Kael Cuauhtli is an artist, stock trader, weightlifter, and a 17-year-old college sophomore. He descends from an immigrant Mexican American family who struggled financially after the death of his grandfather. Seeing what his family has gone through along with many others in the present day, a spark has ignited in him to become a philanthropist. On his journey to begin his career he is creating the CryptoCanos collection with the goal of donating 8 ETH and all royalties to the Chicano Federation which houses, provides healthy meals, and gives job opportunities to lower income families in need.
Chris: CryptoCanos NFTs are created to represent the Mexican Community. What was your idea behind the development of these tokens?
Kael: I originally created a previous NFT Collection just for fun based on some art I did. As I was creating the collection, I slowly learned the ins and outs of how NFTs worked and how this new technology will be integrated into our society. I noticed a lack of popular Mexican art collections and decided to try my hand at that. The idea initially started as a way to sell paintings, but slowly evolved into the serious project that I have dedicated much of my time, energy, and effort into. I'm hoping to truly begin my career as a philanthropist with this collection as it not only will donate a sizable amount of ETH to charity, but it also gives a low-risk high-reward opportunity for other Mexican Americans and non-mexican americans to create wealth with this low 0.006 ETH investment to potentially make hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of ETH.
Chris: So, the CryptoCanos NFT are straightforward artwork creations. What do the tokens represent? What are their different features?
Kael: The artwork is intended to work like a "badge-of-honor" to showcase our pride for being the pioneering chicanos to enter the NFT landscape. Each CryptoCano is unique with their own styles, accessories, skin colors, facial expressions, and backgrounds similar to the CryptoPunks. I assume that the ones with better style or flashier accessories will draw more desire than the basic ones with a plain t-shirt. Yet once all the cooler looking ones are taken, I presume FOMO will spread and people will try to cop a CryptoCano before they've all been sold. We are after all, talking about the ONLY Mexican and Mexican-American styled mass-produced NFT Collection.
Chris: Furthermore, how is each token different from the other? Do you also have some rare tokens? How does one know which ones are rare?
Kael: There is one extremely rare token, it has a black pointed beanie which is a type of headwear no other CryptoCano possesses. The rest of them are only capable of wearing fedoras or bandanas. The rarity system for this collection works as a binary. Some accessories are harder to find than others (gold chains are more rare than silver chains). However, what is even more rare are the CryptoCanos with a mixture of rare items (a CryptoCano with a full beard, shades, long hair, a gold chain, earrings, and headphones). Most CryptoCanos have at least one accessory, but finding ones with multiple accessories is key. Especially if they compliment the background color.
Chris: So what is the price for one CryptoCanos NFT? How much is gas?
Kael: I am listing them all at the floor price of 0.006 ETH. The cheap price is intended to attract initial investors and people who simply want a cool badge of honor to hold on their profile. They are stored on the polygon network for lower gas fees than the ethereum network. This way we can avoid people getting turned-off by high gas fees and attract a wider base.
Chris: Similarly, when is the token release date? Do you also plan to have a presale?
Kael: As of 2/13/2022 the 5,000 tokens are being minted by an A.I. Once the A.I. is finished I will go back and manually fix any errors in the listings before the official release date of 2/18/2022. The CryptoCanos that have already been minted are currently listed for sale on CryptoCanos - Collection | OpenSea
Chris: Additionally, you picked the Polygon blockchain for lower gas fees and wider reach. However, does Ethereum not guarantee a bigger audience for the NFT?
Kael: I am grateful for Opensea's beginner-friendly interface. I was talking about the project to my friend and he bought it as his first ever NFT with also the first ever crypto he's ever owned. He was able to figure out how to convert the ETH to WETH completely on his own. The lower gas fees combined with opensea's beginner friendly interface will only make it easier to attract a larger audience than if I were to have hosted these on the ethereum network.
Chris: What are the benefits of owning a CryptoCanos NFT? What more can one do with their tokens?
Kael: Besides owning an NFT, owning an NFT from the only mass-produced chicano style collection, and only spending a low 0.006 ETH to get it, you will also be contributing to a charity donation. I will donate at the very least 8 ETH worth of proceeds to the Chicano Federation once all 5,000 are sold. Not only will it feel great to help a family eat a healthy meal or find a place to stay, but the media publicity from this large donation by a 17-year-old from an immigrant family will also give amazing publicity to the collection causing a boom in demand with an already sold-out supply. It might even boost publicity for NFTs as a whole, indirectly helping other projects in the process.
Chris: Finally, please share your roadmap for the future of CryptoCanos. What are some of the key milestones you hope to achieve in 2022?
Kael: After the collection's release date I will continue spreading the word about the CryptoCanos. I will post ads on instagram and tiktok, I will try scoring some more interviews, and get notable NFT gurus to shout-out the collection. I will be active on discord and Twitter as well. It's very possible that I'll add benefits to those holding CryptoCanos but I need to focus on one thing at a time right now. After my donation I will pitch the story to ABC 10 News here in San Diego to spread the word about what the CryptoCanos collection has done and I will announce that all my royalties will go to the Chicano Federation as well. This should attract more people to the CryptoCanos collection and NFTs as a whole being that this would be most people's first look at a successful NFT collection that isn't worth an overwhelming price to the average person such as the Bored Apes and CryptoPunks.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the interview! May we all see prosperity from the CryptoCanos!
Chicano Federation Link: The Federation (chicanofederation.org)
