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00:00JOINS ME NOW FOR MORE ON ALL OF THIS. YOU ARE A FORMER TEACHER. HOW EXACTLY DOES THIS WORK? WHAT ARE KIDS DOING ON ZIGAZOO? ZAK: SUCH A PLEASURE TO BE HERE. ZIGAZOO WAS STARTED OUT OF OUR OWN HOME. MY WIFE AND I HAVE THREE BOYS. WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC WHAT TO DO WITH THEM AND WE WERE BUMMED OUT THAT THE ONLY THING YOU COULD DO WITH YOUR KIDS ONLINE WAS BASICALLY PLAY A GAME OR WATCH OR BINGE TV, KNOWING WE ARE GOING TO GIVE OUR KIDS A BIT MORE OF A DIGITAL DIET DURING THE PANDEMIC. WE WANTED OUR KIDS TO REACH THE TOP OF THE ECONOMY IN TEACHING AND CREATION. WE WANTED THEM TO BE CREATING. YOU WANT THEM TO BE CREATING IN A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT WITH FRIENDS. PEOPLE THOUGHT THIS WAS KIND OF IMPOSSIBLE. WE REALIZED IT WASN ' T IMPOSSIBLE AND WE COULD USE THE CONSTRUCT OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, WHICH IS ONE OF THE BEST BASED ON RESEARCH WASTED GIVE KIDS PURPOSE -- RESEARCHED WAYS TO GIVE KIDS PURPOSE IN SCHOOLS. WE HAVE EVERYBODY FROM THE NBA TO NICKELODEON, TODAY WE LAUNCHED A CHANNEL ON ZIGAZOO. THERE ARE ALL THESE GREAT CHALLENGES THAT KIDS CAN DO. TAKEN BE SOMETHING FOR NICKELODEON ON ZIGAZOO SAYING WHAT WOULD YOUR FACE LOOK LIKE IF YOU GOT SLIMED? NOW WE HAVE THE NBA SAYING WHAT WOULD YOUR BEST SLAMDUNK LOOK LIKE? EMILY: NOW YOU ARE GETTING INTO NFT ' S. WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING KIDS ABOUT NFT ' S? ZAK: OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS TO DO WEB3 WRONG. CRYPTO GETS A BAD RAP, BUT THE REALITY IS IT IS THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET. WEB3 IS WEB3 BECAUSE IT IS AFTER WEB2. WE WANT TO GET AHEAD OF THE GAME BY PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR KIDS TO GET TO KNOW THIS TECHNOLOGY. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A CREATION BASED TECHNOLOGY WHERE KIDS ARE CREATING THEIR FUTURE AND BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES WILL ALLOW KIDS TO DO SO. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRING ON SOME OF THE BIGGEST TALENT IN THE WORLD TO CREATE THEIR OWN NFT ' S. WE ARE GIVING KIDS OPPORTUNITIES TO BUILD ART AND SHOW THEM OFF TO THEIR FRIENDS. WE ARE PROVIDING OTHER BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES THAT ALLOWS KIDS TO BE CREATORS IN THEIR OWN STUDIO AND TO START TO THINK OF THEMSELVES LESS AS CONSUMERS AND MORE AS CREATORS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT. EMILY: I HAVE FOUR KIDS. THE THOUGHT OF MY KIDS ON TIKTOK FOR KIDS IS A LITTLE BIT TERRIFYING, LET ALONE MY KIDS IN THE METAVERSE. WHY SHOULDN ' T HERONS BE WORRIED ABOUT THIS? -- PARENTS BE WORRIED ABOUT THIS? ZAK: THERE ARE ALL THESE VOCABULARY WORDS THAT ARE THROWN OUT THERE TO CREATE FEAR. THE REALITY IS 50% OF KIDS ARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT YOUR KID ON. SOCIAL MEDIA IS HERE TO STAY. WE THINK THE BEST SOLUTION IS TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE SAFE, EDUCATIONAL, CONSTRUCTIVE, AND DO THAT IN A WAY THAT BLENDS THE WORLD OF EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE ' VE DONE. WE HAVE THE HIGHEST RATINGS FROM COMMON SENSE MEDIA. WE HAVE SAFE HARBOR FROM THE FTC . WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CREATE