Fantom Community Spotlight – Tweak896

Conviction is easy to come by when euphoria flows freely and the charts are up and to the right, but it’s rare when the markets are red and the bears come out of hibernation. It’s the movers and shakers that weather the storm that have a story to tell.

Tweak is one of them.

You might recognize him from his incisive technical analysis, or you might know him for his commitment to the burgeoning grassroots NFT space on Fantom.

How’d you get into crypto, and from there how did you get into Fantom?

I’ve been in crypto since the early days of Bitcoin, when I was setting up miners on my laptop. Around that time, I was doing a lot of trading in stocks, and that’s how I taught myself  technical analysis.Then, in 2018, I got into Fantom around the time of its ICO. The bear market inevitably hit, and that’s when I had to make a decision. Was I in, or was I out? Fear was at an all time high, but I was convinced that Fantom, on the merit of its tech alone, would make it to the next bull market.Then Andre Cronje came along; it felt like the way that crypto was moving, things would be fast and cheap, and all of this building would favor the retail investor. I didn’t see the same thing happening on other chains, but I saw it on Fantom. That’s when I knew I was all in.

How has the Fantom ecosystem evolved since you first arrived on the scene?

Bomb was the first community project that I can remember, and that was around the end of 2020. The community wrote up a few contracts, sent them out into the world, and that planted the idea in everyone’s minds that we could build whatever we set our sights on. We didn’t have to ask for permission.The real wave of innovation and development started shortly thereafter. To me, Spookyswap was the first clear example of this. It was simple, easy to use, fast, and cheap. It was the opposite of every retail trader’s experience using DEXs on Ethereum, and it was everything I imagined Fantom to be.

Word quickly started getting around that Fantom could easily accommodate Ethereum devs and their users, which had been priced-out due to rising costs and scaling issues.

How has your perception of “Decentralized Finance” changed and evolved over time, and how does that connect to your mission on Fantom?

As retail investors, we’re used to dealing with countless restrictions. If you want to sign up with a broker, or go to a bank for a loan, you’re rarely treated like a paying customer. Instead, you’re met with resistance.To have a system that’s open and free, on the other hand, that’s game changing. People want power back into their own hands, and I believe the amount of new users flowing into Fantom is an indicator of that. First, the traditional financial system blocked them out, and then the layer 1 blockchain solutions that they’d hoped would be the solution ended up pricing them out.The secret is out: Fantom is opening up the possibilities of what you can do with your money, and that anybody with any amount to invest can finally put their money to work for them.

What’s the steepest part of the learning curve for new users coming to Fantom?

Historically, it was always the bridge to get onto Fantom, particularly for users in the US. But now Binance US is offering native FTM, and that means there’s a direct on-ramp to the ecosystem. For most people, particularly beginners, the bridge struggle is over.

For those coming into the space for the first time, what are some of your favorite projects on Fantom?

Tomb

Tomb Finance is an elaborate project with several different tokens, and so many possibilities around what you can do with them. Despite its seeming complexity, I think it’s a great starting point for people to get their hands dirty and learn about defi and financial markets in general.

I’ve seen Tomb educate tons of people on seemingly abstract concepts such as how yield farms work, and it’s helped the masses learn to critically analyze the opportunities in front of them.

Retreeb

Retreeb is a payment system built on Fantom. The philanthropic element, the idea of “giving back,” is something that resonates with me. By donating to charity some of the fees they generate, Retreeb is leading by example in our space. From a purely competitive standpoint, payment systems built on tradfi’s rails just can’t compete with something like Retreeb.

It’s a no-brainer that Fantom’s speed and low fees is going to outperform something like that, and that gives Treeb a tremendous leg up.

When it comes to technical analysis and trading, how would you describe your style?

Always be adapting. Learn to distinguish between short term plays and long term plays. To do so, you need to first determine the timeframe you’re operating on.Personally, I’m very patient and willing to wait for the right opportunity, even if that takes a long time. I’ll ask myself: is this token or project undervalued, are the fundamentals sound, and can I clearly articulate why I believe these things to be true?

When it comes to technical analysis for crypto, I stick to simple indicators. It’s not nearly as complicated as stocks. Even when I was trading stocks, I didn’t have any sort of professional background in the financial industry. I just set out to teach myself by learning a new indicator every day and then going out and applying it in the real world. Theory is great, but I’m a guy that learns by doing.

