Watch out, the floor is lava!
Watch out, the floor is lava!
Good morning everyone and welcome to a very special space we have here with our friends
at WadeSight, this is your host Kermit, your host for today and today's topic is all about
the evolution of IP with our very good friends at Animoca slash Mochaverse, Sappy, Seals and
I am very honored to be hosting this space, can't wait to just welcome every single one
of our panelists, just a quick mention if any of our panelists would like to throw in
a take, an insight, just the thought that they have as they're listening to someone else's
Best way to do this is just raise that beautiful hand and we'll make sure to keep that conversation
smooth, ever flowing and exactly beautiful.
So with that being said, I do want to welcome all of our panelists here with us starting
with our very own WadeSight, I know Hawaiian is right here with us, Hawaiian, how are you
Yo, hey everyone, good to be here, good to see so many of my good friends, thanks everyone
for hopping on, I see Liz, I see Wab, I know Tyler's down there, please invite him over
Yeah, just looking forward to having this space is excited.
Tyler, sent you an invite brother.
I do want to also check in quickly with Wab, how are you doing?
I'm good man, I woke up late but I'm alive now and I'm here and I'm ready to discuss the
future of NFTs and the future of IP and I'm trying to make sense of all the shit that
happens in this space that somewhat seemingly makes no sense but you know finding the rhythm
There you go, for anyone unfamiliar with this soundboard, whenever someone makes a good take
this is the sound we play.
With that being said Wab, again thank you so much for being on, we're ready to discuss
the future of NFTs and quote on quote figuring our shit out just like you said.
I do also want to welcome Wiz Wang here on stage with us, Wiz, how are you doing?
Hello, hello, it's great to be here.
It's been a really galvanizing week for our community due to the drop that we've done with
Line Friends this past week which has been very well received and excited to chat more
about that to support you guys.
Love that, love that and last but certainly not least, I see my business partner here
in the audience or in the panel rather with us, Leon.
Leon, want to check in with you quickly before we start?
Kermit, I appreciate the introduction.
I'm on stage with all these incredible people and I look forward to this conversation.
Love it, love it and with that being said, let's get right into today's main topic,
What do we need to know about IP?
Just like Wab said, Wab said it best.
What is the future of NFTs and so many more great things here in today's space.
Let's start with a very good question which is a very good baseline.
Just give us a quick TLDR for anyone listening.
Yeah, thanks for the question.
So for people, I know a lot of people get confused because there's so many line companies
out there but Line Friends is basically the IP based subsidiary company within a big
international group called Line.
So Line started off as a super messenger app, mostly dominating throughout countries like
Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and it grew into this overarching kind of overall daily lifestyle
convenience service company ranging from banking, service delivery, insurance and everything.
And we actually grew up as an IP business out of that totally different business because
our story starts with a sticker pack inside the messenger app.
It's a pretty interesting story.
When they launched the messenger, people wanted to send pictures with friends and the creative
team randomly drew some characters and launched them on the messenger app.
The moment they were launched, for whatever reason, people loved the IP.
They wanted contents, they wanted products, they wanted to know everything about it.
I think that was the moment when the group decided to spin it off as a company and
yeah, the company has been doing IP based business for over 10 years now.
I didn't know that there was a Line app, so I'm a completely different market, but I didn't
know that was the origin.
And then you introduced an IP, people fell in love with it and from that grew Line Friends
Can you tell me a bit more about Line Friends' sort of initiative in Web3?
Yeah, so basically over the 10 year history, the company had about two or three explosive
The first one definitely came with the very first OG IP called Brown and Friends, which
was the main character that starred in the Beans Brown product launch recently.
Just when Brown was kind of winding down, we launched BT21, which is our second catalyst
that was created in co-effort with a global K-pop group called BTS.
But doing that, like looking 10 years, 20 years into the future, the company really didn't
want to be just only manufacturing toys and accessories.
And we decided to solve one problem, which was that in this world, IP and fan relationship
So basically, if you're a big fan of a single IP, what you do is you buy a lot of merch,
you watch cartoons, you do everything that a fan would do.
But in reality, that specific IP is not going to interact with you.
And it's the same way for IP companies, too.
For example, Mickey Mouse and Pixar Disney movies, they are nurtured and grown in their
own castles, and they're released, and they expect the mask to enjoy it.
But it's not like they're listening year to year on what they have to say, right?
We think that, and we believe that leveraging the power of blockchain and Web3, we believe
we can actually reshape that structure into a two-way thing.
So our belief going into Web3 is that if you're a fan of IP, you contribute, you engage more,
and you should be rewarded for that effort in various ways.
It could be financial, it could be sentiment, it could be community power, whatever.
But we think that Web3 is the only thing that could enable that, and that's the main
reason why we're in Web3, basically.
Very quickly, I do see Tyler has joined us.
Tyler is the head of projects at Anamoka Brands.
Tyler, welcome to the stage.
Jim, Jim, sorry for joining late in Tokyo.
Again, sorry about joining late, and I should be here.
No problem, no problem, Tyler.
All right, so really what we want to be doing today is diving a bit more into the topic,
which is the evolution of IP.
Appreciate the introduction, man.
