At LayerX, our strength has always come from the incredible people who make our community.That's why we're excited to launch Behind the Handle, a new blog series where we feature and get to know the amazing people who make and contribute to our community!This is a series of written interviews with our community members, where we get to know the person behind the handle, explore their experiences in the web3 space, and discover why they love being part of LayerX.In this first episode, we feature Connor Copestick, known as <a href="https://x.com/CryptoConstar/highlights" target="_blank">@ConstarCrypto</a>, one of our longest-time supporters!Constar is a man of many talents, including being a content creator on YouTube, where he shares his knowledge and passion for blockchain and the Web3 space.So, without further ado, let’s dive into his story and learn more about his journey! <h3>Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got into web3?</h3>From a very young age, I always found myself being interested in the development/progression of almost anything really. The concept of taking an idea and trying to expand on it myself always felt like a very stimulating and fun experience. As a child this was in the form of video game development, coming up with different concepts of what I thought would make for a fun addition to my favorite games. As I got older I found myself continuously impressed by many different types of businesses and their ability to make key changes to their structure/products in order to take their businesses to new heights. Whilst this hobby never seemed to materialize in my professional life at the time, my interest within this general concept had never left me. That was until my closest friend introduced me to cryptocurrency and the web3 space as a whole. After some initial skepticism, I was hooked.Continuously searching this exciting and unknown world for an opportunity I could take advantage of. Even though my day job as a painter/ general construction worker is the complete polar opposite of that of web3, considering over my life I've spent a considerable amount of my spare time online and learning about technology my choice to transition more into the web3 space has been an easy one to make. <h3>What aspect of Web3 technology excites you the most?</h3>It's a hard choice considering how vast the potential of web3 is but for me, it's got to be web2 integration. It's truly remarkable how far a very small team with little knowledge of the web3 space can go in terms of the integration of web3 functionalities into their already established products. As time goes on it's only going to get easier. <h3>What led you to join the LayerX community?</h3>My first foot in the door so to say was an investment into the <a href="https://blog.bepro.network/bepro-tkai-token-utility" target="_blank">$BEPRO token</a>. Initially, I was more of a "lurker" within the community which may come as a surprise to some, simply trying to consume as much information about the space as possible. Being new to this space, I had much to learn. As I continued to learn more, I found myself being ever more drawn to the overall potential of the <a href="https://app.bepro.network/" target="_blank">Bepro</a> product and just how beneficial it could be to a plethora of different businesses not just within the web3 space but the web2 space as well. The more I delved into different thought experiments on how the Bepro product as a framework for businesses could accelerate their growth no matter how big the company was, the more I started to realize that the team was on to a potential gold mine. This was even before the acquisition of Bepro Network with TAIKAI Labs, now the community we've all learned to love, LayerX. This acquisition was a real eye-opener for me. Even though I believed I had high aspirations for the potential of the Bepro product, after this I realized I was not thinking big enough &amp; there was a team out there that saw even more potential than I did. As I delved deeper into the announcement of the acquisition and into what exactly the <a href="https://taikai.network/" target="_blank">TAIKAI</a> platform was and who the team behind it was, I came to the realization that these guys had not only an extensive background within the field but also had connections with some of the biggest enterprises in the world. However, unexpectedly my excitement for this partnership, initially didn't seem to be shared by everyone within the community and I honestly couldn't understand it. There had to have been a misunderstanding about what this acquisition meant for the future of the Bepro product. Spontaneously, I decided to tackle this issue head-on and on the 16th of February 2022 I released my first YouTube video titled "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf75cbpC0xs&amp;ab_channel=CryptoConstar" target="_blank">Why Bepro x TAIKAI will be huge</a>", and it's safe to say everyone within the community loved it. 2 years later, with an officially supported series on the LayerX YouTube channel, it's safe to say my belief in the success of the lLayerX ecosystem is unshakable. <h3>Have you been involved in any LayerX hackathons or tasks? If so, can you tell us about your experience?</h3>I've definitely participated in my fair share of Bepro tasks. In terms of participating in a task, my favorite one that comes to mind was a video tutorial on "<a href="https://app.bepro.network/open-marketplace/task/83" target="_blank">How to Create and Solve Tasks on Bepro</a>" where I documented my journey from start to finish on my channel as a walkthrough template for anyone looking to complete tasks within any of the task marketplaces within the BEPRO platform, sharing my experience in leveraging my skills to seamlessly earn crypto through our beloved product. I have also hosted my fair share of tasks as well, an interesting one was when I hosted a task to celebrate the new task types being integrated into the Bepro in the form of a YouTube thumbnail to feature on my channel to <a href="https://app.bepro.network/open-marketplace/task/85" target="_blank">feature on my channel.</a> It was also my sneaky way of testing out this new system, shortly after I'd received multiple submissions for the task from community members within the LayerX ecosystem resulting in me getting my thumbnail and the lucky participant being paid their Bepro in a seamless fashion. Fun fact I also hosted the first community task on the original version of the Bepro platform, whilst was only a simple grammatical fix nevertheless it played an important role in demonstrating to myself just how powerful the Bepro platform could be to other companies looking to harness the power of the freelanced workforce. I've yet to participate in a TAIKAI hackathon, but who knows perhaps the <a href="https://taikai.network/en/blog/taikai-garden-whitepaper-snapshot" target="_blank">TAIKAI Garden</a> will fix that all in due time :) <h3>What’s one feature or improvement you’d like to see in the LayerX ecosystem?