(@vonsassyx) I have to credit @popdomains with being the first friend I made in Web3. When I first “met” him he was sporting “sarah-connor.wallet” and his supercool matching PFP was mesmerizing and blazing hot. No lie, at first I thought I actually thought I was friends with a woman, until I started to notice how @popdomains switched out his handle to advertise other names. Each time he rocked a new look! If you’ve seen me do it, that’s where I got it from.

Omar is an insightful individual with a love for web3 and popular culture. He also shows a sentimental side and a razor-sharp humor. He said that he stays away from self-proclaiming himself “King of Pop Domains“, but I’m totally keeping it in the title :))

You’re the UD family king of pop culture domains. How did you get started on that particular path and what was the first pop culture domain you ever bought? 

Well, let me say off the bat that I don’t identify as the ‘king of pop culture domains‘. I try to stay away from such self-proclamations, because I’m always afraid the moment you claim something, someone else is going to come along and prove you wrong saying, “Oh no you’re not. I’M the original so-and-so in the space.” 

The major superhero names were all taken when I first came to Unstoppable. Those were the days when it was only .crypto and .zil. I missed that boat (and would browse OpenSea with a pinch of sadness), but when the extensions were expanded into .nft, .wallet, .coin, .x, etc., I was fortunate enough to have had a lot of savings to deplete to ensure I’d grab some good ones in that round.

My collection comprises mostly of pop culture characters because of all the domains that were available at that time, those were simply the ones I wanted the most. I approached domains with individual wallet holders in mind, and I’ve since noticed that most of the others in the space concentrate on businesses. To each their own.

Upon checking my billing, I see that the first pop culture-related purchase was for 38 domains, comprising of the major DC, Marvel and Star Wars characters. It sort of just grew organically from there.

I understand that you’re from South Africa. Can you tell us a little about where you grew up? How do know your UD brother @Ethernetexplora? 

I grew up in a small town in the KZN Midlands. Peaceful and photogenic. Probably the closest thing you can get to a farm town. It was the latter stage of apartheid, but I was too small to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. By the time I was in school, we were mixing with people of all colours. So I have a lot of good stuff to look back on regarding my upbringing.

@Ethernetexplora and I studied for a while post-high school. He was above me in years, but I became good friends with a classmate of his, and we got to know each other and became friends in our own right since. 

I got into Unstoppable in January 2021. In November or so of that year, when I could feel that it was becoming a more vital name in the Web3 space, I broadcasted a message to my family and friends telling them about this opportunity that they should consider. Of maybe 200-300 people, @Ethernetexplorer was the only person who saw the potential, and I’m pleased and impressed with how big of a part he has become of #UDfam since. He’s now the person I approach for info on new developments!

I know it’s not in your question, but I can’t mention @Ethernetexplora without a shout-out to the one and only @dontgetdashed. If @Ethernetexplora is the guy who brought the #UDfam together with his “Brands claimed” and “Recent sales” threads, @dontgetdashed is the guy we all crowded around. He just stuck out to me very early on as this contagiously overzealous supporter of everything Unstoppable, and I think it’s awesome I got to know him in what I still consider the early days.

Domaining for some people is strictly about investment opportunity and reward, while for others it’s a collection hobby. Would you say you are a collector or a connoisseur? 

My original intention was to flip my Unstoppable domains for a tidy sum. I was pretty sure I could (and still can) at least 10x my investment. Since then, I’ve had different reasons for collecting them. Some are for my personal use, both bland and bling, some I’ve purchased as gifts for others and am waiting for the right time to hand them over, some are names of my favourite fictional characters which I plan on monetizing once I’m confident I’m not breaking any laws, and some I wish to sell as soon as the right offer comes along, even if it’s tomorrow.

So I guess I’m a bit of everything: a retailer, a future landlord, a charitable friend, a modest show-off (that may be an oxymoron), a completionist (while I still had money), and just generally a big fan of an awesome product from what I consider an awesome company.

We know that you enjoy making model kit cars. Do you have other collections or objects of affection beyond your UD domains and what are you most proud of owning? 

I don’t collect anything physical for the sake of collecting, but I may save items if they’ve taken me on an emotional journey and may be looked back on as a big part of my life. So: books, Blu-rays, graphic novels, etc. I have boxes and boxes of them shelved away. No single item is particularly valuable. I don’t go out of my way for autographed items or anything like that. 

In fact, I was considering selling everything to buy more domains, but I didn’t pull the trigger on that because I know I’ll get only a pittance back, so I may as well just keep it. I’m hoping I’ll find someone someday who’ll appreciate these items as much as me and not just see them as relics.

I’ve been told I live in the past. What can I say? I appreciate the classics.

You make some of the best memes I’ve seen in the space. How do you get your ideas for your memes? 

I’m glad you enjoy them. I hope I can keep up as the fam grows.

Before making Unstoppable memes, I probably made about two or three in my life. It was only when I reopened my main Twitter account and joined the Bitcoin community in late 2020 that I got to know how big of a part memes are in the space (and Twitter in general). Sure I saw them before, on Facebook in the late-2000s and broadcasted on WhatsApp throughout the 2010s like everyone else, but in the Bitcoin Twitter community I really got to observe how people communicated with memes and gifs. It wasn’t just about being funny, it was about firing a point that’s as sharp as a knife straight into people’s minds in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of resistance possible.

Those guys taught me that memes are a language all on their own, and if you can master the art, you can very quickly gain an advantage for your team’s side (and even shift cultures). It’s a powerful medium, and so I thought I could bring some of that energy to the Unstoppable space and maybe use them as a catalyst to generate further interest.

You asked about the ideas of the memes specifically. I suppose it just comes down to being informed. The more you learn and notice things, keeping up with the news and community vibes, the more raw matter you have to come up with something neat and original.

Not many people know that you authored a book about public speaking. What prompted you to write it? Where can interested parties find it? 

Good memory! I mentioned this to you a long time ago. It’s a tiny booklet I self-published called ‘Butterflies Begone!: How Even the Utterly Hopeless can get away with Great Public Speaking’. It’s based on my own trial-and-error over years of wanting to get public speaking right.

It focuses not on how to write a good speech (“Should I start with a joke? Is this point taking up too much time?”), but rather on my method of how to deliver it. I’m confident that if you adopt it, you won’t: 1) have a problem filling in your time slot, 2) draw a blank in front of an audience, or 3) sound dreary as you make your way through it.

Experienced (or natural) speakers may have some issues with the method, but that’s okay. The book isn’t for them. It’s for people who think they’ll never be able to stand in front of others and speak (as was once me a long time ago) either because they’re terrified or they believe they don’t have some magic gene.

I’m confident that if they hear what I have to say and try it, as the title says, even the ‘utterly hopeless’ can get away with great public speaking.

The book is available here:

You’re something of a UD maximalist and also the creator of the UDfam forum at http://UDfam.com. How do you think the concept of ownership will change the future of the internet? 

I don’t identify as a maximalist anything. The UDfam may be disappointed to hear me say that, but I think there are very few black and white issues in life that can justify you being a maximalist. Had I stayed in the Bitcoin-only camp, I wouldn’t have gotten into Unstoppable Domains, so I’m always trying to challenge strong opinions and question what’s the best path for me in life.

Of course, that means that currently I AM a big supporter of Unstoppable. The team is super focused, the product works beautifully, and frankly I think they’re the only game in town right now. Should things change down the road, and I sense that it’s not heading in a direction I want to go, we can re-reflect on things and adjust accordingly.

Regarding digital ownership, it’s all coming at full speed, isn’t it?! Whatever can be digitized is moving to the blockchain. It’s a seemingly limitless frontier, which both gives me hope and scares me at the same time. I always have to remind myself that there’s a beautiful world out there for us to experience. And I’m not talking about getting on a plane and going on a pricey vacation. Wherever you may be, you will find natural beauty that has this grounding effect on you. The digital space is transforming at light speed. It’s full of intrigue, but regardless of what it can and will offer us, as organic beings we should never forget our source. The non-digital world is important and awesome too. In fact, I would say it is those two things even more so.

Do you have any plans to diversify your domain portfolio in the near future? Will you continue to collect pop culture icons? 

Yeah, definitely. As money comes in, I still have a lot of domains I plan on purchasing. Let’s hope I can get them before anyone else does (for my sake, anyway). If someone gets the jump on me, good for them. I’m so excited to see how the community grows in the coming years. I’ve never been a part of something like this at such an early stage. I have no doubt that by the time all’s said and done, Unstoppable will have been a major part of my life. 

So yes, I’ve got names I still want to purchase, both within pop culture and without. If it has that cool factor and is within reach, you can bet I’ve got my eye on it.

What is the last domain you bought and is there a story behind it? What is your dream domain? 

I last purchased two Star Wars domains (therebellion.nft and galacticempire.nft). I’m wondering if I’ll be able to branch them off into subdomains (luke.therebellion.nft, vader.galacticempire.nft, etc.), maybe for videogamers? It’s just an idea. Lol! It’s so early we’re not even sure what the potential is of the things we’re buying yet! We may someday look back at this time and laugh because we were either right or got it so badly wrong. *Sighs and smiles.*

My dream domain was, is, and probably will forever be Superman.nft. I have such a strong affection for the character. He means so much to me. With my domains, I plan on becoming a source of good for the people linked to me and those I come across in life, just like the big man himself.

Where would you like to be personally, in your business and with UDfam in five years?

In five years? Maybe major-flip at least one or two of my domains and know that I have options in life, both for me and my family. Ultimately I want to rent out most of what I have, simply because I don’t want to give them up so soon. Yes, money is a part of it. I’d be lying if I said otherwise, but I am interested in the space. I’ve always wanted to be a part of something big and have a story of my own to tell by the end of it.

I don’t want to flip everything I have, possess nothing but cash, and then see domains blossom into this incredible innovation without me having my place in it.

The end is the goal, but hopefully the journey will be awesome too.

Thanks so much for this, @drumkoon and @vonsassyX. You two have been kind to all of us in the #UDfam since we’ve known you. I hope whatever we have between us now continues to grow and improve as time goes on.

Omar Sayed (@PopDomains)