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Founder's Arena with Mario Butler, Founder of Dreamster

Tony L Okoye
August 30 2022
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In this interview, Girri speaks with Mario, the founder of Dreamster about his journey in the crypto industry and what it means to be a “Dreamster”.

This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

GIRRI

Welcome, Mario, to the Founder's Arena. Tell us about your path to crypto.

MARIO

One of my high school teammates, and I reconnected and decided to create a product. We wanted to start our own bike-sharing program for the community. During the R&D phase, we discovered the Ethereum network. Fun Fact: unlike most people, I learned about Ethereum before Bitcoin. In 2016, we went knee-deep in DeFi and ICOs and invested in a lot of crypto projects, including Dragonchain. We halted our efforts and spent the year learning more about the various blockchain infrastructures,  eventually enrolling in Dragonchain Blockchain Academy and earning certification as a smart contract engineer. I think crypto is a terrific industry and I'm glad to be part of it. So, that's the abridged version of my crypto journey.

GIRRI

Looking at the entire NFT market last year, we had an incredible run. This year is significantly more tranquil than last year. How do you envision this developing over the next few years? And how does this impact your operation of Dreamster?

MARIO

I believe the market will become relatively stable over the next few years. I think that the era of having one's wealth multiplied by a factor of 100 has arrived, and Devs will continue to build fascinating crypto products with exciting use cases.  Although we are still learning about blockchain, people are quickly becoming more aware of what to look out for in a solid project.

GIRRI

How would you describe Dreamster to our audience?

MARIO

Dreamster is a Web3 ecosystem that provides access to virtually all Web3 resources. We are primarily a market for NFTs. Our niche, however, in the NFT marketplace is the music industry.  We're giving artists who don't have a platform the opportunity to use ours to create NFTs and smart contracts and distribute their music in a simple process that saves them gas fees and meeting costs. We believe that artists should manage their revenue access, have access to fast music distribution, and communicate with their fans, leveraging the market's numerous options to incentivize fans. 

Additionally, we are an NFT marketplace for artists, graphic artists, or 3D artists, and NFT avatar creators for the metaverse. Dreamster also provides bitcoin exchange services with competitive trading and platform fees. We created the exchange to help people in specific regions around the world who do not have easy access to crypto exchanges.

Finally, we offer an excellent, secure, decentralized wallet in which you can store your assets. We use facial recognition, fingerprint authentication, and multiple two-factor authentications to provide high-level security for your wallet.

Then there's our native token, which has several applications in the Dreamster ecosystem. We will have governance features for the NFT marketplace with the token. Token holders can stake their tokens on the Dreamster in exchange for various incentives and an increase in interest rates, which will only happen if you hold the token. Furthermore, the token can be used to get discounts when buying NFTs on the marketplace. So, while there is a lot going on in the Dreamster ecosystem, we just want this to be a place for artists, users, and cryptocurrency investors.

GIRRI

It appears to be a comprehensive crypto solution. You are focused on NFTs and exchanges and have your own wallet. Hence, the entire array of products. The question I have is, there are so many potential next steps. You've mentioned this emphasis on music NFTs, which is something I'd like to emphasize. What is the rationale for that?

MARIO

Over the years, record labels have dominated the music industry. We observed that they do not provide clear instructions or transparency to artists when it comes to earning royalties, owning the rights to their music, and having control over their data. So we created the platform in order to give artists back control. We want artists to be able to communicate with their fans directly. We also want the artists to be properly motivated and to be able to earn the necessary rewards for their work.

GIRRI

I'm attempting to comprehend how it would operate for a musician. So, if I were a musician, would I go to Dreamster to produce collectibles, or would I go there to sell the rights to my song?

MARIO

Over the years, record labels have dominated the music industry. Essentially, you are allowing your audience to acquire exclusive ownership of your music. If you want to create a limited collection of your music, you can do so after you've created the smart contract on our platform. For example, if you make 1,000 copies of the record, you can build a collection out of them, and you can include incentives like receiving an autograph, a backstage pass, and access to music events within the smart contract.

GIRRI

Therefore, you are transitioning from a transaction to an experience. A blockchain-enabled experience, or an experience that is recorded on the blockchain?

MARIO

Yes, Indeed. we want to give users a complete blockchain experience. Because I'm sure many artists on the platform are unfamiliar with blockchain technology. As a result, we allow users to choose which blockchain network they want to conduct the transaction on. Currently, contracts can be submitted on the Ethereum blockchain, which was the first blockchain designed for NFTs. Other alternatives include the Polygon chain, Binance smart chain, and Solana. We want our users to get the most value for their money when creating these NFTs, which is why we give them options. Even if you are conducting what is known as a lazy meet, where the purchaser pays for the gas fee, it is still advantageous for the artists to choose the blockchain with the most reasonable or cost-effective gas fees when writing the smart contract.