Beautiful, beautiful way to get us started into today's discussion, Hawaiian, which is the
And first off, I feel like we have to start by really asking ourselves the most basic question,
Because I feel like it's a term, especially today in Web3, that is just being thrown left,
right, and center, right?
The biggest IP in the world, the biggest IP in Web3.
And I want to start with you, Hawaiian, as you were talking about line friends and then
Yeah, so for me, I think there's like the dictionary version.
I think there's like company versions and there's like my own personal version.
Today, I'm going to probably share my own version because I'm speaking.
So I think that IP ranges from anything that kind of touches people's hearts to physical
So really, I think the word IP is introduced often in the space as with a brand.
Actually, it's kind of intertwined with what we call brands, but intellectual property
doesn't really only pertain to brands.
It could be community as well.
So I really personally don't think that anything should be stereotyped to be IP.
But in Web3, I agree that we often use brands as something to call IP.
But thinking about IP in a larger aspect gives us a lot of opportunity to do a lot of
different things and evolutionary things in Web3 for sure.
So I think going forward, the term IP in Web3 is going to broaden up and open up more so
people will imagine more and they'll try to do more innovative things in Web3.
Wab, I do also want to get your take on this because I know, at least for me
personally, Safi is one of the cutest, most adorable IPs there are and there is
So what does IP mean to you?
Like, how do you define as IP?
Yeah, I think it's really, really broad, but kind of similar to what Hawaiian
said, it reduces to just making people feel something.
Whatever you want them to feel is up to you, but that is the end goal.
I think for us, a lot of that is humor.
A lot of that is in particular for our brand and our community.
It's about the interactions that people have for it.
Like, I believe less in me trying to go out and create a story for Safi Seals
as like, you know, this is the storyline of Safi Seals.
I'm also having the interactions with people, create lore and memorable
experiences that, you know, make everyone feel a certain type of way that
And it's almost like a big sort of social game where you're kind of writing
these moments down in history and that becomes what the IP is.
And how much of that, by the way, I love that definition.
It's IP is what you make people feel.
My next question to you, Wab, would be, you know, how much of that is
planned from the team as in for Safi's case, right?
It's a lot of it is being quirky, being funny, being cute, being silly.
How much of that is pre-planned from the team and how much of that is,
do you feel like just up to luck, like up to what community that, what the
community that shapes up around you, around a certain image, around a
certain message is, and then carries on with it, as in when you sat down
to really plan out Safi Seals, was that something you had that was
intentional or did you start feeling sort of a certain vibe with the
community? And then you were like, okay, let's double down on what we
I think in general, you tend to find that art manifests behavior.
And so, you know, most people, when they look at a Safi, regardless of
if you've been introduced to Safi before, you think, oh, shit, this
thing looks fucking stupid, but it looks funny, right?
And I feel there's some kind of like, happiness towards it, right?
And that is, that innately kind of guides you in the direction of how
you feel towards it, how in theory you would build on top of it.
And then, of course, like, you know, culture is proliferated and
guided by like the people who are sort of running the community and
I think over time, you know, originally it sort of started with me
and I was kind of coming up with creations and doing things and, you
know, monkey see, monkey do, everyone else kind of like was imitating
and doing giving their own take on what that was.
But over time, that's become more and more decentralized.
You have, you know, we're quite when we can maybe talk about this later,
but we're very bullish on sort of derivatives and derivative ecosystems.
And I'm generally a big fan of my PCO and that sort of stuff.
And, you know, I believe in having the community kind of take on its
own identity and, you know, with that, you end up having, you know,
other I guess you call them culture builders that kind of prop up and
prop up that people rally around and those people tend to take the
brand and the community in a different direction to what you would
typically expect from me, but have its own sort of like taste and quirk
and charm that makes it a unique experience.
And I just believe that the more people that are doing that, the more
people that are culture building, the more it's going to benefit us as
a whole and, you know, not rely entirely on me.
Also that point about, Hey, that thing looks stupid, but it's kind of funny
and, uh, it kind of makes me happy.
And I do want to ask the same sort of question to, uh, to whiz, because
whiz really, I mean, with Izuki, something we've seen is through the
introduction of Izuki, there weren't as many anime PFPs before, right?
That is just something I generally felt was true until we saw the, just
the pickup, the uptick of Izuki, the takeover of Izuki, and then all of a
sudden a lot more anime based PFPs started coming about.
So for you and really, I know I'm asking about Izuki, but this is also
about your personal experience as well.
What does IP building look like for you?
So, you know, IP itself is a really broad term, but in the sense that we
use the term of the space, I see it as this sort of blank canvas, which is
the beginning of forging an emotional connection with your fan base, whether
that's through film and TV, whether it's through, through physical
products, through gaming and so on and so forth.
And I think the really interesting thing about using anime IP like we do
is that we tapped into something very sort of fundamental and nostalgic.
I remember, you know, when I was a kid and when I was obsessed with anime,
it was like a, it was like a thing for losers, you know, at least in
the United States, it was like something that was completely uncool.
I remember my own mother even telling me, she's like, Oh, someday
you're going to outgrow this.
