT galleries, supports NFT artists and offers NFT consulting. So if you tuned in for the website a few weeks ago with Galen Hogg, co-founder at Toronto's NFT Social Club NFTO, you'll recall our conversation about the overall supportive nature of the local Canadian NFT scene. Today, Stas will be telling us what it involves to support NFT artists and the many creative ways in which this can be achieved, including via a project like Hedge, which is the first NFT project out of Toronto, second in Canada, by exposing players to the diverse artwork of the NFT art that it uses in game. Stas has been an entrepreneur for the past 25 years and has extensive experience in marketing, project management, and director of operations.

05:05

Nadja

So stay tuned for insights into the Future of NFTs from a highly seasoned professional. And as always, if you would like to ask us a question, either put in a speaker request at the end of the show or DM your question to the AdLunam Twitter handle AdLunam Inc. and you can specify whether you'd like me to use your username. I default to keeping questions sent to us via DM anonymous, but just let me know if you're happy for me to use your name. So, Stas, thank you so much for joining us today. Welcome. I am freezing here in Europe, so I don't know how you are feeling up in Canada, but summer is definitely over and winter is coming.

05:47

Stazie

Good morning, Nadja. It's great to be here. Yeah, the summer is over and it's not quite freezing, but it's definitely on the cold side. And where are you based?

06:04

Nadja

I am in the Balkans. I just came from a weekend in the up in the mountains and it was just absolutely freezing. But there was a fireplace and there was lots of wood. So happy to have had a cozy weekend, but at the same time, now I'm back in the city and I don't have the fireplace with me, so I'm back to freezing again. So let's see what the winter is going to hold.

06:27

Stazie

Yeah.

06:30

Nadja

I'm very eager to get into today's topic, but I want to start with the backstory. How did life lead you here? The founder of two NFT focused startups doing amazing work with an entire community of NFT artists and enthusiasts.

06:47

Stazie

07:57

Stazie

Everyone was talking about it, how CryptoKitties broke the network, like people grooming and trading cats on the blockchain. And that captured my attention. And once I learned what that was about and the whole concept behind what NFTs were and what they represented, it immediately hit home for me. I've been in the digital space way before that, working as a digital project manager for advertising agencies. So I've built tons of websites, facebook applications and twitter campaigns and all this kind of stuff. So I was native to that digital world. But then when I understood what the NFTs represented, like the ownership of digital assets, I immediately hit home. And since then I was like, wow, this is amazing. Started getting more and more into it. And with my co-founder, we started bouncing some ideas and that's how Hedgie came about a little bit later on.

08:57

Nadja

Awesome. I love this idea that you touched on where in web3, the surface layer always looks like a lot of fun and sometimes quite silly as well. And so there are many, let's call them serious adulting people in the world who look at something like breeding kittens on the blockchain and go like, oh, that's so stupid, that's so dumb. But the magic of web3is the underlying technology. So we have these initial use cases and they might be a good idea, they might be quite silly, but really what they bring to the fore is all of the limitless possibilities and potential that this technology has. Now, I am curious, you are approaching NFTs from two, I think, very different angles. One, a product led approach where artists created NFTs are leveraged as a resource in a Play to Earn game. And the other, a very targeted focus on supporting founders and artists to leverage NFTs in the startups and in the collections that they would like to bring to life.

10:02

Nadja

So tell us more about what your world looks like on a day to day basis. Working with Hedgie, working with NFT Goat Studio, how do you kind of consolidate all of this with the work that you are doing?

10:17

Stazie

11:26

Stazie

12:36

Stazie

13:41

Stazie

And that was a big experiment. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if anyone is going to show up and be interested. Went on the limp with a friend of mine, Pedro, who later co-founded another NFT project out of Toronto. But we put on that exhibit and actually it had pretty big success. People loved it. A lot of people came about. We found out that there is actually quite a few NFT builders, enthusiasts, artists in Toronto whom we didn't know. So this was a vehicle to discover all these people, for them to come together and meet each other, but also to attract a lot of new people. It was a really good location where there is a lot of traffic. So there was a lot of people just coming in out of curiosity, passing by and like, oh, what is this? Like all the screens on the wall showing this weird monkey images and animated art.

14:48

Stazie

So people were coming in and asking questions. So it's pretty good success. Since then I knew, okay, there is interest for that. So we started doing it on a more kind of operational basis.

