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Blockchain: the next foundation of finance. ETH Global NYC, the trailer.

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Shot in June 2026.

The opening cut from the ETH Global New York trip, and the clearest statement on the channel of what We Them Media is actually researching and why a camera was pointed at an Ethereum conference at all.

It opens on a stranger at a basketball game, mid-sentence, toasting “the people that love to be decentralized” and then dedicating it to his late Shih Tzu, Sugar Plum. The narration lets that sit and then says the quiet part: “Yeah, you have questions, right? Like, what did he just drink? Why is he honoring his late Shih Tzu at a basketball game? Who are the people even being decentralized? What does that mean? Well, that’s why I’m here. Let’s find out.”

Then New York, which he did not arrive at as a tourist. “I grew up a couple hours away, close enough that New York was never some distant idea. It was a city you took the bus to or train to.” What he notices is the layering: “That’s the thing about this city. It’s stacked. Old New York holding up the new one. And those new people have no idea what the old one even looked like.”

The mission statement arrives at the end, in his own words, and it is the reason this piece is worth publishing on its own rather than burying as an intro: “My name is Maceo Whatley and I’m the founder of We Them Media. Over the last five years, we’ve been researching how cryptocurrency and decentralized technology can empower everyday people around the world.”

And the specific reason for this trip: “To better understand and share with you all how Ethereum is working to show Wall Street it is ready to be the global settlement layer for financial systems.”

The interviews it sets up are published separately.

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Transcript

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Who speaks, by their own introduction on the tape: Maceo at 1:27. Transcribed from the original audio and corrected for names. Speaker letters mark turns, not names. Search every transcript →

These are the speaker’s own words. We have not checked their claims.

0:00MaceoThe people that love to be decentralized, you know what I’m saying? Just

0:02Bfor y’all.

0:03MaceoAnd also, rest in peace Sugar Plum, that’s my Shih Tzu, she died about 10 years ago. Appreciate you.

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0:10BWoo-hoo! Yeah, you have questions, right? Like, what did he just drink? Why is he honoring his late Shih Tzu at a basketball game? Who are the people even being decentralized? What does that mean? Well, that’s why I’m here. Let’s find out. New York doesn’t ease you in. You step out and you’re already in it. A few million strangers, all going somewhere all at once. I grew up a couple hours away until close enough that New York was never some distant idea It was a city you took the bus to or trained to, a place I get to go and see my friends from high school and college That’s the thing about this city, it’s stacked Odega’s under glass towers, old New York holding up the new one And most new people have no idea what the old one even looked like Oh, not you, sorry This time I linked up with some friends out here in the city People are already connected, already part of what I came for An Ethereum conference The kind of room where we’re negotiating, where technology is going But before any of that, you eat, you walk You let the city remind you why people around the world dream of being here And somewhere between these streets and the conference floor That’s where the story really starts

1:27MaceoMy name is Maceo Whatley and I’m the founder of We Them Media

1:30BOver the last five years, we’ve been researching how cryptocurrency and decentralized technology can empower everyday people around the world And that’s why I attended the Ethereum conference in New York City a couple weeks ago to better understand and share with you all how Ethereum is working to show Wall Street it is ready to be the global settlement layer for financial systems. And we’re here to show you what it means. Let’s go.

That was the whole tape.

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More from ETH Global in New York.

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