Everything You Need to Know About NFTs

and Chill podcast. Thank you so much for dropping by. Today's topic is super interesting, but a little complicated to understand, if I'm being honest, and if Jesus something most of us have heard of but we don't really know about. So I'm hoping we can clarify some stuff for you today. So let's do it. This is Check, Eas and Shill. Okay, so we have a really great guest with us today. Her name is Mary Spiel, founder and CEO of the

virtual reality company Seek. She's really been at the forefront of n f T S and bitcoin and I'm so excited to welcome her to the show. Hi, Mary, how are you? Thank you so much for being here. Good, good, good, good. Thank you so much for having me on this show. So I know we have a lot to talk about, but first I want to hear a little bit more about you. I know you grew up in Ghana, right, Can you tell us a little bit more about your upbringing and how you found your way to n f

T S. Sure, So it's definitely a long journey. Yes, I grew up in Ghana. Actually I was born in New York, but you know, my parents are from Ghana, so I lived in Ghana and then I came back later on. But my background is an engineering and I've focused a lot on streaming platforms and so, for example, I sold the technology to the Boeing Company for streaming move These, which was used by Lucas Films and most of the film industry, Fox, Um, twenty Centry, Fox, and

the list goes on. And then I created an online video platform for independent movie makers, which then was used more by brands, and so it grew into something that was mainly used by music artists. So it's just been like an evolution from being an engineer to the platform and then to the metaverse which n f T S. You know, Bitcoin virtual currencies are just like um goes kind of hand in hand with virtual world. So that's

how it's all come together. Wow. Can I just tell you, being that you're a woman of color, I love everything that you just said, Like, that's amazing. I applaud you. I I honestly that's beautiful to see because I'm also a woman of color. You know, I'm a Mexicana, and I'm like all about women empowerment and the fact that you're an engineering You've done all this and you're in the space and I can ask you all these questions mean so much to me. Oh, thank you, Thank you

that that means a lot to me. Thank you so much. I'm excited because see n f T s I just got into the space. I want to say about a year ago, I had heard about bitcoin and crypto and all that stuff, and I've always been one Like years ago, like I knew that this was going to happen, and I just wasn't too sure. And now it's like, really there. I have my own n f T. My n f T is a part of battle Wave. It's a game

in the virtual world. And I also just purchased some n f T s Immu and Ape and I have a VOX, But I don't know too much about it. I just know that I believe in it and that I know that that's our future. But what is it? An f T Yes so, and n f T is really just a digital signature. It's kind of like whatever you can imagine when you buy it, they have a digital signature which is verified by a whole bunch of

anonymous people. Right the way I look at it, that you have this receipt for whatever you've purchased that is recorded on this ledger that cannot be tampered with. So whatever it is that you buy, it's that virtual receipt for it. And then because you have the proof, now you could sell it, you could do whatever you want to do with it, because you're the only person in the world that has that received Okay, for instance, this

is the way I explain it. When people ask me and let me know if I'm saying it right, I usually tell them n f T s are virtual artwork with its own fingerprint? Am I right by saying that? Or or no? You are a lot of people, you know, associate n f T s with artwork, But now there are so many things like there are digital fashions that are n f T s, you know, events that are n f T s. So it's a non fungible token.

And basically that token, it's almost That's why I call it a receipt because it's like whatever digital thing that you're buying, that n f T represents your roof that you own that and you are the only person that has this receipt. You know, there's no duplicate of that very thing out there. So it could be artwork, it could be an avatar, it could be music, it could be anything, okay, And who decides how valuable it is? It depends, but the community decides, right, So for example,

people like why is the board ape worth millions? Because the community decides how rare it is and how valuable it is. So it's mainly the community. You know. My son was saying the other day, it was like, oh, you know, kids don't like n f T s. I said, why, he said, because I don't like their like pixelated little pictures. But the value of it is determined by the holders. And I've seen some great artwork that our n f T s and then they're selling for like, you know,

hundred dollars and stuff. Like that. So the value is determined by the holders, kind of like artwork, right, Why is the Mona Lisa worth millions? And then you have another artist that might have some great work, so it's the same thing. It's kind of like art, the values determined by the holders, Okay, and how how rare the pieces? Right, And it's it's basically a one of one correct, it's one of one exactly, which I like and coming from a person that's I'm all about like having physical albums,

