In
an
exclusive
interview
with
cryptonews.com,
Tatsuya
(Tats)
Kohrogi,
CSO
of
Digital
Entertainment
Asset,
talks
about
fundraising
challenges
during
the
crypto
winter,
P2E/P&E
regulatory
insights
in
Japan,
and
wow
the
growing
Web3
gaming
industry
will
help
bring
Web3
into
the
mainstream.
About
Tatsuya
“Tats”
Kohrogi
Tatsuya
(Tats)
Kohrogi
is
the
Chief
Strategy
Officer
and
Head
of
Global
Business
for
Digital
Entertainment
Asset,
also
known
as
DEA.
Tats
is
responsible
for
leading
the
company’s
global
operations.
He
has
an
extensive
background
in
sales,
marketing,
business
development,
and
startup
management.
Prior
to
joining
the
company,
he
was
a
senior
partner
manager
at
Meta
managing
business
partnerships
for
the
Japan
market,
based
in
APAC
HQ
in
Singapore.
Prior
to
Meta,
Tats
worked
with
Softbank
in
Tokyo.
He
held
several
leadership
roles
in
sales,
digital
marketing,
investment
strategy,
portfolio
management,
and
new
business
development.
During
his
time
at
SoftBank,
Tats
co-founded
an
internal
ad-tech
service
that
received
funding
from
SoftBank’s
internal
venture
program.
Tats
was
also
part
of
Son
Masayoshi’s
successor
program,
SoftBank
Academia.
He
took
part
in
CEO
projects
and
learned
management
philosophy
directly
from
Masa
for
three
years.
Tatsuya
Kohrogi
gave
a
wide-ranging
exclusive
interview
which
you
can
see
below,
and
we
are
happy
for
you
to
use
it
for
publication
provided
there
is
a
credit
to
www.cryptonews.com.
Highlights
Of
The
Interview
Using
a
buyback
program
to
stabilize
a
token
economy
during
volatile
market
conditions
Fundraising
challenges
during
the
crypto
winter
and
bear
market
P2E/P&E
regulatory
insights
in
Japan
and
beyond
How
the
growing
Web3
gaming
industry
will
help
bring
Web3
into
the
mainstream
How
PlayMining
is
decentralizing
the
game
development
process
Full
Transcript
Of
The
Interview
Matt
Zahab Ladies
and
gentlemen,
welcome
back
to
the
Cryptonews
Podcast.
We
are
buzzing
as
always
coming
in
half
from
Mexico
and
our
guest
is
coming
in
hot
13
hours
ahead
of
me
from
beautiful
Singapore.
Today
we
have
Tatsuya
Kohrogi
also
known
as
Tats,
who
is
the
Chief
Strategy
Officer
and
Head
of
Global
Business
for
Digital
Entertainment
Assets
also
known
as
DEA.
Tats
has
an
extensive
background
in
sales,
marketing
bizdev
and
startup
management.
Prior
to
joining
the
company,
he
was
a
senior
partner
manager
at
the
one
and
only
Meta
managing
business
partnerships
for
the
Japan
market
based
in
APAC
HQ
in
Singapore.
Tats
also
worked
for
another
one
and
only
SoftBank
ever
heard
of
him,
where
he
held
several
leadership
roles
in
sales,
digital
marketing,
investment
strategy,
portfolio
management,
and
new
bizdev.
Super
pumped.
Tats,
it’s
been
a
hot
minute
pumped
to
have
you
on
man.
Welcome
to
the
show.
Tats
Kohrogi Thanks
for
having
me,
Matt.
Matt
ZahabWe
got
to
start
with
day
one
here.
Our
listeners
absolutely
love
the
stories
from
Meta.
I
believe
you
might
be
the
first
guest
to
have
had
some
experience
at
SoftBank.
We’d
love
stories
on
the
Cryptonews
Podcast.
You
have
any
crazy
stories
for
us
from
your
days
at
either
Meta
or
SoftBank.
Tats
Kohrogi There
are
too
many.
I
mean,
I
joined
SoftBank,
back
in
2014,
before
the
SoftBank
Vision
Fund
was
a
thing,
Masa
before
his
global
presence
was
big.
But
he
always
has
this
successor
program
where
he
mentors,
upcoming
entrepreneurs,
and
handpicks,
about
200
per
year.
And
so
he
has
this
program
where
every
year
everyone’s
caught
competing
to
learn
directly
from
Masa.
And
what
he
does
is
he
gives
us
like,
real
life
problems
to
solve
that
he’s
thinking
about
in
real
time,
and
makes
us
come
up
with
an
idea
and
pitch
for
it.
And
so
that’s
something
called
SoftBank
Academia.
Everyone,
if
you’re
interested
in
learning
something
about
that
you
could
Google
it,
but
I
was
part
of
that
for
three
years.
And
some
of
the
craziest
projects
were
from
SoftBank
Academia
as
well.
So
that’s
just
a
quick
intro
just.
Nothing
too
juicy.
But
I
think
that’s
something
very
unique
of
SoftBank
and
Masa
as
well.
Matt
Zahab Any
takeaways
from
working
with
Masa?
Like
any
piece
of
advice
that
he’d
give
you?
Or
just
the
way
he
conducted
business.
Perhaps
his
nonverbal
communication,
verbal
communication,
whatever
it
may
have
been,
but
what
were
the
things
that
really
stood
out
where
you’re
like,
damn,
I
gotta
steal
this
from
this
dude.
