THE PENINSULA HOTEL IN BEVERLY Hills has long been a luxurious hot spot for Hollywood machers, who hash out movie deals over single-malt whiskeys. On a chilly-for-L.A. January afternoon (65 degrees), most of the people in the hotel’s rooftop café are bundled up in puffy jackets under heat lamps. But not Roham Gharegozlou, cofounder and CEO of Dapper Labs, the company behind the NFT phenomena Crypto Kitties and NBA Top Shot, who’s in a light pastel hoodie and jeans. The Iranian-born Vancouver resident is here—amid a COVID surge—for the same reason as everyone else: He’s scouting for talent, anyone who’s interested in creating new and exciting blockchain applications for the masses.
“In Silicon Valley, everyone’s