15:05

Nadja

What really comes to the fore for me is I also have a background in marketing. I used to own a marketing agency. So I love this idea of being on client side versus an agency side and all the freedom and the flexibility that you have to work on different projects and really just get your creative juices flowing. Because I think in web3, this is exactly the freedom and the sandbox freedom that so many of us have, where you are not only limited to working one specific thing, but you can really let your mind go and end up building projects that are complementary but at the same time really just highlights different aspects of what you are interested in, different visions that you have and different aspects of the industry as well. But absolutely love the concept behind Hedgie and how you have married a game, a Play to Earn game with people's passion for collecting art.

16:03

Nadja

Because I think this is something that we have such a huge focus in the NFT industry on artists creating art, putting it onto the blockchain. But I feel like there's not as much focus on getting people, helping people to collect art. So I really love this approach that you have taken with Hedgie. I think it's an extremely interesting way in which to support artists. That really is not the kind of linear approach that you would imagine. Like for sure, if you are going to be into NFT art, you should do something that's 100% NFT art focused. And what you guys have done with the Play to Earn game is just really coming at it from a completely different angle. So I want to know what is unique about your approach to NFTs, whether this is working with NFTs, creating NFTs, thinking about NFTs, but how do you approach NFTs differently than other people in the industry?

17:03

Stazie

So I think the one point is, as you mentioned with the Hedgie game, we always knew people who are interested in Play to Earn games. A lot of them are also art collectors. Or they appreciate art. And so we wanted to deliberately marry these two things and created a marketplace where you can spend the curio coin which you make in the game on art. So we saw this as a win for everyone. So we bring new collectors to artists, right? So artists expand their collector base. People get introduced to new art and they use the coin they made in the game. So they don't need to necessarily spend a lot of money on really cool art. And because of our connections and our network of artists, we are able to always keep discovering and bringing new amazing artists to our platform and to our players.

18:11

Stazie

So that's been our approach. I can't say it was like that from the very beginning. In the beginning were more like, okay, trying to make different. At first were even thinking to have this coin be accepted by the vendors at even physical stores like in Toronto. We tried to sign like few places and that quickly failed because it's totally not scalable. And it was so hard to even explain to people what the cryptocurrency is and why they should care and all that. So then it was a slow, gradual process. But it finally came to this, to seeing that the art is the best way to create utility for this coin, because it just marries my passions for the game itself and then for artists and NFT art. So that's one thing. And then with the Goat studio, it's similar purpose. It's helping artists to be discovered and helping people to understand and appreciate the technology behind the art.

19:33

Stazie

Right. Like you were saying from the beginning, the surface level is Monkey, JPEGs and whatever, what have you. But really at the heart of it is this amazing technology that allows artists direct relationship with their collectors. It takes out kind of the middleman for the most part. And also it creates this amazing royalty system where artists earn royalties perpetually from the resale of their artworks. If their value in the market grows. Artists are direct beneficiaries of that, which was absolutely not possible before in the traditional art markets. So because of that, we focus on helping young and upcoming artists to enter the NFT space in the meaningful ways. And we put on the art exhibits. And actually now in Toronto, when people saw what we’re doing, even people who organized their own events started inviting us to add the NFT art component to their events.

20:47

Stazie

So that's just a really good sign from the market. That it's. Now people are interested in this. People are curious. And even though we don't really make sales, we put on this exhibit, sales don't necessarily happen a lot. People don't go there and like, oh, I'm going to buy this art. But they do scan the QR codes, they do get interested and they probably follow the artists. And it builds this energy, it builds this momentum, it creates more exposure, both for artists and also it introduces people. I don't know if it's different from anyone or not, but that's what we're doing and we love it. And it feels right.

21:35

Nadja

That is beautiful if it feels right and if it's something that you're passionate about. I think this is something that I always reflect on in web3 is this idea that you are able to really marry the things that you care about, whatever they happen to because this is still this blank canvas where you can paint anything that you want to create on top of it. And this is why this diversity in web3 is so enriching and so just delicious, because there's so many different people with different approaches, different passions, different interests, and the creativity and yeah, I mean, just the innovation that comes out of people going, you know what? I like this, and I like this. So what happens if I put this together? It's really cool. But I love what you said about supporting artists in this way. And it building energy, momentum, creating exposure, really helping them to enter the space in a meaningful way.

