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Exploring the Intersection of Art and DeFi at ArtsDAO Fest
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Exploring the Intersection of Art and DeFi at ArtsDAO Fest

In this episode, Josh Kriger, co-host of Edge of NFT, is live from Art Style Fest in Dubai, talking to some of the most innovative leaders in the Web3 and NFT space. He’s joined by Anas Bhurtun (co-founder of ArtsDAO), Samuel Huber (co-founder of Land Vault), and Marco Luis (co-founder of Linea) as they dive deep into how blockchain, NFTs, and community efforts are reshaping the global digital landscape.

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Explore the magic of co-creation, gaming, live art, and AI projects showcased at Art Style Fest. The discussion touches on everything from global brand partnerships to the future of NFTs, Web3 social networks, and how platforms like Linea are leading the charge in decentralization and financial infrastructure.

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This episode of Edge of NFT is sponsored by WrldChngrs, a unique NFT ecosystem designed for those who believe in making a real-world impact. WrldChngrs combines the power of art, technology, and AI to create digital superheroes who inspire change.

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Please enjoy!

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Listen or watch this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Myco, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Iheart Radio, YouTube, YouTube, Amazon, Audible, or on your favorite platform. Remember with Myco.IO you earn for your attention.

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Sponsorship and Advertising:

If you are interested in sponsoring the podcast, please fill out the Sponsor Interest Form, which we review 1-2 times per month.

Key Topics Covered:

  1. Co-Creation at Art Style Fest: Anas Bhurtun shares how the festival brought global brands like Yuga Labs, Polkadot, and Rug Radio to Dubai, creating a collaborative community-driven event.

  2. Building Web3 Social Networks: Samuel Huber discusses his new project, Mantera, which merges Web2 social media with DeFi, offering creators a way to earn rewards based on engagement without starting from scratch.

  3. Linea’s Vision for a Decentralized Future: Marco Luis explains how Linea, a zkEVM layer-2 on Ethereum, is creating secure and censorship-resistant infrastructures for DeFi, gaming, and social networks.

  4. Cultural Exchange Through NFTs: The importance of global accessibility in Web3, with the festival bringing NFT and blockchain culture from the US and Europe to Dubai’s thriving tech scene.

  5. Partnerships and Brand Activations: Insights into partnerships with big names like Yuga Labs and Polkadot, and how Web3 projects are expanding into mainstream markets.

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@edgeofnft/

Episode Highlights:

  • **Anas Bhurtun on Co-Creation in Events: **“The partners here, the community members, they literally helped create this event. It wouldn’t be possible without a big community effort.”

  • **Samuel Huber on Web3 Social Networks: **“We’re combining the scale of Web2 networks like Instagram and YouTube with Web3 principles, letting creators earn based on social capital and engagement.”

  • **Marco Luis on Linea’s Decentralization Vision: **“Our focus this year is on decentralizing the network to ensure censorship resistance while scaling Ethereum dApps.”

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For the full transcript, see further below.

**People and Resources Mentioned: **

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Connect With Us:

About Our Guest

Anas Bhurtun

Anas Bhurtun is a prominent figure in the blockchain and NFT culture scene in Dubai, serving as the co-founder of ArtsDAO. This organization is recognized for its role as a community and festival organizer, aiming to connect global digital communities with local cultural events. ArtsDAO stands out as the largest Web3 community in the Middle East, focusing on creating engaging experiences that blend virtual and physical realms through events, collaborations, and meetups.

Samuel Huber

Samuel Huber is another influential entrepreneur in the Web3 space, co-founding Land Vault and Mantera. These platforms aim to merge decentralized finance (DeFi) with social media, providing new opportunities for creators. His work emphasizes innovation in building ecosystems that empower users within the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

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Disclaimer:

This is not financial or tax advice. Edge of NFT content is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Whenever making financial decisions, we recommend doing your own research and talking to your accountant for financial advice. Disclosure: From time-to-time we may feature sponsored content for which we receive value and we may share links for which we receive a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. See our full Disclaimer (https://www.edgeofnft.com/disclaimer), Terms & Conditions (https://www.edgeofnft.com/terms-of-use), Privacy Policy (https://www.edgeofnft.com/privacy-policy), and Copyright Notice (https://www.edgeofnft.com/copyright-notice) for details.