How do you find early, undervalued projects?

The beauty of the Fantom community is that it’s a rising tide that lifts all ships. In the long run, It’s really not a zero sum game. People share information freely, with no expectation other than the next person paying it forward. I’m plugging into Reddit, Discord, and Twitter. I’ll go just about everywhere the Fantom community hangs out to find the information I need.

What are some small steps that anyone in the Fantom community can take to further democratize finance for all?

Get active on Twitter, share your findings with your friends and family, and build relationships with the people you meet in Fantom’s community.

Move past seeing every interaction as transactional. When you learn something, spread your knowledge. This is all about the ripple effect in action: if I help three people learn how to navigate the space and each one of them goes out and does the same, we all benefit. Gatekeeping doesn’t help anyone.

As a vocal supporter of the grassroots NFT space on Fantom, how have you seen artists and communities come together?

There’s a bunch of fantastic NFT marketplaces. Some of my favorites are Zoo, Artion, NFTkey and Paintswap. The low cost to mint a NFT on Fantom empowers artists of any financial means, anywhere in the world, to get their work out into the world.Then there’s community auctions on discord such as Tombheads where you can meet the artist and even participate in giveaways. This adds another element of authenticity to the experience, because you have a chance to actually connect with the artist you’re investing in or supporting and learning about their mission.It’s inspiring to see how these communities come together to promote artists that might have been gatekept from traditional galleries because their style fell outside of the established conventions. This changes everything, because artists no longer have to partner with a gallery, jump through a bunch of hoops, and water down their original work just to attract the wrong audience. For art lovers and collectors such as myself, this paradigm-shift allows us to directly support any artist we appreciate, regardless of where they are in the world or what sort of connections they may or may not have.

To put this in perspective, one of my friends is a professional artist who was doing cover work for metal bands. They paid well, but he was stuck doing the same thing over and over again, when what he really wanted was to explore new mediums and styles. Now that he’s transitioned into the NFT space, he gets to make whatever he wants, and he is financially supported by people that appreciate it for what it is and not for what some curator out there wants it to be.

As a sort of decentralized “patron of the arts” collective, Fantom’s NFT community continues to empower artists to achieve ultimate financial and creative freedom.

What kind of trends or innovation are you seeing in the Fantom NFT space now?

Artists bringing their work into the world of NFTs, regardless of whether it’s a collection or a unique piece, have a new level of control over their work that was previously unheard of. A lot of this comes down to the community supporting and empowering artists to understand and control the financial and business side of their operations.A great example is this guide from native Fantom team Strangebrew which is empowering all artists—regardless of technical proficiency—to set up their own smart contracts and have absolute control over their work. Making this information accessible has led to artists digging into their own smart contracts, writing their own metadata, and knowing that even if a NFT marketplace were to shut down, their contract would still be accessible.

Who are some of your favorite NFT artists on Fantom right now?

Here are some of my favorite NFTs I’ve purchased from three different Fantom artists, in no particular order.

Czepta - Fantom Underworld “#7 - Reaper”

This is a piece dedicated to Reaper Farm, and is just beautifully done. With such a bold and unique style, you immediately recognize a Czepta piece when you see it. Fantom Underworld is a series that pays tribute to the Fantom community.

Zvonarka - The Devilish Ones #001

This piece is the first Devilish that Zvonarka created,  and it’s a wonderful showcase of his style that has made him one of the premiere artists on Fantom.

Clokkworky - Clokkworky’s Laboratory “The Sheriff of DeFi (Infiltration of the Fantom Bull Mafia)”

If you zoom in, you’ll notice it’s a tribute to all the projects in the Fantom ecosystem. His art has so much detail in it that you discover something new every time you look. He often ships out the physical artwork to go along with his NFTs, and this one is framed on my wall.

Anything else you’d like to say to the Fantom community?

I love the Fantom community and its people. Everyone is really helpful and positive, and I’m just trying to do my part by bringing as many people as I can to this community. When I started tweeting about Fantom last August, I never expected I would have this sort of reach, or that my content could make a real and positive impact on people's lives. There’s no reason not to get started today.

Twitter || Discord @Tweak896#1779 || Telegram @tweak896