IotaPoet
Tangleverse Times: How did your IOTA journey start?
IotaPoet: Crypto came at an interesting time in my life. In 2017, I had graduated and got a graduate job but was still feeling very lost in life. Early twenties can be a weird age. You have spent the vast majority of your life in the structured education system; and then you are thrust into the big bad world, left to your own devices to figure what the heck you want to do and who you want to be. Oh and don’t forget you are bottom of the food chain. I travelled to Thailand with a good friend. One evening in a random bar, a drunken guy started talking to me about Bitcoin. Through his cracked, alcohol soaked screen I witnessed for the first time the Coinbase app and this ‘magic internet money’. To be honest I wasn’t too impressed initially and just wanted to go back to my sex on the beach… (the cocktail). Over the next few days I would chill at one of the most beautiful, tranquil beaches I’ve ever experienced absorbing podcasts to try to work out what I wanted to do with my life. A quote from a podcast, the name of which escapes me, really struck a chord:
“In life you will be given more opportunities than you could ever possibly take advantage of. All you need to do is grab a few and make one work”.
To this day this perspective has helped shape my life. Invigorated with a new sense of hope and optimism I returned home. Opportunities would start presenting themselves all I had to do was have my eyes open to them. I decided crypto was one of these opportunities. I opened my laptop and for the next few months read up on everything crypto. I remember buying at 10k and then going to 18k thinking I was Warren Buffett (turns out I am more of the Jim Cramer mould). That said, I never really caught the Bitcoin bug. Bitcoin seemed dated technology even at its peak. Besides, I knew the Governments and banks would NEVER let it overtake fiat, not in our life time anyway. No way, Jose. So, I started reading about Altcoins on Reddit. What could be the next big thing? I had a craving for something extra spicy. I then stumbled across IOTA and something just clicked.
Feeless, the backbone of the IoT economy and god dam toaster wallets! Fresh bagels that toasted and resupplied themselves was certainly a future I yearned for.
Since then I have been on the wild ride that is IOTA. Experiencing the highs and downright lows. Ever so often I want off but every time the tech and the amazing community brings me back. It’s crazy that this was 5-6 years ago. I have a few more eye wrinkles now. Wear sunblock everyday folks!
TvT: Why did you start YouTube?
IP: I consume a lot of YouTube and I think 99% of crypto YouTube is absolute garbage. You feel dirty even watching to it (I am sure some haven’t even showered in days). I’ve never been much of a ‘creative’ person, but I’ve always had this creative itch. Considering I can barely draw a stick man, some may say it’s misguided but it’s there nonetheless. I tried improv comedy and whilst that was fun, I wanted something more permanent. Something where I have total freedom. Before starting my channel I had never edited in my life, so it was an interesting challenge and has been a steep learning curve.
My first video was a bloody 30min PowerPoint presentation with a voice-over lol. The YouTube algorithm probably had an existential crisis that day.
TvT: What is your favourite video to date?
IP: For me it is: “Why We Need IOTA/Shimmer More Than Ever”. It may not be the most useful factually for my audience but it was one of the few videos where I really tried to express myself through the creating/editing process. During the low of the bear market sometimes you just need some therapy. "What is the IOTA Stardust Upgrade?" is my best performing video and I was proud of that as I did a lot of research for it. There wasn’t much publicly available on Stardust at the time for non-developers. I aim to increase my quality massively and hopefully come up with unique ideas for the community.
TvT: What’s a point you think a lot of people are overlooking in relation to IOTA/Shimmer?
IP: I was talking with Austin from Blockbytes recently. He is someone who has only recently got into the IOTA ecosystem having come from Fantom and other protocols. He told me he was taken aback about how professional and structured the IOTA Foundation is. We forget that many DeFi projects are a team of a few overworked devs, a finance guy with a questionable Econ degree and of course the Instagram ‘CEO’ rise and grind guy. IOTA has a team of over 100 including developers, researchers, scientists, and marketing professionals. These are qualified people. The IF are working with big institutions and have collaborations with the bloody EU. Of course, this doesn’t guarantee success but I think IOTA is in a great position to create a great protocol and ecosystem. It just needs the network effect and then we are off to the races.
TvT: Which Shimmer project excites you the most?
IP: I really like TangleSwap. After collaborating with them and reviewing their white paper in depth, they really seem to have their finger on the pulse. They jumped on the CLMM really early, which is basically the next gen DEX technology. DEXs are crucial for any DeFi ecosystem so I wish them the best. Of course I hope TangleSea can compete with them every step of the way.
TvT: What are your thoughts on the feeling in the IOTA community right now?
IP: This happens a lot in bear markets but there is currently a lot of negative sentiment from a loud minority in the community. At times it threatens to make the IOTA community toxic. As I say there are a lot guff merchants out there right now jumping on any negativity. I get there are people hurting. Even if it's not financially hurt, people egos are hurt and they look to lash out. See MVP gate as a prime example. This was a mountain out of a mole hill. What IOTA is trying to achieve is truly novel and unique in the crypto space. This isn’t a copy and paste ERC20 token. Even the EVM brings some novel improvements. True innovation takes time and patience.
I think it is important to have some patience. If you feel you can’t be patient or need the money now then it is totally fine to sell now. This is just a technology project at the end of the day that may succeed or fail.
In the meantime, disregard the guff!!
TvT: What are you looking forward to th most with Shimmer/IOTA?
IP: I am looking forward to GameFi coming to Shimmer and IOTA. I think this could be the big trend during the next bull market. Look at Axie Infinity and how much it pumped. I am hoping Shimmer and IOTA can get a similar killer app before this trend explodes.
TvT: Which guest would you love to hear on Moonaco podcast?
IP: For me, it would have to be Vitalik Buterin. I know he knows about IOTA, and I would love to hear his views on the pros and cons of IOTA, especially its feeless architecture. I would like to think we could change his opinion on a few things. Also, I would love to do a three-way (calm your minds) podcast with Thomas and SpecWeekly just for the pure vibes and banter.
TvT: What can we expect from IOTAPoet going forward?
IP: I endeavour to be more consistent with videos but unfortunately I have a demanding career which means it is hard to find free time weekly. That said, I have a few plans up my sleeve. Bear with me and thank you to everyone who follows my YouTube channel or interacts with my Tweets. You are the best.
TvT: Where can we follow you?
IP: You can follow me at: