Accurate Facts ─ Letter from the founder of Yugalabo who announced heart disease | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

1 year ago 182

US CoinDesk published a letter written by Wylie Aronow, co-founder of Yuga Labs, which handles the popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Edited for minor grammatical errors).

It was a surreal few weeks. For those who don’t know, after a year of ignoring some pretty serious symptoms, I just got a phone call from a doctor diagnosing me with heart failure after extensive testing.

In general, I was also informed that the odds of surviving another five years were 50%. When I asked my doctor what I should do, he told me that in addition to needing to see the best cardiologist, I also needed to make a complete life change.

I got to work there right away. While entrusting most of the work at Yugalabo to reliable people, I left room to give advice as much as possible. I plan to see a good cardiologist, along with a holistic specialist who will take care of everything from supplements to intensive care to radical dietary changes. It’s literally changing lives.

My goal this week was to reconnect with the natural world. For two years without a break, I sat in front of a computer 12 hours a day, ran a successful company, and overdosed on caffeine. Leaving that life felt like going off the longest roller coaster in the world. I sat on the beach with my partner and dog to clear my head. When I got home, my cell phone rang. It was from an old friend in California whom I hadn’t spoken to in years.

“Hey, what? I read a story about dying,” he said.

“Oh, did you read my tweet?” I asked.

And he said, “No, it was in an article that was sent to my feed.

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself over and over again for the past year. “What the hell is going on?”

Unfortunately, I’m used to conspiracy theories. My father was killed when I was little. He was a craftsman who made power boats and was a world champion as a racer.

With his famous life, the wildness of Miami in the 1980s, and his murder unsolved for years, many conspiracy theories began to circulate around me. A book was written and a documentary was made. There were also websites with rambling and inconsistent content.

After the killer and his employer were arrested and jailed, the madmen continued to create more and more bizarre lies. A classmate who goes to the same school would say, “Your father smuggled drugs for the CIA, right?” I was told something like that. It went on like that for years. “In time the truth will come out,” she replied whenever she spoke to her mother.

As if to show how few truths triumph over the next 30 years, a few years ago, based on a conspiracy theory book, the movie Speed with John Travolta as my father Kills” was released. Her mother was deeply distressed.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is already telling us that we are running a covert campaign with an iconic Nazi message that makes you wonder, “What the hell is going on?” I had no idea that expounding the content of the conspiracy theory that ) concluded to be false would be my first week of recovery. But I will. Two things became clear.

You can’t heal yourself from conspiracy theories until you get the facts straight.
The truth doesn’t come to light arbitrarily.

What the hell is going on?

Let me begin by reiterating that we have already publicly shown that such conspiracy theories are simply false. Some co-founders even testified under oath. If anyone thinks that I am simply arguing against lies in this article, I am wrong. Everything I write here is verifiably true, and I will soon be sworn in to refute such outright lies.

Over the past year, my co-founders and I have been subjected to conspiracy theories that we are implanting secret Nazi messages on behalf of extremely radical alt-right or far-right interest groups.

Conspiracy theorists say we deliberately included Hitler-relevant elements in the BAYC collection in a way that is not easily understood. Apparently, the bunny ear shape has something to do with Hitler and the bunny ear meme, and the Bored Ape Kennel Club has something to do with the fact that Hitler loved dogs.

The cyborg-like eye shape is associated with the “cyborg Hitler” meme, the spacesuit Trait is associated with the “space Hitler” meme, and the baby hat character is associated with a meme about Hitler’s childhood. , The character doing drugs is a meme that Hitler was doing LSD, and the dress in the collection is a meme that Hitler liked to dress as a woman, and the cover of the magazine “Rolling Stones”. The banjo-playing character seems to have been linked to Hitler’s banjo-playing meme and the fact that he held an event in his hometown of Miami when Hitler’s yacht sank off the coast of Miami.

I could go on and on with the list, but you should get the general idea.

But such lies are not unique to the Internet world. He received numerous death threats. I just got threatened yesterday. A stranger came to my house. This must end now.

uncover bullshit

I really want you to excuse me. All four co-founders, myself included, are laughably liberal. For years, I donated and voted for progressive candidates.

I voted for Bernie Sanders twice when he ran for president. His second date with his partner of four years was at his rally. A history of our political donations can be found on the Federal Election Commission website.

Second, I am an Ashkenazi Jew. My father was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. All the co-founders are children of immigrants. Greg Solano is Cuban-American, Kerem Atalay is Turkish-American, and Zeshan Ali is Guatemalan-Pakistani.

After being the subject of ridiculous conspiracy theories and being in the public eye for over a year, no one who knew me or my co-founders has testified to support these hoaxes.