Tats
Kohrogi Yeah,
there’s
something
that
so
I
come
from
the
US
as
well.
So
like,
I
have
that
Western
background.
But
the
Eastern
management
philosophy,
there’s
a
lot
of
things
that
aren’t
really
translated
in
English.
So
I
mean,
Art
of
War
is
very
popular
in
the
US.
Right?
Matt
Zahab Classic.
Tats
Kohrogi Masa
created
his
own
version.
So
using
traditional
Chinese
characters,
you
can
Google
it,
yeah,
it’s
crazy.
There’s
a
graph.
Matt
Zahab Is
it
good?
Tats
Kohrogi
It’s
really
good.
And
each
character
represents
for
like,
how
to
manage
a
specific
situation
in
business.
And
this
is
something
I
think
is
very,
like
underrated,
like
not
many
people
know
about
this
in
the
Western
world.
And
I
see
on
their
SoftBank
Group
page
recently,
they’ve
been
posting
a
little
bit
about
it
online
in
English.
But
some
of
these
management
philosophies
coming
from
Masa
is
very
unique.
And
I
think
worth
looking
into
the
if
any
entrepreneurs
or
even
business
people,
if
you’re
interested
in
that,
that’s
something
worth
looking
into.
Matt
Zahab Interesting.
And
Meta
was
the
Eastern
Meta
similar
to
the
Western
Meta
where,
you
know,
very
sought
after
graduates
are
getting
jobs
working
pretty
hard
for
six
to
12
months
and
then
just
mailing
it
in
forever
and
just
using
the
company
for
the
gourmet
breakfast,
lunch
dinners,
free
gyms,
massages,
the
whole
nine
yards
was
there
any
similarities
in
that?
Tats
Kohrogi
So
I
mean,
I
was
in
that
during
the
COVID
period.
So
I
was
a
little
over
two
years.
So
it
is
probably
different
from
pre-COVID.
Matt
Zahab Right.
Tats
Kohrogi
But
yeah,
definitely,
the
perks
are
amazing.
Like,
once
you
leave
you
understand
how
like
valuable,
like
the
food
is
right?
And
the
facilities
and
the
people
and
culture
are
very
unique.
But
I’d
say
you
know,
depending
on
the
regions,
it’s
not
that
different.
I
mean,
it’s
very
open
to
culture
and
diversity
and
inclusion
as
well.
So
each
office
has
a
different
taste
if
you
go
travel
to
different
parts
of
the
countries,
but
yeah,
definitely
like
SoftBank,
Meta,
Facebook,
very
different
cultures,
but
both
was
very
aligned
with
I
personally
believe
that
mission
wise.
Matt
Zahab One,
again,
I
could
be
incredibly
wrong
on
this,
but
I
heard
a
crazy
hot
take
once
about
Meta
and
why
they
give
so
many
perks
to
their
employees,
and
also
why
they
pay
so
much.
And
it’s
not
even
so
much
about
employee
retention,
it’s
just
to
bring
the
taxes
down.
Because
obviously,
the
more
you
spend,
the
more
expenditures
you
have,
the
less
taxes
you
pay.
Again,
I
don’t
know
if
that’s
true,
but
like,
it
could
sort
of
make
sense
if
each
employee
is,
you
know,
getting
the
equivalent
of
$80
a
day
in
food,
plus
their
$350,000
salary,
like,
what
do
you
think
about
that?
Tats
Kohrogi
Honestly,
I’m
not
in
a
position
to
talk
about
it.
So
like,
I
don’t
know
if
that’s
the
strategy
or
not
makes
sense,
in
a
way.
But
yeah,
I
think
it
has
more
to
do
with
taking
care
of
the
employees
as
well,
to
make
sure
like,
everything’s
there.
Matt
Zahab Yeah.
keep
everyone
happy.
Nice.
Yeah.
Let’s
jump
into
crypto.
Let’s
start
with
fundraising.
Now.
You
guys
raised
10
million
US
dollars,
10
mil
greenbacks
from
LA
based
LDA
Capital.
And
that
was
during
a
pretty,
you
know,
tumultuous
time.
How
could
you
sort
of
speak
about
the
fundraising
challenges
in
a
crypto
bear
market
or
crypto
winter?
Tats
Kohrogi
I
mean,
yeah,
this
is
like,
overall
macro,
not
just
crypto,
I
think
its
pretty
tough.
It’s
still
tough
market
right
now.
So,
you
know,
we’ve
been
fundraising
for
a
while.
And
like,
even
then
we
had
to
pull
back
a
bit
restructure
how
we
approach
things.
And
you
know,
VCs
are
pulling
out
and
depending
on
the
region
to
with
the
whole
FTX
incidents,
in
November,
like
a
lot
of
the
global
investors
are
impacted
directly,
the
crypto
investors
are
impacted
directly.
So
a
lot
of
those
investors
are
pulling
back
and
everyone’s
kind
of
observing.
While
you
know,
how
we
were
able
to
approach
this
was
that,
you
know,
we
have
the
traction,
we
have
the
revenue.
So
we’re
lucky
in
the
sense
that
we’re
still
able
to
get
the
traction
from
investors
based
on
our
actual
revenue
and
traction.
Matt
Zahab There
are
super
interesting
thing
that
you
and
the
team
have
done
at
DEA
is
the
market
expansion,
just
like
a
crazy
penetration
into
Asia?
This
is
something
that
I’ve
always
been
so
curious
about.
As
someone
who
has
very
little
experience
with
Asian
business,
how
do
you
how
do
you
penetrate
that
market?
