C3 describes himself as a political artist, his work is anti-regime, and his mission is to share what is happening in Iran, a country he describes "as the end of the world."

Crypto, political art, and OpenSea are all banned in Iran, but thanks to NFTs, his work – and his message – is found worldwide. The stakes are real. C3 stopped shipping physical canvases because customs authorities asked too many questions. He continues to make anti-regime street graffiti at night.

C3 entered the cryptoart space after seeing an XCopy piece on the BBC last year, and he is fast becoming a superstar on Tezos and Ethereum. He sat down with Signal to talk about his journey in web3, the early mistakes and advice for new artists, the battles he had – alone on the internet – with depression, and his mission.

Our favourite quote? "During those (early) months, I didn't have any sales. I didn't have any money; $800 was all I had. I ended up spending one-third of all my money that I had in my life collecting pieces from artists to give them a boost, because maybe if it wasn't happening for me, I could help other artists to have motivation with some sales."