Full Episode Transcript:

Josh Kriger:

Hi, everyone. This is Josh Kriger live in New York at NFT New York with a special episode of Edge of NFT. And I was speaking today with the team behind Wrld Chngrs, including Alejandro Reyes Knight, the CEO of Nifty Arc and one of the original ins inspirations behind the project. So we’re excited about this special sponsored episode. I’ll talk a little bit about the crew we have in front of us today. Alejandro has over 20 years of creative direction, art, film, music, NFTs, and AR and, someone I’ve known, for quite a long time, you know, because of his institution, Winston House, that he cofounded. And he’s also contributed to the fields of advertising, educational consulting, and videography beyond web 3, including working with folks like Damien Hirst, Paul McCarthy, Jake Bugg, Paul Kelley, Black Sabbath, and Pink to just name a few of the iconic folks that have been, in his orbit over the last, several decades. We also have Diana.

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Josh Kriger:

Is Boston based like myself. What’s up? Who specializes in web design and product management. Now making her mark in the NFT art world with a keen eye towards design and strategic approach to digital projects, she seamlessly blends traditional aesthetics and digital innovation. So we’ll talk about that as well. And, for those of you that listening, Diana is rocking an incredible superhero outfit, which you’ll see is is one of our major themes of today’s conversation. Last but not least, we have Atown, who has 12 years of product management experience in ecommerce, digital advertising, entertainment, and as well as media data science. And for the last 3 years, he’s been running a web 3 development agency called Mediseed Labs that has worked with clients like Chris Brown, Lyrico Lemonade, AI, and recently joined the team at the foundation, as a senior product manager. So for those that haven’t heard yet about Wrld Chngrs, you’re gonna hear all about it today.

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Josh Kriger:

This is a unique NFT universe where players control heroes of various classes and body AI, each uniquely NFT. And the innovative AI technology ensures that each hero is one of a kind with a user’s journey directly influencing their hero’s development and the impact that they make in the game and symbolically in the real world. You know, I AI was a big fan of heroes to show, so, I I feel like we all need heroes in our life and especially at this current moment. So really important topic that we should dive into and, great to have you all on the show. Thanks for having us. So, Alain, let’s start with with you, Janney. In in like all your perspectives, like, we’re here on the ground in New York. Things are definitely different than a year ago and the year before that.

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Josh Kriger:

It feels like there’s some degree of acceptance that the speculation component NFT the market is gone. Like, we’ve all come to terms with that. And and there’s this idea of real building, but I’m not sure if we all understand what that means and what the implications are. What’s your thoughts being here on the ground so far? And you guys have been here for over a week. I just got here a couple days ago.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. It’s been great. It’s been good. Been, I’m based in Venice Beach, California. I’ve been in New York for just about a week now and been at the conference and around here for a few days. And it’s just been interesting just to walk around here, what you listen as you’re walking past people, digit you know, technology, collectibles, phigitals, you know, ownership, rights, all those things. And, so I’m just really listening, learning constantly, and, seeing who’s around as well.

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Josh Kriger:

And what’s the sentiment?

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

But, yeah, I think it’s a whole new new space. It feels like, you know, tides come, and that’s some

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Josh Kriger:

It’s like a restart.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

It’s a restart. Yeah.

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Josh Kriger:

Yeah. You you had some thoughts there?

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

Yeah. I mean, I’ve been in the NFT space now for for 3 years, and, you know, the first wave that I was part of, it definitely felt just very degenerate, like, you know, make a quick buck type energy. And now that I think a lot of the people that are still here survived one bear cycle, that really shook out the grifters. And now I think the people that are here are really here to to build and, like, build on the technology.

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Josh Kriger:

So how do you how do you reconcile that with

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

all this meme coin stuff going on? Meme coins is another energy. I think it’s building, building a fresh energy. You know, it’s giving people, like, another tool that they can use to experiment on the blockchain. It is definitely still, like, that quick buck energy. But I do think meme coins gives people a way to, like, earn liquidity that they can now turn around and invest in art and invest in projects that are actually building things that they care about. So in one way, like, sourcing new liquidity for the market is still a good thing because now people who make a bunch of money on a meme coin can go bid on their favorite Carthon one of 1. So it does, you know, lift up the tide for everyone.

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Josh Kriger:

For sure. And, Diana, any other thoughts? I mean, this is a newer space for you. What what are you feeling here on the ground?