Because
with
the
massive,
you
know,
sort
of
glass
giants,
as
they’re
called
these
huge
conglomerates
that,
like
the
WeChat,
that
just
have
so
many
verticals,
and
they’re
so
powerful,
like
how
do
you
get
in
in
any
capacity?
Any
stories,
tips,
tricks,
piece
of
advice,
like
how
did
you
guys
do
it?
Tats
Kohrogi
Yeah.
I
think
a
lot
of
it
comes
down
to
our
co-founders
as
well,
and
their
track
record
and
their
experience.
So
one
of
our
co-founder,
he
goes
by
Goro.
His
first
name
is
Naohito
Yoshida,
but
he’s
a
three
times
Serial
Entrepreneur
IPL
three
companies
in
the
Tokyo
Stock
Exchange.
So
he’s
an
entrepreneurial
veteran,
so
he
has
that
network
as
well.
And
also
the
other
co-founder
is
a
he
goes
by
Kozo.
Kozo
Yamada
is
his
full
name,
but
he
has
experience
in
the
entertainment
industry
over
15
plus
years
working
for
TV
Tokyo.
And
so
those
two
combined
had
that
experience
and
network
from
the
beginning,
which
kind
of
gave
us
that
edge.
And
DEA
has
been
around
since
2018.
So
when
Blockchain
was
first
being
conceptualized
as
like,
okay,
Crypto,
DeFi,
Cryptocurrency.
That’s
when
Goro
was
thinking,
Okay,
well,
if
we
can
actually
earn
real
money
in
the
games
we
play,
and
like,
how
amazing
would
that
be
was
like
is
very
simple
thought
process.
And
two
years
before
2018,
the
chairman
of
Sony
ex-chairman,
Mr.
Idei,
he
was
the
one
time
a
lot
of
the
entrepreneurs
in
Japan
at
the
time,
like
go
into
Blockchain,
study
it
because
that’s
the
future.
And
that
was
seven
years
ago.
Matt
Zahab This
was
the
ex-chairman
of
Sony,
who
was
saying
this?
Tats
Kohrogi
Yes,
extremity,
Sony
was
telling
all
the
Japanese
entrepreneurs
at
the
time
look
into
it,
do
it.
And
really
not
many
of
people
took
his
advice.
But
Goro
looked
into
it.
And
at
the
time,
Japan’s
regulations
were
very
tough
to
create
a
Token
Project,
mainly
under
taxation
regulations.
So
the
only
place
to
really
do
at
that
time
in
2018,
was
in
Singapore.
So
he
came
out
created
this
Token
Project
proposal
and
ran
with
it
developed
and
we
released
our
first
game
titles
in
early
2020.
And
that’s
kind
of
the
history
aspect
of
it,
but
like
how
to
penetrate
in
it.
I
think
it
helped
that,
you
know,
we
had
the
founders
with
the
existing
network
in
Japan,
and
because
they
came
from
the
entertainment
and
creative
industry,
we
had
this
network
of
like
Anime
and
Manga
creators,
and
in
Japan,
Anime
Manga
is
huge
and
globally
as
well.
It’s
big.
So
I
think
that
was
one
of
our
big
entry
into
Asia
as
we
had
that
edge
of
Anime
and
Manga
creators
working
with
us
on
our
platform.
Matt
Zahab Before
we
wet
into
a
more
specific
and
dialed
in
approach
on
micro-Japan.
Anime
it’s
so
powerful,
me
personally,
I’ve
never
understood
it.
It’s
just
something
that
doesn’t
really
tickle
my
fancy
I
totally
get
it.
I
have
friends
for
you
know,
from
Toronto,
Canada,
who
absolutely
love
it.
And
I
get
it,
but
I
don’t
like,
can
you?
And
this
is
such
a
tough
one.
But
what
in
particular
really
gets
the
Japanese
people
going
about
anime?
Like
what
is
it
if
you
could
just
sort
of
distill
it
to
a
couple
different
things?
Tats
Kohrogi Yeah,
I
mean,
I
think
I
can
say
it’s
not
just
Japanese
people,
it’s
global
as
well.
Like,
half
the
Anime
industry
is
made
up
of
global
revenue
right
now.
But
Japan
has
it
has
very
deep
roots
in
this
like
Manga,
Anime,
artistry,
craftsmanship,
historically.
So
I
mean,
we’re
all
visual
learners.
So
instead
of
just
reading
text,
seeing
a
visual
like
comics,
right,
like
reading
comics
as
a
kid,
we
like
to
see
the
visuals
see
the
words
and
in
take
story
that
way.
And
in
the
States,
you
know,
growing
up
reading
comics
is
kind
of
like
a
children’s
thing
to
do,
right?
Yeah.
And
like,
in
Japan,
though,
like
a
lot
of
the
themes
are
even
adult
themes,
or,
you
know,
higher
education
topics,
or
tough
like
finance
education
topics
will
be
written
in
the
Anime/Manga
style.
So
I
think
it’s
just
the
adoption.
And
every
kid
in
Japan
at
one
point
wants
to
become
a
Manga
artist
is
something
that
one
of
our
co-founders
saying,
but
it’s
true,
like
we
all
draw,
we
all
grow
up
with
it,
and
we
learn
through
Manga.
So
I
think
being
you
know,
Japanese
ethnicity
growing
up
in
the
States,
I
read
a
lot
of
Manga
as
well
and
watch
a
lot
Animate
to
input
Japanese.
