THE BEAT OF SOLROCKERS NFT

The Capital • April 27, 2022

Photo: Natalie J. Russel

Dear Brian, thanks for taking the time to join me in this interview to educate our community on SolRockers. First of all, can you give us a brief introduction to you? What is your story, dating back as far as you wish?

I am the Head of Product at SolRockers NFT and in my free time also the drummer for the multi platinum band Everclear. Some might think I live the life of a Rockstar but I’m just a conventional kind of guy. With a house in the suburbs, a white picket fence, a dog, 2.4 kids and to round it all out a wife that drives a minivan. LOL. Honestly I’m just a computer nerd who plays drums in a rock band.

I attended Berklee College of music in Boston Massachusetts back in 1989–1994. While living in Boston I spent a good 8 years playing with bands in the Boston music scene — 1990’s Boston scene turned out some great bands and I was lucky to be a part of it. I played with Tracy Bonham, went off to Chicago to tour with Fig Dish, and ended back in Boston to form American Hi-Fi with my best friend Stacy Jones in 1998. We recorded our record with Bob Rock in Maui, had a hit single on MTV, and toured extensively all around the world in the early 2000’s. Now I’m playing drums with the band Everclear. Somehow I manage to make a living doing what I love — playing drums.

The computer nerd part is where crypto and gaming comes in. I was hooked when my step dad bought me the Apple IIe back in 1983. A 1.023MHz processor, 64KB RAM, two 5 1/4" floppies, bulletin boards were no match for my 300 baud modem. It played games too, good games like Castle Wolfenstein, Boulder Dash, King’s quest and Decathlon. It put my Atari 2600 to shame. Then I had a short stint with consoles including ColecoVision, Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, but.. then Doom was born. John Carmack and John Romero messed me up good, so good that I built my first PC because of their creation — specifically to play Doom. That 4MB of ram was expensive too. I’ve been playing PC games ever since — Battlefield 1942, Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls games, WOW, the list goes on and on. Basically I came from the same generation as James Holiday, him and I would have been good friends. Now it’s time to develop the Oasis, or at least a very small part of it.

Why did you get involved in the cryptocurrency industry, and where do you think the industry will be in 5–10 years?

I heard about this thing called Bitcoin back in 2011. So you can use your video card to make money? Really? Sounds like fun. I took one of my computer rigs, outfitted it with an ATI 5970, overclocked the hell out of it, joined a pool and started mining. Then I had two rigs, then three, lots of fans, I’m talking oscillating fans, not those fancy LED case fans everyone has these days. I mined 23 Bitcoin and then decided it wasn’t worth pursuing, it was costing me more in electricity to run the rigs compared to the going Bitcoin market value. I held on to them for a year and ended up selling them on MT Gox for a whopping $27 a piece (doh!). In hindsight I think I should have held on to them, maybe… I painfully followed Bitcoin on the sidelines for years, dabbled in Ethereum mining and finally started seriously investing in crypto again in 2017.

Remember the dot com boom in the late 1990’s early 2000's? I just sat there and watched it all happen, I didn’t financially take advantage of the fastest growing industry phenomena known to man. The internet happened and all I did was use it to play Quake. I could have got involved but I didn’t. I had to go and focus on being a musician. An opportunity like that will never happen again in my lifetime.

Then comes Blockchain technology. Thank you Satoshi! Blockchain tech is the next boom, I have no doubt. It’s being adopted 2x faster than the internet, harvesting the brightest minds out there and is giving us all the opportunity to develop the technology of the future. And I mean the technology of everything. Smart contracts apply to so many different industries, including finance, data analysis, and the Internet of Things, let’s not forget about gaming. Who new smart contracts could be so useful?

I’m not going to sit back and miss out on a twice in a lifetime opportunity. So it either means I can redeem myself or go down in flames. I’ll either retire in Maui or greet people at the local Walmart here in Madison, I’m all in.