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Dyana Butler :

Yeah. It’s kind of what Sayid said. You know, we’ve we’re talking a lot about meme coins and pump and dumps and whether that’s a good thing or bad thing, and it’s both a good thing and a bad thing because now your average Josh can make a bunch of money on these meme coins and go and support the people that actually matter and the actual creators that are doing the work here. Right on. Well,

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Josh Kriger:

let’s let’s spend the most of this show really unpacking Wrld Chngrs. Alejandro, you you you you’re always sort of in a creative headspace. Every time I’ve ever talked to you and and NFT, we’ve always sort of talked about the the nature of of web 3 and technology and music and how it’s intersecting. And this seems like this project is coming, like, deep deep within you from, like, reflecting on on what’s happened in the space. Tell us a little bit about that inspiration in in in how this kind of came to be.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. Thanks. Definitely. AI right. AI I started making NFTs in 2021, and I was just making them to get art out of me, instead of just filming and, you know, creating music videos and stuff. And it was such a release, and I was observing everything that was going on. I’m a documentary maker, so I was naturally just hearing, listening to all the projects and, you know, all the technology and all the characters in the space. And I got to do I got invited to do a project for John Lennon and Julian Lennon and Paul McCartney Wow.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Which was amazing. It was, like, for charity for the White Feather Foundation, and that was 6 NFTs that raised, like, $180,000. That went to the charity. But I AI as kind of a conduit between that kind of world of IP and Beals AI of fans and NFT world, which are 2 different worlds. And so that was a great learning curve for me of how to translate the same words, but people would mean different things, and it was a success. So from that, I was asked invited, to create, you know, to create with direct, this project. It is about superheroes and social world impact, and I was of gonna figure it out over the course of a year and a half, 2 years. So we’ve been on that journey.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

And yeah. So superheroes, some AI technology, so it’s customizable.

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Josh Kriger:

So so the where did this idea for superheroes and AI come come from?

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. The AI was added much later, guess NFT all the lens of AI of thing was happening last year. Yeah. But but the fundamental concept of superheroes, where did that come from? Fundamental concept of superheroes comes from change and everyone’s internal ability. We constantly have to evolve AI this space, like everything. You don’t evolve. You you don’t carry on, And that is a motif that everyone relates to as a kid. You’re superheroes and, making the best of yourself.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

So that has been we’ve created hand drawn art, because they wanted with the ability to be generative later.

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Josh Kriger:

Yeah. Yeah. I can I can I really relate to that? And, yeah, someone just texted me this morning about sort of the need in in times like this for this abundance, mentality. And and, you know, I think there’s a relationship there with with superheroes in the sense that, like, you know, how do you keep that positive energy in in in your AI. Right? Like AI, you you have a coach. You have a mentor. You have a hero that’s, like, picking you up. Right? Is is that some of it?

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. Everyone goes through things, and there’s something that hap that happened to you in order for you to grow. So it’s kind of things don’t happen at us. Things happen for us. And if we can get in that mindset, get more out of life so as to really embrace things that happen and make it to change.

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Josh Kriger:

Cool. So you came on as creative director, and then you put together a a pretty cool team. I know some folks that you just met for the first time, last few weeks in New York, which is which is sort of not atypical in 1 3. You know, Jeff, Eathan, and I, we were doing a podcast together. We didn’t actually meet in person for, like, 6 months. I think it was actually at NFT New York that we NFT first time. So I I I could reminisce with that experience. How did the team come come together? Yeah.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

You did Josh so AI. And that’s I’ve built teams before for music videos, films, and then at Winston House, building community. And it’s a kind of vibe to see how people communicate and their frequency and energy. And, my friend Pete, who works at who’s working at Crossman, introduced us to AI here at Meta Sea Labs, and it was it was great. I’d seen what they’ve done on the range of projects they’ve done, and I thought it would be a great, mix and blend. So, yeah, it’s been great. And then the rest of the team? Yeah. And so with artist Blue, I met him in Venice.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

It was a clubhouse Nice. Meeting, and someone said, you AI, we meet on. So we dived for a quick coffee in Venice, and he was flying off to New Zealand. And then that’s been 2 years now of hand drawn art of communicating in different time zones. Wow. And NFT Diana as Kelley. A friend, David, who’s starting AI, the founder of that. My NFT works on that.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

He’s a dev on that project. And then so there’s another AI, and, it’s been amazing UX AI and problem solving and just being, like, really ambassador and embodying the project as well, AI you can see.