And, you know, ironically, now it's my job.
But, you know, through the decades, we've seen anime really enter the
pop culture conversation, whether it's through partnerships with big
luxury fashion houses, like Chanel and Burberry, who have all done,
you know, anime partnerships through, you know, rappers like Megan
Thee Stallion rapping about Naruto or NBA players name dropping their
favorite anime references and interviews.
This really is the era of anime and there's no better time
to have created an anime IP than today.
When are we going to see Megan Thee Stallion name drop Azuki?
That is the question I want to answer to.
Thank you so much for it.
Dream big, dream big, dream big, dream big.
I can't wait to hear that song.
And this is, I just know it's going to be fire.
And last, but certainly not least, I know Tyler is here on stage with us.
So Tyler, I also want to get your thoughts on what more specifically
brand and IP building look like in web three and perhaps even outside
So for example, um, when we think about Nike, um, and when you think about
Apple, what that actually means to you.
And, um, when we think about Nike is not really that tech that make you feel like
just do it is really the values that's behind and people who can resonate
with the brand itself and it's not really about what the brand talk about,
but it's really about how people feel about the brand and for Apple as
well as the, as the matter of quality, because you believe that whatever Apple
is shipping is going to be high quality.
And, um, I think it's the same for any IPs that's getting beaut by, um,
indie studios and all that.
Um, and I know, like I've been talking to probably 10, 20, 30, um, IP
houses in Japan, um, and, and this week, um, in Tokyo and we've been
talking about basically what's the minimum guarantee, what's the
ref share and whatsoever, but then all those are busy commodity, right?
In some sense, and it's all commercial, it's all monetization, but what
it actually means is what kind of audience does the IP, the brand, the
values actually appeal to people.
And I think for example, if you look at three eyes and a pink face right now,
again, like, um, back to sappy seal, right?
Like you talked about, um, it's funny and whatever, but then I think what
actually matters is what is truly unique to the holders was truly unique
to the audience who is actually looking at that JPEG and is not just a picture,
but also what's the values behind the IP and, and that's what resonates
with people, um, and IP is powerful in that way.
You can probably see someone paying the minimum guarantee, whatever
two, $3 million to use that for a year with 50% ref share of 30%
Um, but then if the, the licensee who is adopting the IP who doesn't
understand the true values behind it, they wouldn't be able to fully utilize
the IP in a way that can speak and resonate with the audience that
actually care about the IP and the values behind it.
So that's really how I feel about IP.
And that's why we chose this path as well to be truly unique in a way
that when people look at a pink face and the three eyes, they think about
And while you had your hand raised as, uh, Tyler was talking,
did you want to add something?
Yeah, I mean, to Tyler's point, um, I've always, I've always felt like
we've been playing a different game with seals in terms of, you know, a
brand building is obviously an important thing, but like the primary
objective is to create a movement, right?
Like you want to have a set of values.
You want to stand for something, um, doesn't have to be political, but you
know, stand for something that resonates with people and fills that void in
the world that people are wanting, but just doesn't exist.
And I think, you know, web three technology and NFTs and all those
things are a great conduit for that.
And they, they allow that behavior to really, really take place.
And, you know, we're starting to see that come sort of come together in
terms of aligning people at the deepest level, which is the financial
level, and then having them, you know, feel some sense of agency and urgency
in terms of proliferating, whatever those set of values are in my mind.
That's a movement is when you have other people who are all aligned on
this same goal or mission or journey or whatever it is, um, took the
towards that, and I think, yeah, to Tyler's point, I agree, like pretty
And what do you think, I mean, you, you mentioned to, to your point, web
three being a tool that helps or a catalyst that helps just propagate
that message even further, faster to, to grow at a much faster rate.
Why do you think that is?
Why is such a powerful place for IP building?
So I think there's, there's two prongs to this and we can go really,
really deep into this, but like at a surface level, there's two things.
So it's a the, the very deep financial alignment between people where you
almost become tribalistic in terms of, you know, we all own the same thing.
If we all win, or if we all work together, we can, we can win and
we can make this thing succeed.
Um, and that's like the, uh, the first thing, the financial alignment.
And then what that sort of manifests and, and, and, and, and not, not
entirely, it's not the sole function, but it's part of it.
Um, and the second thing is having such a dense network of people that
are so deeply ingrained socially, um, that creates massive potential to
do things that otherwise wouldn't be able to be achieved.
Um, and that's, you know, the result of the functions of NFTs and crypto
and how those, um, keep people together and keep them in these tight
And I think you'll find that, um, when a lot of, a lot of big events that
happen in the world, just in general for speaking abstractly tends to be
coordinated by a very small group of people, but if you can manage to
coordinate people on that level, on such a deep level and keep everyone
aligned and, and have them move towards the same goal or objective, um,
you can make the unimaginable possible.
Um, and that's particularly what makes NFTs so powerful.
And it's the, the financial alignment, which manifests a really dense
Do you think there's a setback to that as well?
Uh, in, in, in what context?
As into just the web three being so global, so open for just anyone and
everyone to voice their opinion very loudly.
Yeah, I think, um, that's always a problem.
I do believe in gatekeeping communities and gatekeeping culture.
