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It was timefor Walter Prince to make his choice.
Its a tough decision, Prince said, hanging his head under his black Yankees cap.
Diamond waited expectantly, arms outstretched.
But I gotta take that cash.
Pongstien screamed, his voice going hoarse.
Thats cryptospeak forscammed and Princes cash will be rendered in ethereum.
Im here for clout.
Im here for the vibe, Pongstien said.
But this is also a way to kick-start my entertainment career.
He claimed he could not name a single reality-TV show.
As Ma put it, they want to permeate the culture.
Like, legitimate culture.
The shows pacing is staccato, riddled with onscreen graphics and memes, courtesy of editor Ari Cagan.
The internet is so serious sometimes, especially Crypto Twitter.
Everyones very focused on making money, said Lewtan, whos also Mad Realities CEO.
We wanted to create a space for real people to come on and lean into the bit.
And besides, she said, traditional Hollywood is not keeping up with the times.
It hasnt happened quite yet: Themost-viewed episodejust cracked 6,000 views.
On set, vapes of various makes and substances were surreptitiously hit by their streetwear-clad owners.
Usually theres someone in the room whos a 50-year-old executive who funded the thing, said Ma.
We really get to do whatever we want with it.
When I asked him what he did for work, he described himself as a clout-chaser.
(He also works at a text-message marketing company.)
So far, hes been the only contestant to choose money over a date.
(Despite copious paparazzi evidence, neither confirmed their relationship.)
Another NYU Girl, Sarah Jannetti, now runs Mad Realities operations.
Unlike on that Clubhouse show, crypto and crypto shilling are integral toProof of Love.
Since contestants are mostly drawn from the teams social networks, many skew toward crypto enthusiasm.
Buy our fucking NFTs!
Pongstien yelled into the camera.
Its possible that a Kickstarter and a group chat could yield the same results.
Its funny because our YouTube views are like, fine, said Faze.
More than 250 people showed up nearly double the venues capacity and formed a line outside.
The ground was littered with rose petals, a nod to Mad Realities NFT graphics.
A waitress circulated with a tray of shots.
These people were clearly not all here for the blockchain.
Even for those who are actually in tech, the real attraction of crypto is the community.
If any NFT project is about to get swallowed up, this is what that is.
Then he threatened to sue me if I used his name in this story.
(Itshappenedmorethanafew times, and theDOJ is just starting to catch up.)
Even at a small scale, Mad Realities chaos has occasionally veered out of the founders control.
The 1/1 winner turned out to be trolling.
We thought the chaos was going to be more like someone deciding to send a gift to a contestant.
We have very thoughtful, kind people in our community, Lewtan told me.
Even just jokes like this, associating with our brand …
I mean, its top of mind.
For the first time, they were confronting what could happen when you let strangers bid on creative control.
If they werent prepared, Lewtan acknowledged, This could turn dystopian very quickly.
