Yat Siu, X Hall of Flames

Yat Siu, a serial web3 entrepreneur and angel investor at Animoca Brands, was tasked with cracking the code on how big a social ripple effect could occur for every user who followed them on X.

“Not every follower is the same,” a casually dressed Siu tells Hall of Flame via Zoom call from his plush Hong Kong office.

“For example, someone might only have 10,000 followers, but their influence is much deeper than someone with 100,000 or 200,000 followers, because the audience that follows you has a network effect, so the nodes of followers are more powerful,” explains the Austrian-born classical musician-turned-tech entrepreneur.

“Hypothetically, if Elon Musk follows me, that’s worth more to me than the other 100,000 people who follow me. That’s not to diminish their value, it’s just that the implied influence and impact is greater,” he argues.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that Musk would love to have one of the 160,000 followers Siu has gained since he launched Animoca Brands, a multi-billion dollar web3 gaming giant, in 2014.

Starting out as a mobile games company, Animoca has grown into one of the largest investors in Web3 over the past decade, making over 450 investments in the space, including notable names like Axie Infinity, Polygon, and OpenSea.

The A-list is also loving Siu’s work with NFTs and the metaverse (remember those?), and she has a high-profile following that includes crypto-friendly entertainer Paris Hilton and award-winning celebrities. Rapper MC Hammer.

“When MC Hammer started following me, I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s really cool.'”

One of the most moving moments for Siu in 2021 was when his “childhood hero,” William Shatner from Star Trek, followed him.

Siu has a really laid-back and casual vibe. What starts out as an interview quickly turns into a brainstorming session on how to measure the value of your followers.

“I don’t think it’s possible to look at 160,000 followers and figure that out,” he said with a laugh.

I joked that he should put up an ad offering $100 to anyone who could check all the followers on his X account and create an Excel spreadsheet of the most valuable followers.

“That’s a good idea… I think it would be interesting to analyze,” the successful businessman said, validating the reporter’s business pitch.

What made YAT Siu gain X fame?

Siwoo is a realistic person and ignores the fact that many of his followers take him for granted.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s reasonable. It’s not millions of dollars,” Siu laughs, which is completely understandable when you have an A-lister friend like Paris Hilton, who has 16.4 million followers.

Siu’s educational content has helped him grow his following over the years by “elevating the space” for Web3. His involvement with the metaverse, NFTs, and gaming, as well as his high profile in crypto media and conferences, have also contributed.

What type of X content does Yat Siu produce?

If you are a crypto fan who just wants to follow X number of accounts that promise to make you rich, Siu is probably not for you.

But if you want someone who can filter through the noise and provide interesting insights into the broader Web3 industry, he’s worth following.

“When I write, it’s usually about the macro stuff, the industry, the trends we see, the companies we really want to support,” Siu explains.

“I retweet a lot if it’s interesting content,” he added.

Siwoo delves into this in his long blog, and shares links to his blog on his X account.

“I usually write these things on Medium and post them on Twitter. When I have time, I write more thoughtful ideas, which might take 10 minutes to read,” he says.

What kind of content does Yat Siu like?

Siu admits that he doesn’t have a “favorite account” on X. Just as he sees followers as more than just numbers, he also sees content the same way. It’s not isolated.

“I see it as a collective thing, where the value comes from taking a pulse of the community,” Siu explains.

“I like a variety of content, from feature-length to interesting and informative. I absorb it all,” he says.

But as a fellow long-form writer, Siu admits he enjoys BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes’ “fun and insightful take on the markets.”

Yat Siu’s Cryptocurrency Predictions

So, in a situation where price predictions are impossible, Siu’s prediction challenges the crypto crowd by suggesting that Donald Trump’s main competitor might not be bad for cryptocurrencies.

“I’m not negative on Harris’ crypto. I think she’d be more reserved and cautious, but I don’t think she’d be against crypto. At least so far, she doesn’t seem to be,” he said.

“People on Twitter are like, she didn’t mention anything about crypto in her campaign, she must be a bad person. No, omitting something doesn’t mean she’s against it,” Siu explains.

Still, given Trump’s many positive comments about cryptocurrencies in 2024, Xiu can’t deny that there’s a chance Trump will eventually push cryptocurrencies faster.

“I think it’s fair to say that if Trump wins, cryptocurrencies will be much stronger than if Harris wins,” Siu said.

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Sheeran Lyons

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