5Qs with Hat Swap City’s Founders: Alonso & Charlemagne
What inspired Hat Swap City?
Alonso: A lot of things, but to keep it brief I grew up playing Team Fortress 2 and remember the craze around hats in that game. So I thought “what if we combined cryptocurrency with Team Fortress hats?” Then I took it a step further, we all want a place to hang out while trading crypto — but Telegram groups are impersonal and cumbersome. So why not a game where you can trade crypto, buy NFTs, and engage in trading in a MMO-like world?
Charlemagne: When Alonso brought the original Hat Swap idea to me I immediately proposed a Habbo Hotel-like game to go with it. Before I could even finish the idea he had already confirmed that he was thinking along those exact lines. So the inspiration really came from growing up playing games that stressed community building and the ability to create unique “looks” and characters.
What Makes Hat Swap City different from other NFT projects?
Alonso: I’d say our vision, which we lay out in our road map and white papers. We don’t want to just make a fancy JPG. We want people to be able to use these hats and have them become something of a status symbol within the BSC community. It’s called Hat Swap City because we want to create a virtual city space where you can trade crypto, wear hats, and even play fun games that reward you with crypto or other perks. It’s a gigantic idea — it just starts with hats.
Charlemagne: I think it’s our art. I stressed from the first day that I didn’t want to sell a product that didn’t look good. So we went through a lot of design styles and reworks to get where we are. I’m very proud of our hats and how they look — I can’t wait to see them on people in an in-game district like Satoshi Street. I think that you could be the world’s best marketer but if you don’t have a great looking product, you are trying to fight in a competitive market with one or two arms tied behind your back. The art matters and needs to be appreciated.
We want people to be able to use these hats and have them become something of a status symbol within the BSC community. — Alonso, Hat Swap City Co-Founder.
What was the hardest part of developing Hat Swap City?
Alonso: Getting started. The first NFT I ever bought was a Neural Pepe. Those were strange and caught my eye, so I bought about four of them. I wasn’t quite sure what exactly I owned, but I saw more and more Neural Pepes on Telegram and realized they were onto something. I just didn’t quite know how to do it. Fortunately we found an amazing artist in Darius, our Art Director, and since then we’ve been making hat magic.
Charlemagne: The differences between a typical memecoin you’d find on BSC and then the NFT markets were a big change. What works for memecoins doesnt necessarily work for NFTs, and what works for NFTs isn’t what a memecoin trader is looking for. However, the two audiences exist within each other, so for me it was identifying how to talk exclusively to an NFT-based audience.
What was the first NFT you ever bought?
Alonso: Neural Pepe. They’re hideous and I love each of them. Not sure if I would ever sell them. Well, maybe for the right price.
Charlemagne: I also bought a Neural Pepe. I FOMO’d into one because of Alonso! It had one eye, some unique texturing on it. No joke, I hated it at first and then grew to love it.
What do you think is the future of NFTs?
Alonso: Video games are going to be a prime place for NFTs to blossom. Gaming has always had unique items that people covet, whether it be a Team Fortress 2 hat or a special gun in Destiny. Gaming is the place where NFTs can really breakthrough into the mainstream.
Charlemagne: I’m of the mind that music and sports will see NFTs become a big part of their worlds. Imagine not having to verify the ownership of a Babe Ruth rookie card because you have an NFT token to verify it’s ownership? Then be able to easily sell and list that card on a marketplace? Or if you were a musician, you could sell your beats, drums, or samples to other musicians without a middle man and no confusion of ownership.
Hat Swap City launches on October 18. Only 5,000 hats will be minted! Once they’re gone, they’re gone!
TG — https://t.me/hatswapcity
Website — https://www.hatswapcity.com
Twitter — https://twitter.com/hatswapcity
Roadmap — http://hatswapcity.com/roadmap