That’s amazing. Now can you give us an introduction to SolRockers and how it got started?

Back in 2012 I wasn’t just mining Bitcoin, I was learning how to develop video games using the Unreal Engine and Unity. I’ve always had a passion for game development but I’m not a coder by any means. These game engines gave me a way to translate my ideas into a functional game without being John Carmack. I’ve since developed third person shooters, twin stick shooters, first person shooters on a hobbyist level. I’d bring my games to friends’ LAN parties and play a round or two. It’s always fun to see friends enjoy your creation, bug free of course.

The emergence of the Play-to-Earn economy really grabbed my attention. I started playing games like Lost Relics, Alien Worlds, R-planet to name a few. I had conversations with my brother Mike, also a crypto investor, about all the P2E opportunities and he said “Why don’t you create your own game? You know how to develop games”. So that got me thinking and researching. I decided to combine the 2 things I’m most passionate about: gaming and music. I decided to combine the Rhythm game genre and the lifestyle of a touring musician to create a unique gaming experience. I’ve had some incredible times over the past 25 years; being part of great bands and touring all over the world, I want to re-create that experience for everyone who joins SolRockers. NFT gaming and being in a successful band are all about creating a community, it all made sense to me.

Early on, did you see an opportunity to fill a void in the market?

The market is one huge void, it’s an open slate. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so excited about this project and blockchain games in general. Just like every new technology, it gets

adopted by hobbyists and independents. This is the period in blockchain gaming when independent developer ideas can shine and make an impact on the industry. I believe we at SolRockers are doing just that.

When deciding on the direction of the artwork, we didn’t want to create a derivative of an ape and a pixel art SolRocker was out of the question. We wanted it to be original and life-like featuring detailed instruments and clothing, but with a light hearted cartoonish feel. The great rock bands of the 80’s and 90’s were over the top in their creative expression. The hair, makeup, tattoos and clothing gave us so many options and we spent months creating and revising. We had so many great ideas. The SolRocker name is a combination of the Solana blockchain and Rockstar lifestyle with a slight play on words. I think you get the idea.

A key point about our project that is important to relay is that SolRockers Battle of the Bands is a game that features player owned NFTs, not an NFT project that promises a utility game. The game itself is our main focus and the integration of the NFT is a key feature. The artwork will grab their attention but the game is the ultimate pay off. Literally.

We also noticed that you have your own token called $IROC, that will be used for your unique rhythm game. Could you tell us more about how this works?

$IROC tokens are the lifeblood of the SolRockers ecosystem and keeping the token economy balanced is our main priority. $IROC tokens are awarded to players/stakers and are used to purchase items in our NFT minting and merchandise marketplace. We have a number of ways our token is used in our game. Also, we feel it’s important to “burn” tokens as users create assets in our game ecosystem. We never want to dilute the overall value so a deflationary element will be incorporated into the $IROC token usage.

What have been the biggest challenges for you and SolRockers since you started the project?

It’s uncharted territory so it’s all challenges. I spent a lot of time researching all the aspects and moving parts that make up an NFT project, not to mention the game. The art work, NFT generation, rarity, minting process, discord server, website, token minting, front end game dev, back end game dev, media creation, NFT marketplace listing… and that’s just my job. My brother’s got more. Who knew a blockchain game project could be so time consuming? So finding the time to do normal family activity has been a challenge.

I think the biggest challenge for the project is breaking through and getting noticed. The NFT market is growing at breakneck speeds and has become a bit saturated. Ethereum based NFTs are a prime example. The Opensea NFT marketplace sure lives up to its name. Although the bulk of the NFT market is on that blockchain we felt it wasn’t a good fit for our project, or blockchain gaming in general. Solana was.

We chose Solana not just because of its efficiency but we saw it as the next blockchain to be adopted by NFT creators, investors and game developers. But with new technology comes serious hurdles. Solana NFTs and game development is still in its beginning stages so there are a few unanswered questions with creative development needed to complete a project like SolRockers. Thankfully we have blockchain backend engineers that can innovate and pull it off, I see them as the Rockstars.

