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Studio Mirai & Friends Ep. 9: Community Thoughts #ICON #ICE #SNOW #NFT
Recorded: March 20, 2023 Duration: 1:25:22Space Recording
Full Transcription
I'm doing pretty good.
I just got done doing some Bible study with my wife.
I kind of needed that after seeing the Twitter thread from a little while ago
that I shared with you.
There's so many I don't know.
It's just the one with Yazeen and his pole.
Yeah, that's the one I muted the conversation.
Let's see.
Let's try to get people up here.
John, it's like connecting for you.
I know earlier in Clutchy Mondays,
one of the speakers were having this issue as well.
Let's get Alex.
Hopefully Alex can...
Okay, they're both connecting.
Yeah, it's just like stuck on connecting.
Classic Clutchies.
Sorry, classic Twitter space.
Anyways, we'll try and connect.
Because I think it's just bugging.
Yeah.
We should get started though.
Maybe just try like restarting or something.
I'm not sure.
Because like earlier, we couldn't get people up into the spaces either.
Okay, so today's topics.
We got a pretty interesting lineup today.
So obviously community thoughts.
A lot of shit happened this week.
And so what we'll be covering today.
First, we'll be talking about just a little bit about the migration.
I'm not going to go into it because we do have a dedicated space on Thursday for that.
And then we will talk about, you know, ice and snow and what we think about that, you know, with the defund.
The state of the CPS.
And then we'll talk about the state of ICON overall.
So do try to channel those thoughts to those topics.
Because, you know, we do have a lot of stuff to cover today.
So before we go into the main part, which is state of ICON, I do want to talk a little bit about the migration.
And like what, you know, why we're doing it.
So, you know, definitely bad timing.
We agree.
It was bad timing.
But it also showed like who was actually involved with our project.
Because I feel like the people who knew that we were trying to do this.
Or like they knew like the reasons actually why we chose to migrate.
You know, like it's all about the tech.
It's about what we can do on Zui and not what we can't do on ICON.
Or like we could do an ICON.
It would just be a lot of resource drain from our developers.
It would just be, you know, like the language wouldn't make sense.
Like for us to put that much time into a game with honestly not as much user base as we intended.
Especially with a game you need users.
That's if there's no users, you can build a shiny as a game ever.
And there's it won't matter.
And, you know, the fact that we can have full integration with the Enforcer and Android as well.
Mosh and interoperability is what we're trying to bring.
Integration to the game as well.
Direct integration with the game.
So there are a lot of things that we can explore with dynamic NFTs are easily done for us on Zui.
That we can't do here.
So, you know, that was mainly what are things that channeled the migration.
Yes, we agree that it was done at a time where maybe people fought us.
But honestly, the people who fought us, they're not even in our project.
So literally talking to a wall.
So, yeah.
So like that's pretty much all I have to really talk about for the migration.
You know, if you guys want to hear deep, more deep into analysis of why, how we're going to do it, all that stuff.
On Thursday, we'll have a Twitter space.
I believe it's at like 9.30 UTC, PM UTC.
Which is because Brian, obviously, he's in Japan.
So we had to find a time that works for all of us.
And if you have questions, we do have an AMA channel opened up.
So feel free to add your questions there.
And then we'll add into the question list for the actual Twitter space.
So, all right, moving on.
Ice and snow collapse.
Who wants to go first?
Just general, what does this mean for the community?
What are your personal thoughts on it?
I think some people might already know my views.
I've posted on Twitter and stuff.
But I think it was the right move.
I just, I think it was too slow.
Polkadot seems slow.
The whole network.
And I think it was hard to build on, especially for Supernode Racing.
I just, I noticed, I guess, I don't know, Eric kind of picking on Geodude.
The last few days about it with the funding.
Because I guess they got $132,000 from CPS to build the game.
I don't know.
I guess I'd have to look into that myself.
But, yeah, I think it was probably, I think they hit some roadblocks with that.
And that's just unfortunate because the chain is so slow.
And so, it seems like, you know, they might migrate the game over to, you know, another EVM chain.
I think he even told me personally the other day that they might be looking to launch it on Suvi as well.
Especially since they're really geared towards gaming and whatnot.
So, it's just unfortunate.
I just, you know, it's just kind of sad that it seems like, you know, Icon wanted to do an EVM side chain.
Which was really intriguing.
And I actually thought it was a great idea.
But I just, you know, I think they should have just maybe done their own thing like they were originally going to do.
Instead of trying to go over to Polkadot.
I just think they hired these third-party developers.
And I just don't think they as well were living up to the expectations that we expected.
Like, I didn't see any updates from that team really much at all.
And what they were building or what they were doing.
And I just think it was, you know, if you see some, you see red flags and stuff.
Like, you know, you got to kind of stuff that out.
And I just don't think that they were doing what was good for the Icon ecosystem in general.
And I think they just need to put those resources.
Focus on getting BTP and X call out.
Because I know that's coming.
You know, that's what we're waiting for.
And, yeah, I mean, you got to manage your money right.
And it just, it was a waste of time to keep funding that, in my opinion.
Yeah, I do agree that, you know, the original decision, I guess.
I mean, I wasn't really deep into Icon when they made that initial thing.
I was more like, oh, wow, this is like super hype.
Everyone's pushing it, right?
A lot of people bought ICX for their job, which is, I guess, like, not financial advice as well.
Because, you know, it is an investment that you decide to do.
Obviously, it was led by false promises, pretty much.
That's the easiest way to put it, you know.
And I guess, how do we move on as a community from here, right?
Like, how do we stop letting these, like, how, because, like, I'm sure these false promises stuff is going to exist again, you know, eventually.
Also, before we continue on that, I do want to speak a bit about the whole Eric versus Gio thing, which I think is just, it's just crazy.
Because, like, yeah, it's really, yeah, it's really crazy for me, because I respect both of those guys, like, wholeheartedly.
And to see them fighting each other is just, that makes me really sad.
Like, I'm just, you know what I mean?
Like, I'm like, man, y'all, I mean, please stop.
Yeah, and I think it's, it's, I think people are channeling their frustrations to the wrong people, also.
Like, I don't know, I don't think anyone noticed this, but, like, IAM is, like, they attribute to, like, 90% of the transactions daily on Icon.
And so, yeah, it's just, so that just, like, is interesting to me, because there are plenty of projects that were on CPS that took money and product was still in IHIR.
And the one that gets sort of outed is the one that is part of the team that attributes to 90%, if not 99% of all daily transactions on Icon.
So, like, you know, I think we're, I think our frustrations are just not to the right directions.
Like, there are plenty of projects that do absolutely nothing for the ecosystem that have taken money and have, you know, done, you know, done nothing for their, for what they seek CPS for, right?
But, yeah, no, I want to save this for the CPS chat, but I, I do want to keep moving on from the, for the ice and snow.
Real honest, did you have anything you want to add?
What I was going to say, I just saw Eric join.
Eric, we just brought up, like, Supernode Racing and whatnot.
Literally, like, I just talked about it, like, two or three minutes ago.
And so, just, just go back and listen to the beginning of the spaces and what I said.
But I think, I think Supernode Racing has hit a roadblock trying to build on, was, had hit a roadblock trying to build on snow because, because Polkadot ecosystem, their chain is so slow.
I think it was hard for them to release that game and come out with it within a reasonable amount of time because Geodude was really expressing his frustrations on how slow the, the chain was for the game, like, a few months back.
