“It’s inevitable that one day we’ll be able to play, work, meet, conduct commerce, and more in an interactive virtual world.”
A long-time gamer, an early crypto adopter, and now the Metaverse, Adam Hollander is a serial entrepreneur.
He founded a software company that was acquired by Microsoft in 2015 and spent several years as their Director of Gamification in Seattle. He then joined an Austin-based company as their COO and fourth employee, which he helped grow to over 100 people through a $25m VC fundraise. In 2021, he left that position to focus on web3 full-time.
“Once it clicked for me that NFTs represented true proof-of-ownership for digital assets, my mind began racing, and I couldn’t focus on anything else,” said Adam.
Not everyone has embraced web3 technology with as much enthusiasm as Adam; it is one of the things he seeks to change. A lack of basic understanding of NFTs and their potential is holding new entrants back. This is one of the reasons why Adam has participated in dozens of TV interviews to educate and advocate for NFTs and the Metaverse.
“We need to help people better understand why NFTs are essential building blocks for the next phase of the internet,” said Adam. “It’s inevitable that one day we’ll be able to play, work, meet, conduct commerce, and more in an interactive virtual world.”
Adam has founded several web3 businesses, including a gamified NFT collection called ‘Hungry Wolves’ and a virtual Metaverse, ‘White Sands.’ He believes web3 and blockchain will fundamentally change the gaming landscape. “Imagine someone that spends dozens of hours playing their favorite game to acquire a rare sword. The sword remains locked inside if they ever stop playing that game. But what if it didn’t have to be that way?”
Instead of ‘game over’ signaling the loss of an earned or hard-won item, blockchain and NFTs establish transferable ownership and utility.
“In ‘White Sands,’ players can own virtual land and build customizable homes personalized with furniture, vehicles, pets, and more,” said Adam. “It’s also built on the NFT Worlds platform so players can jump between experiences and continuously find new utility for their rewards and items.”
Today, the NFT space is dominated by people looking to speculate to turn a profit. But Adam envisions this shifting over time as more and more people start embracing NFTs for their actual utility and product value.
“Decades ago, people might have asked why someone would spend time on a site like Facebook when they could just go meet someone or pick up the phone,” said Adam. “We’re currently in that stage of the Metaverse.”
