i was planning to upload the full cryptoland AMA with max and helena and a supercut version, but i spent about ten minutes trying to figure out how to edit before completely giving up.

anyway, here's the recording. i'll be threading highlights below!

max starts by "addressing what just happened", helena starts answering a question, and max interrupts her to again address "what just happened".

3:23, second try at explaining: "we got a wave of hate, and it was originated by a twitter thread by a girl called molly, that was a bunch of hate towards cryptoland. but it really didn't say anything meaningful."

"and i think that's very sad because we're willing to... we embrace thoughtful critics."

clearly. it's interesting how they keep handwaving at my twitter thread as "hateful" and even "defamatory" without pointing out a single hateful or defamatory thing about it, but i digress

4:20 "the media picked this up... they made a series of articles that paint a very bad picture of cryptoland. they twisted our words to make things look ugly, and i think that's not fair."

5:35 "what we are doing is onboarding people that want to see this happen. we're not going to harm anyone, okay? so the people who don't like cryptoland, they're free to not come"
this is a common refrain whenever they address criticism ("hate") of their project

6:05 they repeatedly say how the cryptoland video was "a meme video", "just a funny video". this is weird given how they went on and on in the founders video about how "the film had to be awesome but also very accurate at the same time because we have to be sure we can deliver"

max talks about how it's a "parody video", a "fun piece", and people are "interpreting it from the wrong perspective"

9:03 - a painful, stammering answer to whether any more parcels have been sold (they haven't). "these things take time", "we have a lot of interest from people but we haven't been able to really, you know... well i mean, i will continue expanding on that"

10:58 - max says the project can't be a scam because they're giving the plain cryptolanders (not the "king cryptolanders" tied to land) away for free

12:05 - yes, there are people from the area helping them. their architects have their own network. "to get our masterplan approved... there was a person whose job was to knock at the right doors and bring this to the right desks"

that sounds a little bribey but i'm trying to...

give the benefit of the doubt because neither max nor helena is a native english speaker.

they talk about how this is just a "masterplan in principle" and after it's approved they'll apparently... redo the whole thing, including redoing the electrical plans to use solar instead of diesel

13:34 - their architectural firm are "architects pacific", and max says they are "one of the best architectural firms in the south pacific"
(maybe they are, i haven't looked yet)

14:20 - there will be private security and a first aid station on the island, otherwise they will rely on private police and medical evacuation to the mainland (which is quite close)