For its fourth annual conference, NFT.NYC hosted some notable events and speakers throughout the week. SquidGrow, a diverse Web3 ecosystem, including an NFT platform called Inkubate, left a big impression.
SquidGrow’s founder Shibtoshi, an elusive billionaire known for making an extraordinary return on his SHIB investment, also made his first public appearance at NFT.NYC. The event at the DeCC was presented by SquidGrow in collaboration with Web3 allies Secret Network, Silentswap, Station3NYC, and Women in Blockchain.
Although he just made his debut appearance, Shibtoshi is active within the space. We spoke with the man behind the mask and asked him about opening ‘the gates to a digital empire’, the future of NFTs, and creating a safer investment environment. Shibtoshi also touches on the unique aspects of their NFT marketplace, Inkubate, and emphasizes the critical role of privacy within the blockchain space.
Early on in SquidGrow, some said Shibtoshi ‘doesn’t exist.’ Why have you remained elusive for so long, and why was NFT.NYC 2024 the time to make an appearance?
Shibtoshi: I think we took care of those concerns pretty early on with the first couple of videos I dropped. NFT.NYC was an opportunity for the brand that we decided to take advantage of when we became the platinum sponsor of the event.
You’ve said, ‘SquidGrow is opening the gates to a digital empire’. Tell us more about this ‘digital empire’, the SquidGrow utility-meme token, and maximising that utility within the SquidGrow ecosystem.
Shibtoshi: SquidGrow is just that, it is an ecosystem that we have been cultivating for almost 2 years. The idea behind it is to develop useful utilities that could gain mass adoption and revenue in the process. Percentages of the revenue generated on those platforms are shared with the community in the form of a buyback. This goes back to one of my early statements where I said we are building SquidGrow to be sustainable so that no group of investors or persons can hurt the community. We achieve this with pumping revenue from utilities into the chart to create a continued upward trend.
At NFT.NYC, you talked about your ‘unique spin’ on how an NFT Marketplace should be done. How do the features of your marketplace, Inkubate, showcase this?
Shibtoshi: What is unique about Inkubate is the Launchpad. It really provides all the features of a top collection, with thousands of NFTs at a creator’s fingertips through a simple UI.
You also spoke about the importance of privacy and how everyone is entitled to it. How and why is SquidGrow upholding the values of privacy so highly in its ecosystem?
Shibtoshi: I think people have lost track of the importance of privacy. Everybody loves the transparency of the Blockchain, but there are certain circumstances and situations where you would not want your transactions disclosed publicly to family members, friends, and even businesses. I think that the Blockchain should allow the same level of privacy as you would experience transacting via your bank account, credit card, Venmo, etc. Speaking from experience and knowing firsthand the dangers, the people attacking your wallets with dusting attacks, NFTs, etc., I think it’s very important to have a level and layer of anonymity.
After some bad experiences early on in crypto, you mentioned wanting to get friends and family into a safer investment environment. How does this now reflect within the SquidGrow community?
Shibtoshi: I’ve spoken on this several times, but the truth doesn’t matter. There are a lot of bad actors in the space that have a “take” mentality. There are also many honorable projects in the space, but it is very hard for people to tell the difference. I founded SquidGrow to give people a safe place to invest their money. SquidGrow holders can go to sleep at night knowing that their money will be safe and sound. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we are not susceptible to the movements of the crypto market. It means that nothing malicious will be done. Talk is cheap, I will show everybody with my actions what I mean.
What do you think is the future of NFTs for creators, businesses, and the world?
Shibtoshi: Although I hold many NFTs, I don’t necessarily buy them to make a profit. I buy anything that I connect with, and I’m attracted to. I think NFTs, though, can definitely be utilized in the mainstream a lot more. Already people are talking about utilizing NFTs for concert tickets, etc., and I think this is a very unique avenue that can be gone down. But with that comes the dangers of privacy. If anybody is tracking wallets and happens to buy a ticket on-chain to a concert, it would be relatively easy to put you at that location, so circle back to privacy.