physical books. And for me it was a little difficultuse I was like, it's not tangible, I can't touch it. But then I started like, this is the future. We can deny it and we can be because there's a lot of skeptics of course, and this is why I wanted to talk about it, because I want to inform people and I want them to be like, well, I heard it first with cheek ease, and you know what I mean, like, because this is something I truly believe in because my boyfriend's really into it and he's in

town Star. And then there's even planets. You guys like planets, and you can buy land in the virtual world and you can even rent it out and there's even artists, you guys that are having concerts, like artists like myself, but then they put you on the virtual world and you have a concert inside of this virtual world. I don't know how us to explain it, right Mary, exactly, that's exactly it. I love that you have your n f T coming. I would like to learn more about it,

and I'm going to make sure I grab one. I hope it's going to be more than just one of one. That's amazing. Love it. Thank you so much. Yeah, I want to do more. I have a few ideas for n f t s right now. I just want to get like really informed and get my own and like you know what I mean, Like I'm starting to just know a little bit more about it. But thank you. I know you have a company, right, you have Seek, So can you tell us a little bit about Seek?

And have you guys done n f t s for artists and stuff like that, or like, who have you done something for? So? Seek we are a streaming platform for virtual events and experiences, but we empower artists with the tools that they need to create n f t s virtual events. You mentioned about you know, having land and planets and all of that, and some of the

artists that we worked with, Lady Gaga and Lovado. We just had a release with Daddy Yankee and Litho, m C Cassidy Nice, and then we have another award show that's coming where we're creating n f T s for fon Zi, Lwis Fonsi, and Paula Abdul. So we have a lot of unique stuff. So in addition to the virtual concerts and avatars and all that fun stuff that we do in the virtual world, we also work with artists to create their own n f t s and

virtual concerts. Oh my goodness, it's so cool. So maybe like you guys can help me out because with all these ideas I have in my head, I would I would love to, would love to, would love to. Yeah, because a lot of people still, especially in like my demographic, don't understand, you know, and I know it's gonna take some time. I do feel like I want to do a whole video one day and speak about it. And

I'm glad we're doing this podcast. I feel like this is the first step of doing that and making sure people understand this world because you guys, it's it's coming and it's coming hard. If you guys haven't noticed, we have the Staples Center here that was the Staple Center, now it is the Crypto. We have Facebook that just became meta. So it's like it's coming you guys. They're sprinkling it on us, so don't don't be the last

to find out. Yeah, you know this, the Super Bowl was all crypto dot com Lebron James, who's doing a Dad's Snoop Dogg in Miami. The whole arena is FTX Arena. Yeah. So right now that that, Mary and I are talking about creating my own n f T. So it's basically something I have this idea and I can't say yet because you know, I don't like to stay it until it's you know, in concrete. But I have this idea of n f T s and basically, my listeners, my my boss bees, my fans, you guys will be able

to purchase. I would sit down with like an artist and create these things, and it would be art for you guys that you guys get to own, and I can sell it anywhere from whatever price I want, right Mary, it could be ten dollars, a hundred dollars or whatever, yes, perfect, and then you guys just decide if you want to purchase it, if you like it, and it can become very, very valuable in the future. And he's why do you think, Mary, that n f t s were created in the first place.

So n f t s were created because we're shifting into the digital world. And I think with the lockdowns is really when the shift happened. Because we've been talking about metaverse, we've been talking about all these different things that it was during the pandemic that people realize, well, we can't tour anymore, so we need to be able to have a virtual experience and sell tickets, right, virtual touring. And as part of that, people wanted to be able

to verify their ticket sales. There's so many things that are happening. People were selling digital art and they were like, wait, how do I know that this is the only copy that's out there? Because there's so many fakes out there. And so the whole concept of n f t s, this concept of having this immutable ledger where whatever we record on it, there's only one person that holds it

and the public no because it's validated. That whole concept came out of our evolution us evolving from web two point oh to going into this virtual web where we're living, we're playing, and we're doing all these different things. So it's really why Facebook is not meta, because we are entering into the metaverse era and everything is going to be tracked that we value, you know. That's why it's been adopted, That's why it's growing so much. Yeah, that's

exactly what I think. I think it just all started like mainly like really hardcore and because now everyone wants to do this contactless everything. Even even I feel like the dollar is losing its value little by little. We know that, and eventually it's going to be gone completely and everything is just going to be completely virtual. I feel like bitcoin and crypto and all this virtual money that we have is that's gonna be ruling the future.