Who do you think would be the ideal target audience for SolRockers?

At first glance it’s NFT collectors and gamers but it’s also music lovers, instrument collectors and artists. Individuals who enjoy being part of a music and gaming community, who love to express themselves through music and NFT creation. We want this open to everyone.

I think there are several types of “gamers” in the P2E environment. I love playing games, I can sit there and grind all day long if needed. Then you have someone like my brother who is more interested in the defi element. I think he doesn’t spend more than 20 minutes in any one game, but he “plays” several. It’s important to create a game that’s appealing to everyone.


Understood. Now what has been your greatest achievement thus far, and what has been the biggest failure or setback personally or in the history of the company?

My greatest achievements thus far would be the fact that I’m still able to support my family doing what I love — playing, and expressing myself through music. The greatest achievements related to SolRockers are still ahead of us. We just started in November of 2021 so there’s not much history to talk of. Talk to me two years from now and I will have a list. We have little setbacks every week but it’s nothing we can’t overcome.

What is the next step for SolRockers in the next 1–2 years?

Develop and release a fun and engaging gaming experience where users get to roleplay that Rockstar lifestyle, create a band, practice in a studio, go on tour and play at different venues — with backstage debauchery included of course.

A challenging Rhythm game is not complete without a great selection of songs. Artist collaborations will play a big part in this. Thankfully I know a few. But outside of the mainstream music industry are a lot of amazing bands and artists that deserve attention. We have plans to give everyone a way to participate and get involved. Our plans include giving the player and artist a way to create and enhance our game. SolRockers Battle of the Bands will feature the ability to add new songs and create new song patterns. And we want our community to be rewarded for their creative efforts. It being a blockchain game gives us the means to do so. The community will always come first.

Where can people support your business? Other than that, thank you for your time, Brian — any final words?

Support our business by visiting our socials like twitter, facebook , joining our discord community, and of course check out our website.

Website: https://www.solrockers.io/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SolRockersNFT

Discord: https://dsc.gg/SolRockers

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SolRockers-104379062257709

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcq8s8kElrxwKXJtYjkP7rw

Brian’s Twitter BrianNolan (@BamBamBNolan) / Twitter

And if you find yourself at an Everclear show in the near future, stop by the merch ten and say hello.

Disclaimer: This is not trading or investment advice. The above article is for entertainment and education purposes only. None of the content on Crypto Folds is investment advice nor is it a replacement for advice from a certified financial planner. Please do your own research before purchasing or investing into any cryptocurrency.  

