CryptoKitties Founder Roham Gharegozlou on Why NFTs are Evolving Beyond Hype

For Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, the journey from the cartoon cat NFT project CryptoKitties to NBA Top Shot has been more than just an exercise in pushing pixels around. It’s been a ride that’s taken him from humble creator of the NFT standard to licensed IP deals with some of the biggest names in sports, and now, a reinvention of CryptoKitties itself.

“We’re bringing it full circle,” Gharegozlou said, explaining the company’s move to relaunch the original CryptoKitties ecosystem that first put NFTs on the map. As recently announced, the pioneering NFT project is re-launching with a Telegram mini-game.

That relentless focus on delivering experiences rather than just tech hype is something that’s separated Dapper Labs from many of its peers in the space. While countless projects focused on the mechanics of the underlying blockchain, Gharegozlou has made it a point to focus on what people actually want: Content and collectibles that are easy to use and fun to own.

“We’ve gotten so wrapped up in how the technology works or even what it’s called, labels for different things,” he said. “I think that has kind of resulted in every crypto cycle becoming inaccessible to the next wave of people. That hurts adoption, slows down adoption… So, we’re really trying to make sure we’re talking about the value that customers are getting, not necessarily the technology.”

For Gharegozlou, that has naturally led to expanding what he learned in launching NBA top Shot — the first real proof of that concept, creating a surge of interest that sent everyone scrambling to capture the attention of sports fans. Dapper has since added WNBA collectibles, along with NFL All Day collectibles and UFC products as well.

“We’re trying to stay focused on that long term and recognize that even through the ups and downs, you’ve just got to keep building,” he noted. “In fact, when it’s the down times, that’s when you can build the most… That’s when everyone is distracted and sort of chasing their tail to an extent.”

It’s that long-term approach that has kept Dapper Labs pushing ahead, even as the broader NFT market has retreated from its boom. While the craze isn't what it was when sports collectibles first emerged in the pandemic, Dapper has sustained its growth and expanded.

NFL All Day notched its best rookie season ever with more than 100,000 orders on collectible packs. Their WNBA collectibles also grew to its best year. And now that Dapper has shown what's possible on the underlying Flow blockchain, other builders are increasingly looking to build on the chain.

“Flow has been separate entities for years now,” Gharegozlou explained. “Dapper builds on Flow, but Dapper can fully focus on the application side. Flow can just be an awesome platform.”

That separation of concerns, as Gharegozlou described it, allows Dapper Labs to zero in on what it does best: Bringing IP and entertainment to life in a way that creates real value for fans. It’s a model that has attracted major players like Disney and Mattel to Flow, and one that Roham is confident will continue to draw in both mainstream brands and independent developers looking for an ecosystem to build in.

So, what’s the next step in Gharegozlou's master plan? Not just convincing the world that NFTs are here to stay but making the technology so seamless that it fades into the background.

“Consumer products will be crypto and crypto-enabled,” he said confidently. But not in the way most people think. “I’m saying the product is going to look just like the product you expect to use. But on the back end, it’s using tokens. It’s using play-to-earn mechanics. It’s using true ownership, decentralized voting, and gated controls.”

In other words, the apps and games we use in the future won’t scream “crypto” at us. Instead, they’ll quietly make use of the technology to offer features we’ve never had before— whether it’s easier digital ownership, direct engagement with brands and creators, or the ability to use assets across different platforms.

It’s a bold vision that requires a lot more than just blockchain infrastructure. As we recently covered with Story Protocol — which raised $145 million to bring IP onchain — it's also a market opportunity that is attracting a lot more players.

“It’s going to start with small communities that are sort of hyper-concentrated and really excited,” Roham predicted. “But it’s going to grow. And once the unlock happens, it happens faster than you expect.”

With NBA season tipping off soon and a pipeline of projects like CryptoKitties’ reboot, Dapper Labs is positioning itself for another moment in the spotlight — one that may bring it full circle but with a broader, more mature understanding of how to turn digital collectibles into something mainstream consumers genuinely care about. And in Roham’s world, that’s exactly where NFTs should be headed.

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