Crypto KOLs That Actually Make You Money (Web3 Gaming Edition)

There is so much trash out there in crypto social media. I honestly feel sorry for people who catch the bull market without learning the lessons of the previous bear market. As profit opportunities increase, so do the shouters and scammers looking to make a buck off of your speculation.
This article will cut through the bullshit and point you to the few influencers that can actually make you money. I'll focus on gaming here, because that's my niche, but the points can be ported to any crypto niche (defi, nodes, infrastructure, chains, etc.).
I've already made all the mistakes listening to the nonsense. You don't get to 7-8 figures in crypto unless you have a roadmap, especially in crypto gaming. Here's my map; maybe it helps you.

If you want true alpha, you either find it yourself or make better friends.

North: Identify Your Crypto Niche

One trader can't take in a fraction of what is going on in crypto. CryptoSlo and StunnaBreezy (Youtube ponzi pros) are talking about something completely different from Jesus Martinez and Cagyjan (Zoomer gamers) who are talking about something completely separate from DefiDad, Your Friend Andy and Taiki Maeda (defi, passive income DePIN, yield farming). Before you do anything, pick your niche and stick with it.
Take it from a guy who tried everything. I made a lot of money, but I would have made a lot more if I had gone narrow and deep instead of wide and shallow. I'll be fixing that mistake this time around.
Sticking to a niche has the added benefit of weeding out a metric tonne of noise. You'll understand more of what your guys are saying because you're actually interested in it. You won't spread your limited capital out too thin and get feeroded (eroded by fees) out of the ballgame.

South: Recognize the Industry You're In

Crypto gaming is a world for Zoomers and Gen Alfalfa. If you're above the age of 35, just recognise you're dealing with frenetic energy without too many filters (aside from the memes "NFA" and "DYOR"). Many of these KOLs lucked out in crypto and got rich despite bad habits. Still others have connections you don't simply from being in the right IRL social gaming circles. You're not in those circles because you don't hang out at teen clubs and frat parties any more (hopefully), and that's where a great deal of early mover information in crypto gaming gets disseminated.
However, the average age of gamers is not Zoomer or Gen A age — it's 32-27 — far older. We're in the first generation where fully grown adults still play video games, with many of them employed by the industry. But crypto gaming is still a bottom up phenomenon. In the same way that libertarian bitcoin tech hippies finally got to frontrun their Illuminati bank overlord oppressors in 2012, Zoomers get to frontrun Gen Y, Gen X and Boomers in crypto gaming. And Gen Z and Gen A are frantic. They invest in dumb shit and make it pump and get rich off it. Everything they do is not going to make sense to you.
Until the web2 gaming overlords use their financial monopoly to usurp Gen ZA's web3 influence, this is the way of things. Deal with it.
If you ARE Gen ZA, sorry, just callin it like I see it

East: Crypto KOLs are Lagging Indicators

I'm going to give you the best, most honest gaming influencers I can at the bottom of this article. Regardless, they are still lagging indicators. You had better believe they are not telling you about the earliest deals, and yes, they are guaranteed dumping their private OTC deals on you. You eat second; they eat first. If you want true alpha, you either find it yourself or make better friends.
Nobody's giving you their best shit for free (except me, for now, at least). You want the earliest alpha, which is still lagging because influencers do OTC deals that are unique to them, you'll be paying their newsletter/subscription fees. Do this if you want to. I made it to 7 figures without paying a single one, but to each his own.

West: Everyone Has an Agenda and a Bias

People are naturally inclined to favor things that have favored them. Your Friend Andy speaks highly of nodes because he has made some great node investments that earn him > $100,000 per year. Defi Dad was early in defi and got rich from it. Bitcoin maxis like Jimmy Song will call the altcoin that retires your parents and pays for your cancer treatments a complete scam. Why? He got rich in bitcoin! He doesn't need any altcoins, and it's natural to everyone to try to impose their view of the world on the world.
KOLs in large part are folks who got in early on a narrative that worked out for them. It doesn't mean it will work out for you. You need your own early bird play. The KOLs I will mention can help you navigate away from scams and towards some measure of profitability, but your freedom pass is all on you. No one can lead you to the promised land but you. Now...

...cut through the bullshit and point you to the few influencers that can actually make you money. I'll focus on gaming here...

Crypto Gaming KOLs that Don't 100% Suck and Why

Jesus Martinez — Great He must be doing something right; he got kicked out of the Gala Games Creator program. 😂 But anyone who talks about making $100/day in Big Time like that's possible now (it's only possible because he picked up sweetheart deals on Big Time NFTs a year ago) is Lagging Indicator 101. You have to weed through his frenetic Zoomer talk about how cool this or that game is to find the early opportunities that actually make sense to get into now. Nevertheless, Jesus is an honest guy, if not young and inexperienced with just life in general. He won't lead you into any scams, but the flipside of that is you're not getting in any super early deals from him either [Protip: $UEFN under $2M mcap]
Cryptostache — Easily the most entertaining crypto gaming KOL. The guy puts his heart into his work, which is why he is number one in the space. Has integrity and won't lead you astray purposefully. However, he also suffers from a huge case of Lagging Indicator. He's still a fan of Splinterlands, which lost its profit margin for new players about a year and a half ago. Cut through the weeds and listen to his content that's not about the big web3 gaming conglomerates and you'll get some good advice.
Cagyjan — Has the best pure gaming videos out there. But honestly, the best part of Cagyjan is he tells you upfront he's a Ronin shill. However, he really digs down into the crates to find the smaller P2E and investment opportunities that other crypto gaming creators of his size don't bother to touch.
Honestly I don't know what the rest of these motherfuckers are out here doing. Protip: If you ever catch yourself watching one of these random P2E clowns yelling about how they just made $500 last week on a game, rest assured that $500 is the ceiling, not the floor. It's so pointless to take all of the limited profitability out of a game then post about it. New players will get rekt because they didn't get in early enough.
Protip 2: Any video with a thumbnail of some asshole with his mouth hanging wide open, just skip it. If you're not even original enough to do something unique for a thumbnail, how in the hell are you going to offer alpha in the video?