And I think that's one reason why the game has had such a delay.
And I just, but, but anyway, I brought it up a few minutes ago, too, before, so, and I, you know, I mentioned that I have great respect for you, Eric, and for Geodude.
And, and that, I just, I just don't want y'all fighting, like, like, I really respect you guys both, like, wholeheartedly.
But, yeah, we'll just, yeah, we'll move on.
Yeah, Alex, Yazine, John, I cannot bring you guys up.
This is the buggiest thing ever.
Um, if you guys have stuff you want to talk about, just, uh, you can type it in the, the telegram and I'll move on, uh, see if we can bring those topics up.
Um, yeah, so, on, on the ice and snow thing, you know, like, I guess, like, people are kind of, like, attacking, or not attacking, well, attacking is, is pretty much what it is.
Like, projects that we're building on snow that, like, like, what do you do in that situation, right?
You're building on a block, you're building on a platform, and that platform essentially isn't what you expected it to be.
Like, nine second block times is what I think, correct me if I'm wrong, um, what, on what that was.
And, like, imagine you're playing, like, Supernode, right?
Like, you start your car, and you have to wait nine seconds for the car to move.
A real car doesn't even take nine seconds, let alone the car on a, on a, like, in a game.
Uh, so, like, they were, I guess, promised with more of a further vision for what their game could be, and they just couldn't, like, the tech that was, they're building on top of just couldn't, wasn't as what they were, as seemed.
And now, it's not, nothing better, right?
Chains completely, defund it, it's gone.
Like, what do you expect these projects to do?
So, when I see this kind of stuff, and people, like, attacking projects that literally had, they literally got rugged.
Like, we didn't get rugged, they got rugged.
Uh, but, hey, look, since, you know, what, what, again, chapter two is on snow, like, what are your thoughts?
Yeah, I first wanted to talk a little bit about, um, the decision-making on, um, the foundations part as well.
Um, so, the eyes and snow thing, it was hyped a lot, and it brought a lot of publicity, and people invested, probably over-invested also.
Um, and the fact that it, it came with a lot of hype, uh, and out of the blue, it got defunded, I think that, uh, creates some certain trust issues.
Um, but also looking from the foundations perspective, if you, if you, uh, if you're working on a project that is taking up a lot of resources, and, uh, you find, uh, better tech, or, uh, you just find out it isn't working the way it was intended, sooner or later, you have to make that decision to, um, to, to call it a day, take your losses, and, and do something about it.
So, the, ultimately, the decision to defund, uh, is, is probably the right one, also for investors, but it may just not seem like it at, at the moment, um, where I'm looking at, well, what would be the consequence of keeping eyes and snow running, and just, uh, emptying funds into, uh, into it, and ultimately not, not getting the results you want.
Um, so, in the long term, it's probably best to, to defund, but it's very difficult for a community to take that on the chin, because it's so out of the blue.
But, uh, yeah, I wanted to get that across as well, um, for, for WandaGame, yeah, we were definitely exploring, um, building on, uh, on snow in chapter two.
Um, well, obviously, that, that isn't happening.
Uh, luckily, WandaGame is a pretty, uh, tech-heavy, um, team.
So, yeah, they're always looking to, uh, uh, to other chains and use their, uh, use their strengths, um, but only if it's an add-on on, um, on WandaGame itself.
So, yeah, currently, we're, um, about to launch on Polygon, so this isn't directly affecting WandaGame.
We're just continuing the way we were.
But, uh, yeah, for, for chapter two, we will not be on ice and snow.
Um, I kind of want to add to this topic, uh, because, like, I've, I've heard different definitions of this, uh, in our community.
Um, and I'm glad, is Fido in here?
Yeah, I'm glad me and Fido talked about, to see, like, what our definition is.
Um, but, like, what, what do you guys think is the definition of, of multi-chain?
Because, um, you know, Halo is, you know, WandaGame, you guys are launching on multiple chains.
Penguin, also, you guys are launching on multiple chains, uh, so I kind of want to see, like, um, what you guys' definition of multi-chain is.
Actually, real honest, I want to get your feedback, too, uh, because you're a community member that, you know, has been exposed to this word a lot.
Like, what does it mean to you?
But, uh, we'll start with Halo.
Yeah, so, so my definition of multi-chain is a project that operates, uh, simultaneously on multiple chains, uh, at the same time.
Um, it could be, in, in, in, in our situation, that is a game, so the game operates on, on multiple chains, uh, without actually constantly needing to bridge your NFTs or whatnot.
Um, they would rather be cross-chain, in my opinion, so they're constantly bridging.
Um, I think the key word here is, uh, just simultaneously operating on, uh, in multiple ecosystems.
Uh, Penguin, I don't realize.
Yeah, though, I wonder how long it'll be until, like, that's a possibility, though, as far as, like, say, a game, like, running at the same time, like, on multiple chains.
Because I, I feel like that still might be, like, I don't know.
I don't know how, how long that might be until that happens.
I, I think it could be a little ways down the road, possibly.
Um, but, yeah, I, I really don't know.
But, but I think, like, at least we're getting to the point where, like, a, a game can be running on one chain.
And then, but still, like, say, like, the NFTs or, like, the tokens or whatever could be, like, like, maybe constantly bridged over, um, from other, uh, from other chains.
But, like, like, the, the core, with the core game, you know, running on that specific chain.
But I think, like, I don't know, like, if the game's running on, like, multiple chains simultaneously, like, I don't, like, if we can get to that point, that would, that would be awesome.
Um, but I just, I kind of wonder, like, how long, you know, that, that might take, because I still think that might be quite a ways, possibly down the road.
But, but I like what, uh, you know, I like, I like what Alter's doing with, with, with, with what they're trying to do.
They're, they're, you know, they, they're wanting to do four, four different blockchains.
Um, you know, their first one, of course, was Icon.
They've already decided on, on Sui.
And it's just doing their, whatever they're, you know, they're wanting to do with their, like, metaverse, like, crew, uh, type deal with interchangeable, you know, like, items and stuff.
You know, for, like, the type of metaverse that, that Alter is looking to do, um, outside of what they're doing with, like, the physical merchandise side of things.
So, I'm hoping, I think, this week, we'll, I guess we'll see, um, they might announce their second, or, well, their second merch, like, blockchain.
Um, Sui's not one of their, their merch chains that they're working with, but, um, but they're supposed to, uh, I think, I think hopefully it's this week, whatever the, the second chain is that they're doing, uh, having an official merch store for.
Um, so, but, yeah, we'll just, you know, it's an ever-evolving thing with, with this, you know, Web3 and the, the tech for it.
So, I'm, you know, I'm looking forward to the future and, and, and what happens, especially, you know, if Icon gets the BTP done and, and, and then the Xcall stuff and, you know, everything that they're working on currently, like, like with Kraft.
Like, like Kraft's about to, I guess, um, have another blockchain in, in their, you know, for their store, as far as what, how they're implementing cross-chain.
So, you know, the, the future looks really good and, and very exciting.
Yeah, I just want to add, uh, just one point before we go to Penguin's, uh, uh, take on, you know, what the definition of multi-chain is.
Um, it's both the gaming thing where you're talking about multiple, multiple chains running the game.
I actually think it should be kind of opposite in, in thinking.
I think it should just be, the exterior should just be a game.
Um, and the backend is just all these chains connecting, doing transactions, doing all the backend stuff.
