On NFTs

Hi everyone, this is Charles Hoskinson broadcasting live from warm, sunny Colorado. This is a quick video to talk about a general policy I have regarding my personal participation and ownership in the NFT side of the Cardano ecosystem. You may notice right behind me is a picture from the Apes Society. I didn’t buy this, nor was I paid to have it. What happened was that I was at Rare Evo, and they had a gift for me; they gave it to me, and the entire office is absolutely plum filled with it.

It’s a hand-painted picture, and I thought, “Oh, that’s pretty cool,” so I decided to put it up on the wall. In general, I have a policy regarding NFT projects on Cardano, such as Schenck and others. I don’t personally hold them or do business from a sponsorship or endorsement viewpoint. If I ever mention these projects or have a picture or some art from them, it’s because it was sent to me or given to me as a gift. It would be sad to just throw it away, so I’m saying, “Hey, if they want to give it to me, I’ll display it if I have a place to do so.

” We enjoy and treasure all of the NFT projects on Cardano, but I’m never compensated by a particular project. I don’t receive endorsements from them, nor would I accept them. People have tried to give me NFTs many times, but I never provide a public address for people to send them to. I just wanted to establish a baseline for everyone to understand and appreciate. I fully appreciate that there are strong groups of people with particular interests that make them fun and exciting to be part of, and sometimes they can get quite tribal.

As a prominent figure in the Cardano ecosystem, I understand that if I have a painting up, it might look I’m favoring one NFT project over another, but that is not the case. I love all of you and want you to join Intersect, become members, and participate in the working groups to discuss your needs as NFT companies. I also have certain things like Reflect, where there’s dedicated personnel in a subsidiary of Input Output who use NFTs as part of their business model. However, I’m not involved in the day-to-day decision-making of that, and I don’t think too much about it outside of the technological challenges, the digital twin stuff. I just wanted to make this video to establish a baseline regarding my participation.

There have been times when I’ve seen some pretty cool things sent to me, the Cardano Villages or Ada Villages, those nifty little 3D animations that you could share on Twitter. I guess they got rugged, which shows you how much I know; I know very little about the particular inner workings, relationships, and dynamics of these projects. Whenever I go to a conference, especially a Cardano conference, the people are always incredibly nice and affable. There’s a lot of love there, whether it’s Hosky, the Schenck team, the Apes Society, or Claymation. I really enjoy talking with them and engaging with them.

I’m going to NFTXLV, but don’t think I’m playing favorites or endorsing anyone. I just get sent certain things, and because they put a lot of effort into this, I said, “Alright, I’ll put it up in my office.” I don’t know if I’ll keep it there forever, but I kind of it on the wall, and we already took the time to put it up. Just to reiterate, I will never get paid or endorsed, and I will never accept payment or endorsement. Anyway, just a quick video.

Cheers!