And I only think that we'll get to the point where we'll be able to enter these games Like I watched this movie I don't remember the name of it, but you would put on those player yes, ready, player one, that one, and you get to like, I really think that we're gonna be able to do that, like the inside of the video game, you guys, like for real, Like yeah, like go to work like that. Like I'm gonna be doing my concerts here at home, and you guys are gonna be able to be watching me, but

I'm gonna be in my house doing it. You know, it's gonna be crazy. You know. I talk about this and people think I'm crazy. There's a lot of skeptics. What do you say to them? You know, what I tell them is that it's an opportunity to be part of a world that's changing, and it's something that it's not a gimmick. I think early on, because most of VR and the metaverse was really about gaming, people didn't

realize that there's so many other things that you could do. Ultimately, I think the quality of it is going to be similar to like when you go to an amusement park where they have these VR experiences where you have this massive world and all of that and you're inside it

and it feels so real. That's where things are going, and so it's going to be natural and a lot of the stuff that we're used to, whether it's a keyboard and computer, all of that, all of that is disappearing into the glasses, a pair of glasses that you put on and then the whole world is in front of you. And then when it comes to n F T S. When I found out about ethereum, it was thirty two dollars, you know. I know some of my friends were talking about it and some of the things

that they were dealing with it. I didn't really pay attention to it until later on when it was like three and twenty dollars, three fifty dollars. And today ethereum, just one ethereum is worth three thousand dollars. You know, it's definitely happening. Yeah, for sure. So what's happening. It's not a fat it's not a phase. It's it's the evolution,

is the natural evolution. So we went from texts and pictures were like web one point oh with sites like you know, Amazon, and then Web two point oh with video where we were watching from outside. And people want to evolve with the media. They don't just want text and pictures, they didn't just want video. Now they want to be inside the content. And that's why this is all happening. I mean, and I feel like, little by

little it's been happening. You know. Even like if we talk about music, we used to have cassettes and then they went into CD s and now all we have is it's it's just digital everything digital, all of our music. So it's just like even on a smaller scale. But I went to check a cheese the other day, and before it was like you had the little tokens and you would put them in the machines. Now they give you a little watch for the kids that they wear

and they just touched the thing. It's a contactless you know, and things like that where I'm like, this is happening. And the reason I want to talk about n f T is because I truly believe in them. And again, I still have a lot of information and a lot of things that I want to learn. I want to get into this space a little more. But I don't want you guys to jump on the bandwagon too late. It's better to start sooner rather than later. Just f y I And if even if you start with one

or two, like just start collecting them. Before you know it, it's gonna grow. It's inevitable, it's going to happen. But do you think that they're good investments? Mary? Like, I mean, obviously you're gonna say yes, But you know, I asked these questions for my listeners. You know, you know, I'm not a broker. I cannot give investment advice, but in terms of being part of something that's growing, Like for myself, imagine when I found out about Ethereum, right, and it

was around thirty two dollars. Imagine if I had decided to buy some Ethereum where it would be today when there's three and it's the same thing. And you make a great point for people that are saying, oh, well, this is not happening. It's like somebody is telling you about m P three's right, and you're like, Nope, I'm just gonna stick with my cassette player because cosettes are not going anywhere. That's exactly what the analogy it's like exactly.

That's why I was like, you know what, Yes, it's been happening a little by little and then came and I feel like it catapulted us into like it was a big step into where we're going. That's why I truly believe it. If you have ten thousand dollars that you want to invest, you can. You can do it in stocks, Okay, fine, but you never know it goes you know what I mean? Like for me, I feel like this is the future. I feel like if you leave have it in the bank and it's just sitting there,

you're not making a lot of money. It takes years and years for you to see anything, you know. So I would suggest to do it in the virtual world. That's just my personal suggestion, because you guys, if you have it in the bank, you know it just it just doesn't know. It's a great opportunity. This is a life changing moment, and this time in history is not

going to come back in our generation. And so I am so glad that, you know, even though I felt like, wow, I found out of Eitherean when it was thirty two dollars, and then I kind of came into the awareness of it when it was around three me and then with where it is now. So we are definitely at a time in our history that I doubt very seriously that a lot of people they think that they're too late to the game because bitcoin and all this stuff is

so expensive. But you know, and especially for women, if you're looking at a business, if you're looking to start something and create something of value, definitely look into the virtual world. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more and I just have to ask this. You know, nothing is quote unquote perfect, right, So is there anything that worries you or anything that you could say, Okay, this is the downside or the or the con of n f t S. The biggest thing with n f t S is because it's the trend.