I think dilution of culture is the biggest threat to any
And, um, the, the, you know, I kind of say this, I've said this before, but,
um, you know, I see communities and like holders as like the white blood cells.
And they're kind of like trying to defend and, and, and, you know, exercise
any, uh, sort of bad actors that try and sort of get ingrained themselves
within the community and that's part of, part of, you know, it's again,
like I said, it's like a big social game.
It's like, everyone's trying to figure out like who's more aligned, who can
support, who can, who's bad, you know, like, and, and trying to keep this
culture and community pure.
And that's like part of the game.
Cause it's specifically when it comes to you, Robin, because I, I have the
pleasure of being part of the, the sappy community as well.
I know for a, for quite a big time, especially during the bear, there
was a lot of attention going to sappy that I remember you even voiced it,
whether it was through a space, through a tweet.
I don't remember anymore, but it was sort of the attention.
I remember you said it wasn't attention you wanted.
It was people who just wanted to use the PFP because, you know, they
got the free retweet from you.
They got, you know, the free attention, the free this, the free that,
but that's all they were after.
So they were after using that IP up to a certain extent and then, you
know, doesn't please them.
So how do you gate keep against say attention like that?
I think, yeah, back in the day, we were very open because we were just
And we were trying to get as many people to join us and you sometimes
get like the full signal of like, Oh, this person tweeted on my project.
So like, I should support this person.
But then you realize that like, you know, supporting people is contextual.
It depends on who this person is, what their intentions are, how, you
know, how they're going to benefit the community.
And I think just like, you know, nowadays I only retweet stuff that's
like high quality content from the community.
So like other people see that and, you know, think that, okay, well shit,
like if that's what's popping, then, you know, becoming like a social
signal for like, what is like cool things and what represents the culture.
I think that's like quite important and the community themselves
Like nowadays, I told, I told a lot of community, like don't engage with
like people that just engage in farming after they buy a seal.
Like if they buy a seal, they buy a seal, like do something for the
community, otherwise just like, you don't just get to milk the community
for their engagement and their attention, just for like making a purchase.
I don't, I don't personally believe in that.
And I think, you know, when you have that sort of mindset, you kind of have
your community sort of take charge and end up like self enforcing that.
And then no one really has to think about it.
It's just a subconscious thing.
And as you were speaking, I was, I think you're, you're the perfect
person, I don't know how to speak anymore.
You're the perfect person to ask this because I do also notice there's a
certain type of persona that starts to mitigate behind different web3 IPs.
Like when I think of sappy seals, I have a clear image of what
the community looks like.
It's, it's a fun community.
It's, it's more of a embracing community.
When I think of Azuki, I think of, I think of a threader.
I think of someone smart, well-researched.
I think of someone critical, like, you know, for some reason, I have this
like very clear image of an archetype in my head when it comes to different
communities and for Azuki, it's, it's that that I've laid out.
So how much of that is intentional from the team?
Because like, it's hard to imagine that right.
Just the IP is able to propagate that message of belonging to that
certain niche, that certain audience, like how do you target a certain
audience, a certain archetype?
Is it, does it just happen?
Yeah, that's a, that's, that's a really funny question that you bring up
because during the Vegas event that we held last year, there was a really
clear delineation of, you know, the type of persona that belongs to the
different brands within our portfolio.
For example, I mean, literally just like looking at the event space that we're
in, you could see the Azukis, you know, kind of in the back, you know, a lot of
them are whales, they're really cool.
A lot of them are a bit more seasoned, a little bit older.
They've established themselves.
They're the ones who are, you know, sitting at the tables, sipping
champagne, you know, sipping some whiskey.
And then you see the beans who tend to be younger.
You know, they're really lively, really playful, really fine, you know,
slightly unhinged at times, but that's the magic of beans.
And you see them just like absolutely tearing it up on the dance floor.
You know, sweats dripping down.
They're in their early twenties.
So you can really be, oh, I love, I love the beans, you know, beans are girls.
And, and it was so funny just to even see that sort of, you know, demarcation
on the dance floor between the Azuki and the beans.
But in terms of how the culture of the various communities has been cultivated,
I think some of it is just on face value, just like, just like how the IP looks.
But, you know, a lot of it is definitely driven by the community.
And I think that the beauty of what we're trying to do, which is to create
a decentralized anime universe at Azuki, we want to make sure that we're
enabling and fostering this kind of community growth from my perspective.
Web3 unlocks different types of dynamics between IP and their communities.
It enables a much deeper and richer type of relationship, such as co-creation
of IP with the community, rewarding loyalty, such as through our
collector status product we recently released through our collector's profile.
And for me, I really see a symbiotic relationship that enables an ownership
mentality from our community in terms of stewarding the IP of the ecosystem,
because the ecosystem success is our community success and vice versa.
I feel like that would be an interesting one, because right there's the critique,
the feedback that elementals are like, as a, as a image, they're very close to
Azuki, but at the same time, like, this is the number one question I have
on my mind right now, like, is there a difference in the demographic between
Azuki holders and elementals?
Are they dancing with the beans?
