'I am an enjoyer at heart' - Solana Diaries #9

Hello everyone, this is 🎅.sol! Welcome back to another edition of Solana Diaries, where we dive deep into the minds of those shaping the Solana ecosystem. Join me as I sit down with Stix, an energetic founder who found passion in building and fostering the community of DeFi Degens. Let's dive in!

🎅: Hello Stix! Thanks for welcoming me to your community of DefiDegens and taking the time for this interview! So, tell us how did you get into this space? What made you stick around?

Stix: I got into crypto with Bitcoin, as most people here probably did. I traded Bitcoin fairly early on and also sold almost all of mine way too early. I got into NFTs when I got a text from a friend about Solarians. I checked em out, hopped in the discord, minted SMB a few months later and the rest is history. I sold all of my SMBs but one during their first run in the fall of 2021, but I have kept one Monke continuously since mint. I love baseball and Pokemon cards and kind of trade NFTs the same way. I mostly trade them for fun and don't take it too seriously, which is what kept me around. I certainly want price to go up but I am an enjoyer at heart and it has kept me around for a couple of years now.

🎅: What’s your proudest win?

S: Minting and selling most WLs from SMB during the bull run. I missed out some winners by selling too early, but overall cashed a lot more selling into hype across the board and I never buy expensive jpegs.

🎅: Biggest ‘facepalm’ moment or regret?

S: I started with very little funds invested, only a couple hundred bucks and was grinding OTC markets back when you had to trust some random person on discord. If I could do it again I would both invest much more to start and have cashed out much more than I did in the fall of 2021. I put in money as an experiment/hobby but obviously I wish I had been more of an investor mindset early on.

🎅: What’s the most exciting thing [in crypto or beyond] right now? Spill the tea.

S: No tea, the most exciting to me is how many people still turn their nose up at crypto and NFTs. It is hard for me to consider an outcome where this will still be the case in another 10 years, which excites me.

_{Enjoying this interview?}

^{_{thank you}} 🎅

🎅: What are you building? Why does it matter to you?

S: I am building Defi Degens. We have a great group of holders and are sitting at a multiple of the mint price after minting out without WL or presale in the darkest days of SOL NFTs. We are still under the radar on the SOL NFT scene but are going to keep grinding forward and having fun while we do it. I did not realize how hard it would be to overcome not having the hype that projects get through WL and presale and I am proud we continue to push higher. It has been the most fun I have had in crypto, even though the project has been a money pit since I funded any expenses for of the project myself (merch, art, tools, etc).

🎅: As you look ahead, what personal goals are you chasing?

S: Ultimate boomer comment here, but next bull run I would like to payoff full mortgage of a house I bought in late 2021.

Rapid fire:

• I’m bullish on: Bitcoin (not really ordinals or anything ordinal related). Not a bitcoin maxi, but 99% of other coins won't make it imo. It always hurts me when I hear folks who are all in on SOL, ETH, or really anything else since I think most of these positions will end in pain.

• I’m bearish on: Large collection NFT projects. I think the next bull market many new entrants will look for the next shiny thing vs finding OG projects to join, outside of maybe a couple of exceptions.

• Undervalued: Projects with founders who show up every day because they enjoy it vs profit maxis

• Overvalued: Influencers shilling any project that has not minted yet

• NFTs are: Fun even in a down only market, and if they aren't fun to you you should probably trade something more liquid

• My degen secret: When you see people screenshotting profits it is time to sell. This goes for almost anything (stocks, coins, nfts)

• When next BTC ATH: Fall 2025 we run it back

• Next SOL ATH value: $420.69. Kind of a meme, but also my best guess which should not be trusted since I am a bad trader. I am good at being early and also selling too early - if we hit $420.69 I won't be holding any Solana.

• Everyone should follow: @_defi_degens twitter account, especially if you're into golf

• I want to see interviewed next: Nicko from SRDao

From 🎅 to Stix: What a pleasure getting to know you and your story! I appreciate you, your community and how much you ENJOY being here. Building something in this space is truly satisfying and I wish you all the success!

Until next time, keep exploring the Solana universe and remember to smash that subscribe button!

Ho ho ho!🎅