MOCA LIVE

The Cyberbrokers Story so Far, the Marriage of Blockchain and Metaverse, Community and Creativity in Virtual Worlds, with Josie and Ben

On this week's episode, Max and Rene are joined by the co-founders of Cyberbrokers, Drifters, and the greater Paradise Lost universe, Josie and Ben, to discuss how their projects have uplifted, personalized, and deepened the Metaverse experience. From the origin of Cyberbrokers, to the boldness of bringing assets on-chain, to community-building during the Metaverse's death knell, all on the doorstep of Drifters, the Cyberbrokers team's next big flourish. 

MOCA LIVE: Will AI Save the Metaverse, un_MUSEUMs, and New Visions for Architecture with Untitled,xyz

In the dark, away from attention, the metaverse grows, thrives even, with the introduction and assistance of AI. AI agents peopling metaverse worlds. AI-generated avatars. But one of the most interesting possibilities of an AI-integrated metaverse is AI architecture, not just for the speed with which virtual 3D structures can be created but the newfound intricacy. It's an entirely new avenue for artistry, both in 3D worlds, and also full-stop, a new frontier. Today, Colborn and Max talk with MOCA’s resident Metaverse architect, Untitled,XYZ about UnMuseums,  a collection of AI-generated architectures and his final flourish for MOCA ROOMs. The nitty-gritty of process, conception, outcome, and consequence, expect all of that and more on today’s episode of MOCA LIVE.

MOCA LIVE: How MOCA 2.0 Changes Everything, The Ultimate Art DeCC0s Roadmap, and the MOCA Endgame with Reneil1337

MOCA is evolving, and we want you along for the ride. 2025 is a year of great change for your favorite crypto art museum, and in this episode, Max and MOCA's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Reneil1337, dive deep on all the exciting changes. A 10,000-piece PFP turned Agentic AI deployment interface? Supporting ai16z and Hyperfy in all kinds of creative ways? A new vision for $MOCA token? We reveal all that and more. Come find out what's got us all so jazzed up. 

MOCA LIVE: A PolyMarket Exit Poll, Our Bet-on-Everything Future, Social Media Persuasion, and Crypto's Near Future

The U.S. Presidential election ends, and all sorts of new questions arise. Ours? Just how influential is PolyMarket, the crypto-based app that brought election betting to the general public? Max and Colborn talk PolyMarket's origins, its seed investments, its political inclinations, and most importantly, its effect (if any) on the elections it revolves around. What does PolyMarket's rise tell us about the electorate? Can betting on election be ethical? This, social media's forcible politicization, the future for crypto in a second Trump term, and much more. 

MOCA LIVE: A Shaky Foundation, Platform Desperation, Saying Goodbye to Middlemen, and Choosing a "Local" Crypto Art

Today, Max and Colborn look into the vociferous response to former minting platform, Foundation, realigning itself as a social-media-based business (and one that looks a whole lot like the site our own Colborn helped to build), and try to tease out its meaning. Is a slow rug inevitable? Are all remaining platforms doomed to grasp at any nearby straw? What does a business need to survive in crypto art, and more importantly, how do the rest of us build-up the kind of crypto art we want to see? Can we reestablish a middle class through force-of-will alone? 

MOCA LIVE: A Borderline Pathological Level of Ambition, Conceptual Artistry, and Reaching Audiences with Kevin Esherick

Today, a conversation all about conceptual art with the conceptual artist, essayist, and AI dilettante/explorer, Kevin Esherick. Having tackled dense conceptual topics in AI, generative aesthetics, things relating to life and the self and the spirit alike, Kevin is the perfect person to discuss making conceptual art communicable online, the way inspiration affixes itself to a certain medium, ambition, effort, AI, and his latest project, I'm With You, releasing soon. 
 
Find Kevin here: https://x.com/kev_esh
And learn more about I'm With You here: 
https://x.com/kev_esh/status/1838950210669580396
https://verse.works/series/im-with-you-by-kevin-esherick
 

An Economic Oil Slick, Free Mints, New Incentives, and the True Motivation of a Crypto Artist

Today, Max and Colborn begin by breaking down a few of the elements that led to the previous week's worldwide economic bludgeoning, and why bad economics might be useful for crypto art's revolution. Then, the two discuss the motivations for crypto artists in a financialization-less ecosystem, the rise of free mints, the value of ubiquity, and what's left in crypto art when all the attention, the funds, the perception of "value" has gone away. 

MOCA LIVE: The End of the Metaverse As We Know It, RIP Polygonal Mind, and an AI Metaverse with Untitled,XYZ

Today’s podcast takes a long, frank look at the foundation, the uproar, and the ultimate downfall of the “Metaverse,” as we knew it. Metaverse architect maestro, Untitled,XYZ, joins Max and Colborn to talk about the Metaverse’s early moments, its final moments, the fall of the Metaverse studio, Polygonal Mind, videogames, AI, and what Metaverse might rise from all these ashes. 

MOCA LIVE: Criticizing Crypto Art Criticism, Who Gets to Create Context, and Being Trapped by One's Style with Eleonora Brizi

Max and Colborn welcome the curator and critic, Eleonora Brizi, back to the podcast for the 3rd time (!!!) to dive deep on crypto art's many problems with criticism. The three will tackle the lack of criticism in crypto art, and what has in many ways replaced it. They'll go into the difficulty of creating criticism while honoring crypto art's values, the trouble of artists being trapped in their own styles, whether criticism can ever be properly incentivized, and much more.

MOCA LIVE: Night of the Living Bots, The AI Agent Devolution, and the Juiced Number Incentive

Today's episode is all about bots: automated programs, AI agents, procedural scam artists, if it's performing an action without direct human intervention, we're breaking it down and talking about why it's important. Whether bots are used to juice follower numbers, mislead investors, or create artificial cultural ephemera, there's no denying their outsized impact on every crypto-adjacent. Max and Colborn dive deep on different kinds of bots, how they affect crypto culture, and whether crypto art can ever escape their influence, especially since the internet at-large cannot.