Um, you know, at the time of our Vegas event, that was the launch event for
elementals, so the elementals community did not exist then.
Um, but it will be interesting to see through time as we're able to
interact with the community more, you know, what sorts of people are flocking
there, but for now, you know, it's a lot of people, um, that are already
within the Azuki and beans communities that are picking up elementals.
We see a lot of people in web three actually who are interested in entering
the Azuki ecosystem, um, and the elementals is that a more favorable
price point for them to be able to become a part of the community and
join the garden in terms of how the IP is differentiated.
Um, I think there is, I think at the time of launch, there was this
perception that the, you know, the art for elementals and Azuki were identical,
but there's actually quite a lot of differentiating traits.
And there's a lot of, um, Laura that exists with elementals, you know,
the four domains and so on and so forth, which will be revealed through
time as we begin to expand out our universe through different types
of things that we're doing.
Um, you know, we announced recently that we're doing an anime anthology series.
There's a lot of things that are cooking behind the scenes.
Um, we have an amazing Laura building team, um, and we're excited to reveal
all of these details and do time.
I think you mentioned a very important keyword as well, which is time.
Like for elementals, for example, like just thinking about it.
Like for, for, for the OG Azuki collection, like I have such a clear image for beans.
Now that you pointed out, I do have that clear image.
I see Jim, uh, in the audience.
I know, uh, as I meet you, one of my very close friends, like there
is that image also in my head for beans, but you, I think you mentioned
a very key keyword, which is time.
I feel like time allows you also allows the community to sort of pick
which faction they belong to the most, which persona they gravitate towards.
They resonate with the most.
By the way, FYI was, as you were speaking, Leon, uh, my business
partner just sent me, I like Wiz.
So, uh, a lot of, a lot of great insight you've shared as well.
And I do also want to ask that question to, uh, to Tyler.
Like, again, I know what wob, not what wob, what, uh, sappy seals sort of
persona slash archetype looks like.
Azuki, beads, elementals.
What about animoca versus, uh, animoca brands, animoca verse, animoca brands.
I just mashed the two I mashed, I mashed animoca brands and mocha verse.
I will only take 1% in royalties, but what, what, what does the
persona look like for mocha verse?
Let me go see it and figure that out.
Um, so, so animoca verse, um, we, we actually started with that happy
And, um, back in the days when we were doing some art concepts, actually, uh,
we started with an anime concept and, uh, we actually leak what that, uh,
looked like to the broader community and, and so on.
And, um, and, and everyone loves it.
And they're like, dude, like, why didn't you do that?
Like, why, why do you have like the like fricking weird mochas right now?
Um, and I think, I think back then the conversation was really about, we did
about 10 rounds with 10 different artists and we have been interviewing and
basically doing a lot of, uh, screening of art concepts and so on.
And we're like, Oh, like that's, that looks amazing, but it looks very like a Suki.
Um, and back then we really want to have our true unique, um, positioning and also
to something that actually speaks to, um, what we want to, to share the story
that we want to share with the, with the broader community.
So, um, the, the values that we've been representing is around being loving,
supportive and supportive, uh, collaborative and, and building all those busy
partnerships and animal brands ecosystem.
We've invested in 450 plus companies and a lot of them are B2C, uh, companies
consumer facing, but we animal friends never really had any IP or any product
layer that actually connects all the dots.
So in order to connect all the dots, we need to be welcoming.
We need to be decentralized, uh, with open arms and working with everyone.
And, and that's why we have the values of being loving, supportive,
collaborative, uh, being kind to everyone.
And if you come into the community right now, if you buy a milk first entity,
come into holder channel and you would immediately realize how loving the
community is and one thing that I didn't expect is when we launched your
project, I keep emphasize, keep emphasizing the importance of being
loving and being kind and being supportive.
And now basically every day, everyone is trying to reinforce that culture
and that values, and naturally you're bringing a lot of people, um, that
are loving, supportive and collaborative.
And that's the power of IP.
That's the power of values and that's the power of culture.
It gets cascaded down from the company, from the founder to core holders,
and then to new joiners coming into the ecosystem.
So what I've been calling for mocha ID users, basically is our
digital identity with thought mocha.
Um, right now we have 230 to 240,000 mocha IDs newly joined into the ecosystem
and the importance of the holders of mocha NFT and their mission is to cascade
the values of mocha versus NFT to the broader community, because as you
scale the community and the ecosystem and work with hundreds of companies
and building the meta layer and the economy off on top of hundreds of
companies, the culture can be easily lost and it's not easy to, to, to
keep the culture and the values and mission within the community.
And it's so important to be advocated by, by basically the broader
community and the holders.
And they play a huge role as a co-founder to, to share and preach that culture.
So, um, so I would say like, you see that pink, weird face and all those
kinds of stuff, like three eyes and stuff like that, basically right now
that represents being loving, being kind, being collaborative, especially
in what through right now, there's no room to compete against one another.
Um, and I would just like to call for everyone to always be kind to each
other, but three can be brutal.
Um, people can FUD people can talk shit about you and whatever, but most
importantly is who are you as a human being and what kind of person you
want to be and what kind of values you want to represent yourself and how
you want to tell your kids, uh, what kind of person you are.
