Season 2, Episode 2 – Navigating the Metaverse (with Dirk Lueth)

03/08/22 • 37 min

Dirk Lueth is a serial entrepreneur and an early adopter of blockchain and related technologies, based in Silicon Valley. He co-founded European and US-based companies in the FinTech and digital media spaces, including the Financial Times Deutschland and Forbatec which has been acquired by SunGard (today NYSE:FIS). Dirk mentored over 30 startups through his work at international startup accelerators in Silicon Valley and is a frequent speaker/panelist focusing on topics about the metaverse, blockchain, and platform economics.

He has studied Business Administration in Frankfurt and Paris and received a Ph.D. from the European Business School in Germany where he wrote his doctoral thesis about private and state-controlled currencies.

Like the Internet before it, the metaverse is a virtual space bringing people, companies, and products together in both digital and real environments to create new economic opportunities. The groundwork is already laid. People and organizations jumping in are gaining invaluable experience, meeting customers, developing revenue streams, and even shaping metaverse culture. This episode delivers a groundbreaking discussion of how to find the right opportunities in this fast-moving universe. You’ll explore everything from the metaverse basics, to strategy, to launching your first metaverse project.

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Season 2, Episode 1 – What do Bored Apes have to do with crypto compliance? (with Ari Redbord)

Ari Redbord is the Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM Labs, the blockchain intelligence company. TRM provides next generation blockchain analytics software to governments, financial institutions and cryptocurrency businesses.

Prior to joining TRM, Ari was the Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary and the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the United States Treasury where he worked with teams from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and other Treasury components to use sanctions and other regulatory tools effectively to safeguard the financial system from illicit use. Prior to Treasury, Ari was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for eleven years.

2021 was the year of the NFT and it looks like 2022 might be a repeat! From Bored Apes to CryptoPunks, Top Shot to SNL, non-fungible tokens have exploded into pop culture, sports, and finance. But like anything that allows for value transfer at the speed of the internet, NFTs present unique risks from illicit actors who want to use emerging technology for money laundering and other illicit activity. Ari Redbord of TRM Labs joins us to talk about the NFT regulatory landscape, illicit finance risks and ultimately the power and promise of NFTs to solve complex problems way beyond art and collectibles.

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Season 2, Episode 3 – The Metaverse and Blockchain Assets (with Claudia Olah)

Claudia Olah is the Director of Marketing for Metajuice, a subsidiary of the first and largest social metaverse platform, Together Labs (formerly IMVU). She's been in the crypto industry managing global marketing teams in Shanghai for over 5 years and is now back in Silicon Valley leading a team that is building digital assets for the metaverse.

Today we'll be talking about what industry leaders are doing in the Metaverse, how blockchain is a part of that whole system and what companies today are doing to utilize this to enhance their marketing strategy. What got her into Crypto industry? What made her join MetaJuice? What is the future of Brands and Marketing in the Metaverse?