Unchained - Gabriel Haines on How He Came to Make His Hilarious, Yelling Crypto Videos - Ep. 425

Episode Date: November 25, 2022

Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator, comes on this 2022 Thanksgiving edition of Unchained to talk about his videos and leave a positive message for these holidays.  Show highlights: how Gabriel started doing his very unique type of videos Gabriel's hummus eating competition how Gabriel's videos are "quite not professional" how Gabriel is monetizing some of his videos with NFTs whether NFTs are a solution for content creators how Lee, Gabriel's wife, has also started creating some funny videos how Web3 is going to change the traditional version of media in the Internet Take Unchained's 2022 survey!   Unchained is doing its annual survey. Tell us how you think we’re doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!  Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Ava Labs DeFi Saver Gabriel: Twitter Gabriel’s video with a machete Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everyone, just a quick note before we begin. Unchained is doing its annual survey. Head to surveymonkey.com slash R slash Unchained 2022 to tell us how you think we're doing and how we could improve, whether it be on the podcast, in the newsletter, or in our premium offering. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Again, the link is surveymonkey.com slash R slash Unchained 2022. And you can also check the show notes for the link. Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host, Laura Shin,

author of The Cryptopians. I started covering crypto seven years ago, and as a senior editor of Forbes, was the first NatryMedia reporter to cover cryptocurrency full-time. This is the November 25th, 2022 episode of Unchained. With the Crypto.com app, you can buy, earn, and spend crypto in one place. Download and get $25 with the code, Laura, link in the description. DeFiSaver is an all-in-one management app with unique automation options for top lending protocols such as Ave, Maker, Liquity, and Compound. Check them out on Ethereum Mainnet, Arbitrum, and Optimism. In this Thanksgiving edition of Unchanged or Black Friday edition, our guest is Gabriel Haines, a crypto content creator or, as he likes to call himself, a crypto genius. Welcome, Gabriel.

Thank you for having me. Thank you for the title. Much appreciated. Well deserved, if I might say. So you're famous for your videos in which you make funny commentary or say outrageous things about crypto in a distinctive, mostly yelly voice. Can you yell something in that voice for people listening who can't see you and may not recognize your normal voice? Good morning! I hope you didn't sell your shit coins today. Awesome.

So people love your goofy videos. And I was curious, how did you get started? doing them. Yeah. It was a bit of a, it was a very organic process. I would say I started out my crypto journey. Very early on, I started making content about crypto, mostly tutorials, explanations about different defy applications. Actually, I'm wearing the sweatshirt. You can see, it says year two, which is just commemorating the early people who worked on yearn and my name appears on this sweatshirt. So I was very involved very early in like 2020, 2021, in Defi, making tutorials, explanations and doing a lot of interviews. But actually, then my daughter was

born and I didn't have a lot of time to do any long form content. I don't have a time to sit down for an hour and have a conversation. So it had to be a lot more condensed, a lot more short form. and I don't know if you have kids, but when you have kids, you don't sleep a lot. And that contributes to a sort of psychosis, maybe frustration. So I started to maybe vent a little bit, express myself loudly on crypto Twitter, and it kind of resonated with people and people really liked it. So I kept on doing it. And yeah, it's really just that's how we got here.

Wait, and so are you saying your first videos were about your lack of sleep or were they about crypto? Oh, no. I was just, the tone was because of the lack of sleep. I was yelling because I was not sleeping. I was frustrated. I need to, you know, get that out there. But it was about crypto.

It was always about crypto through the entire time. just the style, the tenor came from that particular emotional state that I was in. And maybe continue to be. Got it. And when was that? Exactly a year ago. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. And so you said that you started by just making content about defy and stuff like that. What did you do before?

I was just making content even before that. before crypto, before I got into crypto, I was doing a hummus review. So if you, right now, anyone who's listening, type in Chickpea challenge in Google and you will find a hummus eating competition hosted by my wife in which I'm competing to eat as much hummus as possible. Now, I was living in Israel and I would go around to different hummus places and review them. Like in the United States, you have kind of like pizza places, like a cultural fast food. type in Israel in the Middle East, you have hummus. It's like fast food, you know, very quick. You see, you get it, you go. But I love hummus. And I just, and there's not a lot of review.

There's not a lot of like breakdown of the whole environment. So I would go to all these different places and, you know, just talk about them. That was my very early days in content creation, which I've been doing for now for about four years or so. Wow. I love it. I will have to check these out. I had a famous road trip, it wasn't a road trip, it was a backpacking trip in Europe with friends where somehow chick fees favored or appeared. They were a theme of the trip, let's say. Anyway, so for your current videos, how do you come up with the ideas for them?

Because they're kind of, I mean, they're really funny. They're generally about crypto news, but sometimes they're also about other things. So I was curious, how do you decide what you're going to make a video about? A lot of it is just reaction videos. I'm scrolling on crypto Twitter often and I see something that just begs, begs for a video to be made about it. And yeah, most of my videos I do in one take. I don't write anything down. I just kind of like just start talking.

Maybe I have one or two words that I want to get in in a rant. But yeah, it's it's all about reaction. I think that my best stuff will come from, you know, seeing something outrageous going on and being even more outrageous, you know, in the way that I do. What would you say are your most popular video so far? Well, I mean, last week or, yeah, I think last week, maybe a week and a half ago, but the whole FTCX drama was coming out. and I actually had one video that was extremely popular, a million views on Twitter, actually. That's the first time I've ever had anything,

any video of mine get a million views. I was talking about the orgies. I don't know if there was orgies, but maybe I don't know, but just kind of like talking about that. And yeah, I think that a lot of people are not willing to talk in that way and not willing to address these topics. But I think it's very fun, and I do it in a funny way and kind of a lighthearted way.

That also, like, kind of gives a point of truth, but also is entertaining. And that was the one where you are shirtless, and if I recall correctly, you're wearing jeans and there's snow on the ground, and you have like an axe, and you are yelling about this. Is that the one?

Yeah, almost. I'm actually wearing a cool cat's pants, which I'm wearing right now as well. Yeah, I was wearing, like, sweatpants and not an axe. It's machete. Please. I take my work very seriously, so we need to get these things correct. Yeah, yeah, basically what you're describing.

I actually, as a journalist, I appreciate the fact check. I'd love to play a little clip of that. Carol! Sex on those goddamn beanbag! Picture that in your mind! So you said you only do one take. So do you set everything up, yourself or do you have somebody videotaping you or like what equipment do you use and how

professional an operation is this um it's quite not professional my wife uh will off will sometimes film me but most of the time i just put my phone even on the floor just wherever it can be propped up actually the most recent piece of equipment that i purchased was a tripod for my phone and that's it. I mean, you don't need anything. I think that a lot of the reason also that the reason I do it this way is because I recognize that I'm not a good editor and I don't like spending a lot of time editing. So if I'm able to present something that is just a scene and my voice and given an idea, that's the easiest way for me to convey my message with not a lot of production, not a lot of help but just put up the phone press record say whatever it is and post no no need to to work

to go crazy with any sort of edits or filters or whatever and i did see that you recently sold some of your videos as nfts before that had you ever made money from these videos or was it always just for fun yeah i mean before before selling no i mean when you get started in content i mean you know better than I do. You've been doing this way longer than I have. When you get started, you're not making any money. I mean, you're not, nobody cares about you. Like, you're just out there yelling into a camera on your own. But yeah, I mean, you can like just, you can go back. Anyone can go back and look at my oldest videos on YouTube or Twitter or whatever. There's like five views on them. So yeah, of course, at that time, I was not selling anything. And yeah,

NFTs have been a very interesting route. Usually what happens is that people will actually ask for me to mint an NFT. I won't just go ahead and just take every video and mint it. I just, I want, I'd like someone who wants, like, I'm not forcing it on anyone. If someone wants to collect it and wants to support me, that's awesome and I'm happy. But most of the videos are just for fun. Like, I'm just enjoying, like, I personally will go back and watch my videos and laugh. Like, that sounds. weird and narcissistic, but I think it's funny. I love it. I love it. I think if you find something funny, then for other people to like it is sort of just gravy. All right. So in a moment, we're going to talk a little bit more about the NFTs and kind of some other aspects of the videos, which are super fun. But first, a quick word from the sponsors who make this show possible. With MX Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply.

DefySaver is an all-in-one management app for the top lending protocols on Ethereum, including AVE, Maker, Liquity, and Compound. They have dedicated protocol dashboards with options for quick leverage adjustment and self-liquidation, as well as automated liquidation protection options with stop loss, trailing stop, and automated unwinding options. They also have loan shifting tools for collateral and debt swaps and instantly moving positions between different protocols. You can try Defi Saver today on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism. Back to my conversation with Gabriel. So are you, I know you started as like a crypto, or not, I wouldn't say started, but you obviously have been doing crypto content creation. And I was curious with your experience

with the NFT sales, like, do you feel that this is kind of a good solution for creators like you? I think it's a tool in the toolkit for sure. An NFT on its own is nothing. It's just, it's nothing. I mean, you have to incorporate it under some brand. You have to, yeah, you have to use it as part of, you know, your creator toolbox. Being a crypto, being someone who is in crypto and talks about crypto, it's a very obvious fit for me to have NFTs, right, video NFTs. And as crypto grows and as, you know, the market, the market cap continues to grow, number go up, then I think more and more people will be able to utilize this. Right now, it's mostly a very, it's a very niche thing, you know, focused mostly on crypto creators. You don't see a lot of people who are

outside of crypto making NFTs for obvious reasons. It's very difficult. But yeah, I think it's super important. And the NFTs have been way more profitable than YouTube payments or even Twitter has like super followers. Those have been minuscule. Miniscule. I mean, it's maybe a hundred times more in NFTs. So yes, absolutely. Not that the numbers of NFT, like not that the number of NFT sales is people level, but it's, you know, it's something. And that it feels. feels good. Yeah, I'm liking it. I'm enjoying. I like the NFTs. So you were saying that you go back and watch your own videos and they make you laugh. And, you know, for anybody who's followed you, they have seen that some people have made comments about you or your body, the fact that you do

yoga. You then will kind of clap back at them through videos. And I was curious, like, how you felt about all that. And if you were surprised by it or if you were heard, if you thought it was all in good fun or what? To be, I also want to say specifically that was Bitboy who said that I'm, he was like, are you, I did some sort of yoga pose in one of my videos and he's like, I'm a former yoga instructor. So, nice job on the crow pose. Thank you.

And he, his reply was so weird. It was like, yoga's for girls or something. I'm like, okay. Oh, please. There's so many guys that do yoga. I know tons of guys who do yoga. Well, yeah, and I was like, and then the next video was like, Bit Boy, can you even touch your toes? I don't think so, right?

Like, so, you know, a lot of people feel like, you know, they have an outlet to say I have, you know, I have a big belly, man boobies, whatever it is. And listen, I am, I am overweight. I mean, I have a belly. What am I going to do about it? But I don't think there's any reason to be ashamed of it. I mean, you know, if you go on TikTok right now, you know, if you go on TikTok right now, I mean, I have a belly, now or Twitter, whatever, you'll see a hundred guys with their shirts off.

