The Metaverse Web 3 NFTs and Navigating Social Media with ZenApe George

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hey guys Kriben Govender from the gut health gurus  podcast i've got a background in food science   and today i have a very interesting conversation  we've got a guy an aussie guy his name is george   he's got an amazing project called zen  ape and i'm really fascinated to explore   the the whole connection between the evolution  of people moving more online and how it impacts   mental health but also some other very interesting  topics so george firstly welcome to the show thank   you george what i'd like to do at the start of  all my shows is to ask the question who is george who is george um i i am who am i i guess i guess i'm george but i'm not i'm i'm like nobody  but i'm george i i don't i don't i guess in what   aspect are you asking that question it's a very  such a pro it is a broad question it's very open   and it's really up to the uh the guests to tell  the audience a bit about themselves so you can be   as broad and esoteric as you like or you can be as  specific as you like but firstly um you know what   do you do what's your background what's uh what's  the project all about that you're working on yeah so i mean i have a background in in real  estate and i moved into stocks then i moved into   crypto and then i moved into nfts um i think  since maybe july 2021 so i mean when i first   heard about nfts i was kind of like i thought it  was a bit weird and it didn't make a lot of sense   especially like you know the whole crypto punks  selling for millions of dollars and the people um   nft selling for like i don't know how many  millions i'm like tens of millions and um   i started with axi infinity and i learned a  lot about it and then i started to realize the   potential of nfts and that underlying technology  and its potential um yeah and from actually i   went into more nfts the first one i went into was  cybercons and during that time incomes i learned   a lot more about nfts in general uh made a lot of  investments as well as a lot of speculative plays   so made money there lost money there um all  in all it's a good learning experience um   yeah and then from then it was like okay we've  learned so much about nfts and observed so much so   you know let's let's just play around  let's have some fun let's do some stuff   right so you know that one thing led  to another and that led to zen apes   which is the project that i co-founded uh  one of five co-founders and that happened   rather spontaneously there was no um it wasn't  exactly like planned out okay like hey let's   make our own nft and mint it out blah blah  it wasn't quite like that it was more like   okay let's let's do something cool do something  fun so once we did that then we needed to give   we wanted to give it a reason for existence um  you know as the french would say rise on detroit   something like that uh so so what it is  how we would define zx is a community   focused brand and web 3.0 masternode  so you know we want to welcome   people in general you know we have a policy  a philosophy of openness so for us it's about   collaboration and not competition like for  example when generally speaking we're not afraid   to share our ideas um we're not concerned  about being front run and stuff like that   um but there's there's a lot of like um a  lot of projects out there very very siloed   like they keep everything to themselves  it's very insular um we we try to take the   more balanced approach of being you know  just just open-minded and open to people   in general open to to builders to innovators  and to just like you know chills and people   um i mean the motto of the project is wisdom  virtue and mindfulness you can see that in the   open seat description and hopefully  that's also reflected by the behavior   of or zen apes of the founders and of the  mods and or all community members in general   amazing so audience members they're probably   perhaps confused with some of the technologies but  we'll really dig into nfts what nft is what opencv   is because the audience i'm sure this is going  to blow a lot of minds because this information   is very cutting edge in terms of where the  technology is headed but what really fascinated   in talking to fascinated me personally and talking  to george is the whole impact of social media   and just the last couple of years going  through a pandemic and more and more people   moving on to the social media space going  online and what the impact on mental health is   is it evolving is it something that's become  you know more more prevalent you know certainly   for myself going through the lockdown i had  huge mental health challenges with the the   isolation aspects but then it also adds to the  complexity of people spending more time online   so george what's your thoughts on this past  couple of years and then what do you think from   your own personal experiences being the impact  on mental health for people across the world oh [ __ ] i think it's um i i think this whole  cobra thing has been very much like a crucible   like a furnace for people um you know some  people have adapted well to it and others   have not adapted very well from it to it and  you can see that's very much reflected in   in the overall psyche of of the  collective of the human race in general   um so when i say that