A non-fungible token, known as an NFT, is a unique token existing on a blockchain. NFTs are the current craze that has piqued the interest (and wallets) of investors, artists, creators, developers and collectors alike. These individual and unique tokens are captivating crowds outside of the cryptocurrency space all while providing the agency for anyone to mint their own NFT.
Blockchain casino platform TendieBets released their series of Chunky Chicken NFTs on September 8 and sold out in close to twenty-four hours. Besides a successful launch, what stands out is that a group of self proclaimed professional “under dogs” built out their Chunky Chickens in 48 hours from start to finish, crowd raised $1 million, and in doing so emphasized that the future of finance may rest in decentralization through NFTs.
TendieBets is a market prediction platform in the TendieSwap ecosystem created by a group of finance, crypto, bank and tech experts with the common goal of bringing a new betting protocol to the DeFi space. The group is led by their chief visionary known only as the Wizard of SoHo.
The Wiz comes from an extensive background across industries, starting with his career as an engineer to trading multibillion dollar fixed income portfolios. In addition to a decade on Wall Street, he is now managing crypto and NFT funds while leading TendieSwap.
It’s no question that TendieBet’s popularity also has a lot to do with the Wiz’s social media presence. While continuing to remain anonymous, he constantly engages with his followers and posts daily inspirational notes and political and financial updates on his stories. His posts emphasize the lifestyle he’s made for himself with helicopters, upscale wines and breathtaking views. He also owns Evinco Winery, a Napa winery that accepts crypto. Who wouldn’t want to live like the Wizard of SoHo? With that being said, when the Wiz promoted Chunky Chickens, his loyal community listened.
The Chunky Chickens project took the Tendie team 48 hours from start to finish. The group went from 0 to 6500 people on Discord and completed all the coding, backend development and launched immediately. 3,333 Chunky Chickens were released on September 8 and sold out in roughly 24 hours. Many of the Wiz’s followers stated that this was their first NFT purchase.
So, how did an anonymous finance professional and his Tendie community crowdfund $1 million in a day? “The community came together and supported and rallied other communities to raise the money. Years of free education and trust got people to buy into the story and future of blockchain and NFT” shared the Wiz. With enough experience and recognition in finance, he noted a significant transition in the space, “The future of finance and private equity is disrupted and sits with the people now. New companies no longer need hedge funds and shark VC firms to raise money, instead they can just build communities and tap in there to raise money.”