Secure Legion Launches Public Beta of the First Metadata-Free Messaging Platform

By Press Release • December 4, 2025
Secure Legion has announced the public beta release of the world’s first messaging application designed to expose zero metadata . Built entirely without servers, directories, or intermediaries, the platform delivers fully peer-to-peer communication through Tor hidden services ensuring that no third party can observe who is communicating, when, or from where. Unlike conventional messengers, Secure Legion replaces personal identifiers with Solana wallet keypairs , eliminating the need for phone numbers, emails, or any form of personal data. A New Standard for Private Communication Modern encrypted messengers secure message content but still leak metadata social graphs, contact networks, connection timestamps, and communication patterns. Platforms such as Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram rely on servers that inherently retain traces of user behavior. Secure Legion removes this entire metadata surface through two core innovations: A completely serverless architecture that prevents any entity from storing, relaying, or analyzing message traffic. The Ping-Pong Wake protocol , a novel mechanism that delivers messages only when both parties are simultaneously online and authenticated. Because no server ever queues or registers communication attempts, observers cannot build relationship graphs or infer interaction frequency. Identity Through Solana Wallets Instead of traditional account systems, Secure Legion adopts a self-sovereign identity model : each user’s Solana keypair functions as their cryptographic identity across both messaging and blockchain-related interactions. This model reinforces privacy, reduces attack surfaces, and aligns with emerging ecosystem standards for decentralized identity. Engineered for High-Risk Environments Secure Legion is already being adopted by journalists, activists, and crypto communities operating in heavily restricted regions. The Android client integrates Tor bridges such as Snowflake , obfs4 , and meek , enabling reliable access in environments with deep packet inspection or aggressive censorship. Message delivery follows an authentication-before-delivery process, preventing message-waiting or mailbox-style analysis one of the key vulnerabilities of conventional encrypted messengers. As one Secure Legion engineer summarized: “Signal protects what you say. Secure Legion protects who you talk to.” With no servers, no timestamps, and no retained message queues, communication patterns become indistinguishable to observers. Open Source, Transparent, and Subpoena-Resistant Secure Legion is fully open source under the MIT license. All cryptographic components including XChaCha20-Poly1305 , Ed25519 , and X25519 ECDH are publicly documented and implemented without telemetry, analytics, or background data collection. The architecture is intentionally designed to be non-compliant with surveillance backdoors : “You can’t subpoena a server that doesn’t exist.” Key Features of the Public Beta Android client available at securelegion.org and on GitHub Fully peer-to-peer messaging via Tor hidden services StrongBox-backed encryption on supported devices Text and voice messaging Built-in Tor bridges for censorship resistance This beta release arrives amid growing global pressure on encrypted communications from the EU’s Chat Control proposal to the UK Online Safety Act and the US EARN IT Act. Secure Legion’s serverless architecture makes such mandates technically impossible to implement. Context in the Privacy Ecosystem Secure Legion responds to an issue long overlooked by mainstream encrypted platforms: metadata surveillance . Metadata exposes behavioral patterns, personal networks, movements, and relationships even when message content is encrypted. Compared to existing alternatives: - Session still relies on service nodes; Secure Legion removes intermediaries entirely. - Briar exposes certain network patterns; Secure Legion eliminates visible trails and peer graphs. - Signal reveals communication metadata to its servers; Secure Legion reveals nothing. The result is a platform that implements true metadata-free messaging by design a direction recently emphasized by leaders such as Vitalik Buterin in calls for permissionless accounts and privacy-preserving communication systems. About Secure Legion Secure Legion is a peer-to-peer, serverless messaging project developed by privacy engineers committed to eliminating metadata surveillance. The platform is non-commercial, open source, and designed around censorship resistance and cryptographic transparency. A formal security audit is underway. Upcoming roadmap items include group messaging, expanded privacy modes, and a desktop client. Follow the project and join the community: Official website | X (Twitter) | GitHub 