GIRRI

What types of artists would benefit the most from this? Is this individual at the beginning of their career? Or is it a more established individual? Who is currently the ideal user for this music NFT?

MARIO

Currently, we welcome all artists. If you're just beginning your career, if you need a platform to gain recognition, or even if you're an established artist looking for another way to share your music and create cash flow, our platform is the best option for you. We are also adding a crowdfunding feature, which we refer to as the digital patron. We're building a crowdfunding feature where artists can genuinely raise funds by selling tickets to their fans. So that your community's patrons would support the project, you will grant them the NFT in exchange for access to various benefits within the project. We hope this NFT increases in value over time for the early backers of whatever the artist is attempting to produce, providing both the artist and the fan with early access. We hope our platform improves fan/artist relationships, giving fans unique access to their favorite artist(s). We wish to provide these artists with the opportunity to do more than merely generate views. We want to give them the choice to raise funds if they have restricted access to capital to launch their art or music. We also wish to be in a position to assist the artist in this area. This section of the company is already operational. In addition, we want NFT holders to utilize their NFTs as collateral on lending/borrowing platforms to exchange for whatever sort of cryptocurrency they may need.

GIRRI

In and of itself, launching an NFT marketplace is a difficult endeavor. But what is so intriguing about your concept is that you have not only an NFT marketplace but also an exchange and a crypto wallet. Why did you choose to release everything instead of developing a single product? What is the rationale for that?

MARIO

Because we want people to understand that we're here for the community, this is our philosophy behind deploying an entire ecosystem. We intend to develop solutions for individuals who genuinely require them. There are currently some amazing firms providing similar solutions, but we want to be the in-house company that people love, want to support, and just want to be a part of our community.

GIRRI

Where is the team in relation to the launch? Currently, is this a pre-launch product, or is it a product that's already out and people can begin using it?

MARIO

The product is currently undergoing beta testing. Our avatar creation landing page, dreamsteravatar.com, and our market landing page, dreamster.market, are both currently available. Before we go live, we want to make sure that all necessary software and security audits have been completed, and that all products have been developed. We've collaborated with a few other companies, including NFTHailer and Monte, to provide simple payment solutions on platforms. We are currently in the pre-launch stage.  I believe the platform will be available in about a month.

GIRRI

This digital avatar concept is one of your marketplace's most distinctive features. Can you expand on that? How did you arrive at this conclusion? How precisely does it function?

MARIO

In fact, we developed the digital avatar two years ago as part of our strategic plan. We wanted people to be able to create their own identities and enjoy pseudo-anonymity. With the help of some of the greatest developers, we were able to come up with a solution for avatars in which users could connect their wallets to the platform via desktop or mobile devices by logging into dreamsteravatar.com.  We are currently running a live demo on dreamsteravatar.com where you can build your own human-like avatar. We hope to provide folks with an introduction to the future of the metaverse. So this is one of the ways we believe an individual becomes a true Dreamster.

 

GIRRI

This is a Web3 version of the emoji you have on your iPhone, similar to an iPhone sticker you may design. I assume it's a 3D version and not just a 2D one.

MARIO

Yes, a 3D version is available.

GIRRI

Are these items now circulating on the Internet? Have individuals previously built them? 

MARIO

No, not yet. We have not yet done a significant amount of marketing for the campaign. Nonetheless, it will undoubtedly arrive.

GIRRI

You stated that folks can begin creating these immediately, correct?

MARIO

Yes, we provide a free demo version. There will be costs if you want to create premium avatars. The premium avatars will be interoperable with other platforms such as Meta.   However, users can visit the website and create their own free avatar, which they can then save, download, and use as their own NFT.

GIRRI

Can you describe your experience working with regulators and acquiring the necessary licenses to operate the business? Managing an exchange is challenging due to the numerous rules that must be complied with.

MARIO

We seek to operate in countries that are crypto-friendly, have a clear direction, and can provide actual licenses or regulatory guidance on how to move forward as a program or service within the industry. We currently hold licenses from Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates.

GIRRI

What is your long-term vision for Dreamster? I pose this question as a sort of conclusion to the conversation. In ten years, what will Dreamster look like?

MARIO

I hope that in ten years, we will have adapted uniquely to whatever changes have occurred in the past decade. I mean, we're still in Web 3.0, and I'm hearing about Web 4.0 and augmented reality developments. Moreover, there are numerous developments in machine learning and AI at the moment. We want to be a company that can adapt to changing conditions. I'd also like our company to produce a Dreamster film. I'm currently speaking with a few screenwriters. My undergraduate degree was in mass media arts, which included radio, television, and film production. And I'm in contact with a few people who are interested in writing the screenplay for Dreamster.

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