Founders Space Spotlight 🎙️ @00Smurf | NEXA | Sui OG | $IKA $500K Trade 🔥

The Spaces features host Mike in a long-form conversation with Smurf about his journey from early tech tinkerer to crypto OG, community builder, and Growth Lead at Nexa (formerly Incidex) on Sui. Opening with 9/11 reflections and a brief note on recent campus violence, the discussion moves through Smurf’s discovery of Bitcoin in 2013, DIY scrypt mining for Litecoin, the shock of power costs, and his shift from mining to trading and community-building (e.g., BlackCoin and early PoS). He shares hard-won trading principles (time in market, take profits, have a plan, avoid FOMO) and recounts Solana-era wins and lessons (Cope airdrop, Solarians rise and rug). On Sui, Smurf helped steer the Pugwif community takeover and champions tools like Nexa to professionalize trading and foster collaboration. He outlines Nexa’s vision to be Sui’s go-to trading terminal via partnerships (e.g., Bluefin). The conversation highlights Sui’s speed and tech, the need to reduce infighting, and the importance of unified NFT standards. Smurf’s ethos centers on resilience, team over self, and community-first building, closing with advice to aspiring builders: don’t give up, network, and execute.

Founder Space Spotlight: Smurf (Crypto OG, Nexa Growth Lead, PUGWIF co-lead)

Session context and opening notes

• Host: Mike (Speaker 1). Co-host/participant: Capo (Speaker 3). Guest: Smurf (Speaker 4). Audience Q&A: Amen (Speaker 5). Speaker 2 interjected briefly without clear identity.
• Logistics: Minor X/Twitter Spaces issues at the start; audience shout-outs.
• Personal milestones: Mike noted his 25th wedding anniversary and reflected on life balance.
• Commemorations and tone-setting:
  • 9/11 remembrance: Mike recalled being at work as the events unfolded; underscored patriotism and unity (“if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”).
  • Campus shooting reference: Mike’s daughter was on campus ahead of a Charlie Kirk event and witnessed the heightened energy; he emphasized conviction and belief. Mike stated Charlie Kirk “died way too young” at 31 during this discussion (as reported in the conversation).

Smurf’s background and formative influences

• Early tech exposure and hands-on mindset:
  • Grew up outdoors (sports, lake life) but developed a tech streak via his father (pilot) and early PC use (Microsoft Flight Simulator on a 386, SimCity). Age cohort bridging analog childhood and digital adolescence.
  • High school trade school in computer support technology; founded a PC hardware business post–high school (repairs, custom builds, overclocking competitions, gaming), 2002–2011.
  • Corporate stint: Energy brokerage (CO2 Energy). Built and optimized historical pricing databases (VBA/Excel/DB), IT lead, systems builds. Left corporate in 2011 to run his computer business and be more present for family.
  • Mechanical/performance bent: Car building, tuning, restorations (BMW, Porsche, Mercedes). Emphasizes learning by doing.
• Family background:
  • Father was a pilot (Cessna 172). Smurf flew with him as a teen (takeoff and cruise), but no pilot’s license yet; maintains reflexes via RC aircraft.
  • Family relationship context: Smurf left his dad’s home at 13 and later lived with his mother; notes personal growth and boundaries regarding that relationship.

Entering crypto (2013): mining to trading, and the first big lessons

• Discovery and first mining wave:
  • Read an article (Mar/Apr 2013) about Bitcoin gains; got curious but paused for summer car show season.
  • Returned in Oct/Nov to find altcoins (Litecoin) and scrypt mining on GPUs. Leveraged stockpiled GPUs from overclocking; built 10 rigs, custom water-cooling on GPUs, chased higher hash rates. Mined Litecoin around ~$1.50 rising to ~$43, hit a block (50 LTC), sold.
  • Hidden costs: First power bill shock (~$650 vs normal ~$90). Melted multiple outlets. Family pushback (“what are you doing?”). Realization: power costs dominate.
• Community and information flow (2013–2014):
  • Forums and IRC (Bitcointalk, mIRC) were the hubs (precursors to Telegram/Discord). Joined coin/mining communities; began watching charts, self-teaching trading via practice and peers.
• Shift to trading and first major community role:
  • Found trading more profitable than mining. Entered BlackCoin around 500 sats (then quoted in BTC terms), accumulated ~386k, joined Black Council, contributed to PoS evolution narrative.
  • Experienced a dramatic run (market cap ~1–2M to ~100M). Grew from ~3 BTC exposure to ~110 BTC at peak; then round-tripped as price dumped—first vivid exposure to volatility cycles and “round-tripping” gains.
• Safety and exchange risk management track record:
  • Avoided significant losses from exchange failures/hacks by timely withdrawals (MintPal, BTC-e, Cryptsy, CoinEX) and exiting Mt. Gox ~1.5 months pre-failure. Not hacked to date (knock on wood).
  • Friend’s Mt. Gox funds were locked but ultimately a partial payout (20%) turned into a large nominal win due to BTC appreciation ($250k from ~$2.5k basis), illustrating strange outcomes of forced illiquidity.