22:35

Nadja

Because if we think about artists all throughout history, as much as it's something that someone does because it's their passion, they really want to express themselves in this visual way that is meaningful to them, and this is the way they want to show up in the world. But it's always been this space where, I mean, we have these clichés of the starving artist and you can do anything you want, says your parents, but don't become an artist because you want to end up on the street. So we clearly have this history in terms of art where artists were always at a disadvantage and they always had to choose between passion and, of course, the economy. So I wonder now that NFTs really have changed the game in terms of NFT art, but I believe that it's also going to have a wider influence on just the way that artists are seen and approached.

23:30

Nadja

Why is it so important to support NFT artists, especially at this early stage in the game?

23:37

Stazie

Yeah, and I think that's because, like you said, NFT enabled a lot of artists to finally kind of live their dream. Because now that not only they can enjoy their passion of creating art, but they can also be rewarded for it, actually. Right. And for me, it's like the most inspirational thing is seeing an artist whom I followed, let's say for a few months or a year or sometime, and I've seen a couple of these stories, like an artist tweeting. Like today. Finally, I pulled the trigger and I quit my nine to five job and I became a full time artist, thanks to NFTs. And so it's always amazing to see these real stories that enable artists to have the dream life and it's the NFT technology that makes it possible because of this system where the artist controls the royalty, right? And if they keep investing and they keep building, they keep mastering and improving their craft and they keep growing as an artist, they're a direct beneficiary of that process because of every resale that happens.

24:52

Stazie

And we know from history of art how art always grows in value. It's probably one of the best investment vehicles. I mean, of course it's quite risky because you don't know which art will grow or not, but if it does, then it's fantastic. But before, who benefited from this is collectors, right? And the art houses and the dealers and artists didn't get anything from the resale, right? Sometimes enormously higher values that their pieces get resold. But now with the blockchain, it's not the case. Obviously, collectors benefit as well, and so they should. But artists always benefits from getting the royalties. And that's a fantastic system. That in itself is like absolutely groundbreaking and revolutionary thing that NFTs brought to our lives and to the lives of artists and to the humanity. And that's fantastic. So I forgot what the question was.

25:59

Nadja

No, I think you answered it perfectly. I was thinking about this when you were speaking. The incredible thing about this is it's not only because you were saying earlier that a lot of the exhibitions are not necessarily focused on sales, but they are these other really important aspects that are being drawn attention to. And I was thinking about the fact that what has happened because of NFTs is we have a scalable interest in art that didn't exist before. I mean, I know from many artist friends that I have and have had over the years where it really became this niche thing where you had to, I don't know, be a certain kind of person at a certain economic level before you even were at all interested in art. And I think now, because of NFTs, the conversation has just broadened so much. People are appreciating art again in a way that wasn't happening before.

26:57

Stazie

Yes.

26:58

Nadja

Right. So what I find incredibly poetic and I think this is something that you touched on earlier in terms of it's the art on the one hand, and then it's technology on the other. Because if you think about education, you have the Stem in education. What is it? Science, technology, engineering and math, I think. And there's been this push where, okay, we are going to go away from the arts because there's no money and no future in it. And we are just going to focus on these subjects because this is where money is. This is where success is. And the really cool thing about NFTs is it brings together art and technology. And so instead of this binary choice where you have to say, well, I'm either going into this direction or I'm going into the other direction, as an artist, I can now choose both.

27:47

Nadja

So I think this is what's really exciting about this. And I mean, as you say, these success stories of just hearing that someone is for the first time in their life, able to A, make money out of their art or B, even quit their job and focus on being an artist full time. It is really an incredible time for art, but mostly, I think, because the conversation is now on everyone's lips. Whereas before you had to be part of this sort of clicky art community, before art was at all important to you.

28:21

Stazie

Yes. No, I absolutely relate to that because that's my own experience. Like you said, I loved art. As far as I remember myself, I have particular fondness for modern art. I love conceptual art, I love modern art. And I've always went to museums. Like everywhere I travel, I always find the contemporary art or modern art museum that they have. And I go there and always appreciate the art. But before, it was not accessible, it was elite, right? You couldn't afford any of those pieces that museums curate and all this gated community of the art clicks, as you say. But with NFT, it's both on the side of artists, as we just discussed, but also on the side of people being able to appreciate and collect art and support artists. It democratized the space entirely on both sides, which and for me, like, first time I was able to afford and to collect art was after the NFT happened.

