My goal with these trading cards is simple: build a community around art.
I'm incredibly grateful to already have an amazing foundation, from longtime supporters before NFTs to collectors I've met throughout the NFT era. I believe another NFT cycle is on the horizon, but rather than waiting for it, I want to keep building now through physical collectibles and meaningful experiences.
To me, trading cards are the perfect bridge between physical and digital collecting. Today they're cardboard, tomorrow they can evolve into connected physical and digital experiences.
This isn't about building a single IP or parody series. It's about creating a growing universe around my art, connecting with collectors, and building something meaningful that we can grow together.
I've always seen this collectible card project as a bridge between communities.
At its core, it's about art, collecting, rarity, trading, and the nostalgia that brings people together. As it grows, I hope it can also help connect traditional collectors with new opportunities and technology, without requiring anyone to jump into crypto or Web3 to enjoy the experience.
Long term, this creates a foundation to connect more of my worlds together, including Genzee, Chunkies, Icons Unmasked, Adorable Circle of Life, Unpopular Culture, and more.
My goal is simple: build a community around creativity, collecting, and a shared love for the artwork while welcoming new collectors into the space.
As a thank you, Genzee holders who back the campaign will receive a little something special after the Kickstarter ends. More details soon.
Really excited to finally share what I've been working on with everyone! 🚀
Almost ready! 🚀 Kickstarter launches this Wednesday!
I see the collectible card project as a bridge between communities. At its core, it's about the art, collecting, rarity, trading, and the nostalgia that brings people together.
As the project grows, I hope it can also help connect traditional collectors with the opportunities and technology emerging in Web3, without requiring people to jump into crypto or tokens to be part of the experience.
Most importantly, this project is about building a community around creativity, collecting, and a shared love for the artwork. Excited to finally share what I've been working on with everyone! :D
Per @Dune data from 49 queried chains:
@USDC transactions grew from 31 Million (Jul '24) to 613 Million (Jan '26).
20x in 18 months.
As of January:
- @0xPolygon and @Base lead with 68% of total transactions.
- The other 32% is distributed across 47 networks.
Have been following reactions to what I said about L2s about 1.5 days ago.
One important thing that I believe is: "make yet another EVM chain and add an optimistic bridge to Ethereum with a 1 week delay" is to infra what forking Compound is to governance - something we've done far too much for far too long, because we got comfortable, and which has sapped our imagination and put us in a dead end.
If you make an EVM chain *without* an optimistic bridge to Ethereum (aka an alt L1), that's even worse. We don't friggin need more copypasta EVM chains, and we definitely don't need even more L1s. L1 is scaling and is going to bring lots of EVM blockspace - not infinite (AIs in particular will need both more blockspace and lower latency than even a greatly scaled L1 can offer), but lots.
Build something that brings something new to the table. I gave a few examples: privacy, app-specific efficiency, ultra-low latency, but my list is surely very incomplete.
A second important thing that I believe is: regarding "connection to Ethereum", vibes need to match substance.
I personally am a fan of many of the things that can be called "app chains". For example I think there's a large chance that the optimal architecture for prediction markets is something like: the market gets issued and resolved on L1, user accounts are on L1, but trading happens on some based rollup or other L2-like system, where the execution reads the L1 to verify signatures and markets. I like architectures where deep connection to L1 is first-class, and not an afterthought ("we're pretty much a separate chain, but oh yeah, we have a bridge, and ok fine let's put 1-2 devs to get it to stage 1 so the l2beat people will put a green checkmark on it so vitalik likes us").
The other extreme of "app chain", eg. the version where you convince some government registry, or social media platform, or gaming thing, to start putting merkle roots of its database, with STARKs that prove every update was authorized and signed and executed according to a pre-committed algorithm, onchain, is also reasonable - this is what makes the most sense to me in terms of "institutional L2s". It's obviously not Ethereum, not credibly neutral and not trustless - the operator can always just choose to say "we're switching to a different version with different rules now". But it would enable verifiable algorithmic transparency, a property that many of us would love to see in government, social media algorithms or wherever else, and it may enable economic activity that would otherwise not be possible.
I think if you're the first thing, it's valid and great to call yourself an Ethereum application - it can't survive without Ethereum even technologically, it maximizes interoperability and composability with other Ethereum applications.
If you're the second thing, then you're not Ethereum, but you are (i) bringing humanity more algorithmic transparency and trust minimization, so you're pursuing a similar vision, and (ii) depending on details probably synergistic with Ethereum. So you should just say those things directly!
Basically:
1. Do something that brings something actually new to the table.
2. Vibes should match substance - the degree of connection to Ethereum in your public image should reflect the degree of connection to Ethereum that your thing has in reality.
🚨POLYGON SURGES AS LEADING PAYMENTS SETTLEMENT LAYER IN Q4
Polygon emerged as the top settlement layer for payments in Q4, with transaction volume jumping 399% YoY to $3.57B, driven by accelerating adoption from payment cards and enterprises.
Royalties are tough, especially for projects that raised hundreds of millions early on. But maybe the model just needs to be reframed. Holders aren’t just fans, they’re essentially holding a piece of the brand when they own a PFP.
I’m saying this both as a founder and as someone who has invested heavily in a lot of blue-chip collections and is deep in the red on many of them.
Seeing projects like Bored Apes keep building great things, but not delivering real value back to holders, is honestly discouraging. It’s great to see innovation, events, partnerships, but at some point the value has to come full circle.
What if royalties didn’t go only to the team?
What if a portion of royalties were automatically distributed back to holders?
Not as a hype airdrop or a one-time event, but continuously.
Each PFP could accumulate a small balance over time, which holders could either claim or continue compounding. Rarer pieces could have slightly higher multipliers, but everyone benefits.
This would:
Give holders real participation in the success of the brand
Create long-term alignment instead of short-term flips
Make belonging to the “exclusive club” meaningful because it actually provides ongoing value
Reduce the heavy reliance on hype cycles and airdrops
It becomes a system where both the team and the holders grow together, and where collecting feels like investing in the brand’s future, not just hoping the floor goes up someday.
Possibly even bring a new NFT cycle back hard af! Just some thoughts, let me know what you guys think?
Maybe thats something I need to make happen too, vs waiting for it to happen.
NFT blue chips are bleeding even after major announcements, but I still see massive potential in being part of these networks and collections. Building community and staying connected in this space might sound corny, but it’s still one of the biggest keys to long-term upside, not just a floor price pump.
That said, even though I’m deep in the red on most of my NFT conviction plays, I’m still here to connect with and build alongside the ones crazy enough to keep believing in web3. I still truly think it’s the future.
Some of mine: Genzee, Apes, Doodles, Otherside