The concept of public goods in crypto is pretty popular. It’s discussed a lot with regard to layer-1s, protocol treasuries, and ecosystem growth. The term has also begun to pop up in investment announcements. I find this last part especially interesting — prior to seeing firms “invest in public goods,” I had never really thought of public goods as an asset class. To be honest, I still don’t. It’s worth taking a step back and thinking about what actually constitutes a public good. Outside of c...

The concept of public goods in crypto is pretty popular. It’s discussed a lot with regard to layer-1s, protocol treasuries, and ecosystem growth. The term has also begun to pop up in investment announcements. I find this last part especially interesting — prior to seeing firms “invest in public goods,” I had never really thought of public goods as an asset class. To be honest, I still don’t. It’s worth taking a step back and thinking about what actually constitutes a public good. Outside of c...

Transportation provides an interesting mental model for thinking about components of crypto:Blockchains are roadsWallets are carsDapps are often the destinationBlockchains as roadsSome blockchains are more congested than others. Transactions per second, blockspace, and congestion remind me of car traffic. Some road systems deal with traffic better than others. Safety concerns might differ, tolls might be more expensive on one roadway vs. another, and not all cars may work well on all roads.Wa...

Transportation provides an interesting mental model for thinking about components of crypto:Blockchains are roadsWallets are carsDapps are often the destinationBlockchains as roadsSome blockchains are more congested than others. Transactions per second, blockspace, and congestion remind me of car traffic. Some road systems deal with traffic better than others. Safety concerns might differ, tolls might be more expensive on one roadway vs. another, and not all cars may work well on all roads.Wa...

These are 10 analogies for understanding concepts in web3.These analogies are far from perfect, but I’ve found them useful in explaining crypto to my friends trying to learn about the space for the first time. #1. NFTs: a regular baseball could be considered a fungible “token”. A non-fungible token (NFT) is akin to a baseball signed by Mickey Mantle. One is common, the other has a unique signature.#2. DAOs: imagine a non-profit, but organized by strangers on the internet with a united cause. ...

These are 10 analogies for understanding concepts in web3.These analogies are far from perfect, but I’ve found them useful in explaining crypto to my friends trying to learn about the space for the first time. #1. NFTs: a regular baseball could be considered a fungible “token”. A non-fungible token (NFT) is akin to a baseball signed by Mickey Mantle. One is common, the other has a unique signature.#2. DAOs: imagine a non-profit, but organized by strangers on the internet with a united cause. ...

What is web2.5 and why does it matter? To understand web2.5, we should start by briefly outlining web3 and web2. Web3 values openness, transparency, composability, and participation. The platforms are owned and governed by the users, not by any one individual or corporation. Crypto is the enabler of this new form of ownership and governance. Web2 is the older version of the internet. Access is open but ownership is closed. Think: social networks and platforms that aggregate content. That cont...

What is web2.5 and why does it matter? To understand web2.5, we should start by briefly outlining web3 and web2. Web3 values openness, transparency, composability, and participation. The platforms are owned and governed by the users, not by any one individual or corporation. Crypto is the enabler of this new form of ownership and governance. Web2 is the older version of the internet. Access is open but ownership is closed. Think: social networks and platforms that aggregate content. That cont...

Not an actual Bowie Bond. Image source: Philly MagIt’s unlikely that many have heard of Bowie Bonds. I hadn’t until my junior year of college, neck-deep in finance courses. At the time, I was taking a course on capital markets and one of the lectures focused on different forms of securitization. Most of the lecture was about the 2008 financial crisis — collateralized debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and the whatnot. But for five minutes at the end, my professor brought up Bowie B...

Not an actual Bowie Bond. Image source: Philly MagIt’s unlikely that many have heard of Bowie Bonds. I hadn’t until my junior year of college, neck-deep in finance courses. At the time, I was taking a course on capital markets and one of the lectures focused on different forms of securitization. Most of the lecture was about the 2008 financial crisis — collateralized debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and the whatnot. But for five minutes at the end, my professor brought up Bowie B...

The United States operates under a system of representative democracy. Constituents vote for Congresspeople, who in turn will vote on issues of governance. But when a citizen votes for a representative, are they voting for that rep because the rep best aligns with their individual views, or because they most align with that rep’s views? It’s a subtle difference, but one that I think is important. There’s no real way to answer it within the constraints of our current system. However, I think i...

The United States operates under a system of representative democracy. Constituents vote for Congresspeople, who in turn will vote on issues of governance. But when a citizen votes for a representative, are they voting for that rep because the rep best aligns with their individual views, or because they most align with that rep’s views? It’s a subtle difference, but one that I think is important. There’s no real way to answer it within the constraints of our current system. However, I think i...

My senior year of college, a panel of VCs spoke to one of my finance classes. It was senior spring, so attention spans were at somewhat of a low. All classes were being conducted over Zoom, which also didn’t help. But in the middle of the discussion, Sarah Guo, one of the panelists, said something that struck me then and has stuck with me ever since: “understand the user that isn’t you.” It’s worth mentioning that I take pride in my sense of individualism. I’m a twin, and I went to college wi...

My senior year of college, a panel of VCs spoke to one of my finance classes. It was senior spring, so attention spans were at somewhat of a low. All classes were being conducted over Zoom, which also didn’t help. But in the middle of the discussion, Sarah Guo, one of the panelists, said something that struck me then and has stuck with me ever since: “understand the user that isn’t you.” It’s worth mentioning that I take pride in my sense of individualism. I’m a twin, and I went to college wi...

In crypto, people talk a lot about the concept of incentive alignment. Different mechanisms for “incentive alignment” have emerged, including staking, vote-escrowed tokens (aka veTokens), and lockdrops. All of these are ways protocols can encourage participants to have skin in the game. The idea is that this skin in the game means the protocol’s interests will become partcipants’ interests. Yet underlying these mechanisms is the question of how long tokens should be locked. Most determine the...

In crypto, people talk a lot about the concept of incentive alignment. Different mechanisms for “incentive alignment” have emerged, including staking, vote-escrowed tokens (aka veTokens), and lockdrops. All of these are ways protocols can encourage participants to have skin in the game. The idea is that this skin in the game means the protocol’s interests will become partcipants’ interests. Yet underlying these mechanisms is the question of how long tokens should be locked. Most determine the...

I recently wrote about how web2 companies interested in crypto — companies I called “web2.5” — have the potential to control the crypto narrative for much of the world, in large part because they have orders of magnitude more users. The solution to this, of course, is to onboard more people to crypto-native, web3 platforms & applications. The faster more people are onboarded, the less likely it is that web2.5 can control the narrative. But onboarding isn’t easy. People are often hesitant to u...

I recently wrote about how web2 companies interested in crypto — companies I called “web2.5” — have the potential to control the crypto narrative for much of the world, in large part because they have orders of magnitude more users. The solution to this, of course, is to onboard more people to crypto-native, web3 platforms & applications. The faster more people are onboarded, the less likely it is that web2.5 can control the narrative. But onboarding isn’t easy. People are often hesitant to u...