Former head of YouTube Gaming, Ryan Wyatt joined Decrypt’s The GM podcast to reflect on his journey into crypto. After helping grow the creator economy on YouTube, he wants to do the same for Web 3 creators without being tied to the gaming space. He has no doubt: the next Jeff Bezos will come from there.
Who is Ryan Wyatt?
Ryan Wyatt has quickly become a prominent figure in the crypto space since joining Polygon Labs in early Last year. However, he is best known for his background in gaming and esports. Wyatt was a fixture in the Call of Duty esports scene. He worked as a commentator and later as vice president of programming for Major League Gaming. He has even co-wrote a book to success on popular esports team OpTic Gaming. Subsequently, he launched and grew YouTube Gaming between 2014 and 2022 as the company’s global head of games.
Moving from the world of video games to cryptography
Given his prominence in the gaming world, one may well wonder what led him to crypto. Indeed, Wyatt addressed that concern in the latest episode from The GM podcast. During the show, he said he’s drawn to the idea of digital ownership. This idea that we’re going to keep spending more money on digital stuff. He recognized, he said, that people want more autonomy and ownership over their digital items as spending and affinity increases and blockchain enables this.
” I was immediately sold, right? I think there’s an endless amount of things that can be done in space about this. That’s what made me jump with such conviction,” he said..
Wyatt, who joined Polygon Studios as CEO in February 2022 and recently assumed the role of president of the renamed Polygon Labs, said he’s come to understand why some people are very excited about the economic angle of cryptocurrency. But for him, embracing Web 3 was, first, about seeing the potential future impact of true digital ownership.
Ryan Wyatt expects to develop the economics of Web 3
A video game creator and enthusiast, Wyatt said he chose Polygon Labs over so many other potential opportunities because of its ability to work with creators and builders across a wide range of verticals. While he helped grow the creator economy on YouTube, he wants to do the same for Web 3 creators without just being tied to the gaming space.
” I wanted to grow outside of the game and see how interconnected this whole world is “, did he declare. Additionally, Wyatt added that while rival layer 1 platforms like Solana and Avalanche are certainly gaining traction, the Ethereum space already has established users and developers.
Polygon, an Ethereum scaling network
Indeed, Polygon is an Ethereum scaling network. It transacts faster and cheaper than its mainnet. Wyatt says he was attracted by the fact that the network’s founders integrated ZK scaling projects in 2021. Because of this, he thinks he can help elevate Polygon by bringing his Web2 experience.
” I also felt where I could add value was helping with scaling and helping to add some of the non-native Web3 elements into Polygon to make it more versatile “, did he declare. ” And so I really clicked with Sandeep [Nailwal, co-fondateur de Polygon] and the team because we felt that we were very complementary to each other in their skills and weaknesses “.
Given his experience in the world of video games, Ryan Wyatt is a necessary mastermind in the crypto universe. Earlier in his career, Wyatt wrote in his book OpTic Gaming that he hoped to run a business one day. Now that he does, he thinks the next tech giant will come from this industry. ” I have no doubt the next Jeff Bezos will come from web 3 and I hope he builds on Polygon he says. Assuming that this dream comes true, what do you think of this internet of the future?
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