And more importantly is being a good person, being kind to everyone, being
collaborative, don't compete with one another.
We're still very, very small portion of the world.
And if we don't work together, we're going to be fucked, um, probably by AI.
So, um, strongly encourage everyone to work together, love each other,
being kind to each other.
Uh, we're still a minority right now.
We are likely going to be fucked likely by AI.
That is, uh, words, words of wisdom right there.
And Hey, I just did the math.
One billion, 1% of one billion is 10 million, which might sound like a lot,
but just think about the revenue.
Think about the revenue that would bring a leave that similar with you.
And to your point, Tyler, I mean, I feel like a lot of community building,
brand building, it also relates to leading by example.
I mean, just right now talking to everyone here on this panel.
I mean, wob personifies really what it's like to be a sappy seals holder
through even his own tweets, his own content, his own persona was same thing.
I mean, you're very composed, very well-spoken, like you fit perfectly
within the archetype and I like it's starting to dawn on me and same for
you, Tyler, Tyler, very friendly, very caring, very loving.
I feel like a lot of what community gravitate towards you is also a lot
about who you are as a person.
What jokes you, you know, you lay out what things you speak out into
existence and a lot of people that resonate tend to come along with you.
So I, uh, I absolutely love that.
And, uh, just to, to gravitate back to, uh, to wait side and more specifically
line friends, I want to ask you that same question.
What kind of audience have you noticed form around line friends?
I mean, like, first of all, I want to say kudos to Bob Wiz and Tyler.
Those are really, um, a lot of things and a lot to kind of, uh, digest
on and to think about, um, even after today.
Um, so thank you guys, uh, for line friends, I think it's a wide variety
of people because we have such a wide variety of IP.
I think we kind of expanded that realm, uh, with our newest, uh,
beans, Brown collaboration, we started to tap into audiences that we've
never, uh, thought we would tap into.
So, um, yeah, for the OG Brown and bear, it's the typical people that
love cute, cuddly things with BT 21.
It was the more K-pop centered, uh, group, uh, for the web three,
I think it's the new kind of Gen Z plus people that want their, want to
find their community and their persona inside, um, and kind of especially
going into Wade, I think Wade, uh, resonates a lot with people that are
interested in music and fashion, especially people that are in the web three scene.
Um, but I really, you know, the, the good thing about being line friends of a
billion dollar IP company is that we have a wide variety of IP and we can, we
have the capability to endorse and onboard so many different people.
And that's why we think we could be one of the major gateways to onboard the
web, uh, the mass that have not onboarded to web three yet, um, through
the gates of unlimited possibilities of different IP and different IP being kind
of omnipresent in different platforms and different spaces.
And, uh, just, I mean, also thinking about what Tyler was saying at first,
the, the power of, there's something particularly powerful about dominating
a certain art style, even, right?
Like as line friends, also you were, you were speaking right now, Hawaiian, the
different forms of art styles and just how, how much they bring different types
of groups of people together around your IP.
I mean, Tyler, one thing you were saying, we were drawing something
that was in an anime style, but felt it was too much like Azuki.
Like to me, that shows like how dominant Azuki as an image is within that anime realm.
Just in web three, like so many founders I've spoken to said the same thing.
They started with an anime PFP.
It looked too much like Azuki.
It looked too much like Azuki.
Same for, same for sappy, same for animoka, same for wait side.
And, uh, really Hawaiian, what I want to ask you next is a bit more about,
you know, what's in store for line friends?
What can people expect from wait side and line friends?
Well, yeah, as a company, we, when we decided that we would go all in on web
three, uh, alongside with our partner company, Cripco, um, we really decided
to never look back, uh, at least for a couple of years.
So, um, the company, even though the business, the majority of the business
still running on its traditional, uh, toy manufacturing or contents creating
business, um, really the attention of the company is really, really focused
and kind of, uh, zoned in on the web three side.
So I think more and more resources, more and more effort, more physical
products will come out from the web, uh, the IPs that have touch points
with web three, especially wait side, uh, and our second collection OZs.
And wait side, of course, is kind of the next, um, collection in line.
Um, it's going to be a project that has touch points with physical
products, uh, token, uh, gated or token token related reward systems, um,
high, high quality 3d art and also a fan engagement based reward systems.
This is this, the fan engagement based reward system is probably the system
that incorporates our philosophy or vision when I talked about making a
two way relationship between fandom and IP.
So it's really going to be a first of its kind.
Also, uh, very exciting for us to see what can unfold for us because we
believe that we're, you know, not to go overboard or anything, but if
you look around in the world and if you look at the more relatively
heavyweight, uh, IP companies, there's no other company in the world that
is this much engaged into web three, uh, this much focused into web three
and this has put this much resource into web three.
So really, really it, it means a lot.
It's a, uh, it's a critical milestone for us.
I think it'll mean a lot to the remaining web two IP companies in the world as
well, because what we do, how we do will matter, um, uh, and it will,
it, it, it can accelerate, uh, the mass adoption for web two IP companies as
well, and it'll kind of leave a guideline for them to how to do it and
when to do it, and we hope that our movement really, uh, makes that
movement, that inevitable mass adoption, even a little faster and even a
little bigger, so yeah, looking forward for a lot of exciting things
to come from, uh, line friends.
