EP.102: How Decentraland is Shaping the Future of Virtual Worlds with Yemel Jardi

Welcome to Into the Metaverse. In this week’s episode, Yon sits down with Yemel Jardi, Co-founder of Decentraland and Executive Director of the Decentraland Foundation, for an in-depth conversation about how Decentraland is shaping the future of virtual worlds.

Yemel shares his journey from developing open-source Bitcoin tools to building one of the most influential decentralized virtual worlds, highlighting the core principles of self-custody, user-generated content, and open-source collaboration. The two discuss the challenges and opportunities of building an open metaverse, the role of major brands like Dolce & Gabbana and Netflix, and why interoperability is crucial for the future of digital ownership.

Tune in as they explore the next phase of Decentraland’s evolution and what it means for users, creators, and brands in the open metaverse.

Yemel Jardi is a co-founder of Decentraland, and the Executive Director of the Decentraland Foundation. With a passion for blockchain technology, Yemel began building open source tools for Bitcoin development in 2014, and later co-founded Casa Voltaire, which has incubated significant blockchain projects such as Decentraland, OpenZeppelin, HardHat, and Muun. He is currently the Executive Director of the Decentraland Foundation, leading the organization's efforts to build a decentralized virtual world in the open metaverse.

Immerse yourself in Decentraland

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Chapters:

• Origins of Decentraland (00:00)
• What is Decentraland (12:20)
• Who is Using Decentraland (14:54)
• No Code Capabilities (16:56)
• Brand Activations & Engagement (19:04)
• Age of Audiences (24:58)
• The Need for Interoperability (26:34)
• Areas for Improvement (33:18)
• New Version and AI Improvements (37:24)
• The Internet As It Should Be (42:04)
• Wrap Up (48:11)

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