Where I’m at

I want to set aside different amounts of money to different bank accounts for various reasons. These reasons being:

1. Savings

2. Payments for my insurance (and possibly an HMO in the future)

3. A fund for the higher-priced items I want (like a smart TV or a new laptop)

4. A fund that I can use when I’m funemployed, and

5. Payments to my yearly subscriptions

It was kinda hard for me because I didn’t have banks which allows me to make a lot of accounts for small amounts of money. An account in a traditional bank has a required average daily balance, and if you go lower that you pay a fee.

I tried out a digital bank to try accomplish my goal, but there was just something petty I didn’t like about it. In total fairness, I don’t regularly check that bank, so I don’t end up spending the money I set aside there. Transferring to a bank I regularly withdraw from costs a fee or takes time, so it lessens the chances of me spending the money for gigs and splurges.

I have accounts in a few banks which offers various kinds of products. I took some time checking all of them out, including banks I’ve never used before, comparing them to one another. Here’s my thoughts on them and my plan moving forward!

What I’m currently using

Quick Rundown: BPI, Unionbank, CIMB, GCash, Maya (both wallet and bank)

I have various accounts in 3 banks, all with small amounts of money in them (one just has PHP 14, about USD 0.36)

My personal bank account has always been BPI, even since I was a kid.

I got a Unionbank account because the company that I worked for had their payroll there. I still use it to receive my salary in other companies I’ve worked for if that’s where they also do their payroll.

I mainly opened a GSave account (under CIMB, a digital bank, via GCash) because using the various features of GCash can make me unlock GCredit — which I wanted.

Because I wanted to set aside money for various reasons in various accounts, the higher interest rates (compared to traditional banks) led me to open the other types of accounts being offered by CIMB (Fast Plus and UpSave), so I now have 3 under CIMB.

I tried out Maya’s Savings feature (which is their main difference from GCash) just because of the higher interest rate, which is paid daily and not monthly.

For eWallets, I only use GCash and Maya as my eWallets. Other than using them for daily expenses, I also use them to pay bills. I do it there instead of the apps of the banks mentioned earlier because I’m aiming to raise my credit scores for GCredit and Maya Credit (where they don’t mention what is yours), and probably to take advantage of their loan products (like GGives and GLoan).

Thinking about it now, maybe I should actually be doing it through the banks especially if I want to get a credit card from them… Oh well, I don’t really trust our current financial system that much, so why not try new forms of it? (With regards to the last part, yes, I am interested in crypto and its various use cases — one being finance.)

What I’ll be using moving forward

Quick Rundown: BPI, Unionbank, Tonik, Maya Bank. The eWallets will always be present.

I’ll always have a BPI account. I plan to just let it be where I receive my salary and also where my personal monthly allowance for daily expenses (mainly food and commuting) will stay.

I’ve thought about closing my Unionbank account because I use it less than how I use BPI when both are kind of the same for me. I ended up thinking that I should keep it as a back up account to receive my salary.

I’m letting go of my CIMB accounts, and switching to Tonik, another digital bank. As mentioned earlier, I want to have various accounts for various reasons. While my CIMB accounts serve that purpose, I don’t like how each has its own interest rate. GSave is 2.6%, UpSave is 2.5%, and Fast Plus is 0.75%. While they have different amounts deposited in them and that interest earned will really differ from each account, I want them all to have the same interest. It’s just less information for me to have in mind.

Tonik allows me to make up to 5 Stashes (equivalent to CIMB’s UpSave — which you can make up to 10 accounts — and somehow like Maya Bank’s Goals), which I’m planning to use for the various reasons mentioned earlier.

One of the reasons I’m switching is interest rates. Tonik and CIMB have lowered their interest rates already. The high 6% and 4% respectively were pretty much just for promotion when they were just starting, so I’m not surprised they lowered them, and don’t really expect it to go lower soon. Tonik is now giving 4%, while CIMB’s highest is 2.6%.

While there are other digital banks giving higher interest rates, I still chose Tonik because I expect the other digital banks to lower interest rates too, and because the higher interests are really for time deposit accounts. This means that you can add more to the account, but you’ll pay a fee if ever you want to close it earlier than your specified date. This is also the case for Maya Bank’s Goals. I don’t want that, and this is the main reason I chose Tonik.

Maya Bank will serve as my actual savings account because their interest rate is 4% compared to CIMB’s 2.6% for GSave, and Tonik’s 1% for the main savings account.

Not related, but interesting

Before I start, I just want to say that this is about crypto. So if you don’t care about learning something new, you may stop reading already. Personally, I think this is interesting because I kind of have not seen something exactly like it in any bank.

In crypto, there’s this thing called “smart contracts” which anyone can program to do anything the ecosystem can do. One example are Split smart contracts. What it does is instantly split the crypto sent to the smart contract to various accounts. It can by percentage or by specified amounts. You can make one here without learning how to code.

Here’s some samples:

BTW, don’t mind the “ENS not found”. Basically you should put a valid crypto wallet address, haha.

If I’m being paid in crypto, this is actually a convenient way of doing what I want to accomplish. Banks and eWallets have an Auto-Transfer feature which kinda allows you to do the same, but you have to switch through various apps in order to set them up, copy and pasting or entering account details.

Not to mention, there are fees with transferring to different banks. BPI charges PHP 50, while GCash, Maya, and Unionbank charges PHP 10-15, and the free-to-use PESONet has a cut-off time and will send the money later. A Split just costs a one-time fee to deploy.

Some fun facts about it:

• You can put a Split as a recipient for another Split.

• An interesting use case for Splits is paying collaborators for something you sold

  • Example: A recording artist selling music digitally with sales going to a Split so that collaborators, like the graphic artist for the cover art, can also instantly get a cut from that sale. Here’s a link to one of the many times this was done.

Anyways, that’s about it for this post. If you think this was interesting, consider collecting this post so that I can fill up those financial goals faster, hahaha.

Or if you want to just get the latest blog posts from me, consider subscribing! You’ll get an email every time I put out a new post (and I rarely do so, so it’s not spammy, lol).

I personally can’t relate with all the big brain conversations being made, but I do think that the people in the space are interesting, and that there’s more to them than just what they contribute to the space.

For a space that talks a lot about vibing, it does a lot more talking, thinking, and building.

Another thing: there is a lot of buzz around music NFTs this year, but not much is being made in actually playing the music.

With these observations, I thought “why not make a radio station playing music NFTs for us to just vibe”. That’s exactly what I’m about to do, and I’m going to need your help.

Introducing MP3 Radio. Music, People, Web3.

Why a radio station?

Radio offers a communal way of listening to music, like a gig, where everyone is listening to the same song, and possibly feeling the same emotion. You feel a sense of belonging in that moment. This is what live events has that async can’t replicate. Mix that with a curated list of songs, and you’re in for a good time.

How am I going to do it?

This is where you enter. I need help in funding so that I can focus all my time for this radio station. A crowdfund is NOW LIVE on Juicebox.

https://juicebox.money/v2/p/203

Initially, I am looking for $2,500 to pay the bills, get a broadcasting app, possibly make a website, and more, for the first season of MP3 Radio. More details on programming, and what you can expect is stated below.

Once the goal is hit, I will start working on the radio station (like I haven’t already, hahaha). One month after, the season starts and the first episodes of the station’s shows will be broadcasted.