29:28

Stazie

And when I saw the kind of talent that it brought in, it's amazing. Right now it's even like probably superseded and definitely competing with all the traditional art channels. So the impact of that is absolutely enormous.

29:46

Nadja

The cool thing about this is these gated communities, as you say, these traditional art spaces, I mean, they are now coming into NFT. So it's really poetic justice in a sense, where before, as an artist, you had to fight your way and claw your way to the top, but really without any hope because it was so much about who you know and what community you're plugged into. And now with NFTs, I mean, you could be anywhere. You could be in the middle of nowhere and still end up making a name for yourself and without knowing anyone. So that's really cool. But I wonder we've been seeing this mighty rise and some people have been calling it a spectacular fall as well of NFT art over the last year. So what do you think is the Future of NFT art?

30:33

Stazie

31:48

Stazie

It's just a better way of doing business, of doing art, right? Like, it's a better way for artists to distribute their art and for collectors to collect art and support artists and to have this direct relationship. But it's just that. It's just the technology that enables all of this. Right, but the value of art and the value of any kind of projects, if we're talking about art, it's the value of art. It has to be realized by itself. Right. I just mean that NFT just enables it, but within it's like any other technology. Like, businesses will compete and some will rise faster than others and some will fail. All of that is normal. It's just a better way of organizing all that art space and art industry, but within it, all the same human formats apply where you need to find your own audience, you need to, like, continuously deliver value to them.

33:03

Stazie

And because if you don't, then you know, why should people care? Like, why should you be successful? Right? It's not magic. It's just a better way of doing things. So I think for me, the future is now. We're kind of like, been through the Wild West phase of the NFT and now we're entering into more the space is maturing, right? We're seeing things are being shaken up and all there's lots and lots of crap projects and money grabs and rug pools and all this kind of stuff, obviously, which is part of, unfortunately, like, the Wild West, the new industry creation phase of any industry. So we've kind of like, thankfully been through that and coming out on the other end with better modified, more kind of, I guess, value driven focus now. Right? So that's how I see the NFT space evolving. It's just the things that are valuable, the artists that are really authentic, amazing and rising to the top, and it's just normalizing that way.

34:19

Nadja

Yeah. I really absolutely love this point you make that NFT is as amazing as it is as a technology and as a new vehicle of distribution of art and utility and business use cases at the end. It isn't magic. And there is, in fact, unfortunately, sadly, no magic wand or magic pull. For anything the same. As you say, rules apply. Maybe in a new industry things are different, it might even be easier. But at the end of the day, there's nothing that's going to swipe this wand and then everything is magically going to be the happy ever after. So I think this is a really important point you touched on because as you said, markets are cyclical and we've seen this I've been in the industry for years, so I've also seen this up and down. And yes, it is very scary for people who are new to the industry, especially if you have money, if you have skin in the game, whether as a project or whether as an investor or as an artist.

35:22

Nadja

36:18

Nadja

36:31

Stazie

Yeah, you're absolutely right. So it feels like the industry is maturing and it's coming out of this hype Wild West phase and into more kind of sustainable value creation phase where the project that deliver value will rise to the top and will be built in a sustainable way as long lasting businesses. Or I guess in the case of artists like the artists that have authentic honest artists that put on the work and grow their communities and create this meaningful relationships with their communities or grows as artists. From that perspective outside of art, definitely I think there is good and bright Future for the NFTs and we are starting to see some of the other use cases and applications beyond art and beyond in game assets. Obviously, the gaming industry is another top level, obvious use case for NFTs where you truly own the digital assets, the achievements in the game, whatever game you like to play, you don't rely on the centralized game owners that can take that away from you.

37:58

Stazie

But you put the effort and your own investment and you own this thing. So that's another obvious use case. And then we've seen some music getting onto Blockchain and musicians releasing their songs or albums directly through NFTs again without relying on record labels, which is another gated way, the gatekeepers of creativity, but building direct relationships with their audience and selling their songs as NFTs or whatever way they build that meaningful relationship with their followers. Right? And this is all like early stages and people experimenting a lot. Another big aspect is membership where NFTs represent some kind of club membership with ongoing benefits. Like we've seen that with for example, Bored Ape Yacht Club which started as Monkey, as a collection of Monkey JPEGs, but then evolved into this real value driven club membership where they keep delivering new values to their community members and they keep innovating and they keep building.