You know, when you have fifth and sixth grades asking about n f t S and you know it's a trend, right, And so there are a lot of scammers out there too. There are a lot of people out there that are scamming people. So you have to be careful. You have to do your research and make sure that you are, you know, looking to be part of something that has some kind of mission, some kind of utility. If you look at a token or a coin, you have to think about what is this thing doing, where's the community

around it, who else is involved with it? Because a lot of times there are people out there that will pump something and then get people to buy it, and then they dump it and then they disappear. So I think that that's the biggest risk with n f t S right now, is a lot of fakes out there. So you've got to make sure that if you're gonna step into the world of n f T s and be a collector that you're going to credible places that have verified people on there, and that you're not just

blindly going into it. That's great advice because I have seen that, and there's shows on Netflix, you guys that you can look and I just watched one the other day about a scammer or whatnot. So I think that's for me would be like the only con that there are a lot of fakes out there, so just be careful. And do you have any tips as to where they can find an n f T like where to start, Well, they can start with yours. Where are you going to

have an available? Are like, um right now? Well, my first n f T I think I dropped it about a year ago. So that's the only one I have in this game, so they sold out. I don't have any more, but I want to do like another line another. I have two different ideas, so I don't know. Here's

the thing. It's a little difficult I think right now to to purchase n f t s, like you have to go through like coin base and then to open see and like I want to find a way to make it easier for people to just kind of use their credit card, just because everyone is so used to just either swiping up or now clicking on a link. For me, especially in my demographic, I want to make it as easy as possible for them. So that's like

my whole thing trying to figure that out. Yeah, that's for sure the biggest thing that you know, it's seek that we're doing because for music concerts. Right even when we started with VR, we created our own VR headset because a lot of the headsets are that we're so complicated, and it's the same thing with n f t s and this one and that one. So we've made it super easy because the seak coin itself, the SEEK token

is just the enough currency. It's no different than if I'm buying tokens on roadblocks or on any of these games. That's how simple we've made it. So you buy your package and then you use your package to buy whatever you want to buy. If it's a painting, if it's a concert, all of that, you don't even know all

the stuff that's going on in the background. The biggest difference with us putting everything on the blockchain is the fact that you know, people are used to when they make a transaction, maybe it takes a milliseconds and then it's done. But when you're purchasing something that's on the blockchain, it might take like maybe ten seconds or twenty seconds, so they just wait a little bit because the transactions have to be corded and validated. But other than that,

everything is very straightforward. You just go on the website and you could top up with getting more tokens to do whatever you need to do, because otherwise it's just way too complicated. I was actually going to ask you, what was your process like buying your first n f T. Yeah, So, thank goodness for my boyfriend. He has like a really good friend, one of his best friends that is in this world, he is a millionaire in the virtual world. He has land. He started really really like early on.

So he's the one that like tips us off and helps us and says, you know, buy these or whatnot. But thank goodness for him that he's the one that helped me open my open sea account and I learned how to use coin base and stuff like that because you have to go through coin based transfer money from your bank account two coin base. It's all very very protected and you shouldn't write down. That's one thing. Once

you open your coin base and stuff like that. Don't even type your passwords in your notes and your phone like it has to be written on a piece of paper buried somewhere, like you know what I mean, Like you have to like protect these things. But but anyways, um, so thank goodness for him. I was even now, it's

still a little difficult. That's the main thing for me is that it's difficult, Like you have to go from one website to another, and you have to use a certain you can't use so far, you have to use this other like browser, so you know what I mean. It is a little complicated in that aspect. But that's why you just have to know. Maybe I'll do a video one day. I don't know, we'll figure it out. But I'm gonna teach you guys. I'm gonna help you guys.

But it was for my boyfriend. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have one, to be honest, because he's the one that walked me through it. Yeah,

it's very complicated. We have the number one v R a R token in the world, right, so when you go to corn market cap you see that Seek is the number one r air token and we've been that for months because we really simplify the process for people to be able to get to their content, be because our goal of integrating with the blockchain is the fact that we made it super easy for artists one to be able to track when we sold tickets for them, and then also for users to be able to buy,

you know, to Seek to do whatever they need to do with in a very very easy and secure way because for a lot of music fans, they're new to the whole process, so we don't expect people to figure out, you know, meta masks and this one and that one. It just it's a bit intimidating that way exactly. It is. That's the word. It's intimidating. So I'm glad that that

it's secrets. It's a lot easier. So you guys, if you guys are looking and you have a lot of questions and stuff like that, and you want to buy your first n f T, then you guys have SEEK. I think that's awesome. That's for me. I think that's one of the main things why I haven't pushed as much because it is difficult to get your n f T But any who are there any n f T s that are like right now, like hot ones that you think are good to buy or the most popular ones. Um,

