POW with Clouted

Clouted is a pseudonymous Twitter personality with a background in computer science and experience in banking and IT.

They tweet educational threads, market commentary, and occasional funny quips. Clouted is currently focused on investing and trading in crypto while contributing to various projects and communities in the space.

 What were you doing before Web3?

Being undoxxed, its hard to give many details, however i do have a background in computer science, and worked in both banking and IT sectors.

Currently, I just invest/trade in the crypto space. I also constantly research and learn new innovations and products happening in the space. And I contribute to many projects and communities I find interesting.

 How did you get into Web3?

I got involved in crypto many years ago. Since working in banking, I have had a good understanding of how the current economy works, or, should I say, doesn’t work. And when I learned about network security and crypto at the university, then saw how they were applied to build a concept we know as the blockchain. It blew my mind.

From that day on, I spent almost every waking minute of my life consumed in this space in one way or another. From learning to trading to contributing to speaking to educating, and on and on.

I am very much focused on Ethereum and the wider Ethereum ecosystem, as I really align with the vision of where it is going and what it is trying to achieve.

 What was your first crypto or NFT project?

If my memory is correct, the first crypto I ever bought was $300 of litecoin. My first NFT was a supduck with a great trait combination. I don’t currently own either of those.

 How would you explain what you do to someone outside of Web3?

My interactions usually go like this:them: “so what do you do?”me: “nothing”them: “nothing at all?”me: “well, all I do is tweet”them: “do you make money from that?”me: “no, In fact if anything i lose money”

They then usually proceed to walk away, or if they’re cool, they ask more questions. I then explain that I kind of delve into the crypto space and invest or trade. For the most part, I never get too detailed with anyone just for privacy reasons.

 Which creator or thought leader do you enjoy learning from?

The modern-day philosophy for our industry truly comes in the form of tweets. I’ve never been the type to have one dominant person I look up to. It’s always been about taking perspectives from many people I enjoy learning from and then developing my own opinions.

Some popular accounts that come to mind, in no particular order, are: Dcinvestor, punk6529, Foobar, Clouted, punk4156, Flood, Vitalik, Ryan Selkis.

 What is the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I really have a bad tendency to not celebrate anything I do or achieve, so this is hard for me.

I think maybe the day I was able to leave my career and pursue “full time Web3” (whatever that means) was a highlight for me.

It was something I’ve been investing in to achieve for a few years and was able to accomplish it.

 What tech or crypto trend are you watching this year?

1. Bitcoin: Ironically has a very strong monetary narrative based on current macro situations. However, I don’t expect dominance to rise more.

2. Rollups: Specifically ZK ones but all rollups in general. I think will have decent applications built on them and gain much more traction over the next year.

3. Arbitrum: I’m specifically bullish on arbitrum in the short term (6-12months). I think the entire ecosystem and all the protocols and DAOs on arbitrum will do very well, great builders and innovators are on arbitrum.

4. Privacy: I always have and always will be a massive advocate of privacy tech. I think this year we see some great protocols and tools in light of the regulatory pushback on our space.

5. IPFS: I think IPFS and other “decentralized storage/hosting” services will see much more use, including just normal web browsing (sidenote: if you want to see something cool, go to a IPFS enabled browser such as brave browser for desktop and type “clouted.eth” in the taskbar and hit enter)

6. ENS: I think ENS is the quickest growing “middlewear” to the ethereum stack, and being a predominantly UX middlewear is super useful with loads of utility and features.

7. New DeFi protocols: I’m always on the lookout for interesting innovative tech in DeFi, and its consistently happening, such as GMX last year, we could see some defi gambling protocols or something else pop up

 What advice would you give someone starting out in Web3?

Make a twitter account and follow the right people. Learn Ethereum and don’t take shortcuts. Understand the main reason this space exists and what we are fighting for, understand the values.

 If you could do a TEDtalk on any topic, what would it be?

Well, for me, it would have to be the social, political and financial revolution that decentralized rails are bringing in this world, with a big focus on why privacy and sovereignty matter so much.

 What is the one thing you would bring if you were stuck on a deserted Island?

probably a girl.

POW stands for “Proof of Work.” It is a new feature article series in The Mega Maxi to highlight the savviest builders in the Web3 space.