Cardano SPO Column: SWAG [SWAG]

This week’s guest on the Cardano SPO Column is a stake pool operator who stumbled upon Cardano during the bull run of 2017 and has been involved in the community ever since: SWAG [SWAG].

Last week’s guest was a stake pool created by a group of Cubans who are pet and animal lovers and own a dog shelter in Cuba.

This initiative is a point of reference for everything Cardano and every week or two we will invite a Stake Pool Operator (SPO) to answer some questions and give us an update directly from within the Cardano community.

Considering that many of our readers are new to the crypto space, we will have a mix of simple and technical questions.

Cardano SPO Column, interview with SWAG [SWAG]

something about yourself, what is your background?

I’m Jeff from SWAG Stakepool and one of the Co-Founders of AdaPulse. I’ve been in the IT field for over 14 years at this point, in various capacities. 

I became super interested in crypto in general back in 2017, during the bull market, when I remembered a close friend trying to educate me on this weird internet money called Bitcoin a few years back. That’s when I stumbled across Cardano. 

What’s the path that led you to Cardano and to become a Stake Pool Operator (SPO)?

I’ve always wanted to participate in block production and consensus within Cardano as an operator going back to the Incentivized Testnet. However, I just did have the resources or time to commit myself to the process of participating as an SPO. 

I still followed all the news and updates closely and when the announcement of Shelley became a reality and the Friends and Family testnet dropped, I had to figure out a way to gain access so I could participate. I was blessed to be a part of that group because I learned so much from those guys. There are some serious rockstars building and steering this ship. 

What are your thoughts on the recent “traced art” situation concerning the SpaceBudz NFT collection? Have you seen the new art? Do you like it?

The recent situation with Spacebudz is unfortunate. I’ve known Alessandro for a while and I’ll stand behind the notion that there was no malice or intent to copyright art. It’s also worth noting how he handled the situation when it came to light. He tried to get all the facts and make the situation right. 

Now we can disagree on whether or not the measures taken were the right course of action but the intent was there and that’s what counts in my book. I haven’t really seen the new art to be honest but I know Spacebudz and Alessandro aren’t finished and likely only getting started. I’m excited to see what else they drop in the future. 

Your stake pool has been operating since 2020. Can you share the most exciting moments during this period? And what are you most looking forward to at this point in time?

Some of the greatest moments are just engaging and interacting with the delegators of SWAG. Getting to meet people, in real life, who took that leap of faith to support me is crazy. I got to meet many of them at the Cardano events over the past several years and it’s something I’ll never forget. 

What I’m looking forward to is Voltaire. I’m a huge proponent of decentralised governance which is what fueled the idea of AdaPulse. (Shameless Plug: go check out AdaPulse.io for all Cardano and Project Catalyst related news and updates!) The tech of Cardano is sound and if we can get the governance aspect down….its game. Set. Match. 

Great contribution. Any final thoughts? Where can people stay in touch?

Thank you Patryk for reaching out. This was fun and I appreciate the work you’re doing for our community. People can find me on Twitter or Telegram.

Thank you!

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the SPOs are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOG.