Welcome to our interview with Eren, the founder, and CEO of DKODA Labs, who is currently busy building Wasabi, a decentralized and permissionless NFT options protocol. Together we’ll be discussing what Wasabi is all about, what potential use cases it has, how the team behind it came up with the idea, and many more. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and learn more about Wasabi and its exciting potential!
[SurferInvestor] Could you please summarise briefly what the Wasabi Protocol is about?
[Eren] Wasabi is the decentralized and permissionless NFT options protocol where users can capitalize on market swings, get affordable exposure/access to blue chips, hedge against downturns, and earn income by collecting premiums on their priced JPEGs. Wasabi is for the collector, the trader, and the ape.
[SurferInvestor] Could you please introduce yourself as a founder/team contributor? What is your background? What makes you the right team for the project?
[Eren]My name is Eren, I am the co-founder and CEO of DKODA Labs. I’m a product builder who helped scale two startups. I come from a family of artists and want to facilitate a digital art market where creators are supported sustainably.
[Eren] Dkoda Labs is a dedicated team of engineers, scientists, traders, and artists producing primitives for NFT-based economies
[SurferInvestor] How did you come up with the idea of Wasabi Protocol?
[Eren] After actively collecting, flipping, and building in the NFT market, we identified 3 major issues and decided to solve them with Wasabi:
- Inability to hedge: Traders can only purchase NFTs at a low price and hope to sell at a higher price. There is currently no way for holders of NFTs to hedge their positions or profit from market downturns.
- Inability to generate Real Yield: Holders of ERC-721 assets are unable to earn sustainable passive income safely.
- Inability to speculate affordably: Since digital collectibles are non-fungible cultural objects, they can only be traded in discrete increments. The majority of traders are unable to participate in high-value NFT markets because they cannot afford the minimum price required to purchase a discrete increment, e.g. 1 full CryptoPunk.
[SurferInvestor] What item in the roadmap gets you the most excited?
[Eren] Providing insurance for NFT-backed loans by partnering up with lending protocols.
[SurferInvestor] Why should I use Wasabi Protocol as a user? What problem does it solve?
To put it short, there are 3 main reasons why a user might want to use Wasabi.
- Speculation: Options enable traders who can’t afford high-value NFTs to participate in the market, increasing liquidity & boosting adoption. It also provides them with the opportunity to build up a position and acquire their dream JPEGs. For the Apes. 🦍
- Strategic hedging: Buying an expensive NFT and seeing a 20% price drawdown within a few days can be very tough, financially and emotionally. Wasabi helps offset those pains by enabling collectors to hedge against such short-term price movements at a low cost.
- Income generation: Collectors of the most sought-after NFTs have long been looking for ways to unlock the financial utility of JPEGs. With Wasabi, they can finally tap into a sustainable way of earning a SPICY interest by depositing their NFTs into our liquidity pools.
[SurferInvestor] How many people in the team?
[Eren] 5 people in the core team, but 10 people with contractors and advisors
[SurferInvestor] In an ideal world, how would Wasabi Protocol look in 5 years?
[Eren] Wasabi would become the Digital Asset Management Network for all digital assets.
[SurferInvestor] For people who wanna jump in, how to get started?
[Eren] Join our discord and we’ll get you up to speed in no time!
[SurferInvestor] Would you like to say a few words about the trading competition happening now?
[Eren] It is an excellent opportunity to get exposure to options if you’re unfamiliar with them. There is no downside as you trade for free but the full upside to our top 100 traders!
We would like to thank Eren for taking the time to join us and share his vision about Wasabi, a decentralized and permissionless NFT options protocol. We are truly excited about the potential of Wasabi to change the NFT market. We wish Eren and the team all the success in their future endeavors and look forward to seeing what Wasabi can do!