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Josh Kriger:

Very cool. Well, I’d love to sort of dive into some of the unique elements of the project. You know, maybe what makes it a little bit different than some of the other projects that have happened in the space and all this meme coin stuff. Right? So so what what are some of the more serious aspects of the project that you’re focused on?

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. It feels all serious, but with a fun, like, you know, superheroes. But it’s, the underlying so, you know, the underlying part, which is self journey as well, is this ability for journaling. So you’ve got the characters that can be customized as a hero builder, so there’s a lovely experience there. But then underneath the characters, there’s a box where you once a day, you can write a journal entry post, and it’s something I found incredibly helpful in life.

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Josh Kriger:

So when you say you write that, is that, you know, online? Or or Yeah. It’s it’s underneath your hero, and so there’s a record of it, and you can have one postPermanent, like, record on the blockchain. Yeah. Very cool.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. And so I think doing that some there’s something consistently like that that’s not in a journal that’s hidden on, you know, in a drawer.

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Josh Kriger:

It it’s public for for everyone to see. So Yeah.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

And it’s not like Instagram or Twitter or something of is AI a post where you have to come up with a dog or a coffee or, you know, life thing. It’s It’s something thoughtful that when you look back on it even a week prior, you’re like, well, I was thinking that. And then with community being able to look at it, your your character will be built that way. We’re not creating a law that’s just meaningless. It’s kind of it could be really creative, but it’s just AI you’re gonna create your meaning to

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Josh Kriger:

your How does that process with cocreation work?

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. Well, I think just Kelley, you’ll grow. We have journal prompts. We’re working with a journal company, Quantum Journal, with NFT. And these journals, the prompts open you up to sort of think, in amazing positive ways.

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Josh Kriger:

Nice. Yeah. Maybe that’s, like, the the the last thing I need to kinda get over the hump of journaling because I’ve thought about it for a long time. Right? And and and AI I I was, yeah. It makes sense. I should do this. Like, I I know are you like there’s studies about the positive benefits of of journaling. Yeah.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

Yeah. And I’ve been doing it. Past 3 months in particular, I do it constantly. AI, like, I would write, I’m going over to the kettle to make a cup of tea, and then I’ll make it and come back and say it went really well. I mean, I’ve managed to slow time down. It sounds crazy, but it’s been amazingly useful. And, and so having that visible for the rest of the community to see, things like that, it just opens up another level of kind of intimacy and intelligence that I think then people will cocreate together because I’ve seen that happen constantly.

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Josh Kriger:

Cool. Are there any other features of of the project that you all wanna touch on?

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

Yeah. What I love about this project is it’s really, like, merging a lot of unique technologies together. So they’re leveraging web 2 technologies. They’re leveraging web 3 blockchain Like like, what? And AI. The cool thing about this project is, like, Web 3 is all about identity and building your you know, finding a a an avatar that meets you. But a lot of times, it’s hard to, like, go find traits that match. With this one, we’re building a full blown character builder, so you get to actually, like, pick what your character looks like, build an avatar that resonates with you, or that resonates with the representation of who you wanna be, like, in the context of being a hero. So that’s the first step.

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Josh Kriger:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Josh Kriger:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Josh Kriger:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Josh Kriger:

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Dyana Butler :

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Dyana Butler :

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Josh Kriger:

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Dyana Butler :

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Josh Kriger:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

Candy.

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Josh Kriger:

Okay.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

It was a bottle of Coca Cola.

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Josh Kriger:

Nice.

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Dyana Butler :

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Josh Kriger:

Alright. So, maybe there’s I’m

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Josh Kriger:

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Dyana Butler :

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Josh Kriger:

That was and, Alejandro, you’re NFT.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Josh Kriger:

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Dyana Butler :

to change ourselves.

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Josh Kriger:

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Dyana Butler :

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Josh Kriger:

Alright. She was pretty badass.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

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Josh Kriger:

Undoubtedly a superhero.

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Alejandro Reyes-Knight:

He’s a superhero. Yeah. Steve.

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

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Josh Kriger:

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Josh Kriger:

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Sayeed Mehrjerdian:

Thanks for having us.