</h3>This feature is more specific to both the Bepro and TAIKAI products. I'm not sure about the logistics of it but I'd really like to see the ability for users to buy both the <a href="https://blog.bepro.network/bepro-tkai-token-utility" target="_blank">BEPRO and TKAI tokens</a> on their respective products using fiat money. I think it would remove a massive barrier to entry in terms of education if a traditional web2 user was able to hop on one of our products and simply purchase the token needed to interact with the platform with a method there already familiar with. It would also make for a much more inclusive experience when using one of the LayerX products. You really will be able to use every feature of the product without needing to go to any other product to do so. Perhaps this feature is a little ahead of the current capabilities of web3, maybe a simple hidden backend stable coin swap or something?? <h3>How do you feel LayerX stands out from other Web3 or blockchain communities you’ve been part of?</h3>It's definitely the sense of integration between the official team and the community, the LayerX team really does treat their community as if it's an official team member... just a very unique one. If you provide value to them they will provide value straight back to you. My journey with the LayerX ecosystem has been a true Testament to that. I'm sure many of our community members will agree with me as well, there is been countless times where different community members have suggested different things and later seen that suggestion be implemented later down the line. <h3>If you could start any project within LayerX, what would it be and why?</h3>Something I've tossed around in my head for a while now is the potential for game development using a white-labeled task marketplace within the Bepro product. A good example of something similar to this is unreal engines marketplace, I think a concept similar to this could be revolutionary for game development. From my understanding in the unreal engines case people sell their assets on the marketplace for people to integrate into their games in order to save time and improve the overall quality of their Project.The integration of Bepro could take this concept a step further now not only could freelancers sell their assets but companies could also outsource very specific development tasks that their current team does not have the skills to complete. I think this exact example would benefit immensely from the "Grant funding" task type that we've yet to see really take off within the Bepro platform. Using this very feature, the consumer of the game could even fund updates to their favorite games that would traditionally no longer be able to continue development due to a lack of funding... Just Food for Thought :) <h3>What’s your personal philosophy on contributing to web3 builder communities like LayerX?</h3>What you give is what you get. If you provide value to a project and a project ecosystem then you will all in due time be shown the love back. Especially in the LayerX case. <h3>So, the legendary <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/kucoin/comments/n73pis/bepro_the_road_to_367_i_made_this_video_so_the/?rdt=59231" target="_blank">$3.67 BEPRO prediction</a>—are we still holding out hope, or has the community shifted focus to something even wilder? </h3>Ahh yes the mythical $3.67, once scribed to the ancient tombs of crypto Twitter... On a serious note, we’d need a market cap of over $36 billion for Bepro which would have ranked it in the top 10 crypto space back at the peak of the bull run. Whilst this may seem like a long way, let's not forget just how crazy things can get in a crypto bull run, and how the numbers get bigger and bigger each cycle. The Bepro product will thrive in a booming alt-coin market, there will be a whole new way for people looking to get their hands on crypto, and the Bepro product is the perfect place to do so. That's just the Bepro product… the potential of the LayerX ecosystem as a whole when considering the capabilities of the individual products, we truly have the perfect storm to become THE leading community in crypto in the coming years. The LayerX ecosystem system covers so many aspects of the general crypto ecosystem, not even taking into consideration their vast connections and experience in the already established web2 to world... Perhaps I'm biased haha <h3>Where do you see the future of LayerX heading, and how do you think the community can shape that future?</h3>I truly believe that the LayerX ecosystem will be the bridge between the traditional web2 world and the new exciting web3 world. I think they're tackling a very unique problem that many businesses don't quite know they have yet, potentially being one of the reasons why the adoption of certain aspects of the ecosystem have been slower than expected. The team have been working tirelessly to lay the groundwork for easy mass adoption of the traditional web2 world all within a one-stop shop that is LayerX. With that comes a great opportunity not just for the LayerX team but for the LayerX community members as well. Now is a perfect time to strengthen your bonds with the LayerX team, learn about the potential of the LayerX products so that when the time comes you will be far ahead of the competition. Many of you are far more talented than you realize and can make a meaningful impact shaping the future of the LayerX ecosystem. Pay attention to the TAIKAI garden as there will be immense opportunity within the innovation sandbox and be ready and mindful for new tasks being released on the Bepro platform. I've made it clear in the past that in my opinion that in terms of Bepro all it will take is a few key partnerships resulting in tasks being launched on the platform in order to start seeing mass adoption take place. The future is bright for LayerX and there are certainly some exciting times ahead... and plenty of money to be made for everyone involved. <h3>About LayerX</h3><a href="https://layerx.xyz/" target="_blank">LayerX</a> connects web3 developers and organizations through hackathons and task-based work, bringing together talent and opportunities to create innovative solutions.Our hackathon platform, <a href="https://taikai.network/" target="_blank">TAIKAI</a>, and Task Marketplace at <a href="https://bepro.network/" target="_blank">Bepro</a> empower developers to showcase their skills and earn rewards. Don’t forget to join our community and say hello on <a href="https://discord.com/invite/layerx" target="_blank">Discord</a>!

Get to know Constar in our first episode of "Behind the Handle, a series where we highlight the journey and experiences of our community members.