FOUNDER STORIES: Rush Uno - Founder of Croginal Cats
From Bitcoin to Building on Cronos: The Journey of Rush Uno and Croginal’s Vision for Web3
Introduction
In this edition of Founder Stories, we sit down with Rush Uno, the founder behind Croginal Cats.
From his early days of discovering Bitcoin through a favorite YouTuber to founding an ambitious project on the Cronos chain, Rush's journey into the world of Web3 is nothing short of inspiring. In this interview, we explore his initial experiences with crypto, the evolution of Croginal, and the challenges and triumphs of building a project in the rapidly changing Web3 space. Dive in to learn more about what fuels his passion and vision for the future of Croginal Cats.
We are pleased to present our Founder Stories interview with Rush - Founder of Croginal Cats.
An AI Voiceover Readout of the interview:
What sparked your interest in Web3, and how did you first get involved with the Cronos ecosystem?
My first time encountering Web3 was actually watching one of my favorite YouTubers. He had talked about a new form of payment catching fire called "Bitcoin" in the $400-600 range at that point.
I did buy one and sold it immediately at $1000 and left crypto behind until about three years ago when I stumbled back into Web3. I never truly left, however, as I was always into forums about new tech and such. I left initially, mind you, because it was much harder back when I first heard of crypto to get "into" crypto. There was also a lot of fear of misuse and illegal activities as well, which scared me off.
Some time passed, and I wanted to get back into web3 "crypto," so I started researching the easiest ways. I honestly stumbled upon Crypto.com from this research as it made the most sense. Where would people go to buy crypto? Why not a website with that same exact name attached? A no-brainer for me. And I started playing around.
Some more time went by, and I got bored after a while and thought to myself, these coins start something, right? As I was already used to the main app, I searched something like, how do crypto coins start? Enter DeFi and Cronos! I found out our chain had a decentralized version—a playground, if you will, of potential big plays and early access before listing, etc., so I dove in, and well, I haven't left since.
Are you full-time, or are you handling Croginals team and development next to a full-time job?
Definitely not full-time. I'm lucky to have a very good, dedicated team, but at first, it was just a few of us grinding hard for the first month. Definitely no sleep at that time.
What made you co-found Croginal, and has the original "vision" changed since then?
It's a project I have been planning for a really long time, actually. It has changed names and designs, but the overall idea of it stays the same.
While our vision stays very much the same, we adapt to what the market calls for and what my team decides is best.
What excites you most about building on Cronos, and what on the other did you see as the biggest "hurdle" for you on Cronos so far?
Cronos is a "safe" chain, and the communities, for the most part, are very willing to work with other projects, which is not often the case with other chains.
Our biggest hurdle at the moment is really funding. The team and I have high goals that most other projects wouldn't even imagine touching, such as our "products." We require quality over quantity, so there is a premium that comes with that territory.
There is a reason only a slight handful of projects have even tried what we are attempting.
You recently launched the Croginal NINE boss-fighter game and announced plans for your own DEX. What would you bring with the DEX to make it a "breakthrough" in the competition, and are there any other not-so-secret developments in Croginal Cats coming in the near future?
Really, we are striving for Web2 along with Web3. So with that, obviously, we have our cards coming out soon (December) and a gamified version later on. A board game would be the next level for me personally once our card game is done, but everyone on the team has their ideas, and we all get our turns.
After that, really, the world is our oyster, and we can go as far as we want. Anything can be a Croginal-adapted product, so let your mind wander. We also have a secret peripheral that one of our beloved artists, Choco, is working on, but that's all I can really say for now. 😏
As far as the DEX, the vault is really what we are building. The DEX is a convenience thing; it was never meant to be a competitor. Our main "product" is the vault, which will allow our project to become self-sustainable AND provide value to our holders and people who decide to lock liquidity with us.
Editor’s note: Croginal’s decentralized exchange (DEX) will focus on creating liquidity pools (LPs) rather than acting as a traditional exchange. It will automatically generate LP contracts, which will collect fees from swaps and stake them into a vault. These fees will be used to purchase rewards in the form of Croginal. Additionally, the LPs from the vault will be utilized as swap tokens, boosting the annual percentage rate (APR) for LPs. The DEX is designed to operate autonomously, requiring minimal intervention.
If you could give ONE-SENTENCE advice/tip to someone who is thinking of founding their own project, what would that be?
Be patient.
Be patient and have a desire to think outside the box. And build trust.
These are the three most important things for a successful project.
Thank you a lot for your time Rush, and good luck with Croginal Cats’ development!
Make sure to check Croginal Cats socials to stay up to date:
Website | X (Twitter) | Telegram | Discord | DEXScreener
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