So
I
think
culturally,
it
has
a
very
significant
part
to
it.
And
because
it’s
been
translated
and
shipped
out
globally,
a
lot
of
the
global
audiences
really
latching
on
to
it
as
well.
Matt
Zahab That’s
so
cool.
Thanks
for
that.
That
really
did
help
it
feel
like
we
got
a
little
bit
of
a
better
understanding.
Now
let’s
jump
back
into
Japan
and
crypto.
Just
like
you
said,
a
couple
of
years
ago,
Japan
had
some
of
the
tightest
Crypto,
Blockchain,
Web3
regulations
on
the
planet,
it
was
nightmare
fuel
doing
anything
building
related
in
a
push
the
lot
of
incredible
teams,
firms,
creators
out
of
Japan,
and
over
to
Singapore
and
Dubai
and
the
other
places
in
the
world
that
are
much
more
lenient
and
have
much
more
open
rules,
laws
and
regulations.
But
recently,
Japan
has
been
a
leader
in
loosening
these
rules,
these
regulations.
And
a
lot
of
that
has
to
do
with
sort
of
the,
you
know,
Token
Project,
taxation
and
listing
regulations.
And
I’d
love
if
you
could
speak
to
this
and
just
sort
of
let
our
listeners
know
what
exactly,
you
know,
Japan
is
doing
to
be
a
front
runner
in
the
space.
Tats
Kohrogi Yeah,
it’s
strange,
because
everything
just
kind
of
flipped.
Last,
like
H2
of
2022.
So
the
past
couple
of
years,
a
lot
of
the
project
founders
that
left
Japan
to
create
Token
Projects,
have
been
lobbying
with
the
Japanese
Government.
And,
you
know,
our
co-founders
as
well.
But
someone
that’s
been
very
vocal
and
has
been
kind
of
face
of
Web3
Japan,
has
been
Sota
Watanabe.
And
he’s
one
of
the
30,
under
30,
for
Forbes,
founder
of
Astar.
And
the
dialogue
has
been
going
for
years
and
FTX
happened
and
everything
that’s
been
discussed
in
Japan,
regulatory
wise,
slowly,
they’re
like,
Okay,
we
need
to
make
sure
we
don’t
fall
behind,
compared
to
like
how
we
did
back
in
like
Web2.
So
the
government
has
created
a
party
to
really
work
with
this.
And
the
biggest
part
was
the
taxation
regulation
that
I
mentioned
earlier
as
well,
that
created
a
lot
of
hurdles.
There’s
still
another
big
one
as
well,
which
is
auditing
firms.
So
the
auditing
regulations,
there’s
still
hurdles
in
that
in
Japan.
But
what’s
another
big
news
for
Japan
is
that
the
big
gaming
companies
in
Japan
are
coming
in.
So
I
think
it’s
been
big
news
past
month
or
when,
in
beginning
of
the
year,
Square
Enix
released
the
announcement
about
how
they’re
implementing
Blockchain
as
one
of
the
core
strategies
in
their
business.
So
regulations
are
loosening
up
and
large
corporations
are
coming
in
and
testing,
Web3
technology,
Blockchain
technologies,
and
also
funding
is
coming
as
well.
So
one
of
the
government
funded
largest
telco
company
NTT
is
creating
a
$4
billion
fund
to
enhance
the
infrastructure
for
Web3,
like
wallets,
infrastructure,
and
just
everything
in
the
space.
Matt
Zahab Four
billion?
Billion
with
a
B?
Tats
Kohrogi Four
billion,
with
a
B,
yeah,
so
I
think,
you
know,
we
need
certain
things
in
place
for
and
industry
to
really
start
growing.
And
that’s
like
funding,
regulatory
support,
and
corporations
coming
in
to
build.
So
it’s
been
no
small
startups
and
entrepreneurs
rallying
for
it
for
the
past
few
years.
And
slowly
we’re
seeing
these
regulatory
funding
and
large
corporations
onboarding
into
the
Blockchain
space.
So,
yeah,
2023
we’re
gonna
start
seeing
a
lot
more
interesting
use
cases
coming
up,
I
think
in
Japan.
So
before
we’re
way
behind,
but
now
I
think
it’s
given
Japan
an
opportunity
to
lead
the
way.
Matt
Zahab Wow,
that’s
crazy
news.
Like,
again,
I
thought,
perhaps
I
just
got
to
get
back
in
the
game.
But
like,
Man,
oh,
man,
I
didn’t
even
know
that
like
that
should
have
been
on
every
massive,
reputable
Cryptonews
outlet.
Like
that’s
big
news,
a
$4
billion
influx
of
funds
by
is
that
state
owned?
Or
is
that
a
private?
Tats
Kohrogi Its
a
state
owned.
Matt
ZahabRight.
Tats
Kohrogi So
it’s
a
public
company,
but
the
government
backs
it.
It’s
the
biggest
telco
company
in
Japan.
So
if
you
did
type
in
NTT
fund
for
Web3,
I
think
it’ll
come
up.
But
that
was
just
announced
last
year.
But
big
news.
Matt
Zahab Crazy.
Let’s
jump
into
you
guys.
Now.
The
name
sort
of
says
it
all
Digital
Entertainment
Asset.
You
guys
do
a
whole
lot
of
everything.
And
specializing
in
you
know,
Web3
Decentralized
game
Development.
Before
we
get
into
the
weeds
and
into
the
nitty
gritty
give
me
a
very
quick
overview
of
what
you
and
the
team
do
and
what
you
guys
are
working
on
at
the
moment.
