Talking Crypto #64 - Andy from Fractional
Primer: Andy Chorlian is the founder of Fractional, a NFT collecting platform. In this episode of Talking Crypto, he shares with Gabriel Haines his journey from DeFi to the NFT space.
Origins
Been doing smart contracts for 4 years
Did it for 2 years in a Fintech company and the other 2 years in MakerDAO
Got into crypto in early 2017
Found a place that hired him to learn Solidity
Created some vaults for BadgerDAO
Founded Fractional
BadgerDAO
During DeFi summer, he started devising vault strategies for Yearn
Got connected to BadgerDAO because they needed help with their airdrop
Did work for them as a contractor. Wrote code to create a merkle tree for their airdrop
Helped BadgerDAO out with vault strategies as well
NBA Top Shot
Got into NBA Top Shot relatively early in September 2020
Is a collector of sneakers and Pokemon cards in the real world
Top Shot was the first time where it clicked for him that NFTs are collectibles
Is a huge basketball fan. Took the profits he made from DeFi and put it into Top Shot NFTs
"But at the end of day, I'm a video game player, and a sports fan, and all these different things, where NFTs kind of click with what I care about in the real world a lot better than like figuring out the most efficient bonding curve does or something."
- Andy Chorlian
First Encounter With Top Shot
Applied to their closed beta in 2019 before even Top Shot came out
Forgotten about his application until he came across a tweet from them
By the time he joined, it was already in open beta
How He Felt About His NBA Top Shot Profits
Felt very surreal. Didn't really know how to react to it
During his purchase, he enjoyed it and felt confident that he was making a pretty smart move
"And all of a sudden, in like two weeks, it went from man, nothing's really happening. Like, I feel like the team's not really executing how I would like, I'm not having been super impressed with X, Y, and Z. And then all of a sudden, it was like, holy crap, every single moment is worth more than I ever thought it could be worth."
- Andy Chorlian
Two Kinds Of NFT Waves
Gabriel: Feels like that there are 2 kinds of NFT waves. The first started earlier this year while the second started a couple of months ago with profile picture NFTs. What are the differences between these 2 trends?
Hard to say. People realize that there are new types of NFTs and buy what they think is cool
NFT creators start to see the inkling of what NFTs could be, took the idea, and ran with it
New waves of interesting NFTs are being created
Value Of NFTs
Core of it is cultural significance
Likens it to skating and hip hop, which has their own subcultures
As society becomes more digital, digital things are becoming increasingly valued. This applies to non-blockchain stuff like Fortnite skins and digital collectibles as well
NFTs show your tribe and who you associate with. This makes it sticky as there is meaning behind it
"Some of the more like Immaculate Conception style, like the origin story of these things, it just can't be recreated anymore because the system is figured out. Kind of in the same way that when yield farming started like yams, it was like, no one knew what they were doing. Everyone's just like, yeah, let's just like put some money in this and see what happens."
- Andy Chorlian
Forks of NFT projects lack the authenticity of the projects they forked from. The original projects have an authentic feel to them and an organic community that cannot be easily replicated
Felt that Loot was a very authentic release
Fractional
Started working full-time on Fractional since February 2021
Officially launched in July 2021
Realized that there was a large addressable market of people who were priced out of Top Shot
Created Fractional to address this need and realized that his thesis was correct
Fractional is an NFT collecting platform. It does not take any fees
If there's a buyout of the NFT, everyone who owned fractions of the NFT will receive the split from the buyout
Excited to see people building communities around NFTs
Why Is Liquidity Needed For NFTs?
Don't think that the liquidity side of fractionalization is as important as people make it out to be
Think it is more about unlocking communal ownership instead
"Communal ownership of these things is additive. And it makes the NFT more valuable. And it makes owning 5% of an NFT more valuable because now it's not just one person who owns it, it's a community of people who all have like-minded interest in people knowing about this NFT, or just being a good steward of it, or making funny memes and just having a good time."
- Andy Chorlian
Has observed that people really value having fun and making jokes with people online
Upcoming Improvements
To improve their front-end to make things clearer for users
To help educate and onboard new users
Trying to figure out what V2 looks like — protocol-level changes
Talking to users and collectors as to what makes them feel good
The Fractional Community
Building a community is interesting and challenging
As they do not have a token, it makes things easier as it is one less thing they need to think about
Trying to figure out whether the Fractional community is different from the sub-community of a particular NFT
Trying to make those communities one of the same and yet special in their own way
Worked with Pop Wonder and made collab drops for early contributors. It was well received by the community
A Token For Fractional?
Don't have an answer to this question
Financialization Of NFT Markets
Thinks that it will eventually happen
Currently, traditional art and real world non-fungible assets are treated as financial assets
Real world assets have one of the largest total addressable market (e.g. house, bonds, and mortgages)
When it eventually happens, fractionalization of real world assets would be really huge
Trying to position Fractional to support it when the time comes
Currently, there has been a lot of attempts with NFT lending, but there is not much traction
Various Thoughts On NFTs
NFT Galleries
Thinks that, over the long term, NFT galleries like Cyber will probably become massive
NFT Frames
Have 1 Infinite Objects of a Top Shot Moment
Want to buy 1 of the Atomic Form Digital Display. Currently, they are on pre-order
Some Of His NFTs
Was super lucky to have a Fidenza
Early on, he supported some artists from Foundation
His Crypto Punk
Art Styles He Likes
Pixel art
Art with Vaporwave aesthetic
IPs And Stories Around Communities
NFT projects will grow to levels that people didn't even realize is possible
Thinks that NFTs in movies are eventually going to happen
"I think to a certain extent, like, the imagination of what is possible, is maybe more powerful than the actual execution of those things."
- Andy Chorlian
Believes that crypto native IPs that's character and story-driven would blow Disney's IP out of the water
Exciting to see teams that are doing stuff outside of the core team
Examples:
PUNKS Comic expanding on CryptoPunks by giving each punk a story
PUNKS Comic Jenkins The Valet creating a community-generative NFT book for Bored Ape Yacht Club
NFTs allowing IP rights to anyone, giving people the chance to build something cool
Recently, Larva Labs signed an agreement for some of the rights for the Punks and Meebits. Plenty of ramifications from this fact (e.g. will Punk holders be entitled to royalty income?)
Based on his reading and understanding, he thinks that newer projects like Bored Apes and Cool Cats have significantly more IP rights than CryptoPunks
What Is He Most Excited About On The Horizon For NFTs
There is not much infrastructure right now for NFTs
Huge inflow of capital into the system. Want to observe what infrastructure gets built
OpenSea and other companies have raised a ton of money. Waiting for them to build and onboard more users
Hope that Fractional can be part of this in some way
If He Had A Billboard In Times Square, What Would He Write On It?
A stupid meme about the PleasrDAO Doge NFT on Fractional
How Can Listeners Take Action
Join their Discord and have a chat
They have a solid community that is willing to help and answer questions
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