In 2014, long before I founded Yugalabo, I explicitly attacked Hitler in a newspaper interview about my favorite and least favorite novels. Conspiracy theorists don’t seem to care much about this.

The most frequently heard lie is the BAYC logo. We’ll cover this in depth, but first, let’s refute some of the other conspiracy theories.

Bored Apes

BAYC was born as a tribute to the energy and excitement of the Twitter community of cryptocurrency people dubbed “Crypto Twitter”.

Early crypto and NFT buyers had millions of dollars in assets, yet used funny cartoons and animal images as their Twitter profile pictures. Instead of going on vacation to the South of France with his recently acquired fortune, he spent the rest of the night posting memes and looking for people to play games with.

they were bored. When I first met her in 2017, I found her to be a truly fascinating culture. Much like individual stock traders who were members of Reddit’s “Wallstreet Bets” community, many crypto traders considered themselves “apes.” Ape is investing like crazy without doing enough due diligence.

That’s why monkey characters are among the rarest and most valuable NFTs in one of the earliest and most beloved NFT collections, CryptoPunks.

So we came up with the idea for the Bored Ape Yacht Club. The “Yacht Club” section is set in an old bar that’s become a hangout for monkeys. It was a critique of the culture that hoists cryptocurrencies “soaring to the moon” and allowing everyone to buy Lamborghinis and yachts in a way that’s fun and silly.

For the monkeys, we created 170 wide-ranging designs to mix and match, from punk leather jackets to vintage military gear, dresses and rainbow suspenders. From 1980s hardcore punk, to 1990s hip hop, to parties in Warhol’s studio where bankers spent time with men in leather and outlaw bikers. I wanted it to be reminiscent of the counterculture that I was obsessed with.

The collection was meant to feel irreverent and punk rock, but with no intention of offending anyone. And it is by no means part of a sophisticated alt-right campaign. Still, if even one person was offended by our art, please know that it was never my intention. We’ve always been open to honest feedback if someone was offended by our collection.

A good example of this is when I launched a charity campaign for the Bored Ape Kennel Club over a year ago. The original collection included the rising sun flag. Having seen this flag used in the game Street Fighter, I thought it was still used in Japan and wanted to pay tribute to the country of origin of the Shiba Inu.

But we didn’t understand what the flag meant for many in the Asian community. So we admitted our mistake and gave you the option to change this design post-mint (see statement below dated June 28, 2021).

Sushi chef’s headband

Around the time BAYC was launched, SushiSwap had become a popular DEX (distributed exchange). As one of the designs, I wanted to pay tribute to Sushi Swap, so I created the “Sushi Chef’s Headband”.

To be honest, I was just referring to the results of a quick Google search. It’s definitely not a reference to some obscure alt-right meme. Headbands are worn all over the world. The version included in our collection says “Kamikaze” and I’ve been told it’s the same one worn by kamikaze corps. These headbands have become part of pop culture and are still sold and worn today. It’s not meant to offend anyone or be a secret code to fascism.

hawaiian shirt

There is a conspiracy theory that one of the 170 designs, the hawaiian shirt, is themed around a far-right/alt-right called “Boogaloos” who carry semi-automatic rifles and wear hawaiian shirts to rallies.

When we choose Aloha shirts, we never think of such groups. A Google search for “Hawaiian shirt” will bring up shirts from our collection.

why? This is probably one of the most famous Aloha shirts worn by Tom Selleck, the main character in the TV show Magnum Private Detective. I really want you to excuse me. It’s a collection called “Yacht Club,” and I feel it’s a great option for clothes.

BAYC logo

Yugalabo’s patch logo is inspired by Nazi crests, and Bored Ape’s 18-tooth skull has been criticized for being Hitler-themed. This is wrong. I have repeatedly asserted this fact under oath and will continue to do so.

In February 2022, the Anti-Defamation League found no connection between the BAYC logo and the Nazi emblem. But conspiracy theorists have ignored this, claiming that the “bike patch” layout is “evidence” of a deliberate imitation of the Nazi coat of arms and is neo-Nazi.

Why did we choose monkey skeletons? The collection was called “Bored Ape Yacht Club,” and the monkeys liked the idea of ”Bored to Death.” This phrase is even used for goods.

To accept this conspiracy theory, our logo design is nearly identical to tens of thousands of other bike club patch logos, as well as many other punk rock designs and nautical patches. must ignore the fact that The examples below are easy to find, and there are literally thousands more.

i typed in “ape skull cartoon” and the literal first image I found overlays with the bayc logo better than your nazi example. You could prolly claim this image was the exact reference image they used for their logo. pic.twitter.com/nzOxeS2XjQ

— Xurd | MixOnSight.eth::) (@MixOnSight) April 28, 2022

“I did a search for ‘ape skull cartoon’ and the first image that came up was much closer to the BAYC logo than the Nazi one. This is the image they used as a reference to create their logo.” It can be said that

The image below is a proposal proposed by the logo designer on March 30, 2021 after receiving instructions from us.