Tats
Kohrogi Yes,
so
right
now
our
core
business
is
the
GameFi
platform
called
PlayMining.
And
we
have
multiple
games
that
are
live
that
are
all
Blockchain
Play-to-Earn
games.
And
we
also
have
a
Metaverse
business
called
the
PlayMining
Verse,
where
we
have
creators
co
create
worlds
with
the
community.
So
these
two
entertainment
businesses
is
our
core
business
right
now.
We
have
a
utility
token
called
DEAPcoin,
or
ticker
symbol,
(D-E-P)
DEP.
And
that’s
the
single
token.
And
that
is
a
token
that’s
used
within
the
PlayMining
Ecosystem.
So
these
three
are
like
our
core
business,
in
this
sense,
managing
the
token
economy
and
creating
games
and
creating
worlds
Matt
Zahab One
thing
that,
uh,
when
I
was
doing
research
to
the
show,
I
was
like,
Whoa,
this
is
crazy.
The
Buyback
Program.
You
guys
have
a
world
class
Buyback
Program
that
stabilizes
the
token
economy
during
volatile
market
periods,
literally,
like
right
now
telling
you
about
this
the
DEP
Buyback
Program.
Why
did
you
implement
it?
And
how
do
you
make
it
stay
afloat?
Like
how
do
you
keep
this?
How
do
you
keep
this
engine
running?
Tats
Kohrogi So
to
clarify,
it’s
new,
we
just
announced
this
in
the
beginning
of
January.
And
so
we
haven’t
really
done
the
Buyback
yet
initiative.
But
we’ve
implemented
this
to
make
sure
that
we
can
create
a
sustainable
token
economics
for
Play-and-Earn.
So
I
think
Play-and-Earn,
like
extra
earn
in
general
is
a
big
boom,
last
year.
And,
you
know,
we
saw
like
some
Axie
to
step
in,
and
we
saw
the
pump
and
then
the
crash
as
well.
And
industry
wise,
you
know,
there’s
a
lot
of
sentiment
like,
okay,
Play-to-Earn
is
not
sustainable.
And
extra
earn
is
not
sustainable.
There’s
no
sustainable
model
for
this.
But
we’re
doubling
down
on
it.
And
we
believe
that
Play-to-Earn
model
is
the
future.
And
so
I
think
that’s
just
the
counter
narrative
to
a
lot
of
other
narratives
out
there
as
well
in
GameFi.
So
it
just
depends
on
who
you’re
targeting,
and
what
kind
of
games
you’re
doing
to.
But
going
back
to
the
Buyback
Program.
The
Buyback
Program,
we
announced
that
up
to
40%,
of
like
cash,
Fiat
revenue
we
get,
we
will
Buyback
our
tokens.
So
it’ll
be
deflationary
in
that
way.
And
so
it
will
give
an
opportunity
for
the
community
investors
and
players
to
get
that
profit
back,
right,
and
the
return
on
investment
and
deep
as
well.
So
it’s
just
one
mechanics
that
we’re
implementing
in
the
token
economics,
and
there’s
just
other
elements
we’ll
be
implementing
as
well,
to
make
sure
that
we
can
keep
growing
the
economy
as
a
whole.
Matt
Zahab It’s,
uh,
yeah,
it’s
just
it’s
so
interesting.
And
I’m
sort
of,
you
know,
going
into
the
paper
and
the.
It’s
just,
there’s
so
much
fud
with
anything
that
seems
I
don’t
want
to
say
it’s
too
good
to
be
true,
because
it’s
not
and
obviously
you
guys
are
showing
where
the
funds
come
from,
but
just
with
the
whole
FTX,
Luna,
with
every
other
crash
that
happened
99,
almost
100%
of
those
came
from
greed.
And
again,
this
isn’t
something
greedy.
It’s
just,
it’s
nice.
It’s
refreshing
to
see
a
Buyback
Program
where
you
guys
are
showing
how
the
consumer
is
getting
their
kickback.
You
know
what
I
mean?
Like
it’s
refreshing
a
lot
of
the
time
it’s
like,
earn
6%
interest.
We’re
not
going
to
tell
you
how
you
get
this
is
like
it’s
the
laid
out
for
you
flat,
you
know?
Tats
Kohrogi Yeah,
so
I
want
to
make
it
clear
as
well
that
like,
because
we
have
a
Token
Project
and
we
sell
our
NFTs
and
our
token,
a
lot
of
our
revenue
comes
in
with
our
DEAPcoin.
But
we
are
implementing
Fiat
payments
as
well
into
our
endgame
items
and
NFTs.
So,
with
our
DEAPcoin
purchases,
we’re
going
to,
it’s
not
going
to
count
towards
the
Buyback.
Incentive
the
pool,
majority
of
the
max
40%
of
the
Buyback
pool
will
come
from
all
the
cash
revenue
coming
from
the
company.
So
it’s
balanced
between
the
both
and
mate
looking
at
the
market
situation
and
stabilizing
the
market
or
the
token
price
as
well.
So
that’s
something
we
still
got
to
figure
out
and
work
on.
But
I’m
excited
for
the
program.
Matt
Zahab Tats
were
going
to
take
a
quick
break.
Gotta
give
a
huge
shout
out
to
our
sponsor
the
show
PrimeXBT
and
when
we
get
back,
we’re
going
to
talk
about
how
play
mining
is
decentralizing
the
game
development
process
and
how
the
Web3
gaming
industry
will
help
bring
Web3
into
mainstream.