Once broadcasting starts, 14-day funding cycles will be implemented on the Juicebox crowdfund. This is how I see the station paying hosts and contributors when I am no longer a one-man team.

As backers of the project, you will receive tokens that can be used for governance. While 20% will go to backers, 55% will go to the MP3 Radio Treasury, and the remaining 25% will go to the future team and advisors.

Updates will be sent on Discord (open for everyone to enter) with a weekly town hall. Backers will have access to channels where we can discuss steps for Season 2.

lol who am i, even?

I’m Gian, and I’m a graphic designer and creative entrepreneur.

I plan on being a one-man team for the early days of the radio station. I’ve done this with my creative businesses since 2018, a sticker / art brand where my stickers are being sold in IRL events (mainly gigs and art markets, sometimes in music festivals) and stores in malls, and an event organizing brand where I’ve organized events from 20 to 100 pax.

My two creative businesses exposed me to what it feels like to be an artist, and to be the creator of a platform for people.

As a one-man team for these endeavors, I usually take care of production of the stickers (from having them printed, to packing them one by one), stocking them in stores or manning my own booth in events, booking event venues, taking care of programming, designing publicity materials, and many many more.

In terms of Web3, I’ve also been in the space for quite some time now, quietly exploring because most of the action is being done while I’m asleep. In the past year and so, I’ve been a community manager at Coinvise and Tezos Philippines. I’ve also contributed at Forefront. I’m also a member in a few DAOs like Friends with Benefits, and helped fund RefractionDAO, mClub, and Serif through their crowdfunds or NFT selling. While I may have entered the space last 2021, I’ve been checking out what people are doing since 2020.

About MP3 Radio

MP3 Radio will be an internet radio station playing music NFTs, and also the usual songs you can see on streaming platforms.

While the crowdfund will be done on the Ethereum network, the goal is to be chain-agnostic, featuring music from various networks like Polygon, Tezos, and NEAR, and possibly using tools (like selling NFTs) in these networks as well.

Programming

North Star: To play more music NFTs, and to broadcast 24/7 (8 hours of new episodes per day only, see “Broadcasting & Distribution”)

Seasons & Shows

Seasons will span 13 weeks, and the first season will have two shows:

The Genesis Show - The main show of the station where you get a curated list of songs following a theme (ex. Chill Songs to Build To), from multiple platforms and networks.

Builder’s Playlist - A show where there will be a featured builder in the space, and we play their favorite music. Short interviews will also be played across the whole show.

In the future, more shows can be introduced, especially if it will be able to help diversify the music being played (ex. genre / location / network-focused shows). A few more shows are in the idea list, queued for latter seasons, or even in the middle of Season 1…

Broadcasting & Distribution

Shows will be broadcasted probably on Mixcloud where music licenses are covered by their monthly subscription fee (from my understanding), and will be replayed twice (once every 8 hours).

Broadcasting is done this way so that each show also acts like other digital events being done by other DAOs, but also gives the opportunity for people in other parts of the world to listen at a time more suitable for them. Because the shows are pre-recorded, no one misses being “a part of the conversation (broadcast)” whether it’s the premiere or the replay.

Usually listen on the time of the premiere, but missed the latest? You can hop in the other replays! Get to meet another group of listeners, that were most likely present last week! No context missed because you already heard last week’s episode from your preferred time.

Archives of previous episodes will be posted on a latter date so that the station can still be discovered.

In the future, live shows and different hosts can be introduced. These factors depend on the type of show that will be made.

Value Generation

North Star: To be sustainable and be able to support artists fairly, without a high reliance on ads / sponsorships.

Crowdfunding and Sponsorships

Currently, I can only imagine the station being funded through Juicebox and Gitcoin Grants, but I plan to reach out and get sponsorships while Season 1 is being made and broadcasted. Other forms of value generation is also being ideated as of writing, but in relation to shows for latter seasons.

NFT Selling

For the first season, commemorative NFTs will also be sold for “The Genesis Show”. Episode 1’s will be a 1 of 1, while the rest will be editions of 10.

The first 10 to contribute 1 ETH to the crowdfund will automatically receive an edition from each episode (Episodes 2-13, 12 in total).

We won’t be minting the audio of the episode.

Half of the sales will be given out to the artists we’ve featured, but not necessarily in Season 1 only. The price of the season’s NFTs will be higher than latter season’s, which will make artists being featured later receive less. A fairer distribution model will be made with guidance from artists, to be approved by crowdfund-backers and NFT holders.

The idea is that the radio station promotes artists’ songs to possibly lead listeners to purchase the song from the artist + generate more revenue for the artists through their share of the NFT sales.

The other half will be dedicated to running the station.

If you have any suggestions on how to put this idea to life, make a better way of helping artists, would like to host your own show, or for whatever reason, please reach out to me via Twitter, @belgiangwaffles or @mp3radio_.

For more updates, you can follow MP3 Radio on Twitter, or join the Discord.

Back the project up on Juicebox!

https://juicebox.money/v2/p/203

You can also collect this post as an NFT to financially support the project. All proceeds from the sale will be added to the crowdfund. No tokens will be given to collectors.

collect://

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x8a13628dd5d600ca1e8bf9dbc685b735f615cb90/8591?ref=0xe3fac288a27fbdf947c234f39d6e45fb12807192

If you received it, head over to this link...

Note: It might be “Hidden”, so check that tab on your profile just in case.

BTW, I have less than 20 copies of the NFT left, so if you want one, DM me in any social media :))

You get points for doing certain actions, just like following them in social media, signing up for their newsletter or email list, or buying stuff from their stores. With those points, you can claim stuff, like a voucher, or use it to pay for items.

The thing about social tokens, though, is that the creator and its holders can do anything they want with it, unlike loyalty points where you’re stuck with what the brand tells you can do with it.

Now you might be thinking…

Why the fuck-?

I’ll be giving these tokens to everyone who has supported me with what I’ve done in life. It serves as a signal for me to know who I can trust. The more tokens you have, the bigger the signal is for me that we’ve been through a lot.

“Support” doesn’t JUST mean monetary, btw. We’re also talking morally. This can mean a lot of things like sharing my works in social media, or visiting my booth in events I sell stickers at, or inviting me to events, etc. etc. I’ve always appreciated these even before the token, and this time, I can give you something back.

This is beneficial for me in a way that I’d prioritize people with more tokens when it comes to anything (like getting insurance, or any kind of service or product).

“Hey Gian! Long time no talk, but I’ve been a supporter of yours from the start-“ Yeah, let’s see how many tokens you have to prove it.

So… what can I do with it?

Right now, I’ve thought of giving token-holders the power to voice out their opinions on some of my life decisions, like if I should study design abroad, or just visit Web3 friends + live and collaborate with them.

Example: I let attendees of the talk I did vote on how I’m going to use $500.

“That sounds like some Black Mirror bullshit.”

Following the train of thought behind the creation of the token, people who have more tokens have pretty much shaped my life, so they understand me more than the people with less tokens.

While the concept of blockchain, crypto, and Web3 in general is decentralization, this is still a person’s life we’re talking about. This is why my family and I will be owning 55% of these tokens. 35% to me, and 20% to my family. The remaining 45% will be for people I’ve met throughout my life.