I've been hearing a lot about. I think it's World of Women. It's like, Wow, there's a lot that's happening with that. I've been hearing a lot about that. There's another set of n f T s that are actually coming to seek. But these guys sold like the first set, they sold it in different places. It's called mind Chill Guardians and these are so so beautiful. These are like beautiful Guardians, like I think the Guardian Angels. That's what

I think. But I don't know if they just call them guardians, But I don't know, but we have that coming and each of them is also unique. But I would say, yeah, I like the whole World of you know women, the whow and that's also available and Open Sea. Yeah, those are some of the ones to check out and just try it out and buy something cheap. Yeah, exactly, start with something yeah cheap. You know, you don't have

to go all crazy. Do you feel like the main creator as the investors are our mel I went to this n f T party in Miami, and I feel like there weren't a lot of women in the space. Yeah, I haven't seen a lot of women in this space. You know. I found out about the world of women through Randy Zuckerberg. You know, we did a thing on n f T S and she has a lot of information on n f T S. Also, I think she also has an n f T called a hug. But I haven't met a lot of women in the n

f T And we're creators, you know. So I just hope that a lot of people will venture into the space. If you're a creator, just try and put it out there, find someone you know to help you. And then also know that it's not rocket science, right, because I think like even the name itself is intimidating to some people, Like they're like, well, what's a non fungible token? If I don't even remember or know how to say the word, why am I gonna try to put my money in it?

So it's just a digital receipt, right, It's a verifiable digital receipt that you have, and so it's not that complicated. So we just try it out. And I think that it's so important to get more women because I feel like the space it's still very very male dominated, which makes it difficult to you know, get funding for projects and stuff for for other women. Why do you think there aren't more women in the space. It just goes back to the whole tech industry, I think because the

tech industry has always been like a boys club. So when you have a boys club and people are meeting and writing ideas on papers, and those are the things that they're funding. So access to capital hasn't been great for women. So if they can't access capital, then they can create these companies and then they can bring more people in. And so I think that that's a big part of it. And for us, it's super super important to be inclusive. So we have a launch pad that's coming.

We haven't decided what the amount is going to be, but most likely we would like to have a fund that's you know, ten million plus that will be focused on bringing more diverse founders into creating in the virtual world. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, And I think maybe as as women were very we can be sometimes frugal, and you know, we're we're we asked more questions and we're a little bit more I don't know, have the correct word is skeptical. But men are just like more risk takers, you know

what I mean? Maybe, but women are creative, you guys, We are creative. We create life, Okay literally, So let's get into the space. That's just my personal opinion. I knew a lot A lot of people still don't know too much about n f T S in the virtual world. But I'm glad. I'm glad that we were able to talk about it, and that I'm talking to a female here. That's amazing. So Mary, before we go, what do you feel like? What do you see the future like? How

do you see the future in the virtual world? Um, I think that everything that we're doing today is going to have like a digital parallel. You know, we're gonna have our digital twans avatars. You know, people are any buying Gucci shoes and what have you for their avatars. So virtual is the future, and there's a whole lot more that we're going to be doing in the virtual world.

So the future is now and this is just a small glimpse of what it's going to be like, and a lot of it is going to replace what we do in the real world. So we're not bringing case stet's into web three point. Oh it's gonna be you know, digital is going to be MP three. So think about that when you're thinking about the future of art and fashion and everything. It's going digital. It definitely is. I agree.

And Mary, please share your socials, your website, anything that you'd like the listeners to know a little bit about you and seek sure, thank you. So I'm on Instagram, So Instagram c v R c e k v R, and then Twitter is also just seek c e K. So check us out, follow you know for updates and you're going to hopefully find out when we put your n f T out and then we put out some of the great n f T s that we have coming. So just stay up to date with us on Twitter

or I love that. Thank you so much, Mary, and you guys now you know how to keep up with our beautiful guest here, Mary Spio, thank you so much. And before you guys go, as you know, I have a quote that I share with you guys every Monday. I have a motivational quote. So here it is. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. You guys, don't miss it, don't miss it. As always, Thank you so much for being a part of this conversation, Chickens

and chill. I will see you guys next Monday. This is a production of My Heart Radio and Michael Dura podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael Dura Podcasts and follow me Cheeks That's c h i q y s. For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H