Who is this person, anyway?
Irene Zhao, the Simp-Queen mastermind behind the SO-COL platform and a crypto Twitter influencer, explains that having a celebrity on your side can boost your nft collection.
Zhao’s first Simp DAO and nft collection, IreneDAO, started with a floor price that was basically pocket change in eth.
“I think it was zero-point eth,” Zhao recalls.
However, the game changed for Zhao when controversial YouTube star Logan Paul contributed around a quarter of a million dollars in January 2022.
“The next day, I woke up and the minimum price went up five times when Logan Paul bought about 20 pieces or something like that. I was really shocked,” she explains.
I can’t fix you pic.twitter.com/oyMLut3S2F
– Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 4, 2023
Zhao reveals that Paul stumbled upon the project after billionaire crypto investor Mike Novogratz posted about it on Twitter. That started a friendship with Paul:
“Logan followed me on Twitter and Instagram after buying my NFTs,” Zhao says, adding, however, that they never managed to meet.
“I was going to travel to Los Angeles, but at that time he was somewhere in Puerto Rico. So in the end we couldn’t meet each other. But we do have conversations about nft.”
Virtually rubbing shoulders with big names like Paul is just a normal day in the life of a crypto influencer. Zhao has 194,300 followers on Twitter, runs his own Web3 nft platform company, SO-COL, and travels the world to speak at cryptocurrency conferences.
“I know a lot of great, successful people, and they all have very interesting personalities. Otherwise, they would not choose cryptocurrencies as a career because it is a very dynamic and fast-paced professional industry.”
What led to Twitter fame?
Zhao had already built a following as a social media influencer in the Web2 space and, like Bitcoiners who orange-pill their friends, has introduced most of her followers to NFTs.
“I have been building my own personal brand as a key opinion leader on various social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. So right now I have about half a million followers across all platforms.”
He jumped into cryptocurrencies because he wanted to have control over his own content. She was tired of monetizing her content solely by promoting products, which is how Web2 influencers make a living.
“I’ve built a deep connection with a lot of big brands, but it kind of sucks, because even though I have a lot of followers on all the other social media platforms, I don’t really get most of the benefits. “I don’t really own my content or my community.”
Zhao created one of the first Simp DAOs, where nft buyers could join her Irene DAO fan club and get closer to her Simp Queen. He later developed this idea for the SO-COL platform.
In my health it is the era of wealth
I’m so ready for the road trip with @truck_memecoin pic.twitter.com/2Wh1TqsIps
– Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 1, 2023
Zhao jokingly mentions that she is big in Asia, but can go unnoticed in the Western world:
“They recognize me, especially in Asia, but in the Western world, white people can’t really recognize Asians. They think everyone looks the same,” she laughs.
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What content can people expect?
Zhao doesn’t like the serious tone of some in the cryptocurrency world. From his perspective, those who enjoy technical or business discussions may not necessarily be the most attractive minds in the crypto community.
“I think I like the shit post. It’s quite fun; It is very entertaining to see all the memes.”
Zhao believes that creating crypto memes requires a bigger brain than sharing trading tips:
“It’s a very smart move because you have to understand the market and you have to understand the audience to find the exact meme that people want. Therefore, it is a very rare talent to have.”
Nasty meat: cryptocurrency lady
Zhao had a public feud with fellow crypto influencer Lady of crypto in December 2021.
The dispute ignited after Zhao lightly mocked her on Twitter for posting an obvious tweet.
“She was predicting the price of bitcoin or something, but it was a very obvious trend. “So I said, ‘You’re stating the obvious,’ and then she got offended.”
The situation took a sour turn when Lady of crypto responded with some nasty comments about Zhao’s English skills, saying, “In your videos, you can barely put two words together.”
Zhao didn’t let it get to her personally and thought it was “super fun.”
Zhao, ever the businesswoman, was more interested in the fact that the post had racked up around “4 million impressions.”
Predictions?
Zhao’s predictions are pretty much in line with common, received wisdom. She eagerly waits for bitcoin to hit the $100,000 mark.
However, he’s also betting big on real-world assets taking off next year:
“Of course, I remain bullish on btc, ethereum and all the fundamentals. People talk a lot about RWA. “I think real-world assets will probably grow in the next 12 months.”
He also believes that NFTs still have room for growth because many celebrities have not yet jumped on the bandwagon.
“I think NFTs for creators will be a real buzz very soon because we haven’t experienced them yet,” he explains.
“I remain optimistic about social collectibles because we haven’t brought all Web2 creators into NFTs yet. So I think there is still a lot of room for that.”
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