Trading philosophy and hard-won lessons

• Core lessons:
  • Time in the market > timing the market.
  • Patience and quality over quantity; avoid chasing hype.
  • Always take profits; have a trading plan and execute it.
  • FOMO discipline is the hardest: Smurf admits to round-tripping six-figure gains during Solana meme/NFT frenzy (2021) by missing targets and assuming higher highs.
• On technical analysis and market psychology:
  • TA is “people’s emotions plotted on a chart.” The more participants believe in a pattern, the likelier it self-fulfills.
  • Personal toolkit: Bollinger Bands and hand-drawn levels; learned visually over years. Acknowledge different valid trading styles; no single right way.
  • Capo’s aside: Teaching TA to new folks can be tougher today than explaining crypto itself; collective agreement underpins both price and chart patterns.

Solana era: early wins, spectacular lessons, and community building muscles

• Solana pivot (2021):
  • Tried Solana after airdrop “COPE.” Despite initial reluctance to learn a new chain/wallet, the UX speed was a revelation; dove in as others returned to Ethereum.
  • Bought COPE around ~$0.20, rode it to ~$8.43—first big SOL-chain win.
• Solana NFTs and the “Solarians” saga:
  • Early belief in NFTs as game assets (Magic: The Gathering player), with Diablo 3 RM auction house as inspiration.
  • Minted “Solarians” (early randomized mints; animated GIF NFTs). Accumulated ~42; became “Supreme Solarian Commander.” Price progression up to 33 SOL mint and much higher floors (80–200 SOL)—paper value near ~$300k.
  • Did not fully de-risk; later funds rotated into “Neo Nexus” and got rugged—painful but formative. Another reinforcement to stick to exit plans and separate narrative hype from risk management.
• Community coordination roots:
  • “Whale Riders Anonymous” (WRA) trading room formed from exchange trollboxes; networking to find the right people for the right roles. Experience engaging with both trustworthy actors and scammers.

Sui migration: tools, culture, and PUGWIF community takeover

• Sui entry and tooling gap:
  • Came to Sui around mainnet; vibed with Fuddies mint and community (connections from Solana). Early meme-coin phase (FUD) exposed a tooling void (no BirdEye-like aggregator); decks-only trading was primitive.
• The “blub wave” and birth of PUGWIF CTO:
  • As new memes launched, Mateo asked to move meme chatter from Sui Folks TG; B9A created a separate meme channel. “PUGWIF” launched, LP got rugged.
  • Core response: Community-defined CTO (community takeover) to save/repair the project; multi-project, cross-background team coalesced to demonstrate Sui won’t tolerate rugs and to model responsible coin stewardship.
  • Team composition and contributors mentioned: Smurf, B9A, Kelsey, Ossie, Magic, Crypto Leaper; IPX offered pro bono site; Chuckles and Neppa (from Solana) joined.
• Incidex → Nexa: the missing trading terminal
  • B9A introduced Harsh (Allfather), building Incidex. Smurf recognized it as the BirdEye-class solution Sui needed.
  • Using Incidex for PUGWIF markedly eased liquidity visualization, trade execution, and narrative transparency; Smurf continually fed product feedback.
  • Incidex rebranded to Nexa; Harsh later recruited Smurf as Growth Lead. Smurf accepted after consulting his family, formalizing his role in growing Sui’s trading terminal layer.

Nexa today and roadmap direction

• Vision:
  • Become the “Axiom” of Sui (Smurf’s words: the leading trading terminal akin to the top Solana terminal capturing most on-chain trading volume).
  • Strategy: Build or partner pragmatically to cover all trader workflows (e.g., perps via Bluefin integration—no need to rebuild what partners do well). Focus on aggregator completeness, speed, and reliability.
  • Cultural goal: Foster cross-project collaboration vs. zero-sum competition, so the chain advances collectively.
• Competitive posture and balance:
  • Smurf: candid about the tension—growth leadership demands speed and competitiveness; also values civility and cooperation. Healthy competition breeds innovation; monopolies stagnate.