The more we go towards that route of a game on multiple chains, like, uh, like promoting it as that, the further we get from getting gamers to actually play the game.
Um, in my opinion, not financial base, of course.
Um, but like, you know, with a game that is just a game that multiple people can access, that's different.
Like, that's, that, playing that narrative is, is a lot different.
So, I do think that these are things that, uh, we should think about, especially as people that are building games, you know.
Uh, oh, yo!
We just, yeah, let's go!
It pays, it pays to have a hundred points.
Yeah, uh, John, it seems like it was the iPhone issue.
Wait, is everyone on the panel right now using iPhone?
Android, Android. I've just switched to iPhone.
Oh, Android?
So, I, I, I'm, I'm using Android.
Oh, okay, never mind. The myth is busted.
I guess it's the telecom iPhone.
Because I've tried two Androids, and, uh, they didn't work, but, uh, iPhone did.
Yeah, um, weird.
Um, but, yeah, so, like, I think, you know, until we get to that point, I think, uh, you know, these are things that we need to think about.
Uh, Penguin, definition of multi-chain, go.
Um, you know, real and honest, and Halo actually summarized everything.
Uh, it is actually pretty simple for me, the definition, um, which is being able to create, um, transactions between other chains.
Um, um, um, I also want to make comments on the Ice and Snow thing.
Um, the only thing that I want to underline is that ICON is a very old project compared to the majority of the market.
Um, and, you know, for me, it feels like, feels like with five years of experience, I would expect more transparent communication with the community.
Um, as far as I know, Snow was tradable, and, of course, there are losses from people in ICON, and five years of experience should have been sufficient for such cases.
Um, I truly understand the work that, that is being made.
By cool people in ICON core team, but there is also the investment part that should be informed properly, and foundation need to, need to take, um, how to say.
They're responsible.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they obviously need the, need to take the responsibility, but, you know, we need to take lessons.
From this case, ICON made mistakes before, and this is not a new thing, but, we need to come up with solutions right now.
Yeah, for sure.
Is this, is this better, audio?
Uh, I was told I was quiet.
Is this better, or is this the same?
No, the same is very good.
All right, I'll just talk a little bit louder.
Um, so, oh, that's too much, all right, all right, okay, Eric, it's just you.
Um, so, yeah, you know, I, I do think there, there, there are definitely questions that we have to ask as a community, right?
Like, how long into Ice and Snow did they realize it was a resource drain, right?
Because it's been quite a bit, and, you know, I feel like the reasons were, obviously, it was because of the, the team, something happened with the team.
Um, but, like, just from, was the team the entirety of why it sunk?
Uh, if one person leaving shuts down a project, like, with that, you know, of that level, um, was the issue the person, or was the issue the chain, or the project, you know?
Um, so, there are definitely questions that we need to ask ourselves, and, you know, ask, also, like, who, like, who is going to take accountability for that?
Is it going to be Ice and Snow? Is it going to be Icon?
Uh, because, like, I, I don't think a lot of people realize, because they just attribute a lot of things to the foundation, uh, which is, you know, they're the ones that funded it, they're the ones that hyped it, they're the ones that promoted it, of course.
Um, but they are separate teams.
Um, so, like, Icon was funding Ice and Snow, as, you know, like, and there were, I think there were, like, three or four teams that were working in Ice and Snow.
I think, uh, the list of those teams are in one of the blog posts that's on the Ice and Snow website.
Um, but, like, we have to ask these questions, like, um, you know, who is going to take responsibility and who is going to be held accountable?
Um, because from the community sentiment, I see a lot of, kind of, like, FUD and, like, hatred going towards Icon.
Um, but, like, the, you know, like, the person that left that cause all this stuff, they're, like, on Ice and Snow.
So, it's, like, saying almost, like, um, you know, if, if, uh, actually, no, I'm not going to use a metaphor.
I'm not, I haven't had enough tea for that yet.
Um, but it's, it's almost, like, saying, you know, like, they're funding a project and something happened within that project.
So, with Icon's fault, which, it's, like, it's, there's a lot of, uh, there's a lot of gray areas in this argument.
Um, but I, I do think a lot of the frustrations are towards the wrong group of people right now.
Um, yes, we're all, like, where is the statement from Min?
That, I think, we need.
Um, he's been very quiet, uh, ever since everything.
Um, there's also still people finding out that, like, Ice and Snow is defunded.
Um, you know, I think it was just a blog post that was posted.
Even the Ice and Snow Twitter is, is empty.
Um, nothing on their website mentions this, which I think should be mentioned.
Um, because it is a pretty big deal, but.
Uh, thank you for that toilet flush.
What?
Um, uh, exactly.
We're flushing, we're flushing the toilet.
We're flushing these bad vibes down.
The second, the second beep was by accident, but the toilet flush was on purpose, yeah.
Oh, okay, yeah, we're, we're flushing these bad vibes down.
Uh, so, like, I guess, like.
Bro, you're supposed to, you're supposed to, you're supposed to do that, like, when, when
somebody else is speaking.
Sorry, what?
What?
What?
Uh, anyway.
Hey, hey, if you're gonna go to the toilet, you, you gotta be doing that on mute when somebody
else is speaking.
Uh, but, like, yeah, so, I think, I guess I want to ask our, like, our panel, right?
Where are your frustrations towards, right?
Um, and, like, how do you, like, what, if you were in their shoes, what would you do?
If you were in the foundation shoes, what, what would you do?
Uh, real honest and go first.
Yeah, this is real quick.
Like, I remember when, when they were launching, when, when they were about to do the airdrop
and stuff, and we're all trying to figure out how to use a polka dot wallet, and I still,
like, I still couldn't figure out how to use it.
Like, I, I, I ended up, like, downloading the, the mobile wallet, one of the mobile wallets,
and I found that to be a lot, a lot easier to figure out.
But I remember, I guess they were using, like, substrate or whatever, and, and, and even
then, it was, like, people, I remember people were talking about, like, well, why didn't
they just use the EVM part of polka dot?
Why are they, like, using the substrate, which it's still EVM, but I guess it was, I guess,
kind of separate or something?
And, like, like, say, Moonbeam, Moonbeam, that's all they did was use, like, the EVM part,
like, for polka dot, when substrate was something a little bit different.
And so there was, I remember there was already concerns and people, like, saying, like, well,
why did they even do that?
And it seemed, it seemed like it was a mistake.
Like, it, like, it wasn't supposed to be like that, I don't think, but then it ended
up being that way.
And then, so then it was just, like, well, they've already created it, so it was stuck.
And I don't know if, like, that had anything possibly to do with it or not, but I just,
I remember seeing that and seeing some people had concerns and seemed frustrated about
that.
Alex?
Yeah.
I would say the big problem is high level management.
So it always goes back to the top.
No matter how you twist it and try to be nice about it, the people at the top have failed
choosing the right team, managing it correctly, making sure that the progress is done, progress
is tracked properly.
You know, there's a lot you can do and look at this.
You can blame this team who's been working on it.
But maybe the research hasn't been done properly in the first place.
Why would you choose this team?
I have no idea.
I'm just throwing things out there.
But I just feel like someone needs to take responsibility for this.
And it's the management at the top.
And it's not the management at the top of ice and snow.
It's the management at the top of Icon, who should have ensured that this goes well.
And if it wasn't going well for a while, why were the hopes still up for everyone else?
Why couldn't the community have been told about what's going on earlier?
Why is it so sudden?
You know, this kind of stuff.
It just doesn't make sense to me.
Like, so, yeah, I think it's failure from the top.
Yeah, I just want to add to that because this sort of goes back to this big thread that caused
so much drama back in the day of, you know, Icon needing a visible leadership, right?
This is the perfect time to blame that face of the leadership, right?
But we don't have one, right?
And I think we still need one.
I think, you know, the argument is always, you know, Icon is a decentralized ecosystem,
the structure, like there doesn't need to be a leadership structure, which is honestly
just bananas to me, that we don't need a leadership structure.
I think it's like this time more than ever that we need this type of leadership.
You know, we don't need someone telling people what to do.
We don't need someone hyping stuff up.
We need someone that is going to be the face of the project moving forward that people like
can associate, you know, a project to that person, right?
And honestly, from the time that I've been in Icon, which hasn't been long, a year-ish,
I haven't been able to find that person.
Honestly, the closest person is Fez.
Fez is a goat.
But like Fez has other stuff that he does, so he can't be that face of the project.
But I know Ruanus had his hand up first, and then we'll go to Alex.
Yeah, just go to Alex.
I'm like doing something.
Hold on.
Yeah, just go to Alex.
If I remember, I'll come back.
He's flushing the toilet, Alex.
Go ahead.
Flushing the toilet, just like this.
Yeah, what was I going to say?
Yeah, so this is not a personal attack.
This is just observations.
But regarding Min, I haven't seen Min in any of the community spaces.
Considering how small the community is, our community is tiny.
We don't have that many spaces.
How many do we have, like, in the Icon Network?
Three?
Five?
I have no idea.
Spaces?
Like Twitter spaces?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think there's only been...
I mean, we're on episode nine, so there's...
Yeah, but I mean, apart from Studio Mirai, who else is doing spaces?
This is what I mean.
I'm just saying that there is a lot of opportunity to engage with the community directly and be a little bit on the level with the community rather than being a CEO or manager somewhere.
Obviously, the YouTube stuff that Min has done doesn't work, and it doesn't make sense to me either.
It makes sense on a global scale when you already have something going and you have attention, and then you can release your YouTube videos.
But I just feel like Min has missed and is missing a lot of opportunities to step up as a leader and show leadership.
I feel like he does have that potential.
It's just that I think he's very comfortable in his life, probably.
I have no idea what's going on in his life, so I may be completely wrong.
But it just feels like a behavior of a comfortable person who is happy and is not driven to move forward.
I guess there's not enough enthusiasm to begin with, but there's nothing else driving leadership from there.
So, yeah, definitely need a leader, but how do we get a leader?
How do we just do we fire him in? You can't really fire him.
There has to be a revolution.
Yeah. I mean, I think with the leadership thing, right, you look at so many projects out there, even like Near, even Sui.
Sui is a great example. There is a founder and there's a CEO.
And usually the founder is the guy that kind of goes around the world talking about the product,
talking to the community, meeting people, you know, like getting people excited about the product.
And then you have the CEO where they keep everything like they make sure the shit doesn't fall apart.
Right. And for for Icon, there's we don't have that.
Right. We got like we don't have either like either one.
We don't have it. And like Sui is a great example.
Like I'm super bullish on Sui because of their team as well.
Like they have like five, five or six co-founders and like all of them are there.
All of them are all of them are active.
They keep the shit down and they're active.
You know, they're going to all these different events.
They're constantly in Twitter spaces and they're just getting excitement overall with the with the product.
And it's worked. You know, everybody's everybody on Twitter is talking about Sui.
And it's it's it's it's like that for a reason. And for us to be five years into a project and we still don't have a phase of the project and we really never had is concerning as like for the community.
And these are things that like with this collapse of ice and snow and we need a we need a leader.
This is the perfect time to set up. Yes, you're five years late, but it's better late than never.
So like I think. And I that whole decentralized leadership thing is bogus.
I think that's just that's just that's just not not we're not big enough for a decentralized leadership structure.
You know, maybe if we're going to large a lot bigger user base, we can pull some of that shit off, but not not right now.
Yeah, I think one thing you're saying about Sui and that the people are active.
I mean, the situation in icons shouldn't be the way it is right now.
Absolutely agree. But Sui is fresh.
There's a lot of fresh minds, fresh people, fresh enthusiasm there.
So, of course, it's going to be a much more vibrant community.
So in that sense, yeah.
But in terms of leadership, completely agree with you that there could be two people.
So in, for example, in one of my startups, Legit, which is a legal marketplace, my co-founder is and he's the CEO of the company.
My co-founder is a lawyer and it makes sense.
He is, you know, he has all the experience in the industry and he's he's making all the connections with the lawyers.
And that is what he does best.
Now, when it comes to talking to investors, that is my job because I'm from the startup community.
I understand, you know, I understand how startups work.
I understand how to talk to investors.
So we split it that way.
So there are two leaders in their own niche and it works really well.
I wouldn't be able to deal with lawyers as well as he does.
He and he doesn't deal with investors as well as I do.
I'm much better at talking.
So, yeah, it does make sense.
So where is this person and who is this person for ICON?
Is that a rhetorical question or are you asking that question?
Yeah, yeah, that's a rhetorical question, but also kind of who could it be?
Well, I mean, we have talked a little bit, right?
And, you know, if Kotaro or you ever decide that you're that person, the community decides, you know, I'll happily vote for you.
But how much shit do you have on your plate?
I mean, I know I wouldn't be able – I mean, I have a lot of stuff going on as well.
But I feel like maybe you're working a little bit more because, like, you're, like, right at the peak of all the shit that you need to do to get your project to the best position possible.
Like, you're making all the partnerships, you're doing all the videos and all this blah, blah, blah.
All, like, right now is you're at this concentration peak, I believe.
So how long will that last?
Yeah, there is – yeah, there is – sorry, what was the question?
Yeah, no, like, I'm saying I would vote for you.
But, like, would you even have time to do this?
Oh, I wouldn't even do it.
It's a conflict of interest, you know.
Makes sense.
I would – there's too many things I want to build that aren't on Icon.
So, you know, right now we have three chains of mine, honestly.
Like, internally, I think there's, like, six chains that we're looking to build stuff on.
And we're just going to go where the strengths are at, right?
Like, I'm not going to limit myself to one chain because I have sentimental value here.
That's not healthy for growth of a project.
Sentimental value doesn't give me money.
So I got to go where the tech is.
I got to go where the strengths are.
I got to go where the user base is.
So I think right now, actually, you know, there are a lot of things that we're doing as a project.
Like, we're doing a lot of stuff with – like, there's some big stuff that we're – that's coming that I really cannot talk about or else Brian will fire me.
But, you know, I think this peak or this, like, trend, I mean, has pretty much gone for the time since we launched.
Like, I'm pretty sure, like, every single day, like, we've pretty much given it our all.
And that's what people need to do.
And it's shown.
It's, like, there's reasons why there are projects that are interested in working with us or reach out to work with us on other chains because we've proven that we can deliver.
You know, like, we have a community that's very active.
And we're not – like, we're not – we don't take the usual approach as other NFT projects as well.
You know, we're more than NFTs.
So, I think this grind, honestly, is going to go for a lot longer.
I – like, for me, how – like, how I look at it, every day I can do something more.
And it's, like – if you compare me to, I don't know, like a year ago, I don't know what I was doing either.
