🌟 Meet The Team: Luke Gentry 🌟
In our ongoing “Meet The Team” series at TokenTraxx, we’re pleased to shine a light on Luke Gentry, who plays a crucial role as our Operations Manager.
1. What are your main responsibilities in TokenTraxx’s current projects?
My role involves a lot of behind-the-scenes action (fun!), like planning and sending out payments/invoices, balance forecasting and monitoring the TRAXX token. This is very topline but if I get into too much detail you might not want to read on!
2. How did you get started with web3 and music?
It’s funny because I started getting into web3 about a month before I joined TT in ’21 — in the midst of the last bull run. The main interest came from my younger brother who started talking to me about crypto. I saw that he was making money from some coins and started to look into it myself. I then stumbled across NFTs, naturally and started to realise how useful and empowering web3 actually is. As for the music side, I’ve always been into it one way or another. I play the drums and bass guitar but have listened to music pretty much my whole life. A lot of it was passively from my parents when I was a child, but I started to discover music for myself properly in my early teens. I went from listening to reggae, to rock, to heavy metal, to hip-hop. The list goes on and on and it’s made me appreciate music as a whole, finding beauty in multiple genres. TT was the first example I saw of how web3 and music can come together to empower artists and I’ve been a believer ever since.
3. What excites you most about the convergence of blockchain technology and the music industry?
I think there are so many ways that the blockchain can be used in music, and there are definitely more ways than just my thoughts. The adoption of the blockchain is still so early that it can be, at times, hard to tell which direction the coming-together is going to really explode in. I think a big one is definitely in ticketing but we’ll see what happens in the years to come. Every advancement I’ve seen in news interests me or makes me think “now there’s something I didn’t expect”. I’m excited to see what else the human mind will come up with.
4. Can you share a challenging aspect of working with web3 technologies in music and the wider creative industries and how you address it?
I’ve thankfully gotten used to it, but making crypto payments was something that I struggled with in the beginning. Double checking the wallet address, triple checking the network. I still double check but it seems a lot more routine now than it did then!
5. What advice would you give to someone looking to enter the web3 space?
Don’t take “DYOR” (Do Your Own Research) lightly! You will see it in loads of newsletters, articles, videos etc but it’s not blase. Also don’t hesitate to ask people online about anything you’re interested in; they might point you in the right direction to become a part of a community you never knew existed!
6. If you could change one thing about the web3 tech landscape today, what would it be and why?
The phishing and scamming that can happen at the simple click of two buttons — “Connect Wallet” and “Approve”. If there was a way to safeguard people so their wallets don’t get drained (at least in this way), I think there wouldn’t be as much scepticism from web2 users.
Stay tuned for our next “Meet The Team” spotlight, where we’ll share more about the exciting work our team is doing in the web3 and music industries!