39:27

Stazie

So that's another big one. And then another one we've seen is fashion. So like fashion brands jumping into space and experimenting and innovating. Like Adidas last year released this NFT which they attached to physical merchandise. Like if you own the NFT, you can claim, I believe it was like four items, four different physical closing items over the year. And then you claim it, you burn the NFT. So you burn that phase one, what they started calling phase one NFT and you burned that. But you get a phase two NFT which now has some kind of utility next year or something like that. And now we're seeing like Dolce and Gabbana just recently launched something similar where they have the collection of this digital assets NFTs, which each one representing a certain closing item that you can claim. So this is early days and of course, naturally there is a lot of experimentation going on and all kinds of industries and brands are entering the space and trying to figure out how to play this game.

40:51

Stazie

The other one is real estate. For me, real estate actually is a very interesting case because there's just so much bureaucracy and old world kind of like unnecessary well, I don't know, it's seemingly unnecessary structures in place and that is ripe for disruption. And we already started seeing the first attempts to innovate in the space like I believe in us somewhere, like someone sold did for the real estate property on Blockchain. But again, obviously there's just such an industry with humongous legal requirements and constraints is not easy to disrupt and to make right, but it is definitely, I think, open for disruption and asking for it. If someone figures out how to make this really well on Blockchain, that's a no brainer because why create obstacles for people trading whatever it is, whatever assets it is, right? And let's say houses. It's such a difficult market currently, but if we can make it easier and somehow create trading, like create liquidity and easy processes on chain, I think that will be a focus probably for a lot of innovation and then other industries like that.

42:23

Stazie

If there's any physical assets that can be represented on the blockchain, we'll probably start seeing more and more of that. So on the top level, those are the ways I see the space developing in the near future. And of course there's probably, as always a lot of things that is hard to even think of and the future always holds surprises. And I'm curious myself to see where.

42:52

Nadja

We go from here 100% on this idea that there are some industries that for sure are not as easy to disrupt. I mean these dinosaur industries that have really held power for so long that we don't even question the way that things are done. And it is for sure going to take time, especially for something like NFTs where we move in stages, we move in phases and it's this process of gradual unfolding before different industries are affected by it. But for sure a very exciting space and a very exciting time to be alive and to be involved. Now I'm wondering in terms of this, let's say mass adoption of NFTs, whatever that might mean, I mean it means different things to different people but what do you think is hindering progress towards a future where more people are using NFTs on a daily basis for many different use cases in different industries?

43:52

Stazie

Yeah, well, I think for one it's still difficult for, so to say, uninitiated person to really enter the space just in terms of creating a wallet has become enormously easier. So that's good. So now you can go online with a couple of clicks. You can create a MetaMask wallet or Tesla's wallet or Solana wallet. So that part is easy, but then getting the money exchanged is not so easy. And especially now with a lot of regulatory institutions in different countries like kicking in and creating hurdles for people. Like in Canada we have all kinds of regulations with limits and this and that and you have to do KYC, that stuff is not easy still. But I don't know if there is a way around that because obviously the governments and the financial power structures know that they don't want to lose control. So it's unfortunately part of the environment that we live in.

45:03

Stazie

But that's hard, right? I met someone through our exhibitions and our NFT galleries. I met and, like, this girl saw an artist. And then, like, later we met serendipitously somewhere else, and she was saying, like, oh, I know this artist, Joshua, like, his pop wonderland collection. And I really love that art, and I just couldn't figure out how to buy it right. Like, wow. Okay. Obviously we can help her, and we can sit for a few minutes and go through the steps, but it's not easy. So I think that's a big one. And then the other thing is just takes time for mass adoption. People start seeing it, people start hearing about it, and they get curious. And then you need to build up enough motivation for you to actually jump through all these hoops to really get into this game. And I think that scale has not tipped over where it becomes like truly mass adoption.

46:13

Stazie

47:12

Nadja

Yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to the time where getting into the space is as easy as opening your browser and connecting to Facebook. Because for sure this is needed for people who don't have the technical background and the capacity or the willingness even to, as you say, jump through all of these hoops to be able to do perform what could be a really simple transaction. But because of the way that web3 is still structured, it's not as simple or as easy. I'm looking at the time. Unfortunately there's always only 1 hour. I absolutely hate this because there's so many amazing insights and I could talk for hours and for sure listen for hours. But I'm going to ask you one last question before I open it up to the audience. I just audience quickly want to draw your attention. Hedgie is going to be a raffling, an NFT.