I was just spinning wheels.
That was my day.
But now my day is, like, half the day is meetings and then the wheels and then the spaces.
And then I'm going out shooting commercials on a weekend with Mike and, like, you know, we're meeting all these people.
We're flying to Hong Kong next month for a sui Hong Kong.
There might be a yacht party.
Go to Japan and shoot a marketing thing for an AVAX project.
Like, there's – it's crazy, like, that we got to this level.
And I think it's just the motivation and passion that drives it all, honestly.
And that same motivation and passion I don't have for – like, it's hard to say, but I don't have the level of passion for Icon as I do for Studio Be Right.
Which makes sense.
Studio Be Right is literally my baby.
Like, I raise this shit up.
So, no, Alex, I will not do this.
Yeah.
Very long.
I completely understand.
Well, the next person – not the next person.
It's not, like, I'm, like, putting people one above each other.
But also, after meeting Eric, Eric Solomon in Estonia, and even through, like, initially I thought, oh, this guy is, like, super chill.
Like, he's just – it's just – I feel like – like, if you don't know how smart Eric is, like, it's just, like, you'll think, oh, this is just a really chill guy.
But I feel like his character could be interesting in the leadership position in Icon because he's super smart.
Like, I already said this, right?
And I'm not ashamed of saying that someone is, like, mega next level smarter than me, like, intimidating level smart.
But, like, he could potentially be a good leader for Icon.
But, you know, I like people who are not, you know, just an average salesman.
And Eric is definitely not an average salesman.
But he definitely understands business.
So – and he definitely knows the answers.
So, it is, you know, there's potential there.
Yeah, we have to get him out to career blockchain week then.
100.
100%.
Because, yeah, Eric is definitely a good speaker, and he's done a lot of those good CPS meetings as well.
I think he has both – he has a good sense of what's going on as well as, like, what the community sentiment is.
I've been seeing him a lot more active on Twitter and just, like, Discord recently.
I know he talks to a lot of members off, like, socials as well.
Like, off main socials.
Like, we're honest.
I know you guys have conversations with him.
I do think Eric is a good – I actually would think if Icon kind of created a narrative that Eric is the face of Icon, I think that would be very beneficial.
Because right now that spot is empty.
And it's not like, oh, anyone is better than no one.
That's not true.
That's not true.
If you put someone up there, it could be worse than the current situation.
So, I think Eric is, like, kind of that perfect blend of smart – you know, he can talk.
You know, he's talked at events.
He's a good speaker.
And good community – good community influence.
Real honest, you had something?
Yeah, Eric is – Eric is amazing.
I mean, he reached out to me and wanted to talk to me and wanted my thoughts and my insights and what I think about just different things with the ecosystem and with CPS.
And, I mean, that transcends volumes with me about how important he is.
And, honestly, if he was, you know, if he was, like, you know, made to be, like, you know, like the face for Icon, yeah, I think that would be 100% like one of the best things that could happen.
And, you know, men is – he tends to be shy.
And so, like, I mean, that's okay if you want to stay in the background.
But, like, have somebody – somebody really needs to, like, be up front all the time, like, fighting for Icon constantly.
And, I don't know, I try to do what I can.
And, I know, I'm, you know, I'm real honest misfit sometimes.
But, you know, but anyway, like, yeah, Eric is – I don't even know where Icon would be right now if it wasn't for Eric.
So, and second thing – second thing I want to say is that I see Mineable's listening.
Mineable, we would really appreciate an update on Code Metal.
Like, I was a huge backer for your project for many months.
But I haven't seen anything.
And I've lost faith in what is going on.
And we need to know – we need to know what's going on with the project.
There's been no CPS updates since July of last year.
And it just – it would be great if you guys – if you guys are doing all this amazing stuff this whole time, man, we need to see it.
Because just with things in general, you know, there's been a lot of crazy things happening with snow and ice being, you know, defunded and just certain people being upset and Icon.
If you've got this amazing NFT project that y'all have been building out, like, man, this would be, like, the perfect time to, like, drop this on us and show us this, you know, this amazing game y'all have been building.
And so, anyway.
I have two points.
Point one, when are you changing your name?
I thought you were changing after that space last week.
Real Honest Misfits.
To Real Honest Misfits?
I don't know.
Yeah, I guess I could change it for a little bit and then change it back.
But, yeah.
Yeah.
I was inspired by my discussions with Penguin.
But that kind of goes into the second topic of today, which is, like, state of CPS.
I've been seeing a lot of discussion on Twitter.
You know, like, there have definitely been community members having their frustrations about the system.
And we've actually got pretty good feedback from Scott and Elise that responded to, I think, Yazeen's video that he posted about the frustrations.
TJ also posted a thread last week as well talking about moving it towards, like, a completion thing.
Sorry, moving it towards a project being live other than project completed.
I also think that change alone will, like, nerf a lot of the discussions and frustrations that are existing in CPS right now.
So, you know, like, you won't get this last bit of funding until your project is live on Mainnet, which is, like, something that, like, needs to be done because a lot of projects in the past, you know, like, yes, they built the game.
They have all this stuff done, right?
But it's not live.
So should they be paid for, like, because, like, you know, we're funding, CPS is funding projects to add to the transactions, right?
But they want the game to be live.
And a lot of, like, the CPS isn't paying people to build a game and then they decide, you know, like, when, like, if it's a good time to launch.
Like, these things are definitely things that, you know, we should think of.
But I don't think it should be, like, you shouldn't be paid in full until that last, like, unless it's on Mainnet.
And I know there's multiple opinions on this.
So, Alex, and then I think it was Alex and Penguin in that order.
Yeah, sure.
So, the thing about getting CPS funding and not delivering, like, a working product, even though you've built something, that's a normal issue.
Like, I'm not saying it's a good issue, right?
But that's a normal issue with inexperienced start-upers where people are really good at building shit but then not understanding business-wise how to then scale it, how to then grow it as a business.
That is the biggest issue.
So, everyone has grand ideas and, like, believe me, I've been through this.
Even though I'm only 36, I've already had failed start-ups.
I've already made big contracts, like, across the world with, like, the U.S., China and all this kind of shit.
And I failed and I know where I failed and I won and I understand why I won.
And now I work mentoring younger start-upers and, like, at different hackathons and stuff.
So, this is the biggest issue.
They're like, we can build this and it's going to be really amazing.
And, like, we've got this development team and they can deliver.
And, yeah, these guys, like, they have a track record of delivering products.
But then, they, like, none of them have built a business.
That is the biggest issue.
So, you can sell dreams but if you don't know how a business works.
And I'm not talking about a cafe.
Like, you have to get stock and then sell your coffee, you know, like a brew coffee, sell it.
It's completely different in the start-up world.
Completely different dynamics to running a traditional business.
If you don't do this, it will keep happening where we will keep funding really cool-sounding projects.
And then, they will just disappear into the ether one day.
Or they will exist but with, like, two users, you know, because people just don't know what to do next.
So, there should be some kind of support or an incubator within Icon that can help these CPS-funded projects move forward.
This is what we do a lot in different programs here in Estonia where a project gets funding.
First of all, there's rigorous, like, rigorous selection process.
But a project gets funding.
They are assigned a mentor.
Even though they've been through workshops and mentorship sessions, they're assigned a mentor who is always working with them, checking up on them for, like, a certain time.
Like, a year, for example, or two years depending on the contract.