i mean like you know  some people get uh feel the isolation you know   normally they'd be very outgoing for example you  know drinks with friends and social events raves   whatever right so and then all of a sudden  it's like they're just trapped at home   due to all of the enforced lockdowns and  isolations and all of that so and they   just get and you know humans do tend to be social  creatures so they do get to get become like um sad   and anxious and whatnot and that's completely to  be expected um and and then you have people that   that are like okay so obviously this is not  a nice situation but you know when you get   lemons you make lemonade from it so because you're  isolated gives you a lot more time to i don't know   to meditate to reflect think of new possibilities  and to shut out a lot of the previous old noise   and maybe learn a thing or two you know when  you take up a language uh learn about you tech   stuff like that i mean and for me or like  clearly and you know i played i played um   quite a few video games during isolation but i  also took the opportunity to to read a lot more   and to do like you know meditation stuff  like that and also learn a lot about   nfts and underlying potential and technology and  to meet a lot of people um online as well yeah   absolutely george i think the the isolation aspect  has forced people to really go introspectively and   those who are natural introverts if you like  for one of a better word would perhaps be   more acclimatized to spending time in solitude but  i feel for the people that really draw a lot of   power from being around others and spending  time with friends with family i think that   would be more of a struggle me personally  being an introvert it was still very tough   but i feel for the people that really need  to draw power from others and the impact   that isolation has had on them now another  interesting segue george is the the metaverse   because i think we're starting to see that  as people move more online so more people are   spending more time on social media so you've got  two a couple of different interesting buzz words   if you like that we can explore and perhaps  with your expertise i think let's start with   some definitions so how about we define web3  we define metaverse and then we define nfts   so with your expertise how would you define  these three very important online developments well the metaverse is um let's  start off with the better verse   i think which i think is the most popular  god's word so the metaverse is basically like a virtual reality it's basically a new layer  of reality that's generated by by human technology   so it's kind of like it's it's very much like the   um like games that we used to play that i think  people still play like i think called second life   or world of warcraft games like that but now this  time it's all kind of interlinked with each other   so stuff like world of warcraft it's and  all those different online mmorpgs they're   they're siloed from each other and they're  on their own centralized separate servers   but in the metaverse it's like you have everything  interconnected with each other into a web way   of ownership as well so you can  think of the metaverse as being a new layer of reality that's interlinked with  each other in a vast web way comprised of you   know ownership and new experiences people general  yeah i think there's a better way of putting it   but that's a good start i think yeah that  sounds that sounds really apt i think it's a   it's always for for the audience like if you've  watched the the movie ready ready player one   that's probably a good sort of example of people  transitioning onto some sort of online life   online identity and you know i i think it's gonna  have huge implications on how humans interact but   also opportunities for for development of these  kind of almost online wellness retreats wellness   worlds and this is what i see zen ape being a  community of of people through an nft acquisition   being part of a community that's really in  encouraging mindfulness encouraging wellness   you know all those sort of healthy elements of  life but in an online space and i think just   just to explain it's also discord that's really  popular where the community actually interacts   with these nfts and their utility so what what's  the next one george what should we define next   oh yeah web free let's go with that so i mean  web free so i guess you could start with just   going back so web one is kind of like read  only so like a news website something like   that information is uploaded you consume it you  read it that's it it's not much interaction there   web 2 is kind of like those big you know  web 2 companies like uh instagram facebook   you can like stuff you can upload stuff you can  comment on things you can interact with things   and it's all from these centralized databases  that achieve these very powerful network effects   web 3 on the other hand is a evolution in the  direction of decentralization so the difference   here it has all the elements of web 1 and  web 2. but now the control the governance   the stakeholders the share in revenue all  of it is decentralized and split apart   between many many people players or stakeholders  i would say that is that to me is web3   yeah and we're moving towards more of a so people  would have heard we're starting to hear