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Collector since April 14, 2024

Favorite Podcasts

"Believe in Something" with 1confirmation Founder Nick Tomaino | ZEROPOD S2 E6

What do you get when you cross a middleschool sneakerhead, a Bitcoin pizza-esque 30 million dollar engagement ring, and a knack for spotting the next big thing onchain? You get Nick Tomaino, crypto OG and founder of iconic crypto venture fund 1confirmation. On this episode of ZEROPOD, host Toady Hawk digs in with Nick about working at Coinbase in the very early days, the passion for collecting that led him from copping kicks and rare books to NFTs and ERCs, and founding and running one of the most successful early investment funds in the space. Nick also talks candidly about his bull case for Degen, Farcaster and Ethereum (he thinks one of those will even one day flip Bitcoin), why Ethereum doesn’t need a Michael Saylor, and what he thinks is the best advice for new investors in the space: just believe in something. --- Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro: Find Something More to Believe In Nick shares advice for new traders and the importance of conviction beyond money. 1:02 – Welcome to ZEROPOD: Meet Nick Tomaino Introduction to Nick’s background as an early Coinbase employee and founder of 1confirmation. 2:02 – Nick’s Sneaker-Collecting Days How basketball and sneaker culture shaped Nick’s early passion for collecting. 3:39 – The Collector Gene: Rare Books and Americana Nick’s family history of collecting and how it influenced his love for rare books and later NFTs. 6:42 – Crypto vs. Rare Books: Liquidity and the Future of Collectibles Nick compares the illiquidity of traditional collectibles to the fluidity of NFTs. 10:21 – College Days: Economics and a Focus on Making Money Why Nick studied economics and his early ambitions to optimize for financial success. 12:42 – Learning About Venture Capital How Fred Wilson’s blog inspired Nick’s interest in venture capital and crypto. 15:16 – Joining Coinbase: Early Days of Bitcoin Adoption Nick’s journey to Coinbase in 2013, hustling his way into the company, and working on business development. 20:03 – Starting 1confirmation: Supporting Early Crypto Projects Nick explains the genesis of 1confirmation and its focus on being the first check into game-changing projects. 22:00 – Why the Name 1confirmation? The blockchain-inspired reasoning behind the fund’s name. 23:49 – Opensea and CryptoKitties: Early Investments Nick’s experience with CryptoKitties and why he believed in Opensea’s potential. 26:47 – Degen: Why Social Tipping Matters The evolution of tipping mechanisms in crypto and their role in driving adoption. 30:36 – Thoughts on Farcaster and Decentralized Social Media Nick discusses Farcaster as the best decentralized social network and its role in enabling financial opportunities. 36:39 – Farcaster Projects: Clanker, Anoncast, and More Nick evaluates recent Farcaster projects and the importance of experimentation. 40:04 – The Value of In-Feed NFT Minting Nick shares why he believes microtransactions and NFT minting are the next big things for creators. 45:08 – Ethereum’s Strength and Long-Term Potential Why Nick believes Ethereum could flip Bitcoin and the importance of innovation over narratives. 49:12 – The Importance of Skin in the Game How crypto allows more people to have ownership and take risks with real consequences. 52:03 – The Future of Farcaster: Financial Opportunities Nick’s vision for how Farcaster can thrive by giving users more ways to make money. 53:03 – What’s Exciting in 2025? Pro-Crypto Policies and Innovation Nick shares his optimism about potential regulatory changes and new product developments. 56:00 – Advice for Newcomers: Conviction and Curiosity Final advice for those new to crypto: find something to believe in beyond making money. 58:14 – Wrap-Up: Believe in Something More Closing remarks and gratitude for the conversation. -- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

ZEROPOD SPOTLIGHT #3: "Obsessed with the Craft of Content" feat. Cameron Armstrong of Seemore.tv

