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Cryptomania comes to TV: the first reality show about crypto-entrepreneurs

Can you imagine a TV show where crypto entrepreneurs compete to present their innovative projects to a jury of experts and celebrities? That's what The Next Crypto Gem, the world's first cryptocurrency-focused reality show, which premiered earlier this month and already has audiences in more than 50 countries.

The show, produced by The Hourglass Collective, combines elements of "The Apprentice" and "Shark Tank," two successful television formats that test participants' entrepreneurial skills. In The Next Crypto Gem, contestants must demonstrate their knowledge and passion for Web3, the term used to refer to the new generation of the Internet based on decentralized technologies such as blockchain and crypto.

To do so, they have to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges made up of well-known personalities from the crypto world, such as Brian D. Evans, cryptocurrency investor and entrepreneur; Layah Heilpern, journalist and podcaster specializing in crypto; and George Tung, host of the popular YouTube channel CriptoRus.

In addition, the program will feature special appearances by other prominent industry figures, such as famous poker player Tom Dwan and YouTuber Ben Armstrong, leader of the BitCoy Crypto community. Even Kevin Harrington, one of Shark Tank's original investors, will make some appearances during the first season.

The goal of the show is to show the general public the unique and disruptive potential of cryptocurrencies and other Web3 technologies, as well as to educate them on the basics of this new digital paradigm. To do so, judges evaluate the viability, relevance and innovation of each project, and give advice and feedback to the contestants.

The projects that manage to impress the judges will advance through a series of elimination tournaments, until they reach the grand finale, where the winning team will win a prize valued at around US$150,000.

One of the most memorable moments of the show was the introduction of WAGMI Games in the second episode, when its co-founder and VP of Partnerships Scott Hermann made a spectacular entrance, dressed in a cosplay-style mech suit that mimicked the game's most powerful character.

WAGMI Games is the creator of WAGMI Defense, a popular Web3 game that allows players to own characters, weapons, masks and other in-game items as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), a unique and non-transferable form of digital asset that is stored on blockchain.

The WAGMI team got their pass to the finals after overcoming a key challenge, where their other co-founder, Ian Bentley, had to explain the concept of NFTs to an audience of non-coiners, i.e. people without any knowledge or experience with cryptocurrencies.

The explanation was so funny and didactic that it managed to capture the attention and interest of the viewers, thus demonstrating the essence and culture of cryptocurrencies, and how they can improve the user experience in different areas.

The Next Crypto Gem streams live every week and then is available on demand until it culminates with the grand finale on October 12. According to The Hourglass Collective, they are already planning a second season of the show to premiere sometime in 2024.

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