Another thing that I have in mind is that I’ll let you have some sort of VIP treatment for some of the things I’ve been doing. I’m thinking free tickets to the events I put up (or even backstage passes), or free copies of whatever I make physically or digitally (like stickers, prints, shirts, NFTs, etc.). Token holder-only parties, especially for my birthday?! IDEK at this point.

BTW, token-holders can do whatever the fuck they want. Give it to other people? Sure. Token-holders can even propose added perks (like the ones mentioned above) which will be up for vote for all token-holders.

Just remember what the token can primarily do, and that is shape my life.

How do I get it?

You don’t have to pay anything to get it. Just send me your crypto wallet address for the Ethereum / Polygon network (from Metamask, Trust, or Rainbow). If I’ve known you for quite some time now, you’ll for sure get some tokens, but this offer is only up to 2027.

Other ways to get tokens is by purchasing any of my NFTs, or supporting any of my businesses or whatever projects monetarily.

I can literally think of any mechanic that will give you more tokens. Again, token-holders can propose these and be put up to a vote (like the “Condo or business” question).

The future…

The thought of putting monetary value to the token has been in my head. I mean, people’s trust and support has put a roof on top of my family’s head, food on our plates, and at one point, I will have more than I’ll need. Why not share those blessings?!

I’ve thought of pledging a part of my income so that I can make a liquidity pool where people can exchange $GIAN for other crypto. I’ve also thought of incentivizing adding to the liquidity pool (both $GIAN and another token or currency).

My fear is that putting in money changes the dynamics in these human connections and interactions… and most likely, it will. (See “Total Forgiveness”, a web series from CollegeHumor where a couple of friends dares each other crazy shit. Do the dare = Get cash to pay for their $60-100K+ worth of student loans.)

Anyways…

To get the latest updates about the token (not my social media posts), join the Telegram channel here. The first proposal might be out some time this January, focusing on goals I want to put up this 2022. Token-holders help me prioritize them.

If you know me, send me your crypto wallet address on Twitter, Instagram, Messenger, etc. and I’ll be giving you $GIAN if we have interacted before / I’d like to interact or reconnect with you.

Yes. This means that even if we haven’t interacted before, or it’s been a while, you may send your crypto address.

Wallets Accepted: Metamask, Rainbow, Trust Wallet, Trezor, Ledger, anything that accepts ERC-20 tokens (or supports the Polygon network)

Wallets NOT Accepted: Ronin, or any wallet address from exchanges or CeFi -- centralized Finance (Binance, Coinbase, OKEx, Celsius, Crypto.com, PDAX, Coins.ph, BlockFi, Nexo, etc.)

In case you want to see them on your wallet, you can import them using the following token addresses:

Ethereum: 0xc48752b8e1dc43f9d70504099b5c17c4380ac605 - Etherscan

Polygon: 0x8527abef4ede978af2b753543f8864ec85fd55c6 - Polygonscan

$GIAN was minted on Coinvise! You can mint your or your community’s social token there, FOR FREE, on Ethereum or Polygon!

Here’s a recording of that talk! You can pretty much just watch the first hour of the video because the rest is me just sharing some projects I support (around 55:00) -- which you can just read below,-- and also the Q&A (around 01:24:00).

You may download a copy of the slides here. (Free for anyone to download!)

If you were one of the attendees, you may schedule a one-hour call with me here! (Only for $GIAN token holders, which all attendees received)

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who attended the talk, and to Developh for the invite!

If you happen to see this post, consider buying the commemorative NFT for the talk at the end of this post! Part of the sales will go to Developh to fund their initiatives.

Resource List

In case your friends shit on you for making NFTs or being in the space…

• Here’s an unbiased blog post on the environmental impact of NFTs (with sources) by Sterling Crispin

• ALSO, an upgrade to the Ethereum network called “Ethereum 2.0” is on the works, expected to be released by the first half of 2022. Implementation has been done in phases, with the first phase already up.

• Ethereum 2.0 is expected to use 99.95% less energy than how much the network is using right now.

• BTW, if you’re making NFTs on Polygon or Tezos, congratulations. You’re using a network using 99% less energy than the current Ethereum network.

If they choose to not believe them and continue to shit on you, then leave them. If you become successful, they do not deserve any of YOUR success.

For bite-sized answers to “WTF is this?” and “WTF is that?”

• Binance Academy

• Decrypt Learn

• Forefront Learn - For more info on social tokens and DAOs

• A beginner’s guide to NFTs, social tokens, and DAOs by Linda Xie

Twitter Lists to check out

Even I have discovered new people and projects in these lists, LMAO.

• People to follow so that you can break the stereotype that “crypto is just for white frat bros who just circle-jerks the same amount of wealth”

• “Service DAOs” (DAOs that help other DAOs) by Guild.xyz

• “Impact DAOs”, also by Guild.xyz

• “CryptoQueers” by Zak Krevitt

• “Trans and Non-Binary Crypto Artists” by Dawnia Darkstone

If ever you want to look for a job in the space… in a traditional company…

• Cryptocurrency Jobs

Projects I support, looking forward to, etc.

Quick Refresher

You’ll see “tokens” be mentioned a lot in the next part. You can use tokens to help shape the future of the project by holding them (more tokens = more voting power), or you can convert them to other cryptocurrencies in case you need money!

NFT Marketplaces

• Zora - Protocol (meaning anyone can make their own marketplace using it). Gets 0% of your sale. Here’s some marketplaces using their protocol!

  • Catalog - NFT marketplace JUST for music

  • Artiva - Make your own NFT marketplace

• Rarible - Another protocol! Gets 2.5% of your sale, but gives you $RARI tokens whenever you make a sale or you bought something. Coming to Tezos this December!

• DoinGud - Marketplace on Polygon where you can make a Split (feature where shares of the sales are automatically split amongst a group of people) to non-profit organizations making a great impact to the world.

• Objkt and Hic et Nunc (H=N) - Marketplaces on Tezos, has less of those 10K generative art cash grabs.

• Showtime - Not really a marketplace. Showcase NFTs you own and made. (Web3 Instagram) You can also mint your own NFT for free through the Polygon network.

You might want to check this website for estimates on how much ETH you need to spend when minting (making) an NFT on the Ethereum network.

Grants

For anyone interested in minting their first NFT on the Ethereum network.

• Mint Fund - Global fund for BIPOC, LGBT+, prioritizing people outside North America and Europe

• First Mint Fund - For South East Asian people

Games

• Parallel - Sci-Fi card game like Magic: The Gathering, with cool AR stuff. (I finally found a link to a sample!)

• The Watch - World’s first blockchain alternate reality game (in development)

• Ethermore - RPG where the story and quests depends on how the DAO (holders of the 15,000 character NFTs) decides.

Virtual Worlds

Buy virtual land, build on it, and visit other people’s land. (Sounds very dystopian, but anyone can make their own “worlds” with limited amounts of “land”.)

• Cryptovoxels, Decentraland

DAOs / Communities

Some may be free or paid, has an application process, has grants you can take advantage of, a mix of any of the following, etc. etc.

• Forefront - Media DAO that aims to be the port of entry to social tokens and DAOs. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates on the Web3 space!

• Gitcoin - Platform for people to check out different kinds of open-source projects, contribute to them, or help fund them.

• Kernel - Cohort-kind of learning for people who wants to make a better internet for people that they care about. Welcomes people who know nothing about Web3!

• Protein - Shaping good growth, and making projects aligned to the concept.

