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METAVERSE
What is it, what will it be, is it worth it, and what does Hochburg have to do with it?
A lot, we’ve really dug in and have the first projects running. In the coming weeks, we’ll take you on this journey and build a page with all our content: projects, thoughts, and more insights. As a teaser, here’s a brief excerpt from a conversation between the Hochburg founders Fabian Schmutzer and Florian Boyd, and strate founder Caren Finster about the future of the internet and beautiful perspectives.
Fabian:
I might get excited a bit too quickly sometimes, and you’re usually more critical, but that balances out between us, just like with this topic. When you really dive into it and experiment, you quickly realize that it could actually be the next big thing that might completely reshape our society, just like the internet did.
Fabian:
Exactly, the whole NFT thing is really the catalyst for this entire Meta-Web3 topic that’s slowly rolling towards us. I think it’s because people have better access to it now. With crypto, everything was so undefined. First, there were Bitcoins, and now there are what feels like 24,000 other cryptocurrencies. Plus, it had a pretty bad image. In the beginning, it was even said, “drug dealers want to hide their money with it.” No one knew what to do with it.
Fabian:
Exactly, but with "colorful images," the access is just different, especially for our generation and those of us who grew up with Photoshop editing, Instagram, Facebook, and so on, so we are very visually-digital influenced. An NFT is first and foremost just a JPG and an image. You either like it or you don’t. Then, there's the layer where you could possibly make money from it. That’s what makes it interesting, compared to purely data-based currencies. An NFT isn’t just an image; it can also be a piece of music, for example.
TALK
Caren:
Exactly, images and music were the beginning, but basically, these are just the early stages we're in right now, and a lot is being tried out. The end result is that, for example, in five to ten years, if the topic catches on, this NFT thing will run through society as a whole, for brands, projects, products, or even voting in politics.
Fabian:
If everything turns out like some believe, it might change everything, and that’s why we at Hochburg said, we have to get involved.
Florian
I don’t remember the exact beginning, but it was also a monetary approach because we saw that you could make money, more with crypto. Then it was a bit of a ping-pong game, sometimes investing in one coin and sometimes in another, and that’s how we worked our way up.
Fabian
Then the NFT topic really popped up, and in the fall of 2021, you came to me and said, "I’m going to take care of this completely." At first, I thought, okay, wow, that fast!
Florian
Yes! After I dug into it a bit, I quickly realized that this could be a huge opportunity for us. Let’s shift some responsibilities within Hochburg.
Caren
Now, you spend a lot of time with various programs and on chats and platforms to dive deeper into the topic...
TALK
Florian
... so that we can eventually launch NFT projects ourselves, understand how the trading process works, how you can make money with NFTs...
Fabian
... and how we can use it for Hochburg in the future. You’re obviously a few steps ahead of me now. What kind of universe has opened up to you over the last few months?
Florian
You have to see it this way: It’s a very small community. Many are involved with crypto and came to NFTs through that. Without knowing exactly, but maybe 1% of humanity uses crypto, and NFTs are then 1% of that 1%, so you can imagine it that way. Just the programs and applications used differ so much from the internet as we know it and use it.
TALK
Caren
For example, it might be that a project generating millions has no presence on Instagram, but on Discord, they have 200,000 people in their chat.
Florian
Exactly, just that shows how the applications and programs completely differ from what we use in our everyday lives, know, and deal with.
Caren
The crazy thing is that it completely flies under the radar for the "normal people" because no one really knows what it is, and once you start getting into it, you just slide from one topic to the next, like you’re doing right now.
Florian
It spans programs, projects, technologies, and companies you’ve never heard of but are generating millions and billions in revenue.
Caren
just starting to emerge, and once you start looking into them, it really pulls you in, like it did with you.
Florian
Yes. I quickly realized I couldn’t do this with one foot in both worlds, especially with the different time zones. Most of the projects and people come from the U.S., and that’s how the clock ticks. Eventually, I was sitting in front of the computer for 18, 19 hours, and that was the point when I realized it had to work differently.
Fabian
That’s how we roll. We want to move forward, so we took you out of the daily Hochburg routine, and now you're focusing on this topic to see where it leads, and that’s already proven to be effective. We buy and sell NFTs, the classic trading. That was the first reason you even started getting into it.
NFTs are the tip of the iceberg.
Florian
Exactly, and that’s the point. While it’s all nice and good, it’s like stock trading or cryptocurrency trading. That doesn’t really relate to Hochburg. I quickly realized that we shouldn’t just see this as a side hustle, but perhaps use it for us, which is why I went out looking for projects in the NFT world. It took two months.
Caren
It’s worth noting that in the real Hochburg day-to-day, Flo is more of the cave dweller, a bit "shy" compared to Fabian and me, who are always on the road and meeting clients.
Florian
Haha, that’s true! And I own it, that’s your strength and your part. But with this Web3 thing, I have fun because everyone, just like me, is sitting in front of their computers, hiding behind their profile pictures, which, by the way, are NFTs. It’s a completely different world. I’m practically doing acquisition for Hochburg and after two months, I was able to land our first project.