X Hall of Flame – Cointelegraph Magazine

Who on earth is this person?

Irene Zhao, Simp-Queen mastermind on the SO-COL platform and Crypto Twitter influencer, explains that having a celebrity by your side can boost your NFT collection.

IreneDAO, Zhao’s first collection of Simp DAOs and NFTs, launched with a rock-bottom price that was basically loose change in ETH.

“It seemed like it was about zero-point ETH,” Zhao recalls.

But things changed for Zhao when controversial YouTube star Logan Paul donated about $250,000 in January 2022.

“I woke up the next day and the lowest price had gone up five times when Logan Paul bought about 20 of them. I was really shocked,” she explains.

Can’t fix it 👉👈 pic.twitter.com/oyMLut3S2F

— Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 4, 2023

Zhao said Paul stumbled upon the project after billionaire cryptocurrency investor Mike Novogratz posted about it on Twitter. That started my friendship with Paul.

“Logan followed me on Twitter and Instagram after purchasing my NFT,” Zhao said, adding that the two had never met.

“I was going on a trip to Los Angeles and he was somewhere in Puerto Rico at the time. So in the end we couldn’t meet. But we are having conversations about NFTs.”

Virtually rubbing shoulders with celebrities like Paul is a regular part of the life of a cryptocurrency influencer. Zhao boasts 194,300 Twitter followers, runs his own Web3 NFT platform company, SO-COL, and travels the world to speak at cryptocurrency conferences.

“I meet a lot of cool, successful people, and they all have very interesting personalities. Otherwise, they would not choose cryptocurrency as a career because it is a very dynamic and fast-changing career industry.”

Why did Twitter get its fame?

Zhao has already built a following as a social media influencer in the Web2 space and has introduced most of her followers to NFTs like Bitcoiners feed their friends orange peels.

“I have built my own personal branding as a key opinion leader on various social media platforms, including Instagram and YouTube. So now we have about 500,000 followers across all platforms.”

She got into cryptocurrency because she wanted to control her content. She was tired of only monetizing their content by promoting products, which is how Web2 influencers make a living.

“I’ve built deep relationships with a lot of big brands, but it’s kind of frustrating because I don’t really get most of the benefits, despite having huge followings on all the other social media platforms. I don’t actually own my content or my community.”

Zhao set up one of the first Simp DAOs, where NFT buyers could join the Irene DAO fan club and get closer to the Simp Queen. She later applied this idea to the SO-COL platform.

The era of wealth is coming to my health😀

I’m ready to go on a trip @truck_memecoin pic.twitter.com/2Wh1TqsIps

— Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 1, 2023

Zhao jokingly notes that while he may be a big deal in Asia, he can fly under the radar in the Western world.

“Especially in Asia, people recognize me. However, in the Western world, white people rarely recognize Asians. “I think everyone looks the same,” he said with a laugh.

What content can people expect?

Zhao doesn’t like the serious tone of some people in the cryptocurrency world. In her view, people who enjoy discussing technology or trading may not necessarily be the most attractive minds in the cryptocurrency community.

“I guess I like posting shit. It’s pretty fun. It’s so fun to see all the memes.”

Zhao believes that creating cryptocurrency memes requires a bigger brain than just sharing trading tips.

“It’s a very smart move because you have to understand the market and you have to understand your audience to come up with the exact memes that people want. So it’s a very rare talent to have.”

Nasty Beef: Lady of Crypto

Zhao got into a public fight with fellow cryptocurrency influencer Lady of Crypto in December 2021.

The feud was sparked after Zhao lightly mocked her on Twitter for posting a no-brainer tweet.

“She was predicting things like the price of Bitcoin, but it was a very clear trend. “So I said, ‘You’re stating the obvious,’ and he got angry.”

Things took a bitter turn when Lady of Crypto made an unpleasant remark about Zhao’s English skills, saying, “You can barely connect two words in your video.”

Zhao did not allow it to be relayed to her personally and thought it was “very funny.”

Zhao, a businessman, was more interested in the fact that the post had received about 4 million impressions.

prediction?

Zhao’s predictions are largely consistent with conventional wisdom. She is eagerly anticipating Bitcoin reaching $100,000.

But she also has high hopes that her real assets will increase in the coming year.

“Of course, I remain bullish on BTC, Ethereum and all the fundamentals. People talk a lot about RWA. I think real assets will probably grow significantly in the next 12 months.”

She also believes that NFTs still have room to grow, as many celebrities have yet to jump on the bandwagon.

“I think NFTs for creators will become very popular soon because we haven’t really experienced it yet,” she explains.

“I’m still optimistic about social collectibles because we haven’t registered all Web2 creators for NFTs yet. So I think there’s still a lot of room for that.”

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Ciaran Lyon

Ciaran Lyons is an Australian cryptocurrency journalist. He is also a stand-up comedian and radio and TV presenter for Triple J, SBS and The Project.