Non-Fungible Tokens: Maurice Chalfin Of Unloc On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Have strong opinions held loosely — enjoy being wrong, use the opportunities to grow and understand yourself better. In an industry that is developing so quickly, it pays to be adaptable and open minded. A big ego is usually to your detriment in.
Many have observed that we are at the cusp of an NFT boom. The thing is, it’s so cutting edge, that many people don’t know what it is. What exactly is an NFT and how can one create a lucrative career out of selling them? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Maurice Chalfin.
Maurice Chalfin is a diaspora NYer working professionally in the Web3 space, with a background as a creative. He believes cryptocurrency & blockchain technology as a whole are the great social & financial equalizer. He absolutely adores marketing & community building in the blockchain industry, and is dedicated to building a value additive ecosystem.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
Of course! My name is Maurice Chalfin, i am a born & raised NYer currently working from several remote locations. My background is originally in the photo, fashion, and cycling industries, and i’ve “been Bitcoin since 2012” — so it may have been inevitable that I work in Web3. I grew up galavanting around the streets of NYC wanting for nothing and in my early 20s lost everything, twice — and both times crypto/web3 gave me opportunities to get myself back on my feet. I do firmly believe in blockchain technology being the great social and financial equalizer.
Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Books would be Hubert Shelby Jr novels; Last Exit to Brooklyn & Requiem for a Dream specifically. Films would be Oldboy & La Haine. Podcasts would be Laura Shin’s Unchained & The All-In Podcast. The books and films felt like the backdrop or soundtrack to my youth whereas the podcasts are inspiration, education, & guidance for my present existence. I consider these all art forms which positively influence my life — and to an extent life is art — so consuming such content has always enriched my life.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in this new industry? We’d love to hear it.
The story that inspired me to pursue my current career path was the result of being in the right place, at the right time, with the right prerequisite skills and knowledge base. My partner, Aprille, was approached for a position with a web3 startup and she referred them to me — and here we are today, working full time in the Solana ecosystem as the Head of Marketing for Unloc, a P2P NFT lending protocol, and advising a few projects and builders!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
The most interesting story, to me personally, is meeting my current “mentor” at the closing party of Solana’s Inaugural Conference, Breakpoint, in Lisbon last year. He doesn’t recall our conversation very clearly, but he gave me a NFT which doubled as a business card, and he would then update the metadata of that NFT according to current holidays or the event him and his company would attend next. This small exchange led to follow up convos and eventually towards an opportunity to work closely together. I am so grateful for that 15min exchange at 2am on the Palacio de Comercio in Lisbon, Portugal — it will forever be seared into my memory!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of the funniest mistakes I made when beginning my career in Web3 was accidentally tweeting from a business account thinking it was my personal account. The result was simply comedic, nothing negative resulted, thank goodness. A lot of people in crypto/web3 want to protect their anonymity, this would have foiled that had I been intent on being “anon”. I am fully doxxed so its no big deal!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yes, I will be forever indebted to my “mentor”, his circle, and the introductions he has made for me. I work my ass off, I am a hustler and grind harder than most, but not harder than my mentor. He came to my rescue with making introductions very late one evening with key players I needed help from; the project was in the process of launching without the right support and my mentor swooped in to make the right introductions, provide assistance, and share advice.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Right now my core focus is Unloc (unloc.xyz) — we’re building a peer-to-peer NFT-collateralized lending platform. If thats confusing, to put it more simply, we’re going to enable people to take out loans against their NFTs, in a customizable fashion, which is at present not the norm. This makes me so excited, as I (we) believe, that NFTs are becoming an integral part of our lives, and should continue to be treated more and more like digital property, and in effect hold the same benefits as tangible property in the “real world”. Like property in the real world, you should be able to take out a loan against it, use it to collateralize agreements, license, or even rent it out. What we are building is meant to unlock the future possibilities of NFT ownership, further legitimizing NFTs not only as art, but as a form of licit property — something you can invest in, utilize for generational wealth, or simply sell at your leisure.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. I’m sure you get this question all the time. But for the benefit of our readers, can you explain in your own words what an NFT is, and why people are spending so much money on them?
NFTs are digital property, verified as authentic by the immutable ledger that is the blockchain on which the NFT exists. They can be “just be art”, they can just be utilitarian by nature, and they can represent any number of things, such as but not limited to: an event ticket, member pass to a private community, an investment that spins off passive income, representative shares in a company, a piece of art or music, etc. Much like “property” in the real world, NFT’s can take an endless variety of forms. At present, the most common form of NFTs are PFP collections, or collections of generative art usually in the multiples of thousands (i.e. 5k, 8k, 10k) which collectors, investors, and “degens” utilize for their profile photos on social media apps, most specifically Twitter. Most of the headlines right now mentioning NFTs are highlighting the investment aspect of the ecosystem — most people to date buy NFTs to make money — but we are seeing this zeitgeist shift in realtime. More and more projects are releasing NFTs with real utility, bringing new light, new faces, and new minds into the space which is growing at a pace most cannot keep up with.
The NFT industry seems so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
1. Watching the sheer talent thats entering the space; the smartest, hungriest, most driven people I know in this world work on DeFi, NFT, and Web3 projects. I regularly meet (online) people who left their cushy web2 job to come grind and hustle in Web3.
2. The Value Additive nature of the NFT industry; Web2 was value extractive, whereas Web3 is supposed to be value additive. In Web2 we, the users, were the product and companies mined us for data to sell ads or improve their algorithm (to better sell ads) — but in Web3, companies, projects, individuals are working towards being value additive. NFT projects (and Web3 as a whole) is striving to put the power back into the hands of the users who support the network.