PUGWIF/Puggies: governance, time management, and upcoming consolidation

• Team, not heroics:
  • Smurf emphasizes PUGWIF succeeds due to a deeply capable team; public credit over-indexes on him, but he attributes success to complementary roles and mutual reliance.
• Time allocation:
  • Balances Nexa Growth Lead, trading, and PUGWIF/Puggies through team execution and delegation.
• Tease (timed to 1-year anniversary):
  • Consolidation/connectivity update imminent, aimed at simplifying operations and ensuring nothing gets left behind (no spoilers ahead of formal announcement).

The Eka trade vignette: 24/7 markets and readiness

• Smurf’s example of why crypto is always-on:
  • He publicly posted a bullish Eka thesis; identified cup-bottom structure, thin float, on-chain lending/claim dynamics (citing Will Negrees’ updates), and added to spot and lending positions shortly before a sharp move.
  • He credits staying at his desk, incentive alerts (Telegram), and pattern repetition from a decade of trading for catching the move. Reinforces message: when markets heat up, presence matters.

Family, work ethic, and personal development

• Work ethic and early jobs:
  • Volunteer docent at COSI (coal mine exhibit, Van de Graaff demos), fought public speaking anxieties by confronting them.
  • Teen jobs in IT support and food service (Jersey Mike’s, BK, Wendy’s, Taco Bell). Smurf believes every kid benefits from service/physical labor to build respect and resilience.
  • Parenting: has his teen do real manual work (e.g., stable shoveling; cutting/stacking a downed 110-year-old cottonwood with a chainsaw) to learn self-sufficiency and problem solving.
• Family perceptions of crypto:
  • Younger kids: “Dad sells pugs.” Older son: likens it to stock investing.
  • Spouse: From “magic internet money” to attending NFT NYC, now works in IT leadership (Molina Healthcare) and appreciates the vocabulary and ops behind 24/7 markets.
• Parenting reflections:
  • Patience and perspective: Recognizes how much his mother bore when he was young; closer to her now. Kids taught him to slow down, remember learning curves, and support growth.

Sui ecosystem assessment

• Strengths:
  • Speed, throughput, and advanced object-centric tech—positioned for a generational step change (Smurf analogizes to early Internet/dot-com era evolution building on Bitcoin/Ethereum/Solana learnings).
• Gaps:
  • Community alignment “from top down”: too much infighting and drama. Smurf hopes appreciation cycles and maturity reduce friction. Advocates for unity and making space for distinct niches.
  • Tooling: Need continued maturation of trading terminals/aggregators (Nexa’s mission) and a standardized NFT protocol.

Standards and marketplaces: NFT standardization stance

• Unified standard is critical:
  • Smurf committed Puggies to launch with Animal Labs on a new standardized NFT spec (co-built with a contributor named Brian in the Sui ecosystem). Despite delays and community pressure to switch to other marketplaces (e.g., TradePort), he honored his word and waited.
  • Puggies minted out despite hiccups. Smurf believes standardization will pay dividends for devs, infra, and collectors.

Advice to builders and traders

• Builders:
  • Don’t give up. You will see others get spotlighted; resist bitterness and focus on execution. PUGWIF persevered without top-down recognition and grew stronger because of it.
  • Build your network; match skills through collaboration; Sui is early with room for many projects to succeed in parallel.
• Traders:
  • Have a plan and take profits. Avoid FOMO and hype traps. Accept that losses are teachers; resilience and iteration matter more than one lucky win.

Audience Q&A highlights (Amen)

• New NFT projects Smurf is watching:
  • MisterMon/Mystamons: Strong gameplay loop, on-chain mechanics, PFP-based randomization, burn mechanics, tokenomics flywheels—“what Sui can do” showcase.
• Existing favorites:
  • Puggies, Dunes, Prime Machine. Also shouted out “Davy” building a promising game.
• Standards question:
  • Reiterated need for a unified Sui NFT standard; explained loyalty to Animal Labs and why shipping Puggies on that standard mattered despite timeline risks.
• Market mindset:
  • Push back on “floor is too high” thinking; momentum and adoption require re-rating thresholds. If an asset’s fundamentals and trajectory are strong, price anchoring limits upside.

Notable quotes and anchor themes

• “Time in the market is better than timing the market.”
• “TA is nothing more than people’s emotions plotted on a chart.”
• “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
• “We are the pugs that don’t quit.”
• Smurf’s ethos: Show up, stay resilient, build teams, honor commitments, and let execution compound.

Closing acknowledgments

• Mike thanked Smurf for openness and sustained impact across Sui (community coordination, product growth at Nexa, PUGWIF leadership). Smurf credited the community and his team, reiterating that success is the sum of all parts—team, product, and community.
• Call to action: Be kind, foster good vibes, support your communities, and make Sui great.