Who is this person anyway?<\/h2>\n
Irene Zhao, the Simp-Queen mastermind behind the SO-COL platform and a Crypto Twitter influencer, explains that having a celebrity in your corner can turbocharge your NFT collection.<\/p>\n
Zhao\u2019s first Simp DAO and NFT collection, IreneDAO, started with a floor price that was basically pocket change in ETH.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was about zero-point-something ETH,\u201d Zhao recalls.<\/p>\n
However, the game changed for Zhao when controversial YouTube star<\/a> Logan Paul threw in around a quarter of a million dollars in January 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next day, I woke up, the floor price went up five times when Logan Paul bought about 20 pieces or something. I was really shocked,\u201d she explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n I can\u2019t fix you \ud83d\udc49\ud83d\udc48 pic.twitter.com\/oyMLut3S2F<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 4, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Zhao reveals that Paul stumbled upon the project after billionaire crypto investor Mike Novogratz<\/a> posted about it on Twitter. That kickstarted a friendship with Paul:<\/p>\n \u201cLogan followed me on Twitter and Instagram after he bought my NFTs,\u201d Zhao says, adding, however, that they\u2019ve never managed to meet up.<\/p>\n \u201cI was going to travel to Los Angeles, but at the time, he was somewhere in Puerto Rico. So, we didn\u2019t get to meet in the end. But we do have conversations about NFTs.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubbing virtual shoulders with big names like Paul is just a regular day in the life of a crypto influencer. Zhao boasts 194,300 Twitter followers, runs her own Web3 NFT platform company, SO-COL, and globe-trots to speak at crypto conferences.<\/p>\n \u201cI meet a lot of cool and successful people, and they all have very interesting personalities. Otherwise, they wouldn\u2019t choose crypto as a career because it\u2019s a very dynamic and very fast-paced career industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Zhao had already built a following as a social media influencer in the Web2 space, and much like Bitcoiners orange-pilling their friends, she has introduced most of her followers to NFTs.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been building my own personal branding as a key opinion leader across various social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube. So, right now, I have about half a million followers across all platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been an IG influencer since my university days. I got lucky and People liked my photos. In six years I now have some 300k+ followers, amongst the top 10 influencers in Singapore. You would think I am relatively well to do with such a big follower base. But you are wrong. pic.twitter.com\/UT0A3eDN64<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) January 20, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n She jumped into crypto because she wanted to have control over her own content. She was fed up with only monetizing her content by promoting products, which is how Web2 influencers make a living.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve built a deep connection with a lot of big brands, but it kind of sucks, because even though I have a very huge following on all other social media platforms, I don\u2019t really get most of the benefits. I don\u2019t really own my content or my community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Zhao set up one of the first Simp DAOs, where NFT purchasers could join her Irene DAO fan club and get closer to their Simp Queen. She later spun this idea out for the SO-COL platform.<\/p>\n In my health is wealth era\ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n I\u2019m so ready for the road trip with @truck_memecoin<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/2Wh1TqsIps<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 1, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Zhao jokingly mentions that she\u2019s a big deal in Asia but can roam under the radar in the Western world:<\/p>\n \u201cThey recognize me, especially in Asia, but in the Western world, the white people can\u2019t really recognize Asian people. They think everybody looks the same,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n Read also<\/p>\n Game theory meets DeFi: Bouncing ideas around tokenomic design<\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n As Money Printer Goes Brrrrr, Wall St Loses Its Fear of Bitcoin<\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Zhao isn\u2019t a fan of the serious tone of some in the crypto world. In her perspective, those who enjoy technical or trading discussions might not necessarily be the most appealing minds in the crypto community.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I like the shitposting. It\u2019s pretty funny; it\u2019s very entertaining to look at all the memes.\u201d<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t send me crypto memes anymore, it’s over I lost him.<\/p>\n \u2014 Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) May 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Zhao holds the belief that making crypto memes requires a bigger brain than sharing trading tips:<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a very smart move because you have to understand the market, and you have to understand the audience to come up with the exact meme that people want. So, it\u2019s a very rare talent to have.\u201d<\/p>\n Imagine spending 1 hour a day making memes and shitposts on Twitter, that\u2019s 30 hours a month. <\/p>\n If you had spent these 30 hours trading crypto. You would have missed out on the simple joys of shitposting and even lose money.<\/p>\n \u2014 Irene Zhao (@Irenezhao_) November 15, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Zhao had a public beef with fellow crypto influencer Lady of Crypto in December 2021.<\/p>\n The feud lit up after Zhao lightly teased her on Twitter for dishing out a no-brainer tweet.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was predicting the price of Bitcoin or something, but it was a super obvious trend. So, I was like, \u2018You are stating the obvious,\u2019 and then she got offended.\u201d<\/p>\n The situation took a sour twist when Lady of Crypto fired back with some nasty comments about Zhao\u2019s English skills, saying, \u201cIn your vids, you can barely string two words together.\u201d<\/p>\n Zhao didn\u2019t let it get to her personally and thought it was \u201csuper funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Ever the businesswoman, Zhao was more interested in the fact that the post accumulated around \u201c4 million impressions.\u201d<\/p>\n Girl, you’re doing such a great job with $KONO<\/a>. <\/p>\n Question though. <\/p>\n In your vids, you can barely string two words together. Yet the English on your tweets is \ud83d\udc4c, why is that? pic.twitter.com\/PSZykRaYd6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Lady of Crypto (@LadyofCrypto1) December 11, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Zhao\u2019s predictions are pretty much in line with common, received wisdom. She\u2019s eagerly anticipating Bitcoin to reach the $100,000 mark.<\/p>\n However, she\u2019s also betting big<\/a> on real-world assets<\/a> taking off in the next year:<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, I\u2019m still bullish on BTC, Ethereum and all the basics. People are talking about RWA a lot. I think real world assets are probably going to go big in the next 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She also believes that NFTs still have room for growth because plenty of celebrities haven\u2019t hopped on the bandwagon yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI think NFTs for creators is going to be a real hype really soon because we haven\u2019t really experienced it yet,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still bullish on social collectibles because we haven\u2019t really onboarded all the Web2 creators to NFTs yet. So, I think there is still much room for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Subscribe<\/p>\n The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a\n
\n
What led to Twitter fame?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n Features<\/span><\/p>\n
\n Features<\/span><\/p>\nWhat content can people expect?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Nasty Beef: Lady of Crypto<\/h2>\n
\n
Predictions?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
\n week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Subscribe](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/reading-copy.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ED8906FB-583C-453F-8874-2267513D655C-1024x1024.jpeg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ED8906FB-583C-453F-8874-2267513D655C-1024x1024.jpeg\")