about   cryptocurrencies to hear about things like bitcoin  that are becoming very popular and more mainstream   so george how does the cryptocurrencies  then dovetail into web three well cryptocurrencies are a  use of web free technology   um so everything like all of this nft um like  cryptocurrency all these things are all backed by   the underlying blockchain technology which  can be used in many many different ways so it can be used for cryptocurrency it can be  used for nfts and actually nfts um are basically   cryptocurrency but this time it's non-fungible  meaning that each nft is different but   for cryptocurrencies or cryptocurrencies  within a certain cryptocurrency are the same   like one bitcoin is the same as another bitcoin  but not for nfts like one nft is different for an   another different from another nft and hence the  term you know non-fungible so non-fungible means   that they're different from each other you can't  exchange one for another but bitcoin is fungible   because you can't exchange one bitcoin for another  bitcoin easy peasy no problem because they're all   the same doesn't matter which bitcoin you have so  actually like all nfts and all cryptocurrencies   are tokens it's just that nfts are non-fungible  and crypto currencies are fundable yeah   right that's fascinating that's a really  interesting simple way to define these very   complex terminologies so how about we explore more  about the the essence of zen ape so now he's in a   your baby it's your project so how  did you how did your your founders   including yourself come up with this concept to  take all these these these ideas of nfts of of web   3 of metaverse of other elements of these emerging  technologies and then create this zen ape project um yeah so zen apps um happen rather spontaneously  you know it just kind of like just naturally   happened and yeah i mean i mean we all know each  other in real life we're good friends in real life   um five co-founders and we're based in  sydney and canberra and yeah we we uh   we played around with nfts we've learned a lot  about nfts and it's like yeah okay let's do some   nft art and eventually that evolved into you know  a full-on 5k collection and then it evolved into   giving it's a a meaning and a reason for existence  and you know if we're going to do something uh if   we're going to do something cool we may as  well you know go big or go home right just enlarge the scope of it and do something  innovative and fun and at the same time   there's any particular reason that you chose the  mindfulness genre or the wellness genre is that   something personal between the founders or was  that just an opportunity that you guys wanted   to explore in the marketplace um yeah i think i  think um the mindfulness and the zen factor was   kind of like a reflection of a lot of lessons we  learned from trading in stocks in crypto and in   nfts right so it's very easy to get caught up in  in the frenzy in emotions right whether it be um   buying into euphoria like in a bull  market or selling into pessimism   in a bear market you know things like that because  you're being governed by emotions you're being   controlled by your emotions and not the other way  around and that is usually uh for most investors   the number one mistake and the number one cause  of value destruction any investors portfolio   so i think the whole mindfulness and zen factor  is like you know i think we should embody that   and be more zen and be more mindful and just  kind of like be mindful of our emotions our   state and we will better make optimal decisions  you know not just for nfts or crypto or or stocks   but for anything life having said that it's uh  it's much he's much more easier said than done   so it's it's always uh it's a journey so yeah  that's an interesting little rabbit hole to jump   into how about say for yourself you completely  resonate what you're saying with things like   any sort of investing in stocks trading requires  a lot of emotional uh control fortitude so are   there any practices that you apply in your  own life to foster this this zen-like mindset um i think it's discipline i think the  i think for me it's like just discipline   it's very easy to get like stuck into something  and just be completely obsessed over it and just   sit in front of a screen for like 16 hours a day  and and develop this kind of like tunnel vision   like myopic vision and just get caught up in all  the emotions the roiling emotions of of markets   and market sentiment but if one can develop you  know just a little simple thing like a schedule   and say you know at this time i'll do this at this  time i go to um the gym at this time i meditate   at this time i have an ice bath like whatever  like whatever it is at this time i go hiking   and you know schedule you know and for this time  i'll be making investment decisions right um   i think this is a much much more optimal outcome  than you know being on a 16-hour grind 100 hours a   week and going to bed at 4 a.m stuff like that and  i think this is also much more sustainable as well  

