Axing “The Crypto Castle Chronicles”

I’ve never enjoyed reality television. It’s vain, narcissistic, and shallow. Yet, always the optimist, I believed that I could create a new form of “unscripted television” : something thoughtful and educational, which provided unparalleled insight into the world of entrepreneurship, blockchain technology, and startup investing. If the Kardashians could harness reality TV to create a billion dollar empire and Trump could use it to secure the presidency… my goal felt achievable.

Shortly after releasing the trailer for the Crypto Castle Chronicles, I came to the realization that a show like this (which I only planned to give 5–10% of my time to) would require experienced collaborators for distribution and marketing. (This is why no further episodes have been released.) As a result, my co-creator, Adrian, and I brought on United Talent Agency (UTA), a top talent agency, and the creator of Ballers on HBO as an executive producer.

On Friday, I got a call saying that one of the best production firms in the business wanted to take a large stake in the show to help get it sold to a major network or streaming service. I was fairly excited… initially. Everything was falling into place.

Over this weekend I spent a lot of time contemplating the show. I’m moving to LA next month and will be starting a new Castle there, plus my new startup will be launching in a few months. The content would be ripe. As I like to say, “There’s never a dull day at the Crypto Castle.”

However, the past seven months since launching the trailer have given me a lot of time for introspection. Something I’ve spoken about a fair amount, being in the spotlight in during the 2017/18 crypto bull market, often depicted (unfairly, in my view) as the face of “crypto’s nouveau riche,” took a real toll on me. It pained me to be portrayed in a way that I didn’t feel reflected my good intentions or accomplishments. I thought maybe a show that I helped produced could paint a better light. But the fact of the matter is that reality TV is reality TV, and in the wake of what appears to be an imminent recession, the last thing I want is to be perceived as is some obnoxious millionaire playboy waxing poetic about social impact or how I’m making the world better. That’s not who I am. And at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words. I have no interest in being someone people love to hate. I don’t thrive on that sort of attention.

Perhaps I am sacrificing the opportunity to give myself a platform to do good, to educate, and to grow the nascent brand that I’m launching. But I can live with that. I often quip “I’d rather my life be interesting than good” and as true as that may be, my life is good right now. I’m doing good work, surrounded by good people, and perhaps I’m finally mature enough to realize that’s not worth jeopardizing. Thus, I’m nipping this opportunity at the bud, and axing The Crypto Castle Chronicles indefinitely.

The content we recorded is still there and perhaps can be put to use at a point in the future. But for now, I need to be a bit more grounded and focus on what is important.

I apologize to Adrian, all of our collaborators, UTA, the folks I filmed with, and to everyone who has asked me when the show would be released. I hate to disappoint, but in this case, I have to do what, deep down, I know is best.

I hope you understand, and invite anyone to continue to follow me on my journey:

Twitter: Disruptepreneur

Instagram: GonzoGardner

Generally: www.gonzogardner.com

And lots of good stuff coming from my new startup, MadeMan, which you can also follow on Twitter and Instagram @ MadeMan