WHAT IS REALLY THE SAFE AND LOVELY NETWORK OF KIDS CREATING, ONE OF ONLY TWO PLATFORMS I LET MY THREE KIDS USE. WE ARE STRICT ABOUT THE WAY WE DO TECHNOLOGY. EMILY: WHAT IS THE OTHER ONE? ZAK: WE LET THEM WATCH NETFLIX FOR KIDS. EMILY: OKAY. SO WHY DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO IT BETTER THAN THE OTHER GUYS? THERE WAS A HUGE OUTCRY WHEN INSTAGRAM ANNOUNCED IT WAS GOING TO TRY TO DO INSTAGRAM FOR KIDS AND IT AHS BEE -- IT HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY ON PAUSE. ZAK: WE BUILT ZIGAZOO GROUND UP FOR KIDS, BY KIDS. EVERY SINGLE DECISION IN THE PRODUCT IS MADE WITH KIDS IN MIND. OBVIOUSLY WE KNOW THAT IS NOT THE CASE WITH A LOT OF OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS. ONE OF THE THINGS WE KEEP HEARING FROM REVIEWERS OF OUR PLATFORM IS WHEN WE GO ON ZIGAZOO, WE ARE STUNNED BY THE FACT THAT KIDS ' CHILDHOODS ARE BEING PRESERVED. THERE IS NO COMMENTING AND NO NEGATIVITY ON THE PLATFORM. WE HAVE ONLY OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOUT EACH OTHER OUT. KIDS ARE BEING GOOFY, SHARING THEIR FUNNIEST JOKES, LAUGHING, SINGING, DANCING, BEINGS KIDS. AT THE END OF THE DAY, TECHNOLOGY IS HERE. IF WE TRY TO PREVENT KIDS FROM USING IT, IT ' S NOT GOING TO WORK. WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS GIVE THEM THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND THE RIGHT GUARDRAILS TO BE ABLE TO BE KIDS AND PROTECT THEIR CHILDHOODS IN A WAY THAT IS SAFE AND ALLOWS THEM TO LAUGH AND BE FUNNY AND BE THEMSELVES. WE HAVE GIVEN KIDS A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN THE MEANTIME. EMILY: WHAT DOES THE NBA BRING TO THE TABLE, OR THE COURT I SHOULD SAY? ZAK: AS A BASKETBALL FAN, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LOVE ABOUT THE NBA IS WHAT THE NBA DOES FOR KIDS -- AND AS AN EDUCATOR I CAN SAY IT TEACHES KIDS ABOUT BEING A GOOD TEAMMATE. THE NBA IS ABOUT SPORTS AND BEING HEALTHY. IT ' S ABOUT FASHION AND WHATEVER ELSE IT MIGHT BE IT IS GIVEN KIDS CONFIDENCE. WE THINK THE VALUES OF THE NBA ARE REFLECTED IN ZIGAZOO AS WELL. ZIGAZOO ISN ' T A GAME YOU SIT ON ON YOUR COUCH FOR HOURS, IT ' S A WAY YOU BRING TECHNOLOGY JUST LIKE YOU WOULD GOOGLE MAPS INTO THE WORLD. IT ' S ASKING YOU TO DO CHALLENGES THAT ARE ACTIVE AS OPPOSED TO PASSIVE. WEEDING THE NBA AS A PERFECT PARTNER IN HELPING TO CELEBRATE HEALTH, WILL BE, BEING HEALTHY -- WELL-BEING, JOY, CAMARADERIE, BEING SOCIAL. THOSE OF THE THINGS THAT WE KNOW THE NBA BRINGS. I BECAME A SPORTS FAN WHEN I WAS THIS AGE. I STARTED BECOMING A FAN OF MY FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM. THE SAME IS TRUE HERE. THIS IS A SPECIAL WAY TO GIVE KIDS OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME FANS IN THEIR MEDIUM. I MILLENNIAL. THIS IS NOT MY MEDIUM IS MUCH. THIS IS THEIR MEDIUM. THEY ARE DIGITAL NATIVES.

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Crypto Report: Kids’ Social Network Zigazoo and Web3

Zigazoo Founder & CEO Zak Ringelstein joins Emily Chang to talk about the company's $17 million funding round including backers like TikTok celebrities and the NBA, and to discuss how Zigazoo will use these funds to expand into the metaverse and further its NFT education platform. (Source: Bloomberg)

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