yeah i mean sure there are lots of people that  have gotten results as in made a lot of money   from doing this kind of crazy grind set but  i don't believe it's sustainable long term   most people and also uh you you can you can be  a lot more happy you can allow yourself to be   a lot more happy by having a more balanced  life yeah completely and what would be your   say your top three lifestyle hacks or practices  to foster this zen-like state or or feeling of   discipline or control however you want to  describe it oh that's that's a lot of things but   i'm trying to condense it as much as possible  into just a few broad principles which guide um   guide the overall habits and i would say it's kind  of like um i think one of the first ones would be i think how you react like how you  perceive things is very important   like perception like how you react to news how  you react to uh what people say people write um   how you react to people's emotions stuff like  that uh it's very important like framing from   at the personal level how you see reality  is very important um as it's said right   perception is very important uh perception is like   so important that i think that it's almost as if  if you control perception then you can contribute   that up excuse me if you can control perception  you can control reality itself absolutely   absolutely and i think for for an older bloke like  me you know spending more time on on social media   i find that a lot of it i think it's easier for  younger people like yourself but for me it's so   easy to lose almost the translation of what  someone is typing in a social media context   because you know these days people tend to  shorthand a lot in in social media so when i look   at some of these discord groups or twitter the the  messaging is really short and sharp in the way the   conversation is framed so it's so easy for people  to take offense and and be upset about something   that's said on social media because often there  is no context there is no face-to-face interaction   it's just a word a word salad on the screen so  i completely resonate with what you're saying is   that perception mindset and to foster a mindset  where we can err on the side of positivity so   rather than jump into an assumption of saying or  thinking negatively oh this person has ill intent   what is the best way we can frame that to to have  a positive mindset and and almost choose positive   rather than negative because i find myself getting  very easily irritated and upset about these short   these short styles of conversation without context  without the face to face without the body language   and this is just something that is going to be  evolving as we move more and more into online   interactions so it's so refreshing to talk to  younger people like yourself because i think   you're almost growing up with this whereas for  older people like myself i mean we're used to   a certain way of of communication and now we're  having to adapt to this new world like discord is   like completely new to me i'm just learning as  i'm going and it's it's very very different to   other forms of communication so what's what's  your advice because our audience will be on that   older older sort of spectrum so what's your advice  george for all the people coming into this online   space into the social media space as we move on to  web3 and metaverse what is your advice to help us   all these navigate this very challenging path  ahead um i'd say the first thing is kind of   i know it's very like you know as a so-called  younger person myself it's it's kind of like   oh but yeah it's kind of like weird for me to  say this but it's just lose the perception that   you're old uh that yeah like not you but i mean in  general like i say like just lose that obsession   and because like ultimately it's not about the  age like young or it doesn't matter it's just   the only thing that matters much much more than  those things is willingness to learn and to adapt   to new tech and stuff like that so it's kind  of like age is completely irrelevant discord   um yeah so and i guess like yeah you're  right even for me personally i much prefer   um face-to-face contact like meeting people  in person um compared to using discord in chat   especially when it comes to discussing complex  and sensitive topics like it's just like i really   don't like writing long-winded texts like i try  to keep my messages short and snappy uh that's it   and yeah because when it comes to sensitive topics  it's so easy to offend people even if you're not   intending it you can come off sounding either  sarcastic or blunt excessively blunt or brood   when you're not fully not intending to do so and  yeah that's why there's just like they said right   i think like 90 plus percent of what human  communication is on verbal or in this case   uh non-text it's not really even the  words it's it's the eye contact it's the   body language and stuff like that right and  all of that gets lost in text so you gotta   have to adapt to that and i guess the one of  the biggest advice i would say is just don't   like don't be reactive don't get offended  by anything um it's the the internet   is full of douchebags because everyone is  anonymous and they feel like they can get   away with anything and they just like shoot from  the hip and say what they feel like and oftentimes   it can be very hurtful or feel very hurtful um  but uh just reframe it and that like ultimately   nobody can hurt you especially not with words  or texts it's you allowing people to hurt you   yeah that's such amazing advice george i  think it's certainly something we haven't   explored on the podcast before  and i think