48:06

Nadja

So please make sure the announcement is pinned on the screen. So please make sure that you follow the steps that are required. And yeah, let's see who is going to be the lucky winner of an NFT today. So what is your philosophy about web3 changing lives?

48:29

Stazie

I mean, I've been a believer since the early days. So I think web3 on balance is a great evolutionary lip for humanity. It comes, of course, with its own dangers and cautions. And this is actually one other thing I wanted to mention in the previous context of what are the hurdles it's like because in web3 you are the sovereign custodian of your own funds and that comes with costs, right? It's so important and critical to understand how things work. So you protect yourself from scams. And unfortunately, every area in life, web3 has been ripe with lots of scams and lots of people trying to take advantage. So that's just another hurdle like education. It really is important. People take responsibility for their own situation, their own wallets and their own seat phrases and so on. That's not easy. That's a shift in philosophy in your own head, like in your approach, and I've been wrecked.

49:47

Stazie

I know a lot of people in the space have been wrecked. It hurts and it's unfortunate, but unfortunately that's part of life in Web3. But even with all of that, and I think there's some improvements to be made on the technology side to make it much harder for Scammers and easier for normal people. There's all of that and we are in the early days and we are learning and everyone is innovating and improving. But my philosophy about Web3 is that it's definitely changing our lives for the better. It makes us more responsible and more sovereign as individuals and it creates more sustainable, direct relationship communities between creators and their fans, their followers, and it forges all these different interesting relationships and collaborations. I think it's great. It just requires us to be a little bit more irresponsible, to take a little bit more control and responsibility for our own finances, for our own lives, passions and so on.

51:01

Stazie

So overall, I think it's absolutely positive and I think the future is certainly promising.

51:13

Nadja

You hit the nail on the head. This paradigm shift that people need to make from the traditional, not just financial system, but all of the traditional systems, where we have not been sovereign in terms of anything. If anything, we've just been the product. We've been nothing more than that. And it's like this illusion of control where, oh, you can change your profile picture, see how in control you are. And now we are really learning how to take control of our own lives, of our finances, of the way that we show up online in a way that really is very different from the way that we've done things before. And as you say, unfortunately, there sometimes are some school fees involved where you make mistakes. Not everyone is out for everyone's best will out there. So you make those mistakes and you learn from them. So, yes, education 100% is so incredibly important, which is why we are so honored to have spaces like these where people can come and just listen to people in the industry and really learn from all of the insights that they've gained over the years that they've been here.

52:18

Nadja

So I'm going to give the audience what they want because I see there's already a good number of questions coming into our inbox. It has been an absolute pleasure talking to you, sir, about the role and the Future of NFTs and NFT Art and of course, how you are personally shaping this ongoing global narrative with Hedgie and with NFT Goat Studio. So, audience, a reminder, if you haven't done so yet and you would still like to ask a question, go ahead and put in a speaker request or you can just send your question to the AdLunam Twitter handle. So let me see, first one here. Do you have a favorite chain to mint your NFTs? What makes it better than others?

52:58

Stazie

54:13

Nadja

Next question. What tips do you have to sell my NFT art?

54:20

Stazie

Yeah, this is always a tough one because obviously we want to sell our art, we want to sell our project. For me, it's like you be authentic, you put your best effort in. Sometimes it's probably uncomfortable for a lot of artists to sell themselves, but you need to kind of just, I think, view it not as selling like shilling and all that, but just letting people know and be consistent. Use Twitter, support other artists, put out your work and put your best foot forward. I don't know. I mean, there is no magic, but through consistency and effort, you will forge some interesting relationships, some opportunities will come along. It just takes work, consistency and passion to keep doing it. Despite all the difficulties, and especially right now in the bear market, it's doubly true and important to just being authentic, putting on your best effort and being consistent.

55:29

Nadja

Next question. Do you support only local artists or can I also apply to join your NFT exhibitions? I'm in Africa.

