In an effort to provide transparency, I would like to preface this interview by saying that:
A) I am friends with Jacob Williams
and
B) I am part of the Wafu team in a marketing capacity. With that being said I still thought it would be a good interview for Hbar news; as Jacob founded, created and spearheaded Wafu and can provide some interesting insight on the project, which is the first anime project launching in the ecosystem. So without further ado, here it is:
How did you come up with the idea for Wafu?
Funny story actually, it wasn’t in some board room type setting or anything. I was actually in Telegram with Charles Markette (Founder Aeon) and Peter Uliano. This was over a year ago and we were just creating coins on hex for fun. Being an anime fan I sad “why isn’t there a waifu coin? Someone needs to create one!” To which Peter replied “why don’t you?” I thought about that and I was like yeah, why don’t I! I’m obviously extremely passionate about the subject. So I gathered a small team; Baptise (creator of Xact wallet and Lazy Superhero NFTS) was the first person I thought of, I pitched him my vision for WAFU and he was 100% onboard, so he became my cofounder at that point. The rest is happening right before everyone’s eyes now.
Please explain in the simplest way possible for the community exactly what Wafu is:
Simplest and easiest way to digest what WAFU is, would be to think modular. So WAFU consists of NFT drops of waifus/anime characters that will be used as funding for our game and gated/curated anime NFT platform. As well as our tokens WAFU and SAFU.
Why did you choose Hedera?
Trick question? No, but in all seriousness, we want to create something long term. Not a quick cash grab. As you know Hedera is static gas, extremely efficient and fast & also is the greenest network rivaling even institutions like Visa. So I feel Hedera will weather the storm thru any regulations, and just a great stable platform for building.
What sets your project apart from others?
Well first off, we have amazing 1/1 Art that’s not generative, each one is an original character thought up between our artists and myself. So every Waifu is very personal in that way. Not saying waifu generatives are bad, they have come a long way but there is a certain charm to art that is made top to bottom with purpose in mind. So I believe that is a huge differentiator in this PFP (Profile Pic) madness. Secondly is the fact that our goal, as seen on our milestone graphics is to develop a game using these custom characters on iOS/Android.
What excites you most about Wafu?
To sum it up in one word would be “the future” as it is right now, I’m of course excited about the art we have created alongside our talented artists Eloru and Riana, but in the grand scheme of things the plans we have ahead of ourselves has my blood pumping.
Can you tell us a little about your history in Hedera and NFTs in general?
Specifically in Hedera NFTs, I was just a collector. Pretty much most of the first drops from GoMint I have. Thanks to you Peter for onboarding me literally thru a telephone call. I still can’t believe you gave a total stranger your cellphone number, but I’m happy you did because we’ve been good friends ever since. As far as non-Hedera NFTs go, I’ve been collecting and creating art mostly on the TEZOS platform, it’s the closest thing I could find to a Hedera like green environment, and low gas ect. The community is really solid as well. I have well over 200 NFTs currently from 1/1 artists. I think I’ve collected from more than 150 different independent artists, I’m happy to be a part of their journey.
Finally can you leave us with a parting message for the Hedera community please?
Don’t underestimate WAFU. We are hungry.
_____
Where to Follow:
You can follow Mark Jacob Williams on Twitter
Wafu can be followed by going to www.Wafu.co and on Twitter @wafutoken
Wafu also has a discord https://discord.gg/Nw7W22mF8n
Interview conducted by Peter G. Uliano – Hbar News