So we, we are, we're extremely early and, uh, for anyone listening, Hawaiian,
what would you say, what would you say does the future of wait side look like
in one sentence, what are you guys aiming for?
What is the big, big goal for anyone looking to participate and involve themselves?
Um, so I, man, I want to come up something with like animoca brand,
uh, animocaverse, but, um, uh, let's see, let's see.
Um, yeah, animocaverse, I told you it sticks.
One, you said 1% is a lot.
It's just see how catchy it is.
I called it, um, um, yeah.
So wait side is pretty simple.
If you love music, if you love fashion, um, this is an IP and an NFT
as you engage more with the IP, as you love the IP more, this IP will give
you back rewards and benefits on a constant basis based on your engagement
with the IP and the ecosystem.
So it'll be, uh, you know, it'll be a revolutionary thing.
It'll, it'll include a lot of things, uh, uh, as a mega IP, right?
Mega IPs are not used to give back, but that's what web three, uh,
That's what, uh, sappy seals has been, have been doing.
I think that's absolutely what, uh, Wiz and Azuki team is going for.
Of course, mocha, mochaverse as well.
They've been doing a lot of innovative, uh, things with their
realm point systems and there's, there's a reason why we, um, I politely
asked these, uh, legends to come out to the space.
Um, so, um, it, we're going to try to incorporate a lot of the good things.
These legends have been, um, uh, steering and building off the space.
Um, of course, if nothing is patented, of course, but, um, yeah, that's, that's
probably, to summarize, that's, that's probably what we have in store for
wait side and the future for wait side.
And I do also want to ask the same question to our beautiful panelists.
What does the future of sappy seals IP hold in store?
Um, so there's different contexts into which, you know, that discussion can go down.
I think, um, we're always focused, we're always focused on sort of growing.
I think for the most part, like just getting people familiar with the sappy
face, right, the thing that's next to my name, uh, you know, on, on the panel
and just getting that level of familiarity and getting people to see that
everyone and have that sort of evergreen ubiquity in terms of constantly being one
with the culture and being understood as just a thing that exists in the world
that people relate to and understand.
They're just intrinsically that's like one of the biggest goals in terms of
scale, but that also another one that's come at the cost of culture.
And, you know, when we talk about culture, I talk about the community
themselves, creating that and generating that and then pushing that out
And, um, there's different mechanisms at which we're, you know, allowing
One thing that's pretty web three centric is, you know, we're, we're
focusing on derivative ecosystems and, and solving that key piece of the
puzzle that I don't think anyone has really solved with, with derivatives
and stuff and how, in terms of like, how can I make these things actually
value a creative towards the base collection?
And I think that that is one of the big sort of things we're going to be
focusing on and there's, there's, there's a lot more kind of like under
the hood when it comes to that.
But I honestly, like my, my goal is to give people full creative freedom to
just do whatever they want with sales, but also have it kind of align a
financially with everyone and be, um, have, uh, have a set of values that
like, you know, the, the derivatives and the expansions that are like
community led, um, you know, what those kind of represent and how they
align with the, with the community.
I think those things are very, very important and doing that correctly
is an early impossible challenge, but I think, um, we'll be able to pull
it off and that's kind of like my goal.
And then obviously, uh, kind of helping, you know, over the time, over
the time span of sales, we've seen like people in our community who, um,
you know, weren't necessarily didn't have necessarily a crazy amount of
And now some of them are animators.
Some of them are doing 3d design.
Some of them are, um, you know, making great video edits and, you know,
kind of guiding that and finding a way to make that escape the echo chamber.
Um, and, and guide that I think is going to be very, very important for us.
Um, memetics is obviously like a huge focus for us as well.
And so being able to be, again, what I said with the initial thing is be at
one with the culture and be understood by the entire world without diluting that.
I love that recognition, community, and culture.
This is what we're all here for.
Thank you so much for that.
Wob, uh, whiz, what is in store for the Azuki IP?
So we really believe in this concept of the decentralized
The way I see it, IP has pretty much always been a one way street.
So for example, um, if you were a really big fan of star trek, you know, and you
went to all the conventions, wrote fan fiction, you dressed up, you didn't really,
you didn't really realize any extra value from that beyond the emotional value.
And there's definitely no financial upside for all the money you're
expending on conferences and things like that, you know, for decades,
Hollywood executives, they decide how a film and TV show will be made, you
know, the most diehard fans, they never really have a say in terms of what
happens, and I think the interesting thing when it comes to Azuki beans,
elementals, Bobo from our community members, they're so passionate.
And we've really seen this deluge of fan art, of cosplay, creating
their own animations, creating their own merch, you know, creating, um, even,
you know, games that feature IP of the NFTs that they own.
And I think the opportunity that we have here today is to open up this
previous one way street to become a two way street between brand and community
to facilitate co-creation of the decentralized Azuki anime universe together.
I believe this is a really powerful thing.
And for me, it's the future of IP.
I love that decentralized IP and IP for all to own and co-create together.