Till
we
get
into
that
huge
shout
out
to
our
sponsor
the
show
PrimeXBT,
longtime
friends
of
Cryptonews.com.
We’d
love
them.
They
are
incredible
people
who
have
developed
a
robust
trading
system
for
both
beginners
and
professional
traders.
It
doesn’t
matter
if
you’re
a
rookie
or
have
that
you
can
easily
design
and
customize
your
layouts
and
widgets
to
best
fit
your
trading
style.
PrimeXBT
also
blessing
the
listeners
of
the
Cryptonews
Pod
with
a
huge
promo.
The
promo
code
is
CRYPTONEWS50
to
receive
50%
of
your
deposit
credited
to
your
trading
account.
Again,
that
is
five
zero
50%
of
your
deposit
credited
to
your
trading
account
and
the
promo
code
is
CRYPTONEWS50.
Now
back
to
the
show
with
Tats.
Let’s
go
right
in
to
PlayMining.
This
is
the
gaming
arm
that
is
decentralizing
the
game
development
process.
You
guys
are
empowering
creators.
You
guys
have
a
multitude
of
games.
And
there
are
tons
of
problems
sort
of
with
the
traditional
creative
IP
industry.
It’s
way
to
centralize
all
the
top-down
narratives.
All
the
fun
and
all
the
cake
goes
to
the
boys
and
gals
at
the
top,
there’s
very
little
innovation,
you
guys
are
making
moves
in
the
space
moving
and
grooving.
I’d
love
to
hear
more
about
this.
Tats
Kohrogi Awesome.
Thank
you
Matt
for
mentioning
that.
Just
to
give
you
some
context,
our
PlayMining
ecosystem
consists
of
three
stakeholders,
the
creators,
we
have
the
investors/gaming
guilds.
And
we
also
have
the
players.
So
these
three
stakeholders
are
all
in
the
ecosystem.
And
I
think
what’s
unique
about
the
PlayMining
ecosystem
is
that
we
have
creator
empowerment
initiatives,
where
we
have
100
plus
famous
Anime,
Manga
creators,
and
recently
not
just
famous,
we
have
community
fan
artists
that
have
been
voted
to
create
NFTs
on
behalf
of
us.
So
how
we’re
one
way
of
decentralizing
the
content
creation
processes
that
we
bring
on
these
creators
to
create
these
characters
in
game
for
us.
And
we
the
community
votes,
okay,
the
creator
created
four
prototypes,
A,
B,
C,
and
D,
which
one
do
you
want
to
pick?
And
they’ll
have
like
a
initiative
where
we
have
a
Discord
chat
with
the
creator
live
answering
questions,
and
everyone’s
voting,
and
the
one
that
gets
voted
the
most
get
picked,
and
the
creator
will
receive
royalties.
And
also
we
do
upfront
production
payments
as
well.
So
it’s,
we
pay
for
them
to
create
it
for
us.
And
we
also
pay
them
royalties.
So
this
is
something
like
a
new
model.
That’s
not
traditional
in
gaming,
I
believe.
And
I
think
we’re
one
of
the
only
projects
that
have
100
plus
of
these
famous
Japanese
artists
in
our
network.
And
yeah,
we’re
proud
to
say
we
paid
out
royalty
of
over
9
million
Sing
dollars,
which
is
close
to
over
7
million
USD
in
the
past
two
years.
Matt
Zahab How
did
you
get
all
those
artists
on
board?
Tats
Kohrogi So
we
just
contacted
them
from
our
production
team,
and
also
from
existing
networks,
from
the
very
getgo
of
our
development
phase,
like
that’s,
Matt
Zahab That’s
like,
those
are
some
big
boy
numbers
right
there.
That’s
not,
that’s
not
a
walk
in
the
park.
Tats
Kohrogi So
I
think
it’s
interesting,
I
got
to
talk
to
some
of
the
creators
in
person
in
Japan
recently
last
year
as
well.
But
um,
you
know,
they’re
very
excited
about
this
process
of
like
Web3
game
development,
co
creating,
or
it’s
a
new
experience.
And
what’s
been
a
game
changer
for
these
creators
has
been
that
the
global
reach.
So
a
lot
of
these
creators
can
only
speak
Japanese
and
have
been
limited
to
the
studios
they
work
with.
And,
you
know,
I
talked
to
some
of
the
artists
that
made
some
of
these
famous
monsters
but
you
know,
years
down
the
road,
they
don’t
get
any
royalties
for
it.
So
even
working
now
to
recreate
these
characters.
It
did
not
really
incentivize;
they
want
to
do
something
new.
And
another
creator
episode
case
study
has
been,
you
know,
she’s
a
teacher.
But
she
does
drawing
as
a
hobby.
And
she
started
playing
our
games,
and
she
likes
the
character.
So
she
created
a
fan
art
and
posted
it
on
Twitter.
And
then
it
went
viral
in
our
community.
And
it
was
shown
to
our
CEO
and
right
away
did
decide
to
do
a
collab.
And
within
a
month,
she
created
her
first
NFT
on
our
games.
So
this
is
just
one
way
that
we’ve
been,
like,
decentralizing
that
creation
process
and
empowering
creators.
And
another
one
that
I
want
to
talk
about.
This
is
more
on
the
game
side,
we’re
releasing
this
game
called
Soul
Fusers,
which
is
like
a
monster
game.
And
these
monsters
are
actually
being
co-created
with
the
producers
and
the
community
members.