• RaidGuild and IndieDAO - Helps other DAOs for different kinds of projects (See more of these kinds of DAOs on the Resource List below)

• Friends with Benefits - Literally what a Discord with friends looks like, where you all just share stuff to each other. You never know what kinds of benefits you can get from it! A new job? A side hustle? A nice network of people?

• Good Karma Records - A record label… that is also a DAO! They are currently looking for contributors, so hop on their Discord.

• Seed Club - While they are a closed (only for investors, from what I know), you all should check out the communities they are helping build.

• Metafactory - Clothing store that can help design merch for DAOs, buying merch from their store gives you cash back in the form of their token… which you can use to shape the future of the DAO or platform.

• HEATDAO - Upcoming marketplace for movement data (see choreographers of famous TikTok dance challenges not getting a lot from their impact on culture)

• Pozzle Planet - Upcoming app where users must do actions that makes a good impact to the world to earn tokens.

• Continuum - Upcoming platform for creators to teach what they know and earn tokens from their content.

• 0xStation - Upcoming project aiming to help people know how can they use their current job / skillset in Web3

Platforms

• Coinvise - Make your own social token or for your community. No need to apply!

• Mirror - This website! Decentralized publishing platform with economic features like NFT editions, Splits, Auctions, and Crowdfunds! (Web3 Medium or Substack)

• Glass - Decentralized VIDEO publishing platform (Web3 Youtube or Twitch) with NFT editions.

• Audius - Decentralized audio streaming platform (Web3 Soundcloud). While there are no economic tools like selling your song or album as an NFT, artists get tokens when they upload their work.

• Layer3 - Look for bounties (task-specific one-time gigs) from various DAOs or platforms, and get tokens in return.

• Yup - Curate-to-earn platform. Give any link on the internet a rating and get tokens if more people also give it a rating.

• Juicebox - Crowdfunding platform where the platform fee is just converted to tokens you get.

• RabbitHole - Mission board for anyone who wants to try out Web3 platforms. I recommend checking out the platforms they’ve featured, even if you have no intentions of finishing a task for the meantime.

• Manifold Studio - Make your own NFT smart contract so that it’s YOUR contract. Not the marketplace’s.

• MintGate - Token-gate any link on the internet or make event passes so that it’s only accessible to NFT or token holders. No “right-click save-as” file can have access to your exclusive content.

• Guild.xyz - Token-gate your Discord server

• PartyBid / Fractional - Crowdfund purchasing an NFT. Get tokens in return that represents your share of the pie. Now, not only the rich can own an NFT!

edition://0xDF5b5ee15CC96ba7d0CB6BD9b2c0fc4417ab6445?editionId=1249

split://0x3F5AA33875c3b3E526316A35Bb7bba44CB093A6D?network=mainnet

Historical revisionism has been rampant around social media, with people being paid to spread false information. People in power can also pay platforms to remove content that are against them.

Through NFTs, we are able to preserve history in a way that no one can alter what has been published. We can also trace who made which kind of media because these kinds of records come with the NFT. If ever these posters are downloaded and altered, there is a record showing that I am the person who made the original poster.

You may see the NFTs on OpenSea

34,000 people tortured

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x8a13628dd5d600ca1e8bf9dbc685b735f615cb90/2802

70,000 people arrested

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x8a13628dd5d600ca1e8bf9dbc685b735f615cb90/2941

3,240 people killed

https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x8a13628dd5d600ca1e8bf9dbc685b735f615cb90/3216

The NFTs are also visible on my Showtime profile.

24/25 editions are now on sale on OpenSea through the Polygon network, where minting and buying NFTs are made even more accessible (with gas fees going around $0.0001).

1/25 is kept with me to ensure that even if the 24 editions are burned, there is still one that will live on.

While these are being sold, there are no financial gains to be expected here for anyone who buys the NFTs. This project was made to be a way to preserve history (minting the NFT), and to spread it around the internet (hence, the editions). A 15% Creator Share was also set in case any of the editions are resold.

I expect buyers to be guardians of our history.

Some resources for you to #NeverForget

• Martial Law Museum

• Fast Facts - Philippine Daily Inquirer

• Children’s books - Esquire

• Movies and documentaries - Rappler

Note: These NFTs and this post are NOT in partnership with any institutions.

When I got the gig, I personally have a mission to feature various kinds of art styles or mediums. I, personally, don’t want to just see 3D renders forever looping as they move, something that I personally can’t create… yet. I do graphic design, so most of my works are text-heavy posters possibly mixed with stock photo or illustrations. I don’t illustrate. I don’t do 3D renders. I don’t see myself in the space (yet), and I don’t want others to feel the same.

What am I currently doing

I place all the artists I feature on a spreadsheet, and what kind of art do they make as an NFT. I also check and write from which countries do these artists come from. Not only do I want to be the kinds of artworks being made into NFTs be diverse, but also the people that we feature.

I am proud to say that I’ve featured artists from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. These artists have covered fields like photography, dancing, graphic design, watercolor, illustrations, doodles, and more.

To see who I have featured on the newsletter, you may check out my collection on Yup.

https://app.yup.io/collections/cup-of-nft-featured-artists/T4FRpxn

You may also scroll to the last part of this post to see their works.

Note: I have yet to check out the 18 issues sent before I entered the picture, and a couple more issues while I was already in Cup.

Some things I’ve noticed or I reflected on

Types of Media

I haven’t featured any music or video NFTs. For music, I think it will be just like sharing a song I like that I discovered on Spotify. For video, I’m looking for longer videos, not your usual 3D render loops or 10-second clips. JPEGs, PNGs, and GIFs had their spotlight for so long.

Platforms

All of the artists I’ve featured, I discovered through Foundation or Showtime. Just being able to follow people on the platform where you saw them is a great way for me to “bookmark” these artists.

It just happens to be a coincidence when we feature an artist that’s on H=N. It’s just not a platform that I check out. Although, thinking about it, I should… as well as with other marketplaces on different networks like Polygon, NEAR, and Flow. If I am in a position where I can possibly make an artist’s first sale through featuring them, I might as well do that for artists who have less capital.

What we can do better

With the various kinds of media and platforms to check out and feature, we must give more space for creators and not just limit it to one. Maybe we can start off with having one artist from various networks, or one from each kind of media (photo, video, music, graphics).

Featuring more artists may sound like an easy solution, but it isn’t if you’re just two people doing the newsletter with other parts to work on as well. I think that we should get more people to contribute, even if it’s just with the artist feature part, maybe representing a certain network or marketplace. But now, the problem is compensation.

I personally am being paid for my contributions for the newsletter, and I don’t really mind not being paid. I’m working on other projects in the space and those are the ones paying the bills. Privilege checked, I am pretty aware that this isn’t the case for everyone.

As much as I want to feature more artists and get more people to contribute and provide a different perspective, we can’t sustain that when our newsletter is free.

We’ve had some donations through Gitcoin, and I’m guessing that some of the money that I’m being paid with came from that, but the donations we got can’t even sustain getting more people too.

Send help!

We’d love to know what you think about the newsletter! If you’re not subscribed to Cup of NFT, why not try it out? And if you’ve been checking out the past issue, do give us some feedback!

We’re thinking of keeping the news part bulleted and not have a cover story, in exchange of featuring more artists. As a reader, do you want to see more artist features? Should we get rid of other parts in exchange of that? Should we consider doing an NFT crowdfund or a sponsorship NFT to generate revenue? We have so many questions, so feel free to send us your thoughts!

