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Kame Krew: Cardano NFTs empowering children and community wellbeing with Wor. Watthana in Thailand
Sustainable ADA | Dec 6, 2022
Vision and Mission
The mission behind Kame Krew is to support and onboard a small, rural Muay Thai gym called Wor. Watthana in the Buriram province of Thailand.
Source: https://www.worwatthana.com/
50% of our mint proceeds plus 5 of the total 8% of royalties on JPG.Store are going to the gym.
Wor. Watthana takes in children from impoverished communities in Buriram and provides recreational and educational opportunities for them. Above all, Wor. Watthana provides the children with a family and a safe home.
The vision for Kame Krew is to provide proof of concept that NFTs can be game-changers in the charity and philanthropy fields.
Most charitable organizations take in donations and do great work, but what about creating a community around donors and utilizing blockchain tech to give true, real-world utility to holders?
Kame Krew seeks to also provide value by giving utility to holders and supporters in the form of fitness and MMA training lessons. Therefore, our project aims to help and reward everyone involved with the project and community.
Who are you and why are you doing what you’re doing?
I’m known as Kame in the web3/NFT Twitter space but my real name is Steve. I am a teacher and fitness/strength coach in real life and I’m based in Canada. Building community, teams, and picking up those who need support the most are some of the most important activities in my daily life.
I come from very humble beginnings – growing up in a loving household where love was (and still is) an abundant resource as opposed to financial resources. At a very early age, I realized the reality faced by those with a lack of financial options and opportunities.
Sports and martial arts have always been cornerstones in my life, and my training journeys and interactions in the Vancouver MMA/martial arts scene brought me to Frances and Boom Watthanaya’s cause at Wor. Watthana.
Boom and Frances of Wor. Watthana Muay Thai Gym. Source.
Were there a series of events that led you to create your project?
Coming from humble beginnings, I made the connection early on in life between resources and opportunities. My martial arts journey and my financial situation growing up combined to lead me to find Wor. Watthana. Frances and Boom Watthanaya, the leaders and parents of the Wor. Watthana family, are well-known and respected local legends in the Vancouver Muay Thai and MMA communities.
As a teacher and coach, I work with children daily. I understand how crucial resources are to developing children and how detrimental the effects of poverty can be on children and adolescents. At the same time, I also see much bureaucracy and unnecessary administrative costs associated with traditional charitable platforms. As busy as I am with my real life responsibilities, I decided to start Kame Krew because I truly believe that NFTs can be a game-changer for charitable causes and rally a community behind donors and supporters.
What challenges/problems are you encountering that blockchain and other related technologies are helping to solve?
Let’s face it: The world today places obstacles and roadblocks everywhere – even for individuals who are trying to do good and help. Bureaucracy, administrative costs, egos and other factors get in the way. Some will say rules and restrictions are put in place to prevent bad actors – which I tend to agree is necessary.
Blockchain, as it is envisioned – is a “trustless” system. The transparency, validity, and uniqueness of NFTs create unique opportunities to cut through the abovementioned roadblocks and promote accountability.
In addition, an NFT shows “proof of donation” (as coined by Cardano NFT project Earth Natives), and that unique asset will be able to reward the donor as well by providing exchangeable utility for their generous support.
Why Cardano of all the Blockchains?
The ethos behind Cardano and the Cardano community is extremely appealing and inspiring to me. Cardano’s proven and tested approach backed by research and under rigorous self-examination and scrutiny, its aim to bank the unbanked, and its vision for decentralization all appeal to me.
In particular, Cardano’s work and presence in Africa and the blockchain ecosystem’s worthy goals there has shown me that they are willing to invest in people and communities before anything else – and many people that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with on Cardano has truly shown me that they have a willingness to change the world for the better.
Tell us more about your nft project. The research, your thoughts, design process and journey.
Kame Krew’s roadmap is laid out and divided into four main stages (you can find this in our whitepaper on our website): Essentials, Education, Empowerment, Emancipation. I believe these are the four steps required to elevate an individual out of poverty.
As a project, each “season” of the roadmap corresponds with each of the “E” words above. We’re currently minting at the “pre-season” stage, which is a stage that is focusing on getting the funds to Wor. Watthana right away and onboarding them onto Cardano. We also want to raise the funds to create utility for our minters and holders – which will come in the form of an online fitness + MMA training platform utilizing Kame NFTs.
With your help and the help of the Cardano community, we can provide funding and value at each step. Subsequent stages of the project will include exclusive workshops and seminars with experienced and qualified pro athletes or coaches, plans for in-person training trips and vacations, and hopefully, one day extend to creating a recreational and safe space of our own to support even more children or communities affected by poverty.
Are there any plans to collaborate with anyone in the Cardano or NFT ecosystem?