Of course, that mentor gets a percentage, probably, of, like, let's say, an equity in the business in this case.
I don't know how it will work in Icon, but this is something that can really, really boost the success rates of these projects that get CPS funding.
Anyway, these are my thoughts.
Yeah.
Thanks for sharing, Alex.
Before I go to Penguin, you're 36?
Bro, I thought you were 30 max.
You got a baby face.
I'm just saying.
I thought you were 30 max.
I was like, damn, this guy talks about how he has, like, crazy startups.
I'm like, this guy's the same age as me.
How does he have so much experience?
Sorry, Penguin, go ahead.
Penguin?
Oh, sorry.
I was just doing a research while guys were talking.
You know, the main idea of CPS is to fund developments in a decentralized way, but correct me if I'm wrong.
It feels like these fundings only benefit the projects and creates less benefits for Icon.
There should be other additions that guarantee a value for Icon and probably CPS.
Maybe in the end of a CPS-funded development, the outcome can become a property of CPS.
For example, let's say we are applying to build a cross-chain service for Penguin Bank.
Our idea gets approved, and then we take the fund to build what we are promising.
And once we finish the work, we use this service for our project only.
And I believe this doesn't sound like it's a benefiting Icon.
For me, it has more benefits to the projects and little benefits to Icon itself.
But if the final codes are added to, let's say, like CPS codebase, something like that,
and then the developers can take advantage of it, this can create more benefits for Icon.
Like developers can have an open codebase to begin with,
or there should be other CPS applications to improve these codes that are sitting in CPS codebase.
And if these CPS-funded projects leave Icon, it won't actually matter,
because the code and the value it creates can be found there, and anyone can use it as a base.
All I'm saying is that developments that are funded by CPS can also be the property of CPS,
not just of the project, which takes the funds and builds.
The one-way interaction kills the productivity of CPS,
but if developers become responsible for developing contracts and for adding them in a pool,
a win-win environment can be found, and CPS can become a more valuable structure for Icon.
All right, let me just mark that down.
I think you started talking at, like, 56.
I think we should, I think those are some really good points.
I might try tagging Eric or TJ with 56 minutes, I think was around the time,
or I'll just do 55 to be safe.
But yeah, definitely some really good points.
I do think that structure will kind of inspire people to maybe submit more proposals.
I was going to say, like, you know, everybody loves getting Crew 3 XP,
so I'll give 10,000 XP to someone that actually builds a product on CPS and sticks through with it.
Or you can do that with the Icon Discord.
Jokes, jokes.
10,000 XP is not that much.
Halo, to you.
Yeah, I wanted to take it back to the concept of CPS.
It's actually pretty good that in our ecosystem we have a decentralized way to get funding for good projects
to really get their project out there and get that start to build towards a sustainable project.
It's the execution and maybe also the sentiment towards CPS that's turning a little bit into the negative side of things.
I'm really hyped about Alex's ideas of an incubator, having a mentor, really helping these projects go further.
But also the process of getting those CPS proposals approved.
I think it will definitely help what Penguin said, just have a good quality proposal that also sheds a light on what are the benefits for Icon.
And I do think that an objective or a milestone-based CPS payments will help building a bit of confidence with the P-REPs that are approving.
It diminishes the risks.
So if a project isn't able to fully deliver on the promises, it's not a full risk of the entire payment they're approving.
So I think a combination of factors will improve CPS because I still think the concept of it is amazing, the decentralized way of getting the funding.
Putting in milestone-based payments, an incubator, increasing quality, maybe even help projects with really setting up that quality proposal will definitely help our ecosystem in the long run.
So yeah, that's my two cents on it.
Yeah, for sure.
You know, like, one of the main reasons why we're building our game on Sui is also the accelerator.
Like, we have a game engine built.
We have no idea how to bring this game to completion.
Like, unless you have, like, a game designer or someone that's clearly built games before, it's really hard to build a solid game.
Um, because building one game or doing coding or stuff, uh, doesn't equate to building a good game.
Um, like, we, so, like, for our accelerator, for Sui, you know, we have access to a huge array of developers, designers, marketers, uh, a platform for us to share our game.
Um, uh, so, because we're, we're basically taking our game engine, which we built over the past nine months, uh, not we, it's all Mike, uh, Mike's built over the nine, nine months.
And then we currently, we're working on the in-game assets, the, the, the R and all that stuff.
Um, basically taking that and running it through the accelerator and they'll have, they're literally building everything for us.
Um, and they're guiding us through, you know, things that, they're, they're guiding us through the process as well.
Um, that's something that's, I think, massive, uh, because I see a lot of games building on Icon.
Um, because, like, still to this date, we don't really have one game that has done very, very well, uh, that has brought tons of people into Icon.
Um, I think the best example probably is, like, Project Nebula, but obviously they're not here anymore.
Um, but we need that game that kind of, like, people realize, oh, they have, they're a blockchain that has games too, right?
Um, and unless we have some sort of mentorship, some sort of guidance, uh, for these people, I don't see any of these games making it, um, to a level where it's attracting users.
And not, because this game, these games shouldn't be for people in Icon.
It should be for people to come into Icon.
Um, if you're using this, if you're using the CPS for that, you shouldn't be attracting this to people that are already in the community.
I mean, that's, that's kind of, like, part of the, the narrative already.
Like, you don't have to tell people that you're building a game for Icon is, um, like, purpose of these CPS is to bring more transactions, to bring more user base into Icon.
Uh, so the narrative should be, uh, the game should be, like, used for that.
Uh, real honest, I see your hand up.
Uh, yeah, that's, uh, well, that's, and, and I'll bring up a few, uh, but, but yeah, that's why I was so intrigued, uh, uh, when Mineable first was bringing up, you know, Code Metal.
And, and I was reading, reading about it and everything, I'm like, man, like, this would be, like, an amazing type game for Icon.
And that's why I was, you know, looking forward to it, like, so much.
And I, and I still am, and so that's why, um, you know, I'm, I'm waiting for, for these updates.
And, uh, yeah.
And then other than that, like, like, I think Gangsta bet with, with, like, the gang wars and stuff.
Um, I know they, they've been doing some testing, I think, over the last few days.
I, I haven't looked to see, um, how all it, it is working, to, to be honest.
But, um, I mean, I think, I think that can be a really big thing.
Um, you know, I'm still waiting on Inanus Invictus to, you know, finish his, like, ship building.
You know, uh, building is a ship-like game.
This is a tabletop game.
And, you know, and, and so every time I, I get an update on that, I'm, I'm always excited to see how much progress he's doing with that.
And I think that could be a big thing, too.
And then, um, and then Yazeen, um, you know, what, what he's wanting to do.
I've been talking to him more over the past few days.
And he actually sent me his, his white paper.
I'm the only person that knows about it other than, uh, Andy, I guess, over at Frame that he's been talking to.
Um, so he hasn't released it publicly yet, but he, he sent it to me last night and, and I read over it.
And it's actually, in my opinion, I, I think it's, it's pretty good.
Um, you know, and Yazeen is wanting to do this, this, this game on Icon because he loves the community so much.
And he, he knows, like, how loyal, you know, us iconists are to Icon.
Um, and, and, and, you know, and he knows that his game is, from, from what, like I said, from what I read in the white paper, I, I think it could be really good and really big.
Um, and, and, and my opinion, I told him I have, I will express some of my thoughts already late last night and a couple messages.
I need to look over it and reread it again today.