It includes an early version of the round patch logo and an alternate version that looks like a poker chip. I ended up preferring a simpler one without poker chip lines. The theme was a punk bar in a swamp, and this version felt punk rock enough. Then there was the brusque, old-fashioned feel of a bike club in a swamp.

Most bike clubs have “MC” on one side of their logo, so we decided to put BA and YC on each side. A quick search for “motorcycle club logos” will give you a clearer picture of the design, even if you’re unfamiliar with the standard design.

A freelance designer who worked on the logo reflected on the design process in an email.

“There are many kinds of ‘patch style’ designs. I chose the one I submitted today because 1) I felt it was the cleanest and most readable and 2) it was pretty standard in the design community and the production was easy. It gets easier, which is appealing because the project is on a pretty tight schedule (I felt like I wanted everything done in 2 days lol) I didn’t want it to look too clean either, so I made the edges a little rougher. ”

Note the part about “layouts that are fairly standard in the design community.”

To show just how popular this design is, here are two examples I stumbled across at Whole Foods retailers. Look for similar designs nearby and you’ll find them everywhere.

(Editor’s Note: In the original text, more examples are introduced)

As a bonus photo, here’s one from Zeshan’s wedding last year. I’m the one on the far left.

toward recovery

So I’m not a Nazi and I have heart failure.

I understand that many people in the ordinary world do not understand crypto assets and NFTs. I know some people will be skeptical. There are a lot of bad guys in this space, and FTX’s demise makes the whole industry look like a cesspool of scammers.

But believe it or not, we’ve all been honest. Whether you love NFTs or not, we run an honest company and create honest products that are loved by a wide range of people around the world.

Not all of those people bought NFTs to resell and make easy money. I believed in what Web3 and cryptoassets were aiming for and fell in love with digital identity and belonging to a community, especially at a time when the world was lonelier and people were stuck at home.

If you don’t sympathize with that and want to make fun of NFTs, that’s fine too. Or maybe there’s something in the art that you personally don’t like and you want to have an honest discussion about it. That would be nice too.

But there is no reason for us, our families, and our staff to be subjected to more than a year of ridiculous conspiracy theories, lies and harassment. Likewise, there is no reason for journalists to tarnish their image.

Despite everything we’ve had to go through over the last two years, despite my health deteriorating to the point where I only have a few years left to live, despite the difficulties due to the products and events I’ve created. Regardless, we were able to do a lot of good to the world.

In its first few months alone, it raised over $1 million for animal charities. He donated $1 million to Ukraine. Yugalabo pledged to donate 6.25% of ApeCoin held by Yugalabo to the foundation of animal behaviorist Jane Goodall. Its value is $52 million at the time of writing this letter.

I am proud of what we have done and the impact we have had on the NFT industry. And I believe that Yugalabo will continue to be at the forefront of the Metaverse for years to come.

Extremely honored to have spent time today with someone who has been a massive inspiration to me, Jane Goodall. I’ve met a lot of incredible people on this wild journey, but none I’ve been more excited about than Jane. pic.twitter.com/uivC2HzH1U

— GordonGoner.eth (Wylie Aronow) (@GordonGoner) September 23, 2022

“I feel so honored to spend the day with someone who has been such an inspiration to me, Jane Goodall. I have met so many amazing people in my wild life. But no one was more excited than Jane.”

We know very well that writing a letter like this shows how frustrated we are. It’s embarrassing and I feel like I’m exposing myself, but I’d like to end by saying that the most common feeling these days is gratitude.

When we started Yugalabo, we knew it was a great idea and we knew there was a community that would respond to it. But what happened far exceeded our expectations.

I certainly wish I had taken better care of myself, but I’m very proud of what Yugalabo continues to produce, the ambition it seeks to shape the Metaverse and beyond. And I am deeply grateful to the people I met along the way.

Thousands of people sent me messages when I announced my heart failure the other day. A message of thanks, a message of hope for recovery, a message of support. I can’t imagine how much such a message means to me. The passionate, creative, and positive Web3 community will continue to be a part of my life as I enter this new chapter of my life.

But now that I’ve finished my job of clarifying the facts, I want to log off and focus on taking care of my health.

with love

Wile Aronow

｜Translation and editing: Akiko Yamaguchi, Takayuki Masuda
｜Image: Bored Ape Yacht Club collection (Yuga Labs)
｜Original: Setting the Record Straight

The post Accurate Facts ─ Letter from the founder of Yugalabo who announced heart disease | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan appeared first on Our Bitcoin News.

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