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- [00:02]
Narrator
Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts. A new way to keep your teen safer as they grow. Like making sure they always have their seatbelt on.
- [00:09]
Parent
All right, sweetie pie, buckle up. Good job.
- [00:12]
Narrator
Or ring the bell on their bike.
- [00:14]
Parent
Okay, kid, give it a try.
- [00:16]
Ron Brandstetter
Nice.
- [00:17]
Narrator
Or remember their elbow pads.
- [00:20]
Parent
Knees too. Okay.
- [00:21]
Ron Brandstetter
Yep.
- [00:22]
Parent
There you go.
- [00:23]
Narrator
New Instagram Teen Accounts. Automatic protections for who can contact your teenage and the content they can see.
- [00:31]
Parent
This is a mini meditation guided by Bombus. Repeat after me. I'm comfy. I'm cozy. Cozy. I have zero blisters on my toes. Blisters. And that's because I wear Bombus the softest. Socks, underwear, and T shirts that give back. One purchased equals one donated. Now go to bombas.com wondery and use code wondery for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O-M-B-A-S.com wondery and use code Wondery at checkout.
- [01:01]
Ron Brandstetter
I was able to sit in my basement, make videos and communicate with the world. To me, it was like similar to when the printing press was invented. And I think crypto is kind of doing that same thing with value and with money throughout the world, allowing people to participate all over the world like they've never been able to before.
- [01:27]
Uniswap Representative
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- [01:55]
Jen
Get started@uniswap.org the world of crypto is wild and unpredictable. Fortunes are made and lost in the blink of an eye. And sometimes reality can be stranger than fiction. Our Next guest turned $100 investment into a meme coin called Unicorn Fart Dust that surged to a $240 million market cap in just 48 hours. Joining us now is dad, accountant, and part time security guard, Ron Brandstetter. Ron, hey, how's it going?
- [02:22]
Ron Brandstetter
Hey. It's going great. Yes. Wild and unpredictable. That's a good way to describe it. I appreciate you having me on Jen and Sam, and look forward to our conversation.
- [02:33]
Jen
We're really looking forward to it too. You know, I think we just got to start at the beginning. For anyone who hasn't been following your story, although I think you know, anyone who's been watching the crypto space knows a little bit of it. So take us to the beginning. Unicorn fart dust is this concept that you've referred to previously when it comes to crypto, when it comes to the US Dollar. Talk to us about that concept and how you brought it to life.
- [02:58]
Ron Brandstetter
Sure, sure. So for the previous three years, I had built up a successful gold and silver investing YouTube channel. And for the first two years of that process, I was always very skeptical of crypto, and I would refer to crypto and the US dollar as unicorn fart dust. So during the last year, I kind of softened my stance on crypto. I kind of was observing how things were observed, were evolving in the crypto world. And then on December 16th of last year, I did this experiment where I started Unicorn fart Dust, the cryptocurrency.
- [03:39]
Sam
Ron, before we get into that, I want to ask a question, because you say you were skeptical on crypto, but you also talk about being sort of all in. It sounds like on gold and silver, in many ways. One could say gold and silver are also meme currencies. Right. We ascribe value to something that comes from something we don't control, and therefore it goes up and down based on desire. Right. So I guess I was wondering what your core critiques were of crypto until you sort of came into the crypto ecosystem.
- [04:13]
Ron Brandstetter
I think that it wasn't physical, that there wasn't something I could hold in my hands. I, you know, I have ounces of silver down here that, you know, I would hold in my hand. And there were times, if you went through the archives of my videos, when I would sit in the basement and say, well, somebody show me a bitcoin. And I would reach into the air and, you know, say, it's not real. It's unicorn fart dust. So, but what's interesting, Sam, is that I would also refer to silver because silver was actually money before gold. Was that silver was the original or is the original cryptocurrency? There's a lot of similarities in terms of the thesis behind why precious metals investors buy precious metals that are similar to why cryptocurrency investors decide to put their. Their value or store their value in cryptocurrencies.
- [05:06]
Jen
Ron, I mean, that is really a mind shift change that you're describing there.
- [05:12]
Parent
Right.
- [05:12]
Jen
And so I would love to dig a little bit deeper into that and hear from you. You know, how do you think about the future of money now? Now that, you know, you've built this audience talking about gold and silver, you're.
- [05:25]
Uniswap Representative
Really invested in it.
- [05:27]
Jen
You now kind of understand the ins and outs of crypto on a different level. What does that tell you about the future of money?