You may DM us on Twitter @0xElle, @belGIANgwaffles, and/or @cupofnft!

Anyways, that’s the end of this post. See you next Wednesday for another issue of Cup of NFT! We usually send out the newsletter around 9PM local time (UTC+8).

Just for kicks…

Here’s the artists I’ve featured!

Ashmit Galav

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/40692

p1xelfool

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/58974

3landboy

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/57339

TokBLOK

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/11748

Dylan Mayoral

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/61189

Mu-am

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/59111

Bilnd

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/54970

Oelhan

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/2327

Linda Dounia

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/76091

Di-Andre Caprice Davise

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/80831

Adesola Yusuf

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/55547

Joey Pecoraro

ethereum://0xabEFBc9fD2F806065b4f3C237d4b59D9A97Bcac7/4078

AuroraSector

ethereum://0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405/58938

Typeflood

ethereum://0xabEFBc9fD2F806065b4f3C237d4b59D9A97Bcac7/4921

We’re bringing more people from Asia to this platform so that they, especially the ones from developing countries, can take advantage of Mirror’s awesome features.

Mirror is a decentralized publishing platform where writers / publishers / whoever can post works like a regular blog or newsletter (think Medium or Substack), BUT with access to Web3 tools like NFTs, crowdfunds, auctions, automatic payment splits, and more (all in crypto, specifically ETH / Ethereum). This post is actually on Mirror!

Why write on Mirror?

A decentralized publishing platform means that your content won’t be censored. And in the monetary side of things, Mirror won’t take money out of any of your posts even with the financial features mentioned above.

This is better than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Medium, Substack, etc. who takes majority of ad revenues — leaving $0.01 or less to the people —, or a huge chunk of the money from your subscriptions.

What have people made with the features?

Check this link for a sneak peek!

https://gianferrer.mirror.xyz/3T-7InT64Tkpd6la5Xxa-ezU-JYmnAXVve_q9iKz4FU

Cool! I’m interested! How can we get in?

To get in Mirror, one must go through the $WRITE Race where people vote for you if they want to see your works, and must land in the Top 10. Votes are not reset every week, so they accumulate. Frustratingly, the Race happens every Thursday, late at night (3-5AM for people in UTC+8).

So usually, only the people in the West are the only ones that can vote. Unless you have connections in the West, that’s gonna be a struggle.

Well, shit. IDK that much people there! Can you help me out?

Fuck yeah! This is what this Open Call is for!

Some friends and I are pledging at least half of our voting power to a voting chain. Joining me are JO7eth of HanDAO and Algoriddims, who I have airdropped my $WRITE tokens to so that they can have their own publication here, and help me with my mission of bringing more Asian people to the platform. I’m gonna call ourselves the Team East Mode for the mean time. (We’re not a DAO, lol. Unless…)

You, the creator or member of a community, MUST reply to the tweet below with #MirrorEastMode on what you’ll be using Mirror for. What will you be writing about? What will you use the crowdfund for, if ever? Pitch it to us!

https://twitter.com/belGIANgwaffles/status/1433059604427010049?s=20

If you’re not on Twitter, send an email to gianfewew@protonmail.com.

ALSO, please mention which country you are from. We don’t want the group to have a dominating country. We want all countries to be represented.

Team East Mode will be picking one creator / community / organization each that we’ll vote for during the Race. Once someone is already in Mirror, we’ll be inviting them to the Discord to add to the chain.

In other words…

Team East Mode picks 3 people to bring in → Votes for Person # 1 until they get in → Votes for Person # 2 until they get in → Person # 3 → Person # 4 (Selected by Person # 1) → and so on…

What’s the catch?

Once you’re in, you’ll be able to pitch who you want to see on Mirror, and we’ll add them to the voting chain. The catch is you have to help us vote for that person as well. I know, having to wake up early or stay up late just to vote is a fucking pain in the ass.

I personally do this as I’m not in the Western hemisphere. Sadly, if you’re like me, someone in the Eastern hemisphere, you have to join me in this struggle… unless somebody wants to fucking do something about it, like IDK… ~~[make the Race a 12-hour event again, just like the first round~~](https://dev.mirror.xyz/vZxxUIeGMQK9NNLcrT0eDYZ6wXhXVr6vTQzztj1DaEA)???

Wait, do I have to know all of this crypto shit beforehand?

Fuck no! We’re here to help you out and guide you and/or your community no matter how much you know about crypto. Don’t worry, we got you!

Sounds good! LFG!

Hell yeah! If you’re game to bring more Asian people to the platform, sign up for the $WRITE Race (no gas needed), and tweet us your pitch!

We also recommend putting the same pitch on the little prompt for the Race. That way, other people (besides us) will get to know you, and potentially vote for you too.

You should vote for people too! It helps get your name out there. I personally have met new people and made new friends by doing this.

Anyways…

If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on Twitter or wherever! No pitches will be accepted via DMs.

Good luck, and see you around the decentralized web!

Thought I'd take some time to introduce myself, especially since I'm getting deeper down the Web3 (crypto) rabbit holes (this is an ant hill, tbh), and I'm meeting new people more often.

Anyways, yeah... I'm a 22-year-old graphic designer and creative entrepreneur from the Philippines. That's in South East Asia, like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Here's what I've been up to with my life.

School

I took up Organizational Communication in college, which is like a mix of public relations, branding, and knowing how organizations work. I don't even know if I'm giving justice to my course with this definition, LMAO. IT'S BEEN A WHILE.

I stopped a year before I was supposed to do my thesis. I thought that a diploma wasn't worth it anymore, and am still questioning the value of a diploma. What does it mean that a person has a diploma, even from one of the Top 4 universities in the country, especially for a creative? I care more about branding and visual identities (we're talking beyond logos), and for those disciplines, the only way I was going to be good at it is through practice. Don't get me wrong, I value education and loved my major subjects. I found them super interesting even though they were hard. But I don't understand why the educational system is what it is.

I have been on a Leave of Absence since mid-2019, and have no intention of returning, even though I have earned enough money to sustain myself AND pay for my education.

Unofficial College Dropout. Do I aspire to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates? Fuck no! I'll be the only Gian Ferrer!

Creative Businesses

While in college (I was 19 this time), I made my first brand called estitiks, which makes fun of what's #aesthetic. I usually sell stickers, taking note of graphic design trends like gradients and duotones and mixing them up with crass or witty statements. It's me thinking "Will people buy this even if the statement is so stupid or mean, because it's pretty?"

Before the pandemic, I joined over 40 events (everything from small indie gigs, art conventions, to music festivals), about 10 stores (some even inside malls), and a handful of pop-ups, selling my stuff.

These days I spend a lot of time asking myself whether I've outgrown this type of branding and whether I should move on. It's been a few years since I started doing this, and I feel like I've matured... at least a little. IDK...

During my time building estitiks, I also organized a few events, usually small gatherings for creatives. This led to me making another brand, HOHOL Events.

We launched in late 2019, so we haven’t been able to do a lot of stuff yet. But during our short run we had over 200 attendees at our three events.