AI DeFi Co-Pilot SuperIntent Reaches $25M FDV, Rolls Out the Alpha App Globally

By Press Release • December 1, 2025
SuperIntent , the AI-powered DeFi platform, has launched its Alpha App and Mission Airdrop Point System following a seed round that pushed its fully diluted valuation to US$25 million. As stablecoin continue to heat up and bring crypto further into the mainstream in 2025, the XY Finance team, which has been backed by industry leaders such as Circle and Lemniscap, announced its rebrand in Q2 2025 as SuperIntent, opening an early waitlist that has since attracted over 100,000 users. After piloting in APAC in September, SuperIntent is now launching globally, with over 200,000 users sign-ups to date.  Simplifying DeFi for Smarter, Accessible Yield SuperIntent aims to make DeFi investing simpler, more accessible, and even a source of passive income. As DeFi shifts from meme-driven speculation to stronger fundamentals such as sustainable buybacks, the rise of fixed-rate yield products, and more structured arbitrage and market-neutral strategies, yield opportunities are becoming richer and more stable but also more fragmented. This creates a clear need for a smarter, unified solution. “For most users, DeFi still feels like wandering without a guide. People expect the same seamless experience they get from traditional wealth management,” the team added. “With recent breakthroughs in AI, we can finally deliver a real co-pilot that understands user intent, optimizes yield, and executes safe strategies across chains with a single tap.” In its Alpha App, SuperIntent’s Earn feature unifies top protocols into a single interface with one-click rewards, so users can allocate funds in one tap and never miss their yield, including both native yield and reward tokens. Cross-Sector Investors Signal Confidence in SuperIntent’s Direction SuperIntent team has long been active in DeFi and specialized in cross-chain infrastructure. It was among the earliest supporters of Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) and recently joined the Circle Alliance Program. Investor interest began to build earlier this year amid the rise of the AI narrative and growing adoption of chain abstraction technologies. Momentum increased after the rebrand and Circle’s IPO, together with clearer stablecoin regulation in key markets including the United States and Asia. In this seed round, participation came from existing backers and Web3-native funds as well as a wave of traditional finance and software investors. These developments collectively reinforced investor confidence in the sector’s long-term potential for sustainable yield products, positioning SuperIntent at the forefront of the emerging intersection between AI and DeFi. Global Expansion and the Shift Toward Steadier DeFi Investing SuperIntent App integrates multiple DeFi yield sources into a seamless user interface that helps users grow their assets steadily and avoid market volatility. While the U.S. remains a major market, strong early traction has also come from Southeast Asian countries, where many gig and informal workers have irregular income and remain underserved by traditional financial institutions. DeFi offers a viable alternative for yield generation and financial inclusion. “Simply holding assets or actively trading is no longer the only way to participate in crypto. Since the October 10 crypto crash, where many perp users were hit hard and several overly complex vault products suffered heavy losses recently, SuperIntent’s user base has grown significantly, reflecting a clear shift toward more risk-aware, stable yield-focused strategies. SuperIntent is exactly where it needs to be, helping users put their idle crypto to work through a more sustainable and stable approach.” Looking ahead, SuperIntent plans to expand protocol coverage, roll out an AI-driven personalized yield sniper notification, and add automated features such as auto-rebalancing and DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging) to deliver a more end-to-end investment experience and help users grow their assets automatically. By combining AI-driven intelligence with a user-centric design, SuperIntent aims to redefine how people interact with DeFi, turning complexity into simplicity and making intelligent investing accessible to everyone. About SuperIntent SuperIntent is a crypto AI app that simplifies on-chain earning strategies. Built on a multi-agent framework with rich yield sources, SuperIntent helps users discover alpha, manage risk, and grow their assets with ease. SuperIntent App SuperIntent Mission Point System Official Website SuperIntent Social Media

CDG Project Token to Be Listed on BitMart Starting December 1st

By Press Release • November 28, 2025
CDG Project has announced that its ERC-20 utility token, CDG, will be listed on BitMart Exchange beginning December 1st. The listing marks the project’s first entry into major centralized markets following its recent appearance on CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.  The CDG token powers a decentralized network built from user-owned hardware devices that function as a distributed data center. This is an important feature for AI, cloud, VPN, gaming, and edge workloads. Thousands of CDG Devices operate as a resource layer. In short, the devices supply computation and bandwidth while earning CDG from the network’s emission treasury. Token Utility and Network Economics CDG is an ERC-20 utility token that powers the device network. Every day, device owners make CDG. Businesses can use the network for AI inference, cloud microservices, gaming workloads, and encrypted VPN routing. The token economy is based on long-term sustainability, fixed emissions, and usefulness in the real world. Integration with Codego’s IBAN and card infrastructure provides an additional layer for future payment and service models. Here are the key token metrics: Total supply: 10,000,000,000 CDG Standard: ERC-20 (18 decimals) Type: Utility token Emission: 200 CDG per active device per day Furthermore, here is more information in terms of token distribution: 70% Treasury 5% Team 5% Marketing 5% Operations 5-10% Liquidity & Partners A Decentralized Datacenter Powered by Consumer Hardware The project introduces a hardware ecosystem where each device contributes GPU and compute resources to the CDG network. In return, every active device receives a daily allocation of CDG, forming a predictable and transparent emission model. Two devices form the core of the network: CDG Power Home and CDG Home. The first has the following features: Daily Get CDG: 200 CDG Device price: €10,000 Activation cost: 40,000 CDG Power consumption: 30W CDG Home can be summarized by the following points: Daily Get CDG: 50 CDG Device price: €2,500 Activation cost: 10,000 CDG Power consumption: 10W Both devices are designed for low energy use and quiet operation. This mechanism allows homes and offices to participate in the network without technical setup. About CDG CDG is an ERC-20 utility token designed to power a decentralized data center formed by user-operated CDG Devices. Codego Group is working on the project. This team aims to offer scalable compute, cloud, and network services through a distributed hardware layer that everyday people own. The BitMart listing makes the CDG ecosystem more accessible, meaning more people can take part in the device-powered datacenter model. The network keeps getting bigger as more devices are turned on and added to the global infrastructure. The project’s official website and the links below allow anyone to join this project at its current stage. CoinMarketCap | CoinGecko

HELLOTRADE, FOUNDED BY FORMER BLACKROCK CRYPTO LEADERS, ANNOUNCES FUNDRAISE TO UNLOCK GLOBAL, FRICTIONLESS ACCESS TO GLOBAL EQUITIES

By Press Release • November 21, 2025
HelloTrade, a new blockchain-powered trading platform founded by former BlackRock crypto directors Wyatt Raich and Kevin Tang, announced that it has closed a $4.6M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital. The round came together in under a week, reflecting strong conviction in the size of the market opportunity and the team’s track record building category-defining products. At BlackRock, Kevin and Wyatt launched the firm’s spot Bitcoin ETF, the fastest ETF in history to reach $100B in assets. For decades, access to the world’s capital markets and leveraged equity trading has been constrained by geography, high capital requirements, complex derivatives, and legacy brokerage systems. These barriers have made obtaining directional exposure and leverage to global equities challenging for retail and professional investors. HelloTrade aims to change that. Built on MegaETH, the platform will let users everywhere gain leveraged exposure to stocks, ETFs, commodities, and crypto. The app is designed for everyday investors with a mobile first experience, removing the usual points of friction that come with crypto trading. There is no wallet setup, no gas payments, and no technical jargon. Users simply open the app and trade with the speed of a traditional brokerage platform, enabled by MegaETH’s ability to process more than one hundred thousand transactions per second. “Trading stocks with leverage shouldn’t be gated by geography or account minimums,” said co-founder Kevin Tang. “We’ve now seen how crypto derivatives transformed access to digital assets. HelloTrade applies that same ethos to traditional equities, making it possible for investors around the world to participate in the world’s most dynamic markets”. The company is supported by a strong group of advisors, including Arthur Hayes (Maelstrom), Josh Lim (FalconX), David C. (LeadBlock Partners & LeadBlock Bitpanda Ventures), Larry Florio (Ethena), and Andrew Saunders (Amazon). “While leading the engineering team for BlackRock’s Digital Assets Lab, I had the privilege of building IBIT, ETHA, and BUIDL, some of the largest cryptoasset products in the world. That experience highlighted a tremendous opportunity to bring the same trust, discipline, and institutional standards we upheld at BlackRock to the rest of the world and build something truly transformative with HelloTrade,” said co-founder Wyatt Raich, and prior head of digital assets engineering at BlackRock. Kevin and Wyatt first crossed paths at BlackRock as foundational team members in the firm’s digital assets division. Despite their different backgrounds-Kevin as a financial services veteran with over 12-years experience, and Wyatt coming from a career in AI and robotics at Lockheed Martin-the two shared a conviction that blockchain technology could transform capital markets and investing. HelloTrade is expected to launch in the form of a mobile app across both iOS and Android. For early access, a waitlist is currently live at hello.trade . For press inquiries, please contact: Press Contact: press@hello.trade 
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