I told him I would, um, just share some more, some more thoughts with him.
Um, but, but yeah, because of like the past, some of the past CPS stuff and, uh, and, and projects getting money up front and then not delivering, you know,
right away or, or, you know, still hasn't delivered yet, it's harder for, for him to even get partial funding, um, that he, he needs for his game.
Like, like he told me he needs like 52K, right.
But he says to start, he really only needs like 6K and 6K, you know, just, just to get things started and going for him as far as, you know, like, like an avalanche, you know, once, once you, once you, once that one little itty bitty,
like, like, like rock or whatever at the top of the mountain, you know, once it gets to the bottom can be a, a huge, powerful and destructive force.
And I think his game can, can do that, but he just, he, he needs, you know, at least for now, he just, he needs that startup funding.
And like I said, I still need to reread it and re go over it again and, and, and, and bring out some, some more stuff.
But, um, yeah, I just want to, I just want to bring up, I also saw that white paper, so you're not the only one.
Oh, you did see it?
Oh, well, he, he, he told me he always said it to me.
Damn, Yazeed.
Damn, Yazeed.
Hey, Yazeed, man, you been holding that from me?
Man, you want, you, what, what, what, you, uh, Kotar over there, like on the side or something?
Man, what's up with that, man?
What time did he send it to you?
I think I got it first, actually.
It was some, it was some time, it was some time yesterday afternoon.
Oh, yesterday afternoon.
Then you, then you definitely got it first.
But, uh, I wanted to bring up, uh, also, we've been trying to get Yazeed out for this entire time, but Twitter is rugging us, so.
Well, yeah, that's, well, yeah, and I tried to get him up the other day and, and like every time, I even tried to get him up as a co-host and I couldn't do that either, so.
I got it last week, by the way.
Wow.
Nice jokes, jokes, jokes.
That's all right.
Suddenly, everything goes quiet.
Then that's the chat.
Okay, I hear, I hear, I hear everybody now.
I fat-fingered the mute button.
Um, but I was saying that I, I, I did want to move on.
Um, just because like every, every week I know, uh, this space is supposed to be like an hour long.
But every week, it never stays an hour or so.
I'll just tell people it's an hour and a half.
Uh, but I, I do want to talk like overall, because, you know, we talk about state of ice, state of ice and snow, state of CPS, uh, state of icon.
So, there are some questions that we already answered, um, but there's these things that I saw recently show up, or, or community trust, I guess.
Let's talk about community trust, uh, because I, I am curious to hear all the panelists, uh, like what is your current, uh, sentiment towards, like community trust?
So, do you trust, do you still trust icon?
Do you, do you trust the team?
Do you trust the projects here?
What are your sentiments?
I will go last.
Haha, what a difficult question you pose.
Uh, do I trust the community?
Uh, I trust the community.
The community is, uh, I think is great.
It's just, it's pretty sad that it feels like, um, right now, uh, things are not going so well.
Like just one after another, after another.
Uh, uh, the OMHAC, you know, Ice and Snow, and just like, uh, it, it feels, almost feels like, uh, some members of the community are leaving, right?
Even though, even though that's not really true.
Like Sam was saying, Studio Mirai is leaving.
Without understanding the project quite deeply, but Studio Mirai is not actually leaving.
It was, it's a cross-chain project.
So, um, sorry?
Multi-chain.
Whatever, multi-chain.
What, so please, like, uh, explain multi-chain versus cross-chain.
What, what, what do you mean?
We're not actually connecting chain stuff.
Like, we're not doing the techs.
We're not connecting tech.
We're connecting our brands.
So, I would say it's multi-chain.
Like, people from Icon, we're not using some bridge that connects stuff.
Uh, that's, yeah.
But, uh.
Will I be able to connect my wallet just so I can use my NFT on the game you're building?
Regardless of what, uh.
Actually, we have, like, a pretty interesting wallet service, uh, wallet solution that I can't share right now.
So, I'll, I'll, I'll tell you in the DMs.
Okay.
It's, it's cross-chain enough.
Okay.
Good enough.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, so, uh, I think, overall, the market is, uh, at the bottom.
Like, really hitting the bottom hard.
Uh, is there going to be even a lower bottom?
Who knows?
But, uh, I think right now, just overall sentiment and everyone is kind of, uh, it's not feeling well.
Um, so, it's, it's normal.
Right now, everything feels like it's, uh, falling apart.
But, but I'm sure once the market comes back to life, uh, things will come back.
Uh, even for Icon.
And we'll see, we'll see that coveted $10 or whatever it is that people are waiting for.
Is this when Bitcoin hits a million?
Yeah.
Yeah.
A billion.
Yeah.
A billion.
Um, Penguin, Halo, Rionis, any thoughts overall?
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
I trust my money in Icon more than the banks.
So, I mean, I don't, I don't trust the banks at all.
So, you know, it's just, I, I'd rather have my money in, in, in, in, in, in something like
blockchain where, uh, I don't have to worry about governments and banks coming in and taking
my stuff.
Yeah, for, for me, for me, the, the people haven't changed.
Um, there are still heaps of people within the ecosystem that are, um, um, amazing.
In my opinion, Eric Solomon, uh, was already mentioned.
Um, yeah, the meetings I've had with him, uh, oh, oh, oh, it's great.
Uh, same goes for the community.
I'm not in every project, uh, but the projects I'm, I'm involved in, um, are because I, I
trust the people.
Um, it could be because they're, they have certain skills that I think are unique or also
because they're just, uh, uh, uh, great, great people to hang out with and they give
me energy to, uh, to do the stuff that I like to do.
Um, so for me, the sentiment isn't, isn't that negative.
Um, I think the, the people are great, but yeah, there is, uh, I've been a series of
unfortunate events, um, it really, uh, turned it, turned sentiment a bit, a bit negative.
Um, but I do believe we can turn that around on the other end.
Um, I don't believe in one chain to rule them all.
So I don't also don't believe it's, uh, that strange to, uh, to look around to see what,
what, um, other ecosystems are doing.
Um, I think that's only natural.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, you know, I guess penguin, if you want to talk about yours and I'll talk about mine
or if you, you don't have anything, it's okay.
I mean, I trust icon.
I believe in icon and, but you know, we target four different blockchains and icon will have
uh, uh, we chose an icon for its, its ability to do cross chain messaging.
So we need this feature for our dApp, uh, which is being developed right now.
Um, so my answer is yes, I believe in icon.
Yeah.
Um, oh man, my thoughts are, uh, my thoughts are a little crowded.
Uh, you know, uh, I, I do, I believe in the community of icon.
That's sort of where I've lived pretty much for the past year and a half.
Um, you know, like, but seeing the, the, the fun from this week is, was, uh, was pretty big.
Um, you know, there are a lot of projects that, the fun ass thing that we're leaving, but like all the people that did that, they're not, they like, don't own a single whatever NFT.
So, uh, I just consider their opinions, uh, talking to a wall.
Um, but I also like, you know, uh, just this past week I did leave majority of the discords.
Uh, I like, I just, it just, I just don't want to see people that obviously don't value our project or anything like that, uh, which is nothing on the projects.
I just, it's just for me.
I just, I just had to leave.
Uh, so I, I think I left like, I left like six or seven servers, nothing against the projects.
Of course.
Uh, it's just, it's just for my own mental, uh, my own mental.
Um, but, you know, I do think that we are in a position, like it, this next few months matter a lot.