Freelancing

During my last months in school, I started freelancing! This is while I had the sticker business as well. My first freelance gig was in publishing, where I created the featured images for the magazine’s blog posts and other social media content. At the same company, I did the layout for two magazines that were distributed to about 10,000 people at two of their events. I left after 6 months to work at a boutique integrated marketing agency where I wrote social media posts for a small fast food chain. During this time, I was still working on the sticker business, AND ALSO running my small event organizing group. I left the agency in December 2019.

Thinking about it now, I feel like I prefer being my own boss AND client, rather than being a part of a bureaucratic or hierarchical organization.

The first few months of 2020, I thought that I deserved a break from continuously going to school, then work, while making two small businesses. That break went too long because of the pandemic. But maybe I needed it. I got back to work last October 2020 and have been working for multinational advertising agencies since.

The Road Less Traveled

A recurring theme in my life is that I choose the road less traveled. From unofficially dropping out of school — giving me less of a chance of getting a high-paying job locally —, building my own brands from scratch instead of being a part of one, to even getting myself into this wild world of Web3 / Crypto where outsiders just talk shit and not even try to understand it by getting their feet wet.

It's always been a lonely road, even if I meet partners or new friends that are there to support me. I just feel like nobody understands me fully, being an LGBT+ graphic designer from the Philippines, who's just trying to sustain myself, create stuff, and help others along the way. Writing this paragraph just made me realize that there's more to me, even though I don't feel it (yet?) Maybe I'm asking too much from people. IDK.

Don't get me wrong, I have various friend groups that I all love, but I feel like I haven't found my tribe yet. Will I find them in the world of Web3? I don't know. But anyways...

Hello, people of Web3! I'm Gian, and it's nice to meet you!

If you like what you just read, feel free to collect this post as an NFT! There will only be 50 editions, available at 0.01 ETH each.

Big thank you to Dan for editing my work! A part of the NFT sale will go to him too.

edition://0x3725CA6034bcDBc3c9aDa649d49Df68527661175?editionId=44

split://0x31427F6a6429417cd12a0D9578b376Db1CB666Be?network=mainnet

Quick Throwback to 2019

I think the last time I felt like this was back in Q2 of 2019. I was in college, I had a regular freelance gig, and I ran a small sticker business (my proudest endeavor at the time).

I noticed that every time a friend of mine asks me how was I, I would say "Eto, pagod (Here I am, tired.)" I thought that something was wrong because I'd answered that way to many people already, and I compared my answers to the other people in the room. Their answers felt normal. Working, studying, doing regular stuff. They weren't like me, who was tired.

Fast forward to a few months later, I unofficially dropped out of college (I just took a Leave of Absence... one that I am still in, two years later.)

Since I left college, I made the layout for two magazines for that one regular freelance gig, worked in a boutique integrated marketing agency, made my own event organizing group, organized three events, and took (what I think is) a well-deserved 6-month break before going back to work, but for multinational advertising agencies.

Lowkey "thanks pandemic" because I feel like I wouldn't have stopped myself from the grind if it weren't for the lockdowns and all.

Now, back to 2021

In 2019 it was college + freelance work + sticker business. Now, it's work + Web3 + urge to learn.

I'm currently working at a multinational advertising agency, doing work for various known brands. I can't say anything negative about the past two months I've been with them. The work's interesting, the people are great, the pay is good, and this isn't me kissing ass or whatever.

For Web3, I've been going deep around the rabbit holes (more like anthill if you ask me) of NFTs, cryptocurrencies, decentralized platforms, how organizations work, and more. I think I can officially say that I work for a social token insight aggregator called Forefront, so it's kinda my job now to get even more involved in the space.

On top of those two things, I also feel like I don't know much about my craft for me to even generate more high-quality outputs. Sure, I can learn more from work experience, but I want to learn from reading and practice, not because I have to produce something in a fast-paced world. I miss learning with the freedom to make mistakes (what I think is the most important part of learning).

I even want to produce my own self-taught graphic design curriculum, something I would publish here on Mirror if ever I get to do it.

What I'm thinking right now

There's so many great things happening in the world of Web3, and I want to be able to help out in any way I can.

Pay is already WAY higher than my current monthly salary, for WAY less work. Because crypto is global, I don't have to be stuck with the low value of compensation in my country.

As a person living in a third-world country, that means being able to pay the bills and have food on my family's plates for a longer amount of time, WHILE having more time I can use to invest on myself.

Good example: The NFT Edition below, if sold out, is already more than 1/3 of my current salary. I just made a PNG file and wrote this post, and I CAN get that money if 25 people do purchase it.

BTW, this is not me telling you to get it, LMAO. Just buy the NFT if you want it.

What's keeping me torn between staying in the advertising industry and leaving it for Web3 is that I won't have anything to put on whatever documents I may need when applying for a visa if I want to migrate somewhere else.

Crypto isn't even regulated here, so I don't know how I am going to be able to leave this country and have a better life.

I'm turning 23 near the end of the year, but these are things that I already have in mind as the first-born out of two kids. How do I migrate to another country? What if I get a condo instead so I have my own place? Can I save enough money before my mom gets hospitalized for old age?

I just feel like nothing is possible just because I'm stuck in this country ruled by greedy pieces of shit.

Having to work in a full-time job and explore Web3 has been tiring as fuck, especially with the things going on in my head. I think it's time to cut one, and I think you know which one is on the chopping block. But that doesn't solve my problem of being able to leave this country.

To end on a lighter note, I am optimistic that I am still in a very early stage of my life. I want to be able to make decisions that can help me not spend the rest of my life beyond 40 just doing work in your typical 9-to-5.

An update since writing this post

Since writing the first draft, I got a signal boost from Denis of Mirror for my recent post, giving me an unexpected amount of support (the financial kind being a plus). I also had an interview with a platform around the Creator x Crypto space.

I don't know what the future holds, but it looks very exciting.

If you like what you just read, feel free to collect this post as an NFT! There will only be 25 editions, available at 0.005 ETH each.

Big thank you to Dan for editing my work! A part of the NFT sale will go to him too.

edition://0x3725CA6034bcDBc3c9aDa649d49Df68527661175?editionId=33

split://0x96e8A6C068C1d82e6ae238862D5E1FA9ce5D55eB?network=mainnet

This doesn't throw away the value that some people are sharing there, like critiques on works in progress, or advice being given to other creatives, or a few opportunities and resources here and there.

I must say, that I've tried making it alive by offering paying for people's software (we're talking the Affinity suite, Clip Studio Paint, Procreate) or creative assets (like fonts, brushes, Photoshop plug-ins) in exchange of giving a talk or workshop for the community, and by hosting watch parties of shows or movies.

And still, nothing worked.

Here's what's on my mind right now.

The Original Plan

Before I talk about the Discord, I must mention that I thought of livestreaming first, and from there, make a Discord for everyone who watches my stream. So let's start with the stream.

I always thought of doing a graphic design stream because I was inspired by the "Funniest Graphic Designer", elliotisacoolguy. While his stream is a place to hang out and design, I see my stream as more of a serious "coworking" stream. Instead of client work (unless somebody's up for it), I'll be doing prompts.

Sadly, I just have been busy with having a freelance gig that is like a day job as well, so I can't really stream during my preferred hours (in the afternoon, Asian time).

Speaking of jobs, if anyone from the world of Web3 — more on that later, if you're not familiar with the term — is looking for a graphic designer or community manager, I just want you to know that I am here. (Please DM me 😭💀 )

Now on to the Discord. Of course, it was supposed to be an extension of the stream, so I thought of it as a place to work and grow from each other. Currently, there's a channel dedicated for sharing your weekly goals so that we can hold you accountable, a place to share helpful stuff (resources, opportunities, advice), and a place to share your work or wins in life.