Conversations for collaborations are being discussed, but given that I am largely a one-person team, there have been limited discussions so far. I am certainly open to collaboration and our most notable (and only) one up to this point is a Where’s Waldo (Kame) event with CardanoSpace.
What do you see as challenges in your landscape and context (Government, perceptions, FUD, industry) and how your project/solution fits in this context?
There are three major challenges that I see standing in the way of Kame Krew project success. The first is greater market conditions and the current bearish conditions of the crypto and NFT market. While I am personally undeterred and am excited to build under these conditions, NFT minting and trading volume is down overall in comparison to 2021.
The second challenge is a simple fact that many NFT minters or purchasers see themselves as investors. I don’t have the percentages, but I would wager that the majority of people interested in NFTs are looking at them as financial investments or “quick flips”. In addition, the utility provided by Kames can be a little niche, so I can see that narrowing the pool a little bit.
The third challenge is simply the fact that I am largely a one-man team holding down the project and working completely on passion and drive. While it has been an absolutely energizing and enlightening experience, I would like to garner more support (and more funds) to be able to round out a team to help me put the project in front of more eyes.
How did you mint/create this NFT?
I minted this project using ADA Anvil’s minting services.
Source: ADA Anvil
How many in your collection are minted?
The policy ID is: e6eb6dda8a5837e94a4fc9059ea3b4589e757ee4156118d584f35aa0
Who owns the rights, physical or intellectual, of the NFT and its contents?
Kame Krew does.
What about royalties? Are there any? How does this work with NFTs as opposed to the traditional market for creatives? Do you see any advantages with NFTs for this?
Yes, we are currently verified on JPG.Store and Kame Krew’s royalties are 8%. Specifically, 5% of the royalties will go directly Wor. Watthana, and 3% will go back to the project to further develop our NFT fitness/MMA training platform.
Does your NFT have any utility? If yes, please explain.
Sneak Peeks of the Kames. Source
The utility behind Kame Krew (and where 50% of the mint revenue is directly going towards) is the creation of an online fitness and MMA (mixed martial arts) training platform. Simply holding one Kame entitles supporters to basic fitness lessons (live + recorded). More focused and exclusive martial arts or training seminars (such as a specific Muay Thai technique or power training, for example) will be offered to holders of multiple Kame traits such as different “belt colours”.
Further down the roadmap, we hope to use the funding and vote as a community on “irl” or in-person training group training opportunities.
What are your thoughts on the future of this space?
So many people I interact with on a daily basis are teachers, first responders, craftspeople, entrepreneurs, and hard-working people in general. The current systems that we have in place are failing many of us – whether that’s in regard to work-life balance, compensation, or overall health. Many accept the status quo but blockchain provides a potential solution.
I see Frances and Boom Watthanaya work so hard to keep their kids happy, healthy, and safe – away from the harmful effects of poverty that so often involve drugs, exploitation, and violence. So many hard working individuals toil for years only to become slaves to their mortgages or jobs. There HAS to be a better way forward – and I believe the community and tech that I see building on Cardano and other blockchains can lead us into a better future.
Does your art and project impact or receive inspiration from the SDGs?
The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by all countries. This enables countries to create global partnerships that work towards achieving these goals. The goal is to achieve the SDGs, which are built upon decades of work by countries and the UN. Blockchain technology is a key technology for the SDGs because it enables stakeholders globally to have the ability to track, record, and share data that is immutable, timestamped, and verifiable.
I would say Kame Krew, in partnership with Wor. Watthana, certainly addresses SDGs 1 – 6 in particular, 10 and 11, and 17.
Do you have any updates or exciting news to share?
We are currently MINTING our pre-season collection of 500 Kames and WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT to help Wor. Watthana and to help us build and onboard athletes and coaches.
Follow us on Twitter @KameKrewCNFT to find all the relevant links (think of it as a simplified Linktree with regular updates). We host regular chats on UFC or ONE FC fight nights and am looking forward to doing more community-driven games and events!
How can Sustainable ADA readers get involved?
Please follow our socials and help us spread the word or mint if you can! For 65 ADA, you get a great-looking Kame NFT, live (and recorded) training sessions in an exclusive Discord channel, and a FREE SEASON 1 Kame NFT when we get to that stage. Above all, you’ll know that 50% of Kame revenue is going directly to Wor. Watthana!
What would you like to say to people who are new to this blockchain/crypto/Cardano space and discovering your project for the first time?
“Kame Krew is a charity and utility-driven NFT project on the Cardano blockchain. 50% of proceeds are going to Wor. Watthana, a rural Muay Thai gym taking in kids who have no other place to be in Thailand. The other 50% are going towards building an online fitness/MMA platform.”
– Kame (Steve), Founder of Kame Krew
Where can people go to find out more?
Thank you for reading and for your support!