a true degen...

 

Who is Jake Gallen aka jake.sats?

I ask myself this everyday. Somedays I feel like a world-class entrepreneur, other days an everyday degen, and others wonder wtf I’m doing with my life. But one thing I can tell you for certain is that I’ve never felt that this life was “normal”.

I’m born and raised in Las Vegas. So I suppose you can say my life began in a non-traditional way. Gambling, sex, hustle, substances, and the party life have surrounded me ever since I can remember. I grew up in the lower class so I’ve had to fight for everything I believe in. Blending in was never really an option.

In high school I was a sports guy, in college I was a frat boy, and my adult years have been filled with entrepreneurial endeavors. Of course, all of this has been surrounded by my foundational pillars of entertainment and hospitality. I’ve attempted writing a book a few times, owned an antique & collectables store with my father for 2 years, co-founded a ticket verification app called “Chameleon Verify” for 3 years, hosted crypto meetups in Las Vegas for multiple years, taught Las Vegas politicians and casino executives about crypto through a past business called “Nativ Research, started my podcast “Jake Gallen’s Guest List” in 2020 and went full time in crypto around the same time.

Everything I’ve done in my life, for better or worse, has led me where I am today. I have been molded by my past experiences and am motivated by my ambitious objectives. There has been some road bumps along the way but life is really headed in the direction I had always dreamed about when I was a little long haired hippy running around the streets of Las Vegas.

Your first $BTC -> Crypto Addiction

I first found Ethereum on a reddit forum in during the summer of 2016 (Link) and was immediately intrigued. Not by the financial component but smart contracts. The money side of crypto actually didn’t click until I found Bitcoin in early 2017. It was just a few weeks before Bitcoin surpassed the price of gold for the first time. I had followed Ethereum all through the latter half of 2016 but didn’t make my first purchase until early 2017 when I read the Bitcoin Whitepaper and learned about the story of Satoshi. That’s when it made sense. I was fresh outta college and working at the world’s top nightclub in Las Vegas bussing tables, Omnia nightclub. I had been making the most money I had ever made at the time and those cypherpunk ideals really resonated with me. I went in big on Ethereum and Bitcoin simultaneously.

From there I became so obsessed with it all. Trading was cool but I was really interested in the technology and the power dynamics behind it. As cliche as it now sounds because most people who come to crypto join to make money. I was really in it for the tech.

My crypto journey has led me to the perfect place that fits me 100%. Crosschain technology and NFTs. As I spent my early years yard sale hunting and storage picking with my father just to get by at times. I’ve been involved in so many interests and pursuits throughout my life, my curiosity is always at the forefront. It’s led me astray at times but the majority of those adventures have turned out incredible. Existing and building at the forefront of the unknown and innovation is where I tend to find solace. Which is exactly where crosschain and NFTs sit today. The perfect blend of culture and creativity.

What is Emblem Vault?

Emblem Vault is the world’s leading crosschain NFT protocol with over $100M in total value vaulted. It’s a unique protocol as it sits in a domain of its own. At times it’s tough to classify but if I were to label it that category it would be considered an “Interoperability Protocol ” which is also inclusive of wrapped assets, bridges, and crosschain messaging.

Emblem Vault & Jake Gallen

I officially joined Emblem Vault on November 1st, 2022. During the early months of 2022 I had begun reaching out to friends from the Historical NFT community with intent to build a “Historical NFT marketplace”. Some friends from the community included Leonidas and Adam McBride. Turned out Adam had already begun doing the same thing independently. Leonidas, although a leader in the community, did not want to pursue it with us. Although we all co-hosted a NFTNow NFT History Spaces together every Monday.

Adam and I started reaching out to teams to get quotes and interest in building such a marketplace. After talking with a few teams Emblem Vault offered us a position on the team. Within a month of discussion we quickly realized the opportunity here was much larger than just Historical NFTs. 

The Start of Bitcoin Ordinals & Emblem Vault

Adam Mcbride, Leonidas, and myself interviewed Casey Rodarmor on September 1st, 2022 on our co-hosted spaces togather (Link). This was nearly 4 months before Ordinals hit mainnet. So we were aware of what was coming but not to the scale and impact.

Emblem Vault became a main component in the early evolution of Ordinals, as Ordinals began being vaulted to trade on OpenSea in February 2022. Within just a few weeks Ordinals inside of Emblem Vaults had traded over 3,000 ETH in volume in just a short time period. Many attribute thisas  one of the Ordinals breakout moments.

The Unforgettable Moment