3. The opportunities afforded to people who traditionally would not have careers in tech due to location, training, or education making it for themselves — I am one of these people. I am self taught, an autodidact. I never went to school for crypto, DeFi, or NFTs and I am thriving in the ecosystem — I never even finished college! And in crypto/nfts/web3, no one cares if you went to Harvard or if you successfully exited from a unicorn, they care about what you as an individual add value-wise to the ecosystem. We’re in a rising tide lifts all boats period of support — what a time to be in Web3!
If I can add a 4th: the potential disruption to traditionally value extractive companies from Web2!
What are the 3 things that concern you about the industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
The three things that concern me the most about the NFT industry are the scammers, massive corporations, and governments getting involved for the wrong reasons. No scammer is ever involved in something for the right reason, and there are a lot of scammers working to take peoples money, both on and offline, so there is no point in belaboring why this is concerning in the NFT space. Massive corporations are eyeing NFTs, and Web3, as another profit motivating opportunity — where the current users of the networks and holders or participants in these ecosystems and projects are working to get away from the way massive corporations like Coca-Cola operate; extracting value at every turn from its customers or clients. Governments concern me as they do not understand the technology well enough and operate in terms and conditions which are from a time of yore. I worry governments will stymie innovation by creating unnecessary barriers for the industry to overcome.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about NFTs? Can you explain what you mean?
A big myth I hear all the time are “NFTs are just another scam”; I personally see large groups of people organizing behind them and coming together to create real positive change in our worlds, artists utilizing them to monetize their art like never before, and musicians releasing tracks through distribution channels they own themselves, just to name a few utilizations of NFTs which are so far from scammy. On one level NFTs are about network, and they do an incredibly good job of connecting people online with each other. NFTs are not necessarily a quick flip investment opportunity, albeit at times they can be. NFTs are not just art or PFPs. NFTs are digital property, they can take the form of so many things — both tangible and not.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they enter the NFT industry. What can be done to avoid that?
There is a saying in crypto “DYOR” or do your own research. I still to this day make mistakes because I didn’t DYOR enough. I have seen a lot of people enter the space for the right and wrong reasons, and usually the wrong reason is to get rich quick. Getting rich quick is a bit of a myth — even those who seem to get rich overnight, usually had insurmountable amount of prep or time or energy put into getting that end result. I would recommend doing some research, getting into crypto twitter or more specifically NFT twitter, and joining a few discord communities to start. I would personally recommend this be done on Solana — where the transaction speeds are lightening fast, the transaction fees are incredibly low, and the community is generally positive sum thinking. Open mindedness coupled with an open heart, will result in some Web3 magic!
How do you think NFTs have the potential to help society in the future?
I believe NFTs will be so intertwined into our futures, making currently cumbersome tasks or situations much simpler and easier to verify, without much of society realizing or understanding it. I believe insurance will move to the blockchain in the form of NFTs. I would venture to say, most situations where verifiability is an issue, in the future, will be solved with the use of NFTs; insurance, property rights, titles, registrations, IDs, legal documents, and the list goes on. Something I am particularly interested to see how it helps artists in our society is in terms of distribution channels for musicians and royalties for artists; at present large corporations like Sony or Warner Music dictate how a musician can distribute their music, the royalties they receive, and they generally control the artists life. Putting the power of distribution back into the hands of the people making the art is something I can get animated about!
Ok, fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly Successful Career In The NFT Industry?”
1. You are not an expert — as a matter of fact, I would venture to say there are very few, if any, experts in a field and industry that is so nascent. I learn something new every single day within the industry, on items, topics, or projects both new and old. To add to this, I am not an expert either! I am just someone with a deep deep adoration and understanding of the industry, products, and ethos of those who participate therein.
2. Have strong opinions held loosely — enjoy being wrong, use the opportunities to grow and understand yourself better. In an industry that is developing so quickly, it pays to be adaptable and open minded. A big ego is usually to your detriment in.
3. Make friends (or more specifically “frens”) — ask them questions about themselves, learn about who they are and why they’re in the NFT space. Find people you like, trust, or admire and follow them — follow their socials, watch what they do, see how they operate. Emulate those you like and support them in their endeavors. This space is meant to uplift each other, find your tribe and make sure to stick with them!
4. DYOR — constantly. Stay curious, stay attentive, be present. As soon as you think you’ve accumulated all the research on a certain topic, more will come your way!
5. BALANCE!!! FIND SOME! In an industry that is 24/7/365, its easy to get lost in the noise. I find myself starting work somedays at 5:30am only to end at 9pm without realizing I skipped meals and forgot to workout. The NFT space is evolving at a pace which is humanly impossible to keep up with, so part of finding your own balance is working to avoid FOMO; there will almost certainly always be another opportunity to invest or build around each bend. I personally find regular breaks from screens, time with friends and family IRL, working out, eating right, and hydrating to be integral in my success in the NFT industry.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would inspire a movement around positivity — pushing PMA or positive mental attitude. I think we need more people in this world pushing P, supporting each other, being excited for our peers accomplishments. The last few years have been the “time of ego death” — its been on brand to not have a big ego. I would love to see being a positive force being on brand — we need more positivity in our world, and it starts with each of us as individuals.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Id love to have a meal with a prominent politician who is pro-cryptocurrency, such a Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming or Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez. I would love to understand what they see in our industry, how they see it developing positively for their constituents in the future, and what we as the industry can do to best support our collective interests.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
Non-Fungible Tokens: Maurice Chalfin Of Unloc On The 5 Things You Need To Know To Create a Highly… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
