NFTs Are Like Nightclubs, Cryptos Are A Changing Religion: NFTStats, NFT Collector
9 months ago Benito Santiago
Sam Gelman, aka NFT Stats, aka punk9059, is a well-known figure in the NFT space, known for creating charts and providing valuable insights into dynamic markets.
In the year In 2023, Gelman worked for Prof and hosted the “Daily Countdown of Evidence,” a 10-15 minute Everything You Need to Know show that resonated with NFT true believers.
With the recent acquisition of Prof and Moonbird, Gelman joined the team at Motherland, reuniting with Ray Chan, a man he has known for the past 12 years.
Its journey to NFTs is expected in 2021. After some initial resistance, Gelman fell down the rabbit hole and hasn't been able to come up for air since.
“During covid they started recommending cryptopunk strongly. I thought the first three or four were idiots, and then when the fifth person said it, I started getting FOMO,” Gelman says.
That was kind of when I started getting involved in the game and tried to research CryptoPunks and realized there wasn't a lot of information on it. I started building my own datasets around CryptoPunks and that was basically the genesis of this account.
Before becoming NFT Stats, Gelman worked for Goldman Sachs for eight years and Uber for seven – where he was one of its first 50 employees and was responsible for expanding into markets outside the US and Canada, particularly in Asia.
“I started in London, I started in Amsterdam, I started in China, I started in Singapore. Since I was in Hong Kong, I started leading the team that started the Asian markets and then North Asia for a while I managed countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, there.
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ToggleThe most dynamic religion in the world
Before discovering NFTs, Gelman worked at a crypto company for a few months because he couldn't buy into the crypto philosophy. He says the anti-establishment ethos of many parts of crypto culture never resonated with him.
“I was not that anti-establishment. I am very happy with both companies [Goldman Sachs and Uber] So there's a bit of a disconnect with the industry that I've felt for a while.
Gelman doesn't necessarily think we're ‘advanced' and believes crypto is a bit like a religion.
“We are certainly not ahead yet. Bitcoin is 15 years old, it's 15 years early, blockchain is bigger than Airbnb, bigger than Uber, it's not a new technology anymore. Billions and billions of dollars have been thrown into it so I don't think we're at the beginning, but I think it's long overdue that you have to respect it,” Gelman says.
“I sometimes say that crypto is the most dynamic religion in the world. The people in the religion are not only in it but also missionaries. They are going out there and telling everyone about it and this is changing everything and then there are people who think that people in this space are completely crazy and full of cruelty. I sit between the two and I think that kind of gives me confidence in both.
NFTs are like nightclubs and the dynamic nature of the spotlight economy.
The volatile nature of hot and not-so-hot swaps in NFTs is an area of particular interest to Gelman. BAYC, Doodles, CloneX, Moonbirds, DeGods, Cool Cats or other projects that have been completely up and down, Gelman has a theory about fashion in space.
“One of the things I say is that NFTs are like nightclubs. It's very hard to be cool for long and there will be times when there are like three nightclubs and that was very common in Hong Kong. In the year In 2008 there were three nightclubs and the line would be around the block and you had to know someone to get in and three years later no one was going to them and they closed.
The dynamic nature of the focus economy is something the Colorado American believes anyone in NFTs and crypto, including the current meme coin meta, should be very aware of.
“I think people like to talk about the reasons why something blew up and all the better reasons, when it's the main thing, now that's what FOMO is all about. FOMO is a very fleeting behavior that can turn into anything. It can go to different types of material.
Sometimes it goes to coins, sometimes it goes to JPEGs, sometimes it goes to point systems. It's going everywhere and I think the vast majority of these meme coins will be worth zero in three months and we'll find new things to bet on.
“I hesitate to say because meme coins are hot on SOL and everything is moving forward. I don't think this tells us much about where the focus has been in the last few months and the future.”
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A new role with Memeland
At Memeland Gellman was introduced as Chief Chart Officer but will be in several key positions and will be joined by his friend and CEO Ray Chan. The pair used to hang out at tech conferences in Asia in the early 2010s.
It will be part of a move that will increase the global appeal of Motherland, which currently has a strong foothold in Asian markets but less in the US.
Each employee is in Asia or an organization located in Asia. There's someone in Dubai, someone in Canada, but they're all really kind of Hong Kong and Asian. Someone based in the United States wanted to make the company a little bit more global, so that was something I thought would not be difficult to do,” says Gelman.
I think the biggest thing for them is they have a great treasury, they have a very well made coin. They also have huge audience, web2 streaming platform, web3 streaming platform. I think they wanted a little bit of a COO-type person to come in and create a little bit more organization around the wonderful things that they do and the assets that they have.
Could we see a relaunch of the daily NFT count show in the same style in his new role? Sam doesn't get rid of him and is grateful that he did what he thought when the old validation show started.
“Sometimes I feel like that show did more for me than it did for validation. I thought it was good but maybe it could have been used more and I thought it was a great media site. If you have someone to pay your salary and stuff like that, I want to make sure it's very beneficial to Motherland if I do.