If the internet decides what’s funny, Cameron Armstrong (@cameron on farcaster) has spent his career listening closely to find out. In this edition of our popular ZEROPOD Spotlight series, the Seemore.tv founder shares how he’s helping creators escape the “content algorithm lottery” and why our completionist instinct is one of humanity’s most underrated traits. We explore Farcaster’s journey from tight-knit weirdo haven to high-value creator launchpad, the challenge of minting new platform stars, and the magic of Mandarin oranges on sticks (what?) Whether you’re trying to build a personal brand, a community, or create content like his “OK Banger” podcast, Cameron’s got plenty of advice and anecdotes and you won’t want to miss this conversation. — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - “Content Quality Arms Race” 00:47 - ZEROPOD Intro 02:05 - Crypto space needs more video content 04:15 - The Right Kind of Cringe 05:31 - The thing you can consistently do the longest is what you’ll be the best at 07:04 - The Cameron Origin Story: Military beginnings 08:32 - Harvard Business School 09:32 - E-commerce startup 10:35 - Illicit Farcaster Beginnings 11:50 - “A Bunch of Weirdos in a Room” 12:26 - Farcaster, then and now 15:09 - What is seemore.tv 17:58 - “If Linktree and Google Analytics had a baby” 20:55 - Badges for pod collectors 21:27 - Minting is a patronage behaviour for podcasts 23:00 - A minted episode is a creator tip with a lindy receipt 25:00 - The future promise of Ethereum Attestations 26:22 - The Seemore Story (pivot! pivot!) 30:00 - Problems with current business models for creators 32:00 - Conflicts of interest risk with advertising partnerships 34:00 - The advantage to bad actors in crypto 36:00 - The Seemore List 37:00 - The importance of finding values aligned sponsors for content 38:00 - Does Farcaster have enough interesting people? 40:00 - Rewarding creators is baked into the system on Farcaster 41:50 - The Content Valley of Death 43:00 - Problems with spam filters and dopamine triggers 45:18 - Cam’s got alts 46:00 - You don’t get to decide what’s funny on the internet 47:24 - Why is he bullish on Farcaster? 49:00 - OK Banger 50:53 - From Band Kid to Bangers 51:52 - Outro --- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk x Suno AI. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

"Higher is a Mindset" with Martin Anquetil, founder of Higher and creator of Aether AI | ZEROPOD SEASON 2 E3

What does it mean to build a brand without a leader, a strategy, or even a plan? In this episode of ZEROPOD, I sit down with Martin Anquetil, one of the founders of $HIGHER, the headless memecoin brand redefining chaos as culture onchain.  We dive into everything from AI agents breaking bounty bots on Farcaster to an Ethereum stock split, the memecoin meta and the challenges of building a project based on a number-go-up meme even when number doesn’t always go up. Along the way, Martin shares lessons from his time within Nouns, explores the unique challenges of decentralization, and reveals what it takes to survive a 97% token price crash with your optimism and community intact.  We really enjoyed this conversation with Martin, and we hope you do too! — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Figuring out “Can we do this thing?” while doing it   01:00 - ZEROPOD Intro   01:51 - The Martin Origin Story   04:00 - College and Interning at Google   05:00 - Oneshot by Topshot   07:00 - 2021 NFT Season Nostalgia   10:55 - Who the F**k is Buying XRP?   11:50 - Ethereum Stock Split Discussion  15:15 - First Impressions of Nouns   16:15 - Leaving TopShot to Explore Onchain Options   17:50 - Freelancing with Nouns Builder   19:19 - Agora, Explorer Grants, and Other Nouns Initiatives   20:00 - Mogu Mogu Mogu: Nouns Governance Tooling   24:19 - Starting $HIGHER   25:00 - Roots in /bullposting    28:00 - How Would He Launch Higher Today?   32:00 - The Strength of Builders Who Stick Through the Bear   34:00 - “Higher, Not Sideways”  37:30 - Quack Quack ⌐◨-◨:    38:50 - Is $HIGHER a Neo-DAO or Something New?   40:00 - Authenticity vs. Top-Down Control: The Higher Experiment   44:00 - Could $ANON Run a Higher-Like Playbook?   45:00 - Farcaster Users Speed-Running Speculation Lessons   47:00 - $ZEROPOD: Exploring Media and Tokens   49:00 - The Origins of $POINTS on Farcaster   50:50 - “Provenance is Culturally Emergent”   51:00 - Jacob’s Horse Meme and Its Viral Evolution   53:53 - What Is Aether? The AI Agent Shaking Things Up   57:00 - The $LUM Luminous Launch   1:01:00 - Challenges of Community Cohesion in Decentralized Projects   1:02:03 - Questions for Martin from Aether   1:06:00 - What’s Next for Aether? Memory and Autonomy   1:07:00 - Aether on Twitter? Exploring New Platforms   1:08:00 - Balancing Meaningful Building with Market Pressures   1:11:00 - Betting on Yourself and Long-Term Projects   1:14:00 - Martin’s Thoughts on Trading and Staying Grounded   1:16:00 - Coinbase Listings and Meme Coin Dynamics   1:21:00 - What’s Next for Martin and $HIGHER   1:24:00 - Outro: Reflections and the Road Ahead — Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and JackWyldes. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk x Suno AI. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!