I feel like not much "growing from each other" has happened in a wider scale, but more of "one-on-ones" which is also nice.

Explorations in Web3

I've been exploring the space of Web3 for almost a year now. From NFTs to DAOs, and what's more important for this post, social / community tokens.

If you already know wtf those are, go ahead and skip this part.

From my understanding, community tokens are like the loyalty points that you earn from your favorite brands, EXCEPT these are more like your ownership of the community you are a part of (or stocks of a company). You can earn these tokens for whatever reason, or spend these tokens like money for whatever the community allows, or hold on to them. Each community with a token has its own rules.

Here's some examples that I find super interesting that can maybe give you a clearer picture of the various ways these tokens can be used by a community.

Note: I am not a member of any of these communities... yet.

$RAC

RAC is a producer and DJ who has been streaming lately on Twitch because of the pandemic.

To earn $RAC, you must be a subscriber to RAC's Patreon or Twitch. For owning $RAC, you can have access to a private channel on Discord (just like the usual Twitch or Patreon subscriber perk), and get early access to promos, merch, or whatever.

$FWB

Friends with Benefits is a private Discord server filled with people sharing ideas. To have access to the server, you MUST have 60 $FWB (as of writing) and apply to be a member.

To get the initial amount (60) that you're going to need to enter, you must exchange your Ethereum (cryptocurrency) into $FWB. This means that you are actually investing on yourself with that membership, and should at least maximize it.

BTW, FWB doesn't get your 60 tokens. You just have to have it in your crypto wallet.

As a member, I assume you get more $FWB by attending events, sharing ideas, or simply contributing however you can, even if it means helping in managing the community.

For owning $FWB, aside from the Discord server, you can have access to a shared Substack account, attend private events IRL, and more.

If you have enough tokens, you can even be a part of the decision-making process for the whole community. Majority (if not all) of these communities use these tokens as voting power as well (1 token = 1 vote).

For both communities, you can even spend your tokens by giving some to other people within or even outside the community. Go offer talks or workshops, sell an album or artwork (NFT?!), do a commission, DO WHATEVER TF YOU WANT in exchange for tokens.

Treat it as money. Money is a social construct anyways, but here, WE make the rules. As long as a group of people considers that a token has value, you can spend it as well.

What I'm thinking for my Discord server

I think you can already guess what I'm planning on doing. Yup, community tokens.

Entry to Server and Pricing

First thing that popped in my mind is if I will be making the server token-gated, or at least have a Free Tier.

I feel like the latter will still not make everyone in the server participate more. I know this because I am a part of one server with a Free Tier. So my mind is leaning more to having it all token-gated. But for how much?

I know for a fact that PHP 500 (about US$10+) is somehow a lot already (well, for me, it is). Maybe that could work? Maybe that's how much I can make the tokens worth when I make a pool in Uniswap? I honestly don't know how I'm going to put a price for my tokens. I'm betting it's how much ETH I'm putting on Uniswap, paired to my tokens. Anyways, the goal is to put it at around PHP 500 to get in the server.

Again, you're not giving the tokens to me. You're just showing that you have enough tokens to be in the server.

Once in, you can get more tokens by participating or giving value to the community (like giving advice, opportunities, resources, etc.)

Perks

Like FWB sharing a Substack account, I'm also thinking of having shared accounts to apps and websites that can foster creativity. Apps like Skillshare (learning), Canva (graphic design app), Mubi (movies), Perlego (educational books), are some that comes to mind.

Power for governance can also be given to people with a certain amount of tokens. Anyone can propose projects, and vote for who gets to enjoy it.

Example: Grant for artists who wants to sell printed merch in a store for a year. People with governance power vote on who gets the grant if only a few can be accommodated.

I'm also thinking of making my small library of design books available exclusive to community members. Maybe in the future, members with gov powers can even propose to have a budget dedicated just for the library, and pick which books should be bought.

Other stuff: Exclusive talks?! Exclusive workshops?! IDK!

Seasons

To have continued participation, I'm also thinking of adapting the concept of Seasons where the minimum amount of tokens needed to enter or have a certain role (like governance) will rise regularly. This makes people inside the server need to participate or give value regularly as well so that they can earn enough tokens to maintain their access or role.

y this path tho?

My goal is to make the server as a place for everyone to grow as a creative. I honestly can't do that alone, so I need help from people who have the same goal as I am.

To be fair, I honestly don't think I've done enough — even with the huge bounty for talks / workshops — to make it a place where a lot of people can talk and share ideas and knowledge.

This upcoming token-gated community will take a long time to put up as I need to learn a lot of things, see how other communities run theirs, and try out different apps that can make the experience easy especially for non-crypto people (which I assume is everyone else in my server.) 🥴

This also gives me more time to set-up more projects, align what I want to do with the server as it potentially transitions to a token-gated community, and see who are some people who could help me out in this journey.

If you are a part of my server, do let me know if you have any ideas in mind! If you're a part of the wonderful world of Web3, do let me know if I can reach out to you for help or something. 😅

If you want to join my Discord server, Server Studio, you may click here.

If you like what you just read, feel free to collect this post as an NFT! There will only be 25 editions, available at 0.005 ETH each.

edition://0x3725CA6034bcDBc3c9aDa649d49Df68527661175?editionId=23

I recently made my first NFT. It's called "Spectrum", and it's about how everyone has their own sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (aka SOGIE).

Concept

Each tile in the poster has a unique combination of RGB values. RGB is used as a metaphor for a person's SOGIE because of how there are three values present to make a color, just like how there are three parts to make a person's SOGIE.

The tiles are blurred to vaguely show their borders, making it easy to move around. A person can have a different mix of their SOGIE at any time of their life.

You are forever not locked in a box of what you should or want to be. You are free to move around the spectrum.

Sold or not, it doesn't matter.

Before I got my grant from The Mint Fund, I knew that I wanted my first NFT to mean something. I didn't want to be like a lot of the NFTs that are selling — 3D, moving, and/or holographic. That's something I will always have in mind, even in the future.

The mere fact that I have made my mark in the Ethereum blockchain is already good enough for me.

In a place full of cryptobros chanting "to the moon" and worshipping Elon, or straight white males building stuff with tech (...like most of the industry), there's record that an LGBT+ Filipino is in the crypto space, and his flag is an educational tool.

Nobody can take that away from me.

Opportunities you may want to check out

My poster wouldn't be an NFT this early if I wasn't given a grant by The Mint Fund. Minting (making) an NFT costs gas (transaction) fees, and it can be expensive for people, like it is for me, so you may want to consider applying to any of these.

These community funds were made to cover for the gas fees of an artist's first NFT.

If you're a member of the BIPOC and/or LGBT+ communities living outside North America and the European Union, you may sign up for a grant from The Mint Fund. They also provide workshops on how to mint, price, and market your NFT.

If you're an artist living in South East Asia, you may apply for a grant from First Mint Fund.

You may also donate to the funds directly.

If you like what you're reading and would like to support my future explorations and endeavors, you may do so by sending ETH or other ERC-20 tokens to gianferrer.eth.