“I'm glad it did what I wanted because I wanted people to have a way to know what happened in this space without having to hear about it, two different people joking around with each other, which is what happens when you walk into X Spaces.
“All you need is 10-15 minutes where you're listening, whether it's on the subway or on your way to work or whatever. Then you know what happened in NFTs last day. That was the goal and I think he accomplished that.
Favorite founders
Gelman has respect for the founders with real authenticity, calling the game and high creativity, especially for Ray from Motherland, Frank Dagod, Gordon Goner and Matt and John from Larva Labs.
“Obviously Ray was one of the reasons I moved there but I think he understands the NFT relationship very well. It helps the game,” Gelman says.
“I personally like Frank, he's divisive. I don't understand why,” said DeGods, explaining that Frank wants to give people their money back when they do bad things.
“He had no intention of taking people's money. You have people in space who are kind of for the money and I think he really wasn't that person. I think he was very uncomfortable with the idea of the project and he didn't want to sit on his shoulders. If you just listen to what he has to say, I think he really understands what the community wants.
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The bored Ape Yacht Club feel and floor prices have recently dropped, but Gelman is quick to point out just how innovative BAYC is, especially founder Gordon Goner.
“I really like Gordon Gonder. It's very creative and one of the things that saddens me right now is how many monkeys are being dumbfounded. To some extent, the monkey community was doing all the work and dancing on CryptoPunks and other projects two years ago.
“I had a collection of monkeys, but I never really got into the monkey community, but they were very creative. Mutants were very creative, Kennel Club was very creative, so most of the Roadmap stuff has to do with monkeys. One of my favorite Gordon Gonder lines was ‘If you're getting low, stop thinking about how you're going to get out and go into the woods and make some mushrooms and come up with some good ideas.'
“This inspired a lot of what they did with the Board Up Yacht Club. I had two mutants. I thought, oh, he was making mushrooms and he came up with the same characteristics of the goop. It was great back then. ”
“And I can't forget Matt and John at Larva Labs, I have a lot of respect for those guys and what they've done.”
Quick fire question and answer
Favorite NFTs in your wallet?
“Midnight Wind #5015 by Dutchtide Studios – I own three of these and will never sell this one in particular.
Harvest #388 by Per Christian Stovland – I love the harvest. I love the color and I live in the mountains so it has a very majestic view.
Favorite vintage art collection?
“I guess I have a bit of an allegiance to Chromie Squiggles. I own one of them and I think they are the first type of commercial long-form creative art project out there. I love the Chromie Squiggle I have, I have no intention of selling it.
I love fidenzas. It's hard not to like Fidenza, but I love them as a set more than I want to own one. I love Fidenza in the way that there are so many of them and even though they are so different, they are still very clearly part of the same collection. I think they are very good. ”
How are you seeing the ranks at the moment? And have you been actively involved in purchasing regular items?
“I haven't been, but I personally, as you know, is my strategy. One of the things Spencer once tweeted was that when you go from a bear market to a bull market, you have to completely change your mindset. And I think my thinking is just stuck in a bear market. As you can see from the wall behind me, I lost a lot of money on NFTs.
But we feel very much like ETH did two years ago, when it turns out there are few brands that have been crowned as torchbearers. Because they are early, provenance goes to the first. I think you're still figuring out which ones those are.
“With NodeMonkes, Quantum Cats, and Bitcoin Puppets, I think it's clear that the community has built a consensus around these clusters right now, and they're doing really well.”
Who are your top 3 followers on Twitter for NFTs?
TylerDidIt, Cirrus the GOAT and BCheque.
Advice on how to survive NFTs and crypto in the long run?
“I think you have to know when to sell when you buy. I think there are three options for that.
1 – One you will never sell. You think it's something that has long-term collectibles.
2 — You have a price point or outcome that the two of you are looking for, and if that's the case, you sell.
3 – You're willing to see three go to zero.
Every time you buy something, it must fit into one of the three buckets. If not, what's going to happen goes a little further. Like, feck, it goes up and up and eventually everything goes to zero and you lose all your money. I think the focus economy is very flexible and the result is that there is a lot of supply because NFT is very easy to make and project.
You have this fluctuating demand and ever-growing supply so net, it's not a very good asset class. I would say that if you think about long-term investments, you need to have a very good track record, a known exit point, or a literal exit point for anything you buy. You can call it consumption. You're excited to be part of the community and willing to pay for that consumption, and the value can go down.
I think they have a place where people hang out and float and grab things and all these zombies.
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Greg Oxford
Greg Oakford is Head of Development and Partnerships at Upside DAO, Australia's leading crypto and web3 collaboration hub and investment fund. He is an avid NFT collector and founder of NFT Fest Australia. Prior to crypto, Greg was a marketing and sponsorship specialist in the sports industry working on professional events.
Follow the author @GregOakford
