From cricket to crypto: AB de Villiers ventures into Web3

AB de Villiers is a household name in the world of cricket, famous for his blistering batting style and records in the shorter formats of the game. Perhaps less well known is his involvement in the Web3 and cryptocurrency space as he moves on from an illustrious sports career.

The 39-year-old South African sat down for an extensive interview with Cointelegraph as he turns his attention to the world of Web3. From his love affair with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to an ambassadorship with the Web3 investment platform, de Villiers has familiarized himself with the ins and outs of the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem.

As the South African explained in the first episode of Crypto and Sport, his personal experience of navigating the crypto ecosystem has thrown up some test deliveries to bat. It has also led him to become an ambassador for Web3, a new Ethereum-based investment platform that is looking to open up retail investors’ access to promising new start-ups.

Shake hands with my mutant app!

De Villiers admits that he kept the crypto space at an arm’s length for several years, despite the best efforts of knowledgeable friends and family from Web3 forcing him to explore the industry in early 2017.

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While his brothers pressed him to invest in Ripple’s native XRP in those early days, de Villiers remained skeptical of the crypto ecosystem and kept his distance until he took trading more seriously after downloading TradingView Search not started:

“I started following some of my favorite things. Obviously the markets too, gold, commodities, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500. I just got a little interested, started reading a little bit about the markets around the world, and then obviously Crypto, bitcoin, ethereum, xrp was also my first interest.”

After a few years, NFTs generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales with collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club. De Villiers brushed up on the intricacies of the space with the help of a friend who worked in the industry.

After getting to grips with MetaMask and its various wallets and network connections, token swaps, and blockchain bridges, de Villiers quickly became obsessed with NFT collecting. Describing his experience as full of ups and downs, the former Proteas captain was particularly proud of owning Mutant Ape, which also happened to be his first NFT merchandise.

“I think I started off with an amazing bang. I bought an M2 Mutant Ape. Amazing as a first investment. I went straight to the big one. Obviously not overboard, but an M2 is a big deal nonetheless.” The thing is.”

His dose of NFT dabbling went on for some time, with de Villiers estimating that his NFT trophy cabinet held over 300 digital collectibles before an unfortunate incident. Lured by a malicious NFT in the form of a new Puddy Penguin drop, de Villiers unwittingly gave a hacker access to his wallet by signing a malicious contract more than a year ago:

“I tapped on it, it looked pretty legit. There was a $1 gas charge. The minute I hit that gas charge, it stalled. I hit it about five times, which ultimately meant I had this guy on my Gave access to the entire wallet.

De Villiers lost a portion of his collection before sending the remainder of his NFTs to another wallet for safekeeping and admitted that the experience made him recognize some of the challenges navigating Web3 for newcomers:

“I made some mistakes and it cost me, but this is something I really want to talk about. For anyone who wants to invest in NFTs, blockchain or Web3, this is brand new and it is complicated, or it can be unless you simplify it as much as possible.

leveling the investment playing field

The experience also inspired him to get involved with the Commonwealth of Nations as an ambassador. The Ethereum-powered Web3 investment platform aims to give retail investors early access to start-ups that have traditionally been a stonewall for traditional venture capital investors. De Villiers tells Cointelegraph that this “levels the playing field” for retail investors to invest in high-potential early-stage Web3 projects.

Ready to level up your investing game? With Common Wealth, you can invest in private VC deals that were once reserved for the few, not the many. Let’s level the playing field. pic.twitter.com/nJR2G2SC5B

— Common Wealth (@joincommonwlth) May 31, 2023

The platform allows the average investor access to early stage projects and companies in the seed and private sale rounds. Users are able to invest in a variety of funds with crypto to access tokenized shares issued in the form of Genesis NFTs.

Community investors decide which projects to support through the various funds, with voting power proportional to their investment in the respective fund. Fund NFTs can be sold, traded or fractionalized on the platform or other marketplace, providing access to capital that is typically locked up for long periods of time in traditional seed investment rounds.

For de Villiers, providing the everyday investor access to an easy-to-use platform with a low financial barrier to entry in traditionally exclusive early fundraising rounds resonated with his views on financial inclusion.

He draws parallels with the socioeconomic landscape in South Africa, with its multitude of cultures and large disparity of wealth, and the potential of projects such as the Common Wealth to tackle inequality:

“I love the fact that the common man, that’s why it’s called Common Wealth, can get an opportunity with the richest man out there, the man who has been associated with this place for ten years, who does all the tricks. knows the ins and outs, it gives you a level playing field.

With nearly 9.5 million followers on Twitter and more than double that on Instagram, de Villiers said his alignment with the project was assured by the pedigree of the individuals behind Common Wealth. Key team members include alumni from Google, Activision Blizzard, Intel, Cardano and Facebook who created the Ethereum-powered mobile optimized platform.

De Villiers continues to adjust to life after an illustrious cricket career that saw him named the ICC One Day International Player of the Year thrice. Broadcast work is on the cards for the 39-year-old, while he admits he wants to continue exploring the Web3 industry in various capacities, be it investing in BTC, ETH, NFTs and other promising Web3 projects.

This comes with the usual warnings of caution when investing in the cryptocurrency space, given a long history of market volatility and other criticisms of the nascent sector.

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