it's just so important   as we move more and more towards this this online  world fostering that mindset of being almost   thick skinned if you like one of a better  word and almost behaving my advice would be   i always i'm always i'm i'm always you can  see me i've got i'm fully doxed i've got   my profile picture you know exactly who you're  talking to this is me i've got an online presence   so people know who they're talking to they  can look me up and they know exactly who i am   so i think it's it's having that etiquette on how  we communicate to almost communicate in a sense   like we're talking to someone in face-to-face  terms because it's really difficult to be mean   to someone when you're right in front of them  but i think in in the online space when it's   anonymous you don't know who you're talking to  there's trolls there's bots there's all sorts of   complexities i think your advice is just spot on  to be really thick-skinned if you like don't take   anything to heart be non-reactive you know these  are all these principles of stoicism and zen which   is really going to set us up well when we interact  in this online space because it is a minefield you   know not only for older people but also for  young people you know with online bullying   and you know god forbid suicides things like that  when people get into these really tough situations   online so you know it's it's a new frontier  it's almost the wild west that we're moving into   and i think we just need to be careful and just  be good human beings and how we interact online   but of course i can contr i can't control or  george you can't control how others behave   so the best thing is to just you  know even at times just switch off   take a break get get off get off the online  platforms and just go back to nature you know   things like that so is that something that  resonates with you when it comes to you know   absolutely absolutely absolutely like a  lot of the times you see something someone   replies something to you or writes  something that you instantly have a reaction   and and now you just got to like even not have  those reactions control your perception learn to   let go of those reactions don't be reactive and it  normally is the best thing to do is literally just   to walk away do something else and then later  on you'll think like why the heck was i even   like why did i even have an emotional reaction  to that thing in the first place it's ridiculous   right but if you get strapped into it if you get  like bogged down in this nonsense then it can drag   you down yeah a really good example that i can  think of in my own sort of corporate experience   is you know the corporate the corporate  lifestyle can be really stressful you know   it can burn you out it's very political at  times and a good example is when you have   an interaction with a work colleague and it's  it's heated and sometimes with emails as well   so it's a good way to think about it how do  you send replies to emails so at times you know   you can be really irate and someone can write an  email and that could be a career destroying email   you know it could be something really terrible so  a good analogy is to really you know you're upset   you heat it up so rather than communicating in  that very moment when you're heated you're sort of   you're more yes your sympathetic fight or flight  response is really kicking off you really want to   get back at the person or you really want to you  know get revenge or however you want to take it   so taking a step back sometimes it's even you know  getting a cup of coffee relaxing sometimes even   sleeping on it not responding to that email not  responding to that interaction obviously in a work   context you have to respond so taking a step back  and then responding the next day when you're calm   you're clearer you're more relaxed you're more  logical when you're thinking non-emotional then   you respond so in a corporate sense this is  some of the techniques that i used to use   but again the simple thing is maybe not respond  at all in some of these online interactions so   you know in my own experience as well we  get a lot of trolls you know on social media   then sometimes it's like it's just not giving  them the air you know not feeding the troll   sometimes it could be just not responding because  you're never going to get everyone to see on the   same page as you in every single issue there's  always always going to be contention there's   always going to be disagreement there's  always going to be conflict between people   that has been since day one that's not going to  change some people are just not going to get along   it's just human nature so at times what i think is  just not responding what's your thoughts on that yeah um not responding is a good option um and  i think also you know just taking a step back   and just like you said just sleep on a and a lot  of the times like even like when you forget about   it and your mind is more than just more chill and  in a healthier spot like something like a more   effective reply can spontaneously pop up right in  your head and then you know how to deal with that   person in a much more calibrated and optimized way  yeah it's kind of like it's kind of like shower   falls when like your best ideas come when you're  not when you're not actually doing that thing like   when you're on a hike