As a part of the Morning Lazziness series about NFT women who are encouraging and doing incredible things with their ideas in society, I had the pleasure of interviewing Cindy Jin.
Cindy Jin, is the Co-Founder of Metapoly, the decentralized metaverse land tycoon democratizing and fractionalizing land ownership.
Metapoly’s mission is to expand the virtual ecosystem by providing the infrastructure to bring all digital assets together. Users can own digital land, belong to a community, and make their voices heard in the Metaverse.
Cindy launched Mintology Studio, her own startup in the NFT space. Prior to that, Cindy worked as a commercial lead in e-commerce & digital marketing corporations including IPG and the Lane Crawford Joyce Group. She has been involved in crypto investment personally since 2017.
Many thanks for doing this for us, please let our users know about yourself and your embarking journey?
I am an entrepreneur who is passionate about NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Before the advent of the Metaverse, I was a corporate professional working in fashion, e-commerce, and digital marketing for over a decade, but saw major career shifts. The first one happened after I worked in fashion procurement and supply chain management for about 10 years. I realized that the fashion industry was shrinking in China. So, I decided I needed to move to another industry at the risk of losing a decade of experience in supply chain management. After struggling for some time, I was fortunate to move into business development as a manager at a startup e-commerce company.
I was in a great position, because e-commerce at that point was really successful in China. Unfortunately, the startup closed after three years. I was 35 years old, and I secured a chance to be interviewed by one of the giant e-commerce companies, but decided that I did not want to join a toxic work environment. I had to make another tough career shift.
At that point, my husband was really invested in pursuing cryptocurrency. So, after living in Shanghai for over 10 years, we decided to move to Singapore to work on his startup. This is where I was introduced to the cryptocurrency and NFT scenes, and we started coming up with new ideas for the crypto space and working on new ventures.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to make this Metapoly & Mintology Studio?
Although I have done some personal crypto investment, I didn’t move into cryptocurrency professionally until late-2021, when the concept of the NFT was suddenly everywhere in the media. I created my own startup, called Mintology Studio, which is an NFT agency and curated studio that helps to advise and launch NFT projects.
When “Meta” was announced and entered the public consciousness, that’s when my partner and I came up with the idea of Metapoly (Metaverse + Monopoly), which has the goal of democratizing Metaverse land ownership for ordinary people. We want to incentivize people to succeed in the Metaverse and create a space where retail investors can vote on how their community is shaped.
How does Metapoly decentralize the metaverse and how does it democratize and fractionalize land ownership?
We started Metapoly because of the problems in the Metaverse space: namely, fragmentation, lack of liquidity, and unaffordability. Premium land in some of the Metaverses can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is not affordable for most people. This problem is also reminiscent of the property issues we see in the real world.
Web3 marks a new era online, where people can participate without barriers and shape their online communities, and this democratic ideal is what we are promoting with our land bank, Metapoly. The Metapoly protocol plans to take in different Metaverse land assets, which will then back the value of our minted token, called D33D. By owning D33D tokens, holders will gain the micro-ownership of those lands, and will also have a say in the future development of those lands. That is how Metapoly democratizes and fractionalizes land ownership in this Web3 movement.
What do you think could be the future of NFT? How useful can they be for everyone?
Even now in the early stages of the NFT technologies, there are so many use cases for NFTs, and their full potential is not even close to being revealed yet. When it comes to mass adoption, the fact is that every one of us can easily make our own NFTs using the tools that most NFT marketplaces offer.
With NFTs being unique, it gives the creator a sense of ownership, and it also opens up the possibility of monetization, thereby creating a new type of economy. We have already seen its huge social impact in countries like the Philippines, where young people quit their jobs to engage with the play-to-earn NFT games, which provide a reliable source of income for many.
The future of the digital world might be ruled by blockchain and cryptocurrency. Do you think it would be challenging for all age groups to gain knowledge about the same? How can we educate them?
The younger generation, who are digital savvy, are definitely the first audience who embrace any type of new technology – blockchain included. In fact, since the NFT boom last year, the mass market adoption for blockchain and cryptocurrency has accelerated, not to mention the news around big corporates venturing into the Metaverse and NFT spaces.
But we are still at a very early stage in Web3, and people require education about this new emerging market. One thing that fascinates me is the important role that communities and DAOs play. Web3’s bottom-up approach demonstrates how it removes many barriers for people from different backgrounds, ages, and genders to be able to participate in the new online economies.
Do you think NFTs, which are open to virtual reality, could adversely impact our health due to increased screen time?
The hard truth is that the development of the internet has already impacted the average time we spend online. I don’t think VR is the only way for people to participate in Web3 or the Metaverse. For people who already trade in cryptocurrencies and NFTs, you have to be watchful and responsive to changes in the market – the same with any other type of stock being bought and traded online. We spend so much time on social media – it’s just a natural progression of the digital age.
What’s the hardest thing about being your own boss that isn’t obvious?
The responsibility of leading a team can be very challenging, especially in a remote working startup environment. It’s not easy to find teams that are self motivated and have the same entrepreneurial spirit as its founders, which is a very important aspect in a startup organization. Luckily, we have a lot of talented and hard-working team members on the journey with us, which I am really thankful for.
In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you build yourself back up?
I have had my own inspiration and motivation by my side throughout all this, which is my entrepreneur husband and life partner. He is always backing me up and encouraging me to move into new spaces. He is the one who pushes me to think outside the box.
I also think about the concept of change all the time, because it makes us feel uncomfortable and insecure. I’m thankful that I made those difficult career choices. Going through that discomfort has strengthened me to become the person I am, and put me in the position I have today.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
If the Metaverse continues to grow, we are hoping that Metapoly will become the go-to platform for the whole Metaverse ecosystem in the next five years.
There are also a lot of things I would like to do personally. For example, I want to build an eco-farming business and start a yoga retreat center. I really hope to make a positive impact for others, and inspire more young people to pursue their dreams.
Who are your top 5 Women in NFT inspiration?
Lisa Mayer, who is the CEO of Boss Beauties NFT. I had a brief conversation with Lisa at the Boss Beauties offline event last year during NFT.NYC. She is a truly inspiring person and an industry leader in the NFT space.
Becks Perfect, who is the Founder of Nifty Wrld NFT. I had my first YouTube interview with Becks on her channel last year and always admire her work and dedication to educating people about NFTs.
The Co-Founder of Approving Corgis NFT. She is another amazing woman who helped me immensely on my NFT journey, and one of the few people who never give up. She stays strong and determined about the long-term journey of the NFT industry.
Isabella Arnao, the Co-Founder of Women in NFTs. I met Izzy once in New York City and she has been extremely supportive. She has done amazing work on creating the Women in NFTs community and constantly educates and empowers women in the NFT space.
Chanel Lee, the Founder of the Tasty Toastys NFT. She is also a core team advisor for Metapoly. I admire that Chanel has been going all out in pursuing her dream to create a Web3 brand. We’re super excited to have her alongside our team to build the Metapoly future.
Lastly, what do you think this world needs the most?
The world needs two things: innovation and kindness. Without innovation, humanity and technology would not have progressed as far as it has. We need to be sure that the speed of evolution is going to be even more rapid in the next decades to come.
Kindness is how we hold on to our humanity, no matter how or in which direction the world evolves. We could all benefit from being a little kinder, especially as we spend more of our time online.
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