In our latest Twitter Spaces session, we joined forces with Evgeny of Re7 Capital. Join us as we look back on a great fireside chat that spanned a range of topics, from Evgeny’s experience using PWN to the best security practices in DeFi and the future of NFTs.

Introduction

Steve and Evgeny first met about a year ago, when Evgeny reached out to Steve after both took part in a call together with some folks from MetaCartel. They’ve stayed in touch since then, and just recently, our team has been in touch with Evgeny about a super exciting Nouns NFT loan worth $60K that’s currently backed on the PWN platform. Through this process, Evgeny had a chance to get up and personal with our platform.

What does Re7 Capital think of the PWN platform?

Evgeny was one of the first people to use the recently released version of the PWN protocol and platform. So what was his experience like while using it?

• Great UX and UI: Evgeny mentioned that using PWN is smooth and the process is super straightforward. He’s a fan of our clean UI (and enjoys our simple yet aesthetically pleasing color palette)!
• Verification made easy: Using PWN, it’s easy to cross-check assets on OpenSea. This is because we include an asset explorer link (such as Opensea) directly on a loan’s detail page. Visit PWN to learn more.

All about the Nouns deal

Our first Nouns NFT loan is a big deal.

We’re extra excited about it, since there are only 374 Nouns in existence with a floor price of 108 ETH (roughly $115,560) per NFT. Around 10,000 Nouns are estimated to be around in the late 2040s, so there’s currently less potential sell pressure and buyers are closely involved through proposals and the nounification of the NFT landscape.

The Nouns community is one of the most active communities out there, and they actively manage their treasury. What makes this community really stand out is how well-structured it is as well as the fact that the team is composed of real DeFi professionals.

Nouns’ average price has been going up over the last ~120 days, with an average 90-day price of 96 ETH and a 90-day volume of 2,807 ETH. Nouns DAO has implemented some best practices of other blue-chip PFP projects – they’re CC0 and they have been innovating with funding mechanisms.

When using the platform, PWN users don’t need to worry about owning an NFT worth 100 ETH. Since PWN is deployed on Polygon, network fees won’t be a problem for NFTs with a smaller value. Check out the PWN platform for yourself!

Steve’s questions for Re7

A large segment of our fireside chat with Re7 was spent discussing some hot topics in a Q&A session. We’ll sum up some of the questions that Steve had for Evgeny.

How do you check that you’re interacting with the right contract?

Re7 carries out dozens of on-chain transactions every day and has been doing so for a year. In the team’s day-to-day activities, maintaining security is a top priority. ”It’s really easy to lose money on the blockchain if you’re not careful”, said Evgeny. “It’s really important to double check everything you’re doing.”

Evgeny emphasized the ongoing need to keep one’s security in check while mentioning a few notable industry vulnerabilities, such as the exploits affecting Convex, Harmony, and Solana’s Wormhole.

A couple pieces of advice to stay on top of one’s security are as follows: Always be sure to verify contract addresses on Etherscan and check that any collateral is really what you think it is.

Do you proactively revoke approvals that you think you won’t be using in the future?

The Re7 team finds it the most efficient to carry out periodic reviews. “The reality is that if you’re doing this all the time, it can become painful,” said Evgeny. In order to bolster security, they also make use of many different wallets — that way, if someone gets unlucky, they’re able to contain the damage.

Do you get a lot of scammy content in your DMs?

Re7 receives a lot of scammy messages on their channels. As a rule of thumb, the only people who they respond to and communicate with are those who they actively know. Otherwise, they choose to block other DMs, around five to seven of which they receive daily on Twitter.

Evgeny’s advice: If you get a message from someone you don’t know asking for information and/or help, it’s best to assume it’s a scam until proven otherwise

How does Re7 Capital evaluate risks when investing? Has the playbook changed in any way now that we’re in a bear market?

Evgeny pointed out the importance of distinguishing between real risk and the perception of risk. He compared dealings within DeFi with the oft-cited quote, “If you're not paying for the product, you are the product.” He commented that there’s a similar result in DeFi; in other words, “If you don’t know where the yield is coming from, you’re the yield.”

In regards to the current state of the market, Re7 sees how the perception of risk has affected how people manage their money. Because liquidity has dried up, the playbook has changed and is currently evolving at a rapid pace.

Thoughts on DAOs

As the conversation turned to the topic of DAOs, Evgeny went over a few key facts about Re7’s organizational structure: Re7 has its own investment fund, and Evgeny is a part of MetaCartel. The company is fully regulated and compliant in what they do, which ultimately protects them as a business. Re7 decided against moving to a DAO, but in general, they feel that certain organizational structures are relevant for a company’s respective use case.

According to Evgeny, investment teams can either choose to be very open or opt for efficiency over openness. His team’s experience has demonstrated that communication in a more closed environment allows for making decisions instantly.

Final reflections

Two things that Evgeny is excited about looking ahead are NFTs and the metaverse. He was curious how the PWN team envisions the future of NFTs.

As Steve put it, “We need to see a proper marriage between NFTs and the DeFi ecosystem”. He recently dove into the importance of this topic during a talk on how to onboard a billion DeFi users (more on that in our recent monthly digest).

In the next six months, PWN will be able to do things with NFTs that web2 has never even dreamed of — so stay tuned! For now, check out the platform to:

• See how much others are willing to lend
• Check out the loans available at the moment
• See other NFT collections that are currently listed
• …and more!

Follow us on Twitter to stay as up to date as possible on our team’s daily activities.

A massive thank you to Evgeny and Re7 Capital for teaming up with us for this session. We’re excited to see where things continue to take us together.