Polygon Labs President Ryan Wyatt: ‘The next Jeff Bezos will come from Web3’

Ryan Wyatt has quickly become a prominent figure in the crypto space since joined Polygon Labs early last year— but he is arguably better known for his past in games and e-sports.

Under the gamer tag Fwiz, Wyatt was a fixture in the early Call of Duty esports scene, working as a commentator and later VP of programming for Major League Gaming. He even co-wrote a best-selling book about the popular esports team OpTic Gaming. He then launched and grew YouTube Gaming from 2014 to 2022 as the company’s global head of gaming.

Given his prominence in the gaming world, what ultimately drew him into crypto? On the last episode of Decrypthis gm podcast, Wyatt said he “really got into the idea of ​​digital ownership, this idea that we’re going to continue to spend more money on digital objects.” He acknowledged, he said, that people “want more autonomy and ownership” over their digital goods as both spending and belonging grow – and that blockchain makes it possible.

“I was instantly sold, right? “I think there’s an infinite amount of things that can be done in the space on this,” he said. “And that’s what made me jump in with such conviction.”

Wyatt, who joined Polygon Studios as CEO in February 2022 and recently moved into the role of president at the renamed Polygon Labs, said he has come to understand why some people are “very excited” about the financial angle of cryptocurrency. But for him, embracing Web3 was about seeing the potential future impact of true digital ownership.

The potential benefits for gamers are obvious, though some video game fans have it vocally rejected NFTs. Players already pay for digital items in games like Fortnite and Call of Duty that they cannot resell or use in other games and worlds. Blockchain-based games could potentially give players that level of control with wider benefits.

Interestingly, Wyatt said he chose Polygon Labs over other potential opportunities because of the opportunity to work with creators and builders across a wide range of verticals. He helped grow the creator economy on YouTube, and now wants to do the same for Web3 creators without being tied to the gaming space.

“I wanted to expand beyond games, and see how this whole world is very interconnected,” he said. “That part I felt pretty strongly about.” He added that while rival tier-1 platforms like Solana and Avalanche was certainly gaining steam, it Ethereum space already had established users and developers.

Wyatt also “loved” that the founders of Polygon – an Ethereum scaling network that enables faster and cheaper transactions than the mainnet – bought and integrated ZK scaling projects in 2021, signaling long-term ambitions. Furthermore, Wyatt believed he could help elevate Polygon by bringing his experience from the Web2 world.

“I also felt that where I could add value is to help scale, and help add some of the non-Web3 native elements to Polygon to make it more multi-faceted,” he said. “And so I really clicked with Sandeep [Nailwal, Polygon co-founder] and the team because it felt like we were very complementary of each other’s skills and weaknesses.”

Earlier in his career, Wyatt wrote in his OpTic Gaming book that he hoped to lead a company one day. Now he does, albeit in a completely different industry. And he believes the next huge tech giant or light source will come from this industry.

“I have no doubt,” he said, “even going as far as, is the next Amazon already out there? Or that person — is there a Jeff Bezos out there? The next Jeff Bezos is out of Web3. Watch out. He’s coming. Hopefully he’ll build on Polygon.”

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