Most of them, 99% of them have these abs like their, like, Thor or something. But, you know, that's just not realistic. It's not like a real, that's not a real person, you know, like there's very, very few people that actually have that type of body, but we see it on, you know, TikTok as if it's every single person. So I think it's kind of interesting. It's kind of funny, like to put a guy who's like not in the best. shape, doesn't have like six-pack abs or whatever, shirtless. Like, why not? I mean, it's just

it's all part of the fun. I would agree. I would agree. So your wife, Lee Eller, has gotten in on this and she's been posting funny videos of her own. And I was curious how that all got started. Yeah, Lee has been, she is an artist. She's a musician, an actress before we even met. And she's been making, she made songs for many, many years ago, music videos. So she knows about making content. So it's not something that is foreign to her. But yeah, I've just been making videos and she's always been supportive and she's always happy to tag along and do her own thing and join in on the fun. So it's been awesome. And I like that it gives a different perspective to the videos I make. like you can see a guy in the snow with a machete yelling about something,

but then you see it from outside the window and my wife is talking about it. It's very funny. It gives like that alternate view, which I think adds another dimension to the universe of Gabe, of the Haynes family, if you will. But yeah, it's been awesome. Yeah, between the two of you, it gets very meta watching the videos. It's super fun. So we talked a little bit about how.

NFTs could be beneficial for creators, but your actual job is around Web3 media. And I was curious to hear a little bit more about that. Like, what's your vision there? How do you think Web3 will change media? What does it offer that people can't get on the traditional version of the internet? Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of empowerment in being able to be directly supported by your fans. I mean, just even a couple days ago, I made a video about someone posted a,

a TikTok video of SBF running down the street in the Bahamas. And I very quickly, you know, made a kind of a reaction video to that. Someone asked, and I'm, and this is just a couple days ago, someone asked, can you mint this? Can I collect this? So I said, sure. I put up 10 NFTs for 0.5 each, and it's sold out within an hour. Okay. Now that's a few hundred dollars.

It's not, I'm not going to be rich from it. But if you are a content creator in any other industry, you know, outside of crypto, if you're a chef, if you're blah, whatever it is, you're not going to be making a few hundred dollars from a video that you just made a couple hours ago. It will be almost impossible, unless you have like, you know, sponsors or whatever, you're not going to get that support natively from any platform, not TikTok, not Twitter, not YouTube. Nothing. And the ability for fans who support my work to support me directly, it feels really good. And it gives me the confidence and the support to be able to keep on doing this. Because a few hundred dollars, it could be today, but it could be, you know, a couple years from now. If I keep growing, it could be a million dollars for an NFT. Why not? If someone sees the value. So I really think that the future of Webber.

Web 3 allows, it is that connection between the creators and the audience. And it's that direct, no intermediary connection, which is very powerful and which allows the market to actually decide who is bringing value and who is not. Not an algorithm doesn't have to decide, just individuals who find value in what is being created. Awesome. I love it. As creator myself, I think there's a lot that Web 3.

hopefully we'll bring to creators. So this episode will come out the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. I was wondering if there was any crypto-related holiday message you want to give people. Buy turkey coin. No, I don't know. Enjoy the time with family. Enjoy the time with friends. You're probably going to be not going to be treated very well by the people that you've

convinced to buy crypto over the past year. But hey, that's okay. It comes with the territory. Just have a nice time. relax, enjoy. I totally agree with everything you said. All right, Gabriel, well, it's been so fun having you on Unchained. Thanks for coming on the show.

My pleasure. Thank you for having me, Laura. Oh, yeah. And for those who are watching the video, Gabriel made a special video just for Unchained, which we will feature after the ad break. For those of you that are listening on the pod, stick around as well,

since you can at least hear what he's saying in his funny, yelling voice. All right? Well, thanks again. and Caprile. Betmoot activated. The scorebed app here with trusted stats and real-time sports news. Yeah, hey, who should I take in the Boston game? Well, statistically speaking.

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Spend your crypto anywhere using the crypto.com visa card. Get up to 8% cash back instantly. Plus, 100% rebates for your Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon Prime subscriptions. Download the crypto.com app now and get $25 with the code, Laura. link in the description. Thank you very much for listening to this conversation on the Unchained podcast. I hope you enjoyed it as much as you did eating your goddamn turkey. In the coming year, I wish you a 100x so you can make back all that money that you lost

And so you can repay back your family members for selling them shit coins at the top. Yeah.