Since joining Polygon Labs at the beginning of last year, Ryan Wyatt has quickly become a well-known figure in the crypto space. he is arguably better known for his history in gaming and esports.
Wyatt was a fixture in the early Call of Duty esports scene as Fwiz, working as a commentator and then as VP of Programming for Major League Gaming. He even wrote a best-selling book with someone else about the famous esports team OpTic Gaming. He then started and grew YouTube Gaming as the company’s Global Head of Gaming from 2014 to 2022.
How did he end up in crypto, given how well-known he was in the gaming world? Wyatt said on the most recent episode of Decrypt’s gm podcast that he “really got into just simply the idea of digital ownership, this idea that we’re going to keep spending more money on digital items.”
“I was immediately sold, right? I think there’s an infinite amount of things that can be done in the space on this,” he said. “And that’s what made me jump in with such conviction.”
Wyatt became CEO of Polygon Studios in February 2022. He recently became president of the newly renamed Polygon Labs. He said that he now understands why some people are “very spirited” about how cryptocurrency affects the economy. But for him, accepting Web3 was all about seeing what true digital ownership could mean for the future.
Even though some video game fans have vocally rejected NFTs, it’s clear that they could be good for gamers. In games like Fortnite and Call of Duty, gamers already pay for digital items they can’t sell or use in other games or worlds. There is a chance that blockchain-based games could give players this level of control and more benefits.
Wyatt said that one of the reasons he chose Polygon Labs over other options was that he could work with creators and builders in a wide range of verticals. He helped the economy of YouTube creators grow, and now he wants to do the same for Web3 creators, but not just in the gaming space.
“I wanted to expand outside of gaming, and see how all of this world is very interconnected,” he said. “That part, I felt pretty strongly about.”
Wyatt also “loved” the fact that the Polygon founders bought and integrated ZK scaling projects in 2021, which showed that they had long-term goals. Wyatt also thought that his experience in the Web2 world could help Polygon rise to a higher level.
“I also felt that where I could add value is helping with scaling, and helping add some of the non-Web3-native elements into Polygon to make it more multifaceted,” he said. “And so I just really clicked with Sandeep [Nailwal, Polygon co-founder] and the team because it felt like we were very complementary of each other’s skill sets and weaknesses.”
Wyatt wrote in his book about OpTic Gaming that he hoped to one day be in charge of a company. Now he’s doing it, but in a completely different field.
“I have no doubt,” he said, “even going as far as like, is the next Amazon already out there? Or that person—is a Jeff Bezos out there? The next Jeff Bezos is out of Web3. Watch out. He’s coming. Hopefully he’s building on Polygon.”
Content Source: decrypt.com
Cover Image Source: decrypt.com
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