Ryan Wyatt has quickly become a prominent figure in the crypto space since joining Polygon Labs early last year—but he’s arguably better known for his past in gaming and esports.
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 bestselling 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 pulled him into crypto? On the latest episode of Decrypt’s gm podcast, Wyatt said he “really got into just simply the idea of digital ownership, this idea that we’re going to keep spending more money on digital items.” He recognized, he said, that people “want more autonomy and ownership” over their digital items as both spending and affinity grow—and that blockchain enables that.
“I was immediately 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 shifted into the president role at the rebranded Polygon Labs, said that he’s come to understand why some people are “very spirited” about the economic angle of cryptocurrency. But for him, embracing Web3 was all about seeing the potential future impact of true digital ownership.
The prospective benefits for gamers are obvious, even if some video game fans have vocally rejected NFTs. Gamers already shell out for digital items in games like Fortnite and Call of