So
the
community
members
are
creating
ideas
for
monsters,
and
creating
a
sketch
and
posting
it
in
the
Discord
groups.
And
the
ones
that
get
chosen
will
get
finalized
and
made
into
characters.
And
in
the
smart
contract,
the
ID
of
the
creator
will
be
listed
on
their
name.
And
also
they
will
get
royalties
for
the
monsters
that
they
created.
It’s
like
imagine
being
a
fan,
right?
Matt
ZahabSo
cool.
Tats
Kohrogi Like
Pokemon
or
something.
And
like,
You’re,
like,
you
created
one
of
the
Pokemon
back
in
the
days,
and,
you
know,
it
exists
as
a
fan,
right?
Like,
that’s
something
that’s
never
been
done.
And
I
think
I’m
really
excited
about
that.
Matt
Zahab That’s
such
a
big
value
prop
to
get
people
in,
you
know,
like,
it’s
tough.
There’s
so
many,
there’s
so
many
hooks
and
poles
nowadays
in
every
aspect
of
life.
And
that’s
like
when
you
can
bring
someone
in
to
an
ecosystem
in
which
they’re
passionate
about
and
actually
provide
a
very
appeasing
opportunity
to
join.
That’s
just
like,
it’s
tough
to
turn
down.
I
love
that.
That’s
so
cool.
Let’s
jump
into
Web3
gaming
as
a
whole
sort
of
the
macro
aspect.
You
guys
have,
you
know,
on
boarded
a
lot
of
non-gamers
into
the
Web3
space,
you
guys
have
also
chatted
with
a
lot
of
famous
artists
and
have
got
them
into
the
Web3
space,
AAA
game
developers
massive
conglomerates,
what
are
these
conversations
sound
like?
How
do
you
guys
bring
them
in?
Are
there
any,
you
know,
buzzwords
or
any?
Anything
sticky?
That
really
gets
them
in
the
door?
Tats
Kohrogi Yes.
For
the
AAA
games,
like
we’ve
talked
to
a
lot
in
the
past,
but
we’re
not
working
directly
with
them
right
now.
I’d
say
that.
Clearly,
we’ve
done
like
a
lot
of
brainstorm
sessions
gave
them
ideas
of
what
we’re
doing.
But
it’s
been
quite
different
of
what
they’re
trying
to
do
as
a
AAA
title,
like
existing
game
studio
as
well.
So
I
think
what
we’re
going
to
be
seeing
in
2023
will
be
these
mega
game
studios,
doing
small
like
POC
Proof
of
Concepts
of
Blockchain
games.
So
you’ll
see
them
come
to
something
quick
or
fast
to
test
out
something
right.
And
then
after
that,
we’re
estimating
probably
like
in
two
years,
so
by
2025,
they’re
gonna
go
probably
all
in
it’s
still
there’s
no
really
AAA
hit
title
Blockchain
game
out
there
yet
created
by
the
existing
game
studios.
But
the
some
of
the
keywords
like
you
mentioned
were
like
Blockchain
games
and
NFTs,
Play-and-Earn,
Play-to-Earn.
But
I
think
what
from
what
I’ve
heard,
the
bigger
game
studios
aren’t
really
focused
on
the
Play-and-Earn
aspect.
Matt
Zahab Right,
but
we’re
still
mad
early.
Tats
Kohrogi Yeah.
Matt
Zahab 2025,
jeez,
the
floodgates
will
open.
I
mean,
I’d
love
to
see
that.
Tats,
this
has
been
a
treat
man.
This
is
been
tons
of
fun.
We
always
have
a
segment
on
the
show
called
the
hot
take
factory.
This
is
where
you
and
I
jump
in
and
put
a
big
old
shit
kickin
boots
on
and
let
a
couple
of
hot
takes
fly.
This
doesn’t
have
to
be
crypto
related.
It
can
be
health,
wealth,
happiness,
finance,
space,
AI,
food,
politics,
sports,
you
name
it,
give
me
a
couple
Tats
hot
takes
that
only
you
really
believe
in,
whereas
most
other
people
do
not
choose.
Tats
Kohrogi This
is
gonna
sound
like
you
know,
work
related,
like
self
promotion
related.
But
recently,
the
narrative
I’ve
been
seeing
and
hearing
around,
you
know,
the
Blockchain
games
is
you
know,
the
Play-to-Earn
is
dead.
Right.
But
like,
being
the
person
in
it,
I
still
believe
in
it.
I
see
it.
The
insights
are
there,
a
lot
of
non-gamers
are
coming
into
it.
There’s
a
lot
of
potential
Play-to-Earn.
So
my
hot
take
apologies
that
it’s,
you
know,
work
related,
but
I
think
it’s
that
Play-to-Earn
is
the
future.
It’s
still
early.
It’s,
it’s
going
to
be
cracked.
And
I
think
a
lot
of
narrative
right
now
that
I
want
to
put
out
too
is
that
a
lot
of
narratives
focused
on
the
AAA
titles
creating
fun
games,
and,
you
know,
all
AAA
titles.
Yes,
it’s
focused
on
existing
gamers,
like
hardcore
gamers,
mid
core
gamers.
And
I
think
the
growth
for
Blockchain
game
and
Web3
adoption
is
going
to
come
from
these
non-gamers
as
well.
There’s
this
big
pie
for
existing
targeting
existing
gamers,
but
at
the
same
time,
there’s
this
different
pie
over
here,
where
there’s
gonna
be
a
lot
of
people
looking
for
the
casual,
and
really
easy
to
play
and
enjoy
on
a
smaller
scale.