- [05:35]
Ron Brandstetter
Yeah, well, you know, I think there's the fiat money systems which have kind of dominated over the last hundred, several hundred years, and then you have the non fiat systems which would be gold and silver and I think now cryptocurrency. So when I look at the future of money, you know, I think the gold and silver will always hold value. I think they always have and they always will. But we can't deny the fact that, that the world is becoming digital. And you know, the example I like to use, I have twin daughters who are in seventh grade now and over the last several years, as I watched them play games and get into these different, you know, apps on their, on their phones, that, that, that they're, that they definitely were ascribing value to digital money. That, and it really dawned on me that, wow, you know, like there really is value. There really can be value in digital objects or digital currencies. So yeah, that's, you know, I think the future, it's undeniable and that's really why I started to soften over the last year towards crypto in general, is that, you know, there's so many benefits to crypto just from, you know, being decentralized, being democratized, allowing people all over the world the opportunity to participate in a, in a system that otherwise they're locked out of. A lot of times with the fiat system, you know, most people in the world, a lot of people in the world can't get bank accounts, but if they have a phone, and most do or are getting, you know, phones at this point, they're able to participate in crypto and hopefully able to participate in unicorn fart dust as well.
- [07:24]
Sam
I mean, I do think it's funny that you mentioned that your genesis problem was that it wasn't physical while you were also building a side career in a completely digital environment of YouTube. Right, right. And I think that is one of the shifts that people don't pay enough attention to that. You know, we were born out of a manufacturing and agrarian society, then we kind of go to an information society. Now we're really in an attention society.
- [07:50]
Ron Brandstetter
Ye.
- [07:51]
Sam
And we ascribe value to it the same way your daughters or my daughter do of oh, I want a digital object and I find value in that. So I love that that's the shift you made. And I agree that I think that all assets can have value, right? We don't have to get rid of physical to have digital. There could be a lot of companion opportunities. You also talk about, you know, the unicorn for artist project, and I think there's like about 40,000 holders or so at the moment. So, you know, what was that moment when you were sitting there and saying he. This project I created from scratch as a really an experiment. Suddenly I'm seeing thousands of people engage. It may, you know, is that similar to the feeling when you started getting subscribers to your channel?
- [08:32]
Ron Brandstetter
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, and there's some similarities because, you know, I'm 55 years old. When I was 52, I started the YouTube channel. And what excited me about it was the fact that like for the first time in history, and I don't think a lot of people realize this almost for free, I was able to sit in my basement and communicate with the world, make videos and communicate with the world. To me it was like, you know, similar to when the printing press was, was invented. And I think crypto is kind of doing that same thing with value and with money throughout the world, allowing people to participate all over the world like they've never been able to before. So to answer your question, it was very early in the process, really. The second morning I was sitting on my screened in porch, I pulled out my phone, I looked at my crypto wallet, which I'd never owned one, you know, three days previous, and there was a balance of over $1 million. But I'd already at that point experienced this feeling that there was this community developing behind unicorn fart dust and that they viewed it as something unique and special. And at that point I didn't really realize what the value was in a cryptocurrency. I just knew that, that what was happening and what I was sensing already after only 48 hours was something special. And, and that the, you know, that's a lot of money to me. I think it's a lot of money to most people, but I'd promised that I wouldn't sell and it really never even crossed my mind. I just felt like it was something big and it was happening all over the world.
- [10:21]
Jen
Ron, what did your daughters think of the unicorn fart dust?
- [10:26]
Ron Brandstetter
Well, they're in middle school, so they have mixed, mixed feelings about it. You know, they, they, they sometimes get a little embarrassed, but they think it's great and you know, their friends really love it. They want merch and everything else. So yeah, overall a big thumbs up.
- [10:43]
Sam
And Ron, you mentioned though, that you woke up, you have this, you know, seven figure balance in your wallet. I know you then at some point went through a hack where a fair, fair bit of that got drained, which obviously taught you a lot about crypto security needs. Yes. But it then, and I believe the community came in to support you in donating crypto back to you to make, make good on that. So that also must have been an amazing feeling just to know not only do I do this thing, but the people who are making money are also supporting me.
- [11:11]
Ron Brandstetter
Yeah, it has been, Sam, a community driven project from the very beginning, which I think really makes us different from most other meme coins or the big meme coins. This has been like, we didn't have any paid promotion. I never owned more than 1% of the outstanding coins. So this community, to answer your question, from the very beginning, really drove the project. I mean, I did it as an experiment and then I kind of just followed my moral code. I didn't know that by me following my moral moral code that I was doing something different than a lot of the other meme coins. But it resonated with the meme coin investing community and they've like been super supportive of this from day one. Because I look, you know, prior to the day that I launched ufd, I had never owned a crypto. So I had really had. This was not a strategy. This wasn't anything that I thought up about what I would do in 2025. It kind of happened on the fly. But what I noticed right off the bat was that, you know, if I just continued to do what I thought was the right thing and an honest thing, that it was like gaining so much support and momentum from the, from the community. So to answer your question, yes, it was overwhelming. It was a traumatic experience to get, you know, hacked and literally in 10 seconds watch, you know, a big part of my net worth disappear. And I never would have imagined that the community would, would come back and somebody told me they're going to restore all your. We call them beans instead of coins. And I, in my mind, I thought there's not a chance in the world that that would happen. And they did. So, yeah, it's been, you know, Susie and I are overwhelmed with gratitude toward the UFD community.
- [13:08]
Jen
Ron, there are a lot of people who've launched a lot of different tokens who are probably watching this interview wondering how someone who's never interacted with crypto before, who had no advertising behind the coin, who just really like you said led with your own moral compass, managed to build this community so quickly. If you were, if you were to reflect right now on what made this such a success and what made it so viral, what would you say that was?
- [13:36]
Ron Brandstetter
I think I really. Honesty and genuineness and integrity and just doing the right thing. And I unfortunately, and again, I had no idea this was the case. But I think that the Meme coin, I don't want to say crypto in general, but the Meme Coin sector was thirsty for that, that they really wanted that. And, and that what I did, just being consistent and, you know, following through, I said I would show up every day, and I've showed up every day through the highs and the lows and you know, and, you know, the novelty of it is, is gone. I mean, like, that, that, that resonated with people and, and that, and that it's kind of inspired them and, and that there's a lot of good people in the world, most people are good and, and that people want to be part of something. I mean, I think that's where the value is in ufd, that, that like, it's decentralized and people can take on projects. And you know, we have NFT projects, we have merch projects, we have musical projects, we have a DJ. We had 20,000 people at an online UFD dance party the other night. That people like the idea that if they have an idea that they can get involved and try things. But that at the core of it is that we have this like, core value that, that we want to do good in the world and people like that. Common belief, I guess, is how it feels.
- [15:07]
Sam
Ron, you know, my final question for you is you, you wrote this. You know, what's a 240 million out of the peak? I think it's about a. Just about a quarter of that at the moment. Not uncommon for Meme Coins. You know, how do you look at trying to make this long term, knowing that the crypto audience can be fickle? You know, we've seen, we've seen a lot of folks who have been committed to dogecoin for years and years and years. And then we've also seen those who spend a week in a Meme Coin take their money and leave. You seem to be a great community builder, and I love that you know, that, that that's what we all, we all want in this. But, you know, how do you sort of deal with the ups and downs of your value being in essence, judged based on a market cap?
- [15:49]
Ron Brandstetter
Yeah, you know, it's our market cap went as high as 400 million at one point and dropped as low as 30 million. I'm focused on the community through the ups and downs. I know that in the long run a strong community that's creating value that that will translate into a higher coin price. I also take a lot of, I guess, confidence in the fact that you can't see it on screen here. But you know, I have a jug next to me that shows that there's only about a billion UFD coins and that there will never be any more made. And I just know that if the community continues and if I continue as we continue day by day, that every day we get more and more and more long term holders and if we stay focused on our core values, that the future will take care of itself. That, you know, today, you know what I, you know, I did a live stream this morning. I had the privilege of being on here with, you know, CoinDesk this afternoon or this later this morning talking to you that if we all keep doing the little things and I mean, Sam, these people are doing incredible artwork and music and different events and all this different stuff. I think this, and, and this just came to mind. I want to mention this. It feels like to me, you know, three months is a pretty long time in the meme coin world and, and it feels like to me that, that we've established ourselves to a certain degree. I won't say we're out of the woods or, you know, I do believe we're destined for greatness long term, but it feels like to me that the community's at a point now where it's starting to take a life of its own and growing in a way that's different than it was growing a month ago. I think that it's important for me to keep doing my part, but that now there's other community members and other initiatives that are going on that I would have never dreamed of and that that's where in the long run, you know, this thing will continue to grow. And I do think that people in the world want good and UFD is, I mean, we've got a guy and I promise I'll be quiet, but we've got a guy in the Philippines who like is a UFD duster we call ourselves, who decided to give away 100 hamburgers and people had donated some money to him and he made a video about it and it's everybody that he gave a hamburger to and they were holding up a UFD was smiling and saying good attracts good. So I think that that at the end, you know, that, that a good movement will. Can. Can continue to grow and continue to, you know, and that it gives everybody an equal chance everywhere in the world.
- [18:38]
Jen
Rotten. We do got to wrap up. I know that Sam said that was the last question, so this is very quick. Before you started Unicorn fart Dust, it was gold and silver for you. You didn't interact with any other cryptos. Are you investing in crypto now?
- [18:50]
Ron Brandstetter
I am purely. My, I like, joke around. My horn is 100% focused on unicorn fart dust. I won't rule it out in the future, but I believe in this and it's keeping me very busy and, and I do best when I'm like, all in 100% on something. So, yeah, at some point I will, but. But for now, I'm 100% UFD.
- [19:12]
Jen
Ron, it's been such a pleasure getting to know more about you and your story and hearing more about the unicorn fart dust community. Thanks for joining Sam and I today.
- [19:21]
Ron Brandstetter
Yeah, thanks, guys. It's been great. I appreciate it and hopefully I'll talk to you again soon.