Um, I want to see how the foundation tackles this, um, how they give proper transparency to the community about everything that's going on.
You know, like what led to the collapse of ice and so, and like, how do we avoid this in the future?
Uh, how do we avoid, you know, putting, putting resources into projects that don't quite, you know, make sense?
Um, or how do we save money and make sure the funding goes to the right projects?
You know, who decides that, right?
Um, and I think, honestly, I think Eric is probably going to be a good person to decide those things because he's pretty active, uh, in the community.
Um, do I trust Icon?
I don't know if I, I, I want to say I trust Icon.
Um, I don't, I personally don't own any ICX, um, because we put all of our, uh, all of the money that like enters into, uh, all of our sales, they get auto-generated to, uh, they get auto-converted to like USDC or USDT.
Um, and that's just because that's for us because, uh, we, obviously we need things, we need the fun things that we can't really gamble on.
Um, so I don't know if I could say I 100% trust Icon, um, but it really depends on the next few months, uh, and how things go.
Um, I do trust a lot of the projects that are building on Icon.
Um, you know, a lot of the people, uh, obviously people in this space, good vibes all around.
Um, but I am quite disappointed.
You know, I came into Icon back in September when Brian introduced me to here.
Um, even seeing Brian's frustrations, like Brian, um, you know, as mentioned in the previous space, like he's pretty much like left the, the, the ecosystem, uh, as Brian Lee, of course, he's still doing stuff on Ryzone, but I don't know how long that will stay up.
Um, you know, we were very bullish coming in, like I was super bullish and, uh, I guess I wasn't here for the past five years.
Um, so I don't know what level of emotional damage you guys are used to, uh, but this kind of emotional damage, I don't know.
Uh, it's just a lot of, a lot of frustrations, uh, more frustrations than, than hype, which is never good.
Um, and it's even worse that we're in a bear, right?
It just multiplies that effect.
Um, so, you know, I think this next few months, very key points.
Um, something has to happen.
Somebody needs to be held accountable for, uh, for what happened.
Uh, man needs to speak up.
He has to act like a leader, I think.
Uh, or we need someone to take that leadership position, uh, because perfect timing to do that.
The product's not out yet.
So this is a perfect time to build that foundation for leadership.
Uh, but yeah, those are my thoughts.
Um, yeah, I just saw, I just saw Eric Solomon join.
So yeah, Eric, earlier we, we brought you up and how you're such a vital part of the icon ecosystem.
And especially like I brought up how, you know, you reached out to me and were really willing to talk to me on a, on a one-on-one level and how much like that really meant to me.
And we were actually talking about how we, we think you would actually be a good face for, uh, for icon and, and be like put in that like leadership position as far as like the face for icon.
And then that way, you know, men can kind of just stay in the background and work on the stuff in the background.
Um, because we know he, he doesn't like being upfront and stuff.
Some people are just more reserved and, and, and, uh, and I respect that.
And so we were saying to like, you know, if, if, if, if you, if you were like, you know, one of our, our main people to be the face of icon, because you're, you know, you, you've, you've been in for like what a year, year and a half.
And, and, and, and, and like, we, we already see all the great things that you've done for icon and, and, and, you know, and building out BTP and the tech in the background and, and, uh, like, like, man, icon wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for you, Eric.
So we just, we appreciate that.
And we're like, yeah, Eric Solomon, he'd be a great communicator for, for icon.
Yeah, I did invite him, but Twitter has been rugging us.
So I don't know if he gets the request, but, uh, we, I, I am going to close this out soon.
Um, you know, there's, we covered a lot of stuff, the space from, you know, state of ice and snow, state of CPS, state of icon.
I think actually throughout the space, Eric, if you're listening, I think it was around 50 minutes.
I think I tagged you in that.
Um, but Alex brought up, uh, Alex and Penguin brought up some very good stuff for, uh, sustainability and, like, making sure projects have guidance, uh, that, you know, seek CPS or seek funding from icon.
Um, you know, who gives us guidance?
I guess these are questions to be answered, but, um, there is definitely some really good community talks, uh, here.
I think the space went better than I, than I thought.
Uh, I'm glad I met, uh, we, we stuck to the schedule to an extent.
Um, but, yeah, next week, you know, hopefully we'll have, I, I think the Min Talks interview or something is today, or is that next week?
Does anyone know?
I don't, I don't know, but, yeah, maybe that's when Min will actually kind of speak a little bit on his thoughts and give us his idea and update on the, the snow ice thing.
Um, yeah, uh, cause, like, I think it, it's the one that Fez and, uh, Dave interviews him.
I think that's today, but I'm not sure.
That might be next week.
But I know next Monday, um, I need to check what time, but next Monday is a CPS community meeting that Eric does.
Um, I will not be able to go that one.
I'll be on a plane, but, um, that one definitely going to be good.
Uh, some good conversations.
Uh, I do think if, you know, Penguin or Alex, you guys have time, I think you should definitely stop by and, you know, talk about, or have questions or suggestions about what you guys brought up about the guidance and the sustainability part.
Um, you know, it's a collective effort for sure.
Um, so yeah.
Um, Hey, real, real, real, real quick.
I was going to, I was going to say, I noticed, I noticed, uh, maybe Paul's listening with Blobble.
And, uh, I just want to say that's pretty, pretty cool that, uh, you're working on migrating all the, uh, smart contracts from the Blobble from, you know, from EVM or Solidity over to, uh, over to Java.
Uh, and so I, I look forward to, uh, once you finally get that done and get it released, so.
Yeah, so, um, we are going to close it out.
Uh, thanks everyone for joining in.
Um, another great space, great panelists.
Next week, I hope Twitter fixes their issues.
John, I want to have you up.
Uh, Yazeen as well.
Um, Twitter does, Twitter does not like, uh, your phones apparently.
Um, but Thursday we will have.
A Twitter space.
It'll be quite long.
It'll be, uh, we'll be talking through the migration, why we're doing it, you know, uh, why aren't we doing it?
Or, so, wait, not wait.
No, no, it's just why, why we're doing it.
Um, and, uh, answering the community questions and sentiments.
So, if you guys do have questions, make sure you ask either in the posts that, the, the big thread or on Discord.
And then we'll, um, we'll, like, funnel those and then, uh, we'll make sure, like, questions are answered.
Um, we will be joined by most likely the whole team.
Uh, maybe we'll dox dogs voice as well.
We'll see.
Um, but it is going to be one of those, like, team spaces that we haven't had in a while.
I think the last one we had was, uh, Mash and Mint.
Uh, so it's, it has been quite a while for, for a team Twitter space.
So definitely, uh, come check us, uh, come check that out.
Um, but, yeah, thanks for joining, everyone.
We'll see you, uh, possibly next week.
Again, I will be on a plane next week.
So maybe, uh, if, uh, real honest, once you want to host next week, uh, feel free.
Actually, actually, yeah, maybe, uh, well, that would just be good for me, too, because it would really kind of step me out of my comfort zone.
And it could be something I could try to work on this week.
Yeah, just, just don't, just don't add random speakers, please.
No, no, no, never, never, never again.
I'm never again going to think that it's Yazine signing on from a different account and then getting hacked and rugged.
Yep, yep, yep.
Just stick to the speakers list.
Even if it's community members that want to come up, just say no.
It's fine.
They'll get over it.
Um, but yeah.
All right, guys.
Have a good rest of your day and peace out.
We'll be right back.