you're walking on a beach  or something like that it's no different from that   yeah absolutely and these are the the states  of consciousness that you achieve you know   you're in a hot shower when you're completely  relaxed when you're in the middle of a uh   a very deep meditative practice or you're  out in the forest and you're not stressed out   and this is the the place that you want  to come from when you're responding to   some of these high stakes or emails or very  important conversations involving conflict   george this has been such an important  conversation we haven't touched on   these mental health implications of social  media before so i really hope that the   the audience really gets some good tools and  techniques that we've provided here today so   george how about we as we start to wrap up this  episode how about we talk a little bit about your   pr your project because just to give the audience  a heads up i'm also part of georgia's community   the zen apes and we're also part of another  community called the cyber cons and they're   they're also a another amazing nft community as  well so how about we we talk a little bit about   your project z8 so i think so the audience if  they're interested they can come and explore   you know some of these uh these ideas with you  in your community the zenith community which   is all about your sort of your wellness your  your meditation your zen practices and adding   other utilities on top of it so how about we talk  about your project and give that a bit of air time yeah sure i mean i guess the first place to learn  more about zen apes would be the website uh it's   a very simple website zen ape dot io is where  you can learn more so coming from me you can   oh yes and for people who don't necessarily  know yet open c is the main nft uh marketplace   that's currently used yeah openc dot io and  from there you'll also find zen apes as well um   so basically what zen apes is right let actually  let's take a step back and discuss about what nfts   are about or one of their main use cases right  it's about building communities so for example   uh in cyber kongs or in zen apes right  if i'm a cyber kong or i'm a zenith and   crippen is a cyber kong or zenit or she is  a cyber kong or a zenith like we instantly   have a connection with each other right it's  like we already know each other almost and   becoming you know further friends is much much  more easier um as an example right some of   the best friends i've made have been in cyber  comms or xenx i'm just talking to them online   mostly text chat sometimes voice chat as well  and i just learn just over time just learn more   and more about them and they learn more about  me and about our interests uh mutual interests   and eventually you know you even meet up like um  there was a gentleman that i met in in cybercons   who's also in sydney and i was like yeah do you  want to hang out like yeah okay all good and we   went to this uh uh this great place in smithfield  and it was like great like when we met it was like   we were already friends like we already had a  connection there but i mean imagine if you were   to do this in in the in the traditional world like  it's weird like nobody does that you don't like   randomly meet someone online and go oh hey do  you want to get lunch now like no it's it's   weird right but like nft communities are kind  of like a way pre-vetting people to know that   these people are like you know legit people that  you have a lot in common with um simply by nature   for example you know if you were both drawn to  cyber cons or zx then you probably share uh many   similar characteristics in your persona that  would have led you to those nft projects in   the first place right yeah so and now it's like  you know i know cyber constants and apes from   across the world i know them in uh united states  a lot of them there you know east coast west coast   the south the north northwest in europe  and germany poland uh in korea in hong kong   um in india in india and even in the middle east  as well and you know i talk to these people i   know they're legit people they're like real g's  and they're like hey if you're ever here then   hit me up right we'll hang out and likewise i  tell them if you ever come to sydney australia   like hit me up right we're bros or sisters right  because you're either a kong or a zenith right   so yeah i mean this kind of level of what you  would call brotherhood or sisterhood it's it's   quite unprecedented i don't think i've ever seen  anything quite like it and it's something you see   across like many communities as well especially  the more well-known ones like light cones uh black   zen apes or like you know boarded yacht club for  example so so yeah i mean there's this very strong   um potential for establishing human connection  uh using web3 technology and utilizing the   power of community so what's happening in in  your world in terms of the the utility of the   zenith is there anything that you can share with  the audience that you guys are working on that's   not confidential or sure absolutely so we minted  in december right early december that minted means   um we sold out the nft and we saw it out in like  a few minutes literally which was nice of course   it was very cool and from that time we've been  building you know furiously uh according to our   roadmap so basically