Roham Gharegozlou, the CEO of Dapper Labs, is “the man who wants to make NFTs fun,” according to Fortune. Indeed, CryptoKitties purposely uses a fusion of gaming and collectibles to bring aspects of the blockchain technology, like NFTs, into the mainstream. But users don’t really need to understand that-all they need to know is that the kittens are cute, cuddly and potentially highly valuable. Each kitten is a non-fungible token, an impossible-to-replicate digital file made possible by blockchain technology. Shirley’s innovation created not only a menagerie of one-of-a-kind digital felines, but also an easy way for beginners to engage with the baffling world of blockchain technology. Today, the current owner is asking the equivalent of US$1.8 million.

In 2018, one cotton-candy-coloured kitty named Dragon was born with a rare, spiky tail it sold for the equivalent of about US$172,000. Since the game launched in 2017, more than 1.9 million kitties have been “born” to players, generating more than US$40 million in sales both from initial direct purchases from Dapper Labs and by owners reselling their kitties on secondary markets. Thanks to Shirley’s ingenuity and hidden algorithms, the cats, when mated, might spawn offspring with rare-and potentially valuable-attributes such as bat wings, antlers or Viking helmets. The chief technological officer of the Vancouver-based Dapper Labs, Shirley conceived some of the key defining features of CryptoKitties, an online craze where players use the cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) to buy, breed, collect and sell cartoon cats. Log In Create Free Accountĭieter Shirley is something of a legend among cryptocurrency fanatics, in part for his technical achievements-he helped establish the non-fungible token (NFT) protocol on the Ethereum blockchain-but also thanks to his signature goatee, which sprouts from the very bottom of his otherwise clean-shaven, cherubic face.

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