And
I’m
a
firm
believer
in
that.
And
I
think
that’s
our
core
target
for
PlayMining.
And
that’s
my
hot
take
right
now
in
what
I’m
doing.
Matt
Zahab I
agree
with
you
in
the
sense
that
I
do
think
there’s
definitely
a
future
for
Play-to-Earn.
But
I
think
the
term
I
don’t
like
the
term
played
around
anymore,
because
so
many
people,
again,
it’s
like,
in
today’s
day
and
age,
people
don’t
do
research
anymore,
right?
They
act
on
fear
and
greed,
they
act
on
emotion
on
FOMO.
They
hear
about
this
new
Play-to-Earn
phenomenon,
and
they
want
to
invest
in
projects.
And
there
was,
you
know,
billions
of
dollars
that
hundreds
of
billions
of
dollars
that
were
lost,
but
you
know,
probably
just
been
played
are
and
maybe
not
hundreds
of
billions,
but
definitely
billions,
or
dozens
of
billions.
The
point
I’m
getting
up,
I
prefer
the
term
like
play
and
potentially
earn
where
it’s
like,
even
with
the
games
that
you
guys
are
creating,
earning
isn’t
the
main
focus,
right?
It’s
having
an
incredible
time
within
the
ecosystem.
And
if
you
are
a
contributor
to
the
economy
to
the
ecosystem,
you
will
be
able
to
earn
which
is
a
treat.
And
incentivizes
you
joining
the
ecosystem.
But
I
me
personally,
I
just
don’t
like
the
term
because
again,
games
I
feel
like
the
primary
aspect
of
games
should
always
be
fun.
It
should
never
be
earning.
Again,
just
you
know,
nitpicking
here,
but
that’s,
that’s
my
whole
two
cents
on
it
agree
with
the
business
model,
and
it
definitely
has
a
future
it’s
here
to
stay.
But
the
term
I
think
it’s
too
appeasing,
you
know,
yeah,
it
doesn’t
quite
tell
the
whole
story.
Tats
Kohrogi It’s
like,
you
gotta
grind
to
play,
like
it
doesn’t
work
together
in
a
way.
And
I
completely
agree
that
it
kind
of
uses
synonymously
but
Play-and-Earn
and
it
was
more
of
like,
the
recent
term
that’s
more
popular,
I
believe.
Yeah,
I
completely
agree
on
your
into
it.
Matt
Zahab But
again,
it’s
just
like,
and
I
haven’t
played
a
whole
lot
this
year.
But
last
year,
when
I
was
incredibly
curious
about
the
whole
PDE
phenomenon,
like
I
did
try
a
lot
of
games
and
it’s
just
it’s
a
unique
phenomenon
being
able
to
click
a
couple
buttons
on
your
computer
or
play
a
game
and
mind
you
there
were
no
real
good
games
out
last
year,
but
an
earn
some
of
the
company
or
ecosystems
native
coin,
it
was
just
like,
well,
imagine
when
I
was
younger,
you
know,
rip
and
Pokemon
or
imagine
like
rip
and
COD,
being
able
to,
to
buy
something
and
trade,
you
know,
or,
and
then
obviously,
you
have
much
more
adaptive
use
cases
like
RuneScape,
where
people
created
offline
marketplaces.
And
in
fact,
there
was
even
in
an
Indian
marketplace,
but
just
super
cool
stuff.
Tats
what
a
treat
man
really
appreciate
you
coming
on.
I
know
it’s
getting
late
for
you,
and
beautiful
Singapore.
But
before
we
let
you
go,
can
you
please
let
our
listeners
know
where
they
can
find
you,
PlayMining
and
DEA
online
and
on
socials?
Tats
Kohrogi Yes.
So
from
my
social
you
can
find
me
on
Twitter
or
LinkedIn
@tatsuya_kohrogi,
so
it’s
t-a-t-s-u-y-a
underscore
k-o-h-r-o-g-I,
and
PlayMining,
same
on
Twitter,
@playmining_
sg.
I
guess
maybe
I
can
share
the
link
to
you.
Maybe
you
can
attach
it
but
yeah.
Matt
Zahab Yeah,
sure.
Tats
Kohrogi Yes.
So
Twitter
is
the
best
to
just
kind
of
socialize
and
share
info
to
each
other.
I’m
quite
active
on
Twitter
and
LinkedIn.
Matt
Zahab Tats
appreciate
it,
man.
All
the
best
and
can’t
wait
for
round
two
in
over
the
next
couple
months.
Tats
Kohrogi Sounds
good
man.
Thank
you
so
much
for
having
me
Matt
Zahab Folks.
What
an
episode
with
Tatsuya
Kohrogi,
the
Chief
Strategy
Officer
and
Head
of
Global
Business
for
DEA.
Truly
an
episode
learned
a
ton
and
they
are
making
moves
out
East
and
Japan,
Singapore
and
everywhere
over
there.
What
an
episode
hope
you
guys
enjoyed
this
one
if
you
did,
please
do
subscribe.
It
would
mean
the
world
to
my
team
and
I
enter
the
team
love
you
guys.
Justas
you
are
the
GOAT
appreciate
you
as
always.
And
to
the
listeners
guys,
thank
you
so
much
for
listening.
Appreciate
you.
Keep
on
growing
those
bags
and
keep
on
staying
healthy,
wealthy
and
happy.
Bye
for
now,
and
we’ll
talk
soon.