Thank you so much, Wiz, for being on today and sharing so much insight.
Really, Tyler, our man, our myth, our legend.
What is the future of the animoca IP?
Animocaverse, um, so I think regardless of what we build, uh, what we build
with, uh, the point system and, uh, being very novel about point five,
um, that we haven't disclosed yet.
But by the way, Hawaiian flex, like if, um, if you want to basically adopt
our, uh, point five contract and stuff like that in the future, when
we, when we actually launch it, feel free to do it.
Uh, I'm very more than happy to share everything, uh, with everyone
to, to actually do this together.
Um, again, like it's more important than it's about growing the industry together.
Um, there's a lot that we're cooking behind the scene and happy to share that.
Um, uh, when is, when is it good timing?
And I think regardless of all the growth mechanism and the novel, um, the
novel kind of like business model that we're building right now, and
basically leveraging the best side of across the whole ecosystem and the
whole animoca ecosystem and the companies that we invested in, what actually
speaks to me personally is what actually happened, I would say like 12 hours
ago when, um, I was meeting with a bunch of gaming companies, IP companies,
e-commerce companies, telecom companies in Japan.
And, uh, one of our team members were, uh, wearing the mochaverse
merch and every single meeting they're like, Oh my God, I love that merch.
I really want to have it.
I will fly all the way to wherever you guys are hosting the com, uh, the
conference or events to get that merge.
And regardless of all the complicated stuff that we've been building at
the end of the day is really putting that smile on people's face and, um,
building something that people actually want and, um, that they love the IP.
They want to put, put, put the hoodies and put the caps and, um, uh,
on their body, like that's, that's something really speaks to you personally.
And, um, I think that's what IP is really about.
And, um, so, so maybe that inspired me to think about building something, uh,
around merch, around fashion and so on, and really looking forward to, to
be together with Hawaii, Hawaiian flex.
And, uh, and again, like happy to be together with everyone.
I don't think there's any competition in this space, at least at this moment.
I love that growing and building together, Tyler, thank you so much for that.
And thank you so much for being on Hawaiian, any last minute alpha
before we wrap up today's beautiful space.
Yeah, I mean, it was really, you know, I really don't have any words to describe.
It was really insightful to hear from the absolute legends in the space.
I think it was my first time on a space of Tyler, but I can see now
Um, so, you know, uh, I can probably like spill out all day, uh, but I'll
just say, um, rather than going into the project details, I want to really
leave it as, um, this, uh, big company, uh, line friends is here to, uh, not
only to our NFT projects, but also grow with our fellow IPS or absolute
legendary NFT brands and teams together.
Um, so in that context, I believe, uh, inviting over these trusted partners
into, uh, the upcoming mint of wait side means a lot.
Uh, hence I mentioned, um, the concept of initial NFT offering and inviting
over B2B partners into our private sale.
So that will be a fun, um, alpha slash thing to look out for in the coming
weeks, uh, we'll be releasing, um, information on that.
But again, um, aside from wait side, I want to focus more on what possibilities
we will have as a company to, uh, kind of venture, uh, with, uh, Sappy
Seals, Beans, Azuki, uh, Milkiverse, just looking forward to the very
creative and innovative things that we can do together.
We're here not just to grow our NFT projects, but also just to grow
this overall culture and make it a larger thing and make it mainstream so
that, you know, indeed we are super fucking early, right?
Um, that's what we're here for.
And yeah, looking to innovate, looking to build, looking to grow.
Hawaiian, very quickly, I'm getting a message from the cabal, actually,
just saying they've pinned a post up top and we haven't
mentioned what it's about.
Well, yeah, I mean, I mentioned it, um, but basically, um, uh, the initial
NFT offering is basically a, a application.
So we've behind the doors, been building, um, relationships with B2B partners,
potential B2B partners to onboard the private sale of the wait side, uh, NFT
meant, um, we are going to look for, uh, more promising groups and individuals
that are hoping to, uh, be invited over to the, uh, private sale opportunity
via that, uh, you know, uh, form.
So if you guys are interested, uh, the people who are listening in, if you guys
are interested in joining the private sale of wait side, uh, please check
out the pin tweet, uh, there will be a form inside that tweet.
Uh, you guys can write and apply.
Uh, we'll look over each and every single one of them, uh, over personally
and with the team, that is probably what the pin tweet is about.
Is it a, is it a mint by the way?
What, uh, what should people expect?
Uh, so the private sale is a basically a bucket auction.
So whether, uh, big companies, individuals, they all have to go through
the same thing, they are going to make bids into the collection basically.
And so, you know, no one's really getting an NFT on a fixed price.
That's the, that's the overall arching structure.
We are going to release, uh, more details on how those bucket options
are going to be structured in the coming weeks or coming days.
So again, uh, please be on the lookout for, uh, more tweets to come
from the wait side account.
And with that being said, I do want to thank every single person
here on the panel with us, while Tyler was, thank you so much for coming on
Hawaiian wait side line friends.
Thank you so much for having me host this very beautiful and special space.
Everyone in the audience.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
This has been my pleasure.
This is your boy Kermit signing off for today's space.
Thank you so much, Hawaiian.