what we have planned to  release and also in that time we also built   zentask dot xyz right the zentask.xyz um that's  the url that's website zentas.xyz but we'll just   call it zentask what that is it's a social slash  business networking decentralized application   based around trust networks so what that seeks to  solve is that in this space it's very challenging   to effectively find work or to find people to work  for you because currently it's like you ask your   friends you ask your friend or friends hey do you  know anybody he's an artist or who's a developer   or do you know anybody that needs an artist  from a developer and you look around in discords   searching for talent it's very very like  backwards like old school 16th century stuff   so with xantas we aim to solve that  issue and also it allows us to create   value on a much larger scale by activating  those network effects which are so prevalent in   in web 2 like you know facebook and instagram  millions and millions of users but in web 3   like typical nft collection has maybe 5k users  or something like that 5k members 10k members   uh it's very challenging to to activate network  effects simply from the thousands so webzen tasks   uh adhering to our principle of openness and  bringing people together will be able to combine   all those different nft communities together into  almost like a zen task confederation and from   there also branch out into the wider cryptosphere  as well so it's very important sorry yeah yeah   and of course there's the vx breeding that we're  doing as well so we're doing a 10k vx collection   that can be created from your zen apes so if you  own two zen apes uh once you accumulate enough   tokens you'll be able to breed a zen a vx so  that's you know it's like a sculpture it's   it's art it's it's games gamification and i think  for a lot of viewers that second utility that i   talked about it's going to sound weird but but yes  hopefully hopefully um yeah more will understand   soon yes sure absolutely i i just wanted  to say so the zen task almost sounds like a   web 3 linkedin sort of platform yes it has been  described as such and we sometimes call it that   as well um it shares many many similar  characteristics with linkedin um but it's   yeah you could call it that but then  again it's like i'd say it's it's um it's   different enough um to be something of its  own uh of its own unique value proposition   um i think where it differs from linkedin is  that linkedin is about um like flashy photos   of people in suits and and their corporate smiles  and all of that and like oh here's my resume of   one year and six months here and this and that but  zentas caters much more to pseudonymous identities   so in this space a lot of people choose to be  anonymous right for whatever reason it doesn't   mean that they're you know that they're bad  people or anything like some people just like it   right like many of the most well-known people  well-known names uh in web3 are actually anonymous   like on twitter they've got tens of thousands  or hundreds of thousands of followers   but we don't know who they are but they're  real legit people that are trustworthy and   do create a lot of value whether they're  coders or artists so zentas will enable   you know people like that to create profiles  and to build their own trust networks without   having to reveal without having to fully dox  themselves with like a photo and a full name   uh like all of those identification stuff  right completely and that i can completely   understand with why some people would choose to  want to keep their privacy you know as we see   some of these more mature web 2 platforms evolve  it creates a whole lot of issues around privacy so   some people i completely respect that so i  appreciate that you've actually developed   a platform that can build a trust network but  still maintain a level of privacy as well so   you can still build your credibility build  your brand but remain completely anonymous   so that that's amazing so this is this  has been a very unique episode compared   to some of our other episodes so hopefully the  audience can understand where i'm coming from   because i really do believe that web 3 nfts are  going to be a huge part of our lives it's probably   really early days in terms of the wild west where  we're at in terms of this technology but just like   facebook was you know 10 or 15 years ago at some  point it's going to hit the masses and become more   and more prevalent in our lives we can already  see a lot of big brands going into this space   already you know there's a whole lot of rumors  around disney getting involved in the nft space   there is major companies like walmart like jp  morgan big banks that are getting involved in the   space big fashion brands so i think it's really  here to stay and i think the utility of nfts are   going to play a huge part of our lives sometimes  even without even knowing about it it's going to   be this technology that's going to be used because  the underlying technology behind the nft is the   smart contract so how about just as we're closing  you just give us a quick rundown on what the smart   contract is and what implication it has for the  everyday person as we progress in this technology so yeah you're absolutely correct in saying that  nfts are going to be a huge part of our lives   uh sometimes