Context S4: Decentralized Social Media, Orb and The Creator Economy w/ Jacq, Head of Community + Creators at Orb

In this episode, Blake speaks with Jacq, head of Community and Creators at Orb. Orb is a decentralized social app built on Lens protocol. They chat about the all the possibilities of decentralized social and Orb’s vision going forward. Jacq explains what Orb is, how it’s related to Lens and Bonsai, and outlines the best ways to grow your audience on the platform. Jacq also highlights how Orb is committed to supporting and protecting creators, specifically diving into sticker packs and what makes them so unique. In celebration of the episode, Blake is dropping her own Context Pod sticker pack, which she likes to call "digital merch." If you’re interested in the use cases of decentralized social media, are a creator and/or want to build a bigger/new audience, this one is for you. This episode is in partnership with $BONSAI, who are on the cutting edge of experimenting with AI agents and decentralized social media. They just released Bon(AI) and their flagship agent Sage, who is tipping commenters in $BONSAI, and replying to direct messages in group chats. To engage, join the Bonsai club on Orb with 5,000 $BONSAI tokens in your wallet. Jacq: https://twitter.com/jacqvaca Orb: https://twitter.com/orb_club + https://orb.club/ Blake's Context Orb Club: https://orb.club/c/context Blake’s X: https://twitter.com/blakefinucane Bonsai: https://orb.club/@bonsai + https://twitter.com/bonsaitoken404 Boys Club Newsletter: https://boysclub.beehiiv.com/

Context S4: Does Fashion Make Tech Cool? w/ Maghan McDowell, Senior Innovation Editor at Vogue Business

In the season 4 premier, Blake speaks with Maghan McDowell, senior innovation editor at Vogue Business, and gets a temperature check on how the fashion industry is embracing AI and NFTs. They review some of the most iconic fashion NFT collaborations including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nike, and go over what made them successful and what can be learned from them. Blake even asks if the fashion industry has actually abandoned NFTs and web 3 (spoiler alert: it has NOT!). They talk through one of the most exciting developments in the crypto fashion arena, Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and how Coach is leading the way on this. They continue by chatting about how generative AI will continue impact the fashion industry as well as advances in data science and machine learning. Blake also asks how Maghan defines digital fashion and why we aren’t seeing more influencers wearing digital fashion (***digital tailoring is hard!) They wind down by addressing the growth of Substack, its impact on journalism and Condé  Nast’s partnership with Open AI. If you’re a fashion person or interested in consumer tech, this one is for you. This episode is in partnership with Bonsai, a cross chain social token empowering creators across Lens, ZKsync and Base. This is a token that I actually use and love…you can even collect this episode on Orb with Bonsai :) Maghan’s X: https://twitter.com/MaghanMcD Blake's Context Orb Club: https://orb.club/c/context Blake’s X: https://twitter.com/blakefinucane Bonsai: https://orb.club/@bonsai Boys Club Newsletter: https://boysclub.beehiiv.com/