55:39

Stazie

Yeah, no, we curate and all kinds of different themes for each exhibit is different and quite more often than not, it's global and it's not local artists. Even though our physical, real life exhibits are obviously in Toronto where we're based most of them, we do invite global artists to participate. For example, right now, if you look at the Goat Studio Twitter, we have call to artists to submit their Halloween themed artwork for our next gallery, which is about to start next week and is going to last until the Halloween. So that's absolutely open to global artists. And most of what we do is always global, but sometimes it's local. Most is global, though. Yes.

56:32

Nadja

Awesome audience. So if you are an NFT artist, a please enter AdLunam's Non Fungible Talent season one, we are waiting for you and B get connected to NFT Goat Studio because it sounds like there are a lot of opportunities for you out there. So, final question, maybe because I see the time is running out. If I want to invest in NFT art, what should I check?

56:58

Stazie

Yeah. So again, this is very personal for me. When I started it's, follow my passion, what do I like, what speaks to me, because in the end, this is art and art is very subjective. Some people like what is the masterpiece for some people will be total garbage for other people, right? But as an investor, I guess I've always approached it as an art collector first. Like I if I like something, I appreciate it and I just want to have it, right? Like I, I want to I really love this piece. This piece speaks personally to me and I really want to buy it. And then whether or not it grows in value in the future, it's secondary concern. For me, it's always based on what I love and what speaks to me. And because of that, I obviously missed out on a lot of great opportunities for investment just because the art didn't speak to me, but it became super famous.

58:01

Stazie

And then in terms of investments, it's really hard to say. I don't know. For me, I've always followed my own intuition and it's unscientific, honestly. It's really personal and intuitive. But you can watch trends and I know some people follow, you can follow other investors as a strategy, but I personally don't do any of that. I support the artists that I like and the art that speaks to me. And then if it becomes successful and amazing and grows in value later, that's an absolute bonus.

58:48

Nadja

Awesome. I think what I'm taking away from speaking to you today is just the importance of pursuing what you love. Going out there, not only having the single minded goal of what is going to make me the most gains, but really just having fun along the way. Because if you are passionate about something like art, then this is an amazing ride to be on. I mean, this is such an exciting time in the world. But unfortunately, speaking of time, all things must eventually come to an end and today's episode is no different. So audience, just before we sign off, a reminder that Hedgie is giving away an NFT, which will be raffled just after the space ends, which is going to be in a few seconds. So make sure that you are in line with that and you've done everything that is required. So, Stas, thank you so much for sharing with us, really on point thoughts on all things NFT and NFT art.

59:44

Nadja

Audience, stay up to date with what Stas and his teams are doing over at Hedgie on Twitter at hellohedgie or visit the site hedgie.io and also with NFT Goat Studio on Instagram at nft_goat. So is there anywhere else that you would also like to bring the audience's attention to or whether you would like to visit them or any exciting things. I know you said that you have an NFT exhibition coming up for Halloween. Where can people see this?

Stazie

Oh, that one is you mentioned nft_goat on Instagram, which is true, but also on Twitter, I think it's Nftgoat_art, if I'm not mistaken. But you will find it like if you follow hellohedgie. It's all there as well. And yeah, so mostly twitter and for Goat studio, like NFT underscore Goat on Instagram. And if I may, just like one last point on this investment question, super important, no matter what anyone says, is do your own research, of course, but also be really careful with your money. Don't spend the money you're not willing to lose. This is highly like, if you approach this as investment, this is highly high. Want people to be safe and to play. Like you said, very important. Just take it as fun, play with it, but play with the money that you don't depend on for your livelihood. Right?

Nadja

Yeah. Couldn't have said it better myself. So play, but play responsibly. So with that, unfortunately, dearly beloved audience who invest your time into broadening your perspectives about the Future of NFTs and all it entails on a weekly basis, it has been a pleasure as always to share this time with you. I am also going to be announcing the winner of today's raffle for an OG Hedgie NFT. This is Kimberly. So, Kimberly, congratulations. The Hedgie team will be reaching out to you there's really cool new NFT that you are now the owner of. So guys, catch you again next week for another episode of The Future of NFTs, brought to you by AdLunam and Stas. Thank you so much. Looking forward to what you guys are doing and we'll be following along with you. Cheers, everyone.

Stazie

NadJa, it's absolute pleasure. All the best, everyone.

Nadja

Guys, have a good day. Speak soon. Cheers.

Stazie

Cheers. Bye.