without us even knowing about it  just like the internet right so now you've got   the internet freaking everywhere you know internet  of things internet there everything's connected   um to something one way or another or  even your car your washing machine um   and yeah the nfts are going to be the same thing  the potential for use cases or nfts are endless   and you know it can be from anything from from  real estate to physical merchandise to you know   to tracking of of food sources for example um now  underlying all of that as you mentioned is the   smart contract right so as an example when people  buy like pay millions of dollars for a crypto punk   like and that and people like kind of mock it and  say oh you just paid millions of dollars for like   a pixel pixel character for a pixel figure like  it's just completely bizarre right i don't get it   well actually what they're really paying for yes  it's technically the picture but actually more   so they're also paying for the underlying code so  of that crypto pump for example like crypto punk   uh number 200 right we'll set we'll say that  right so underlying that is a smart contract for the entire collection of crypto punks  and that exists on the blockchain so all   the records of ownership and transactions of  where that crypto punk went and came to and   who bought it and who sold it it's there  forever as long as that blockchain exists   as long as the ethereum blockchain exists like  when you buy a zenith for example it's like   not only are you buying the art but you're  also buying the code the underlying code you   know as it's popularly said you know the  art is in the code and the code is an art   right so the smart contracts define everything  in in cryptocurrency in web3 in nfts   they define how a cryptocurrency works they define  its tokenomics they define how an nft works um   you know what the nfts can do what its  utilities are you know for example yeah   so you know some nfts can unlock access to  certain things unlock access to websites   and that's all in the underlying code the smart  contract hence the term smart contract and so for   my perspective as well to to add on top of that  it's always it's almost the way of of trustless   transactions it's like it's almost like when you  buy a house you sign a contract and then you pass   over ownership but in future buying assets buying  houses buying cars could be a matter of just   pulling out your smartphone and interacting with  an app and then the the record of that purchase   is then automatically transferred to the purchaser  without having to sign anything to read contracts   as long as there's a system as a process it  just makes it much more seamless so it's i i   see a future in that vein it's almost like now  when we're pulling out phones for qr codes you   know as we're checking into places and whatnot so  in future it could be when you buy these assets   rather than having or something like a house  where you've got a title a deed reams and rooms   of paperwork to sign lots of trees being consumed  in the process as well it could be a very simple   interaction of dealing with with the the seller  or the bank or the buyer whatever it is and just   pulling out your phone instantly transferring  the asset to yourself in a way that's completely   trusted by both parties completely seamless  yeah absolutely and that's um that's another   um aspect of major aspect of smart contracts  is that it effectively removes the middlemen   and allows for much more seamless much less  friction transactions between different parties   right so now if i buy ourselves something new  whether it's an nft art or real estate backed   by nft technology it's just a matter of us both  signing the transaction done that's it so you know   imagine a future like in like in sydney uh i'm i  go to opening inspection and i'm like hey this is   a nice house all right deal let's do it and just  get your phone out and sign a transaction done   sold within 20 minutes assuming you have  the if for it when they start selling houses undoubtedly there'll be some form of  cryptocurrency in our ethos ecosystem at some   some time in in the near future for sure  i think that's where the future is headed   whether it's a cbdc or a central  bank a version of a crypto or   some of these other decentralized ones  but let's see what the future holds   exactly absolutely george i really appreciate  your time if people are fascinated by this   almost it's going to be very uh very new for  a lot of the audience but if they want to   reach out to you how can people find you  um yeah if anybody that wants to contact   they can find me um via the zenei email you  know uh contact xen8 dot io yeah and just   ask for george awesome easy and i always  like to close my podcast with asking this   final question so if there's one thing that  you can do for your zen today what would it be one thing that i could do for  my zen today what would it be hmm that's a good question one thing that  i could do to my zen today what could be   i would say read more yeah that's it just read  more awesome yeah get educated i'm a huge advocate   of educating ourselves learning having that  learner mindset growth mindset fantastic advice   george thank you so much i really appreciate  your time yeah thank you cribben see ya bye

2022-04-09

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