Nicolas “Nico” Vereecke, who hosts one of my favorite podcasts, The Metacast, recently joined BITKRAFT Ventures to focus on investing in the intersection of blockchain and games.
Prior to joining BITKRAFT, Nico invested in and helped build several crypto startups. He’s based in Brussels and holds a Masters in Economics from the KU Leuven and an MBA from Vlerick Business School.
Since the focus of this newsletter is also the intersection of crypto and gaming, it made sense to chat with Nico about his new role and what opportunities he sees in the blockchain gaming space.
We conducted this interview via Twitter and Telegram.
Give me a brief history of your background in the crypto world.
NV: A friend told me about Bitcoin back in 2012, but I didn’t really pay attention.
Then in 2016 it got back on my radar and I started to learn more about it. At the end of 2016, I joined a company called Keyrock in Brussels, where I live. We offered market-making and liquidity providing services to crypto exchanges and token issuers.
I was writing algorithms there and I took the time to dig deeper into the crypto industry and really got convinced about the potential of blockchain.
Afterwards, I joined another startup called bonsai, where we tried implementing a really easy way to on-ramp people into crypto and use it for payments.
We were still too early for crypto payments, so we pivoted away from that. I ended up leaving, although I’m still a shareholder.
Then last year I decided to focus on investing in the blockchain gaming world.
Why did you focus on blockchain gaming?
NV: I realized that crypto, gaming, and the Metaverse are an absolute natural fit.
I can’t see a world where the future of digital is not fully based on the blockchain or crypto technology.
I also realized I had a relatively unique advantage because there’s not many people who know a lot about games and crypto, so I decided to focus all my time there.
What makes you most excited about joining BITKRAFT?
NV: I’m most excited about the fact that the team makes me feel like I’m the dumbest guy in the room, in a good way.
It’s very inspiring to work with and learn from such a talented and smart team of people.
I’m looking forward to the months and years ahead.
What are your major goals for investing in this space?
NV: If we look 5-10 years into the future, there are different possibilities for the Metaverse that will emerge.
There are Metaverses that look more like The Matrix, and Metaverses that are more like Ready Player One.
I believe there’s eventually going to be a single Metaverse that we’ll be living in, working in, and spending our free time in.
So my goal is to help shape that into something that everyone can truly enjoy and make it a great place to be.
I feel that all the possibilities of digital technology can really enrich what we do, and it will be fantastic.
I think back to all the times I’ve lost myself in games that aren’t even fully immersive because I was still looking at a screen.
So I believe that once we can really immerse ourselves in something like the Metaverse, some super awesome things will happen.
What can you tell us about your investment thesis?
NV: I believe we’re moving towards a gaming paradigm where people will get rewarded for all the value that they add to games.
In multiplayer games, the players actually add value to the game. Who wants to spend money on a multiplayer game where nobody is?
Crypto and tokens, if done correctly, can be a very good way to reward players for the value they add to to the gaming ecosystem and economy.
There’s a lot of wrong ways to do this, so I’m focused on finding the companies that do it right.
What do you see happening in the Web3 gaming space in the next 12 months?
NV: Within the 12-month time frame, it’s very likely we’ll see a bear market and a crypto gaming recession.
Everything is very hyped right now. Investors are falling over each other to bump up valuations and this is probably unsustainable.
Gamers have gotten really hyped over projects, but the problem is we’ll have to wait quite a while for all the promises to be realized.
This will lead to a lot of disappointment…but only temporarily.
I think a lot of the promises that are being made about blockchain games will come true. They’ll just take a little longer than people expect.
I’m sure we’ll see some cool new games pop up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Axie Infinity remains the most dominant crypto game next year.
Will you still be active with the Metacast podcast?
NV: Yes, absolutely. I really love podcasting and I love everything about the Metacast.
I’m looking for help with some non-podcasting responsibilities like post-production, so if anyone wants to help, that would be great. You can connect with me on Twitter @NicoVereecke.
Are there any Web3 gaming projects you’re currently excited about?
NV: There are a lot of cool projects out there, but I remain cautiously optimistic because a lot of crypto people are making games. While they have a lot of crypto knowledge and they know how to make smart contracts, it’s really not that easy to make a fun game.
If you look at the team behind Axie, it took them a while before really launching successfully.
So there’s a lot of projects that have an amazing story but it’s going to take a while for these stories to pan out and for all the promises to come true.
But the one project I’m still fascinated by is Loot Project, of which I own a few bags.
I’m really fascinated by the concept of community development inspired by this project.
I’m curious to see if this will result in something significant because it’s possible there’s a world where community game development just doesn’t work and games will always need centralized teams to drive something.
Any other thoughts on the future of blockchain games?
I believe that the space we’re in now with blockchain games, and Web3 in general, will become the biggest entertainment industry pretty soon.
And I believe it will eventually be the biggest industry in the entire world over a longer time frame.
Final question — what are your top 3 favorite video games?
1. Skyrim
2. Runescape
3. Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy (random IK but I replayed it like 40 times)
Since Nico’s a subscriber of this newsletter, I want to say THANK YOU again for taking the time to answer my questions Nico! Best of luck at BITKRAFT and I can’t wait to chat with you again in the near future.
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All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss. Nothing contained in this magical newsletter should be construed as financial or investment advice. We’re just two brains connecting through cyberspace and shooting the shit about the wild world of blockchain gaming, where buzzwords like “crypto” and “NFTs” roam freely. Any reference to an investment's past or potential performance is not, and should not be construed as, a recommendation or as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit. Remember to do your own damn research and don’t just ape into things like I did with all those shitcoins from the Spring 2021 bull run.