Note: Everything mentioned here are my experiences in the Ethereum blockchain. Always remember to check whether the wallet and the platform you're minting on are on the same blockchain network.

How did I find out about NFTs, Web3, and stuff

Before I share how I got to mint my first NFT, let me share how the fuck did I get in to this wild world of crypto and Web3.

I don't recall exactly how, but I'm sure it's because of how RAC — a Grammy-award winning producer — has back-to-back projects happening in the space. I think this was around October 2020, but I'd like to assume I've heard of these even earlier.

From NFTs, the super wild $TAPE project — a token representing a physical cassette tape, — to issuing his own social token, $RAC, where token holders can have access to a private area in his Discord server, get discounts to merch, or even get to interact with him more.

I also was introduced to Audius because of one stream he did on Twitch! Audius is like Soundcloud, except you (the artist) have a say on what happens to the platform. You want to have a subscription feature? Vote using the tokens given to you every time you post! The platform's future is in the artists' hands.

All these projects were so fascinating to see. With more focus on NFTs, the mere fact that digital artists can make a living out of JUST doing things digitally is amazing to me. No need to print your digital works as stickers, prints, posters, etc. Blockchain technology made it possible for one specific file to be called THE official one. Because of that, all the other copies scattered around the internet, and the ones to be made by saving a copy of the same file, are worthless. The original file gets value.

How I was able to mint my first NFT

Minting (making) an NFT can cost around US$40-$100 in gas (transaction) fees on a good day, and a disgusting $400-$800 on a bad one (although why would you mint during a bad day, lol). Gas fees don’t go to the platform, but rather the people running the whole Ethereum network.

In the Philippines, $40 is already 10+% of what an entry level employee is making monthly, while $100 is like 1/3 of the same salary. Anyway, bottomline, it's just so fucking expensive for people here.

UPDATE: Gas fees have chilled tf down lately, so minting an NFT is less expensive now. That doesn't mean that the big price range mentioned won't be possible again sooner or later, unless Ethereum 2.0 has been released.

I honestly considered saving up for a mint fund, in hopes that I can get my money back and more. That doesn't mean I'm just here for the money. I'm also here for people to validate that my work has value, maybe even greater than what I would've expected.

Posting on Instagram and Twitter, getting likes for my posts, and I can't make a living out of it because all the money goes to the platforms?! I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THIS LOGIC AFTER KNOWING ABOUT NFTs. Did I mention that if your NFT is resold in the secondary market, you get a cut of the resale???!!!

Then, while I was looking around the Creator x Crypto side of Twitter, I discovered Mint Fund.

Mint Fund is a community project that helps artists in being able to mint their first NFT by giving a grant that's enough to cover for gas fees. They prioritize funds to BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists especially outside North America and Europe. They are also working on great projects for the space like making a crowdfund for an open-source protocol.

I signed up for the grant a week after they launched, but sadly didn't get in the first batch. It just meant that I was still on the waitlist! I got an email around mid or late April saying that I got in the second batch. GURL, I WAS SHOOKT. I SAW THE EMAIL WHEN I WOKE UP. Now THAT's how you start a good day!

Side Note: For artists in South East Asia, you might also want to apply at First Mint Fund! It's another community project giving grants to artists so that they can mint their first NFT.

Minting process

Y'all... minting an NFT is EASY AS FUUUUUUUCK. Uploaded the file, entered some details, clicked "Proceed", set up a price, and I'm done. No complicated shit!

But if you're starting from nowhere, you should get an Ethereum wallet (like Metamask) first, AND WRITE THAT SEED PHRASE DOWN (YES, THE 12 RANDOM WORDS). The seed phrase is like the ultimate password. Lose it, lose everything in your wallet.

Now with that wallet, you can start connecting it to platforms like Zora, Rarible, Foundation, and more. If the platform is open to the public to mint on it, then go ahead!

For NFT platforms on the Tezos blockchain, like hic et nunc and Kalamint, I think Temple is one of the most used wallets there.

Again, EZ SHIT! But I do understand that it can get, or it looks overwhelming. If that's the case, just shoot me a DM on Twitter (@belgiangwaffles)! I'll be happy to help you out. 😊

And here it is...

NFT

Read about the concept and what minting an NFT means to me in this post. You also might wanna... you know... make a bid or sumn... 🥺👉👈

Zora as my chosen platform

I chose Zora as the platform where I'll mint my first NFT for various reasons.

• I feel like it's not as saturated as other open platforms.

• They don't get a cut from my sale.

• I have the option to not have a timed auction being started when somebody bids with my asking price.

  I just feel like that it hypes the price more than the artwork itself, which I don't want to be the case. Also, I want to be able to pick who gets my piece, and not just someone because it was automated. The owner is as important as the piece, IMO.

• Also, from my understanding, I can sell the same NFT on other platforms with the creator share still attached to it, so I am not stuck with Zora.

  I have to verify if I understood this correctly. 💀

• Lastly, I don't want to set my asking price with ETH. Speaking of...

Fun Fact: I'm not selling it for money.

Now this, I think, is what the locals don't know, especially the outsiders hating on all of this, lmao. Depending on where you mint your NFT, you can choose to sell your works NOT for money — ETH, or stablecoins (crypto that will forever be worth $1) like DAI or USDT — but for social tokens.

Remember the $RAC token I was talking about earlier? I'm asking for something like that.

It's like exchanging a print, postcard, painting, whatever, for access to someone's Netflix account for a period of time, or live in the buyer's house for a month. Sure, these things have monetary value, and so does social tokens, but I'm not interested in that.

My asking price is 60 $FWB (Friends with Benefits) which is enough for me to enter the FWB Discord server and apply to be a member (as of writing). The membership, for me, is a way to widen my network especially with fellow creators in the crypto space. I want to get to know more people, see what kind of crazy projects they're up to, learn from them, exchange ideas, and maybe just chill with them as well. That's what I wish to get in exchange for my NFT.

Actually, you can swap your crypto to FWB. My asking price could've been the ETH or DAI equivalent of 60 FWB, but I think that's an easier route. For me, it means way more if someone from FWB sees my work and actually bids on it with their FWB tokens. It's like a cosign from a member, legitimizing that I SHOULD be with them.

UPDATE: My second NFT, "Shoot Your Shot", has been sold for 75 FWB Pro. That's enough for me to enter the community. Thank you, King Coopah!

The asking price for "Spectrum" is now 0.1 ETH, but I will still accept offers in $FWB, $FF, $ROBOT, $AUDIO, $RAC, $YUP, or stablecoins (USDC or DAI).

2ND UPDATE: "Spectrum" has been sold to Queen Latasha! Thank you so much!

What's next?

Win the fuckin’ $WRITE Race!!!

My next goal is to join a social token community or a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)! I want to know how these things work in a member's perspective, especially if I have a say on the governance of the community or organization.

THE MONEY SIDE OF CRYPTO IS TOO BORING FOR ME. The People side of crypto is where the fun is all at.

I already got some $FF by Forefront. So I think I'm about to experience some of that soon.

But for now, let's #GetGianInFWB LMAOOOOOOO. (Yeah, tweet that hashtag.)

😂 😂 💀 💀

https://twitter.com/belGIANgwaffles/status/1392969582449598465?s=20

Me when I got access to Mirror's member-only Discord...

BTW, huge thank you to Jackson who edited my work. I met them because of the $WRITE Race!

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The journey to releasing my first NFT