Lady Roosevelt apocryphally said that “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people” but she reportedly relished the occasional good gossip herself.Nothing like some good old gossPresumably, Laura Shin’s recent book The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze will have been read by many a great mind who stood at the cradle of Ethereum or who have joined the community since. However it contributes disappoin...

Lady Roosevelt apocryphally said that “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people” but she reportedly relished the occasional good gossip herself.Nothing like some good old gossPresumably, Laura Shin’s recent book The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze will have been read by many a great mind who stood at the cradle of Ethereum or who have joined the community since. However it contributes disappoin...

For a while now, I have been ideating the concept of a decentralized school. I have a sense it will probably be the last venture I have in me and my masterpiece! A decentralized school is also a genuine use case for blockchains which, a decade after smart contracts emerged, remain - according to reports I get from Token49 in Singapore - "98% trading and 2% building". My idea for the school - or at least the physical premises for a school - goes back more than a decade,...

For a while now, I have been ideating the concept of a decentralized school. I have a sense it will probably be the last venture I have in me and my masterpiece! A decentralized school is also a genuine use case for blockchains which, a decade after smart contracts emerged, remain - according to reports I get from Token49 in Singapore - "98% trading and 2% building". My idea for the school - or at least the physical premises for a school - goes back more than a decade,...

11 JUNE 2020 – Many things we accept as norm may prove the exception against the larger narrative of history. Pax Americana may turn out a brief period of relative stability and open seas before internecine conflicts and piracy resume; The Chinese Communist Party an authoritarian aberration against a secular movement towards a democratic Middle Kingdom; Central Bank fiat money a deviation from centuries of privately-issued coins. So it may be with sovereignty, which we have come to accept ema...

11 JUNE 2020 – Many things we accept as norm may prove the exception against the larger narrative of history. Pax Americana may turn out a brief period of relative stability and open seas before internecine conflicts and piracy resume; The Chinese Communist Party an authoritarian aberration against a secular movement towards a democratic Middle Kingdom; Central Bank fiat money a deviation from centuries of privately-issued coins. So it may be with sovereignty, which we have come to accept ema...

Every year, Messari.io publishes its Crypto Theses, heralding in the Christmas holidays the same way The Economist’s December Double Issue once did. As the last of its 10 theses for 2021, author Ryan Selkis mentions the “ultimate exit”: how to rebuild a “crypto-inspired nation-state”. The potential for blockchains to disrupt the Nation State resonates with a talk I did back in May 2018 at EDCON in Toronto when announcing the Ethscape project (which has since suffered from severe parental negl...

Every year, Messari.io publishes its Crypto Theses, heralding in the Christmas holidays the same way The Economist’s December Double Issue once did. As the last of its 10 theses for 2021, author Ryan Selkis mentions the “ultimate exit”: how to rebuild a “crypto-inspired nation-state”. The potential for blockchains to disrupt the Nation State resonates with a talk I did back in May 2018 at EDCON in Toronto when announcing the Ethscape project (which has since suffered from severe parental negl...

I've blogged earlier about my idea for a new school. Not just another school like Elon's or even Balaji's, but a school on blockchain, with token-gated access to crowdfunded courses. A progress report.

I've blogged earlier about my idea for a new school. Not just another school like Elon's or even Balaji's, but a school on blockchain, with token-gated access to crowdfunded courses. A progress report.

Attending DevCon restores one’s faith in humanity: most if not all people I met and spoke with work in earnest and with best intent on stuff they believe will help make the world a better place.

Attending DevCon restores one’s faith in humanity: most if not all people I met and spoke with work in earnest and with best intent on stuff they believe will help make the world a better place.

For crypto currencies to become global, state-free money, we have to win the fight against increasing financial de-anonymization, even if we have nothing to hide.

For crypto currencies to become global, state-free money, we have to win the fight against increasing financial de-anonymization, even if we have nothing to hide.

The Air Canada flight into San Francisco had a documentary on blockchain I hadn’t come across before, produced by Alex Winter.

The Air Canada flight into San Francisco had a documentary on blockchain I hadn’t come across before, produced by Alex Winter.

Venture Capital is as much part of tradfin as banks and other centralized finance. In this post, we're proposing a new model that preserves the best of VC with decentralized venture building.

Venture Capital is as much part of tradfin as banks and other centralized finance. In this post, we're proposing a new model that preserves the best of VC with decentralized venture building.

31 JANUARY 2020 – Exactly a week ago I was at the George Soros dinner there together with gathered media and Soros Foundation beneficiaries and staff. At the dinner, Soros announced USD 1 billion for a new “Open Society University Network” (OSUN) and we all got a copy of his latest book as a freebee. At 89, Soros remains dedicated to his lifelong cause for Open Societies. He called OSUN’s efforts to combat authoritarian governments “the most important project of my life” and hopes to ”see it ...

31 JANUARY 2020 – Exactly a week ago I was at the George Soros dinner there together with gathered media and Soros Foundation beneficiaries and staff. At the dinner, Soros announced USD 1 billion for a new “Open Society University Network” (OSUN) and we all got a copy of his latest book as a freebee. At 89, Soros remains dedicated to his lifelong cause for Open Societies. He called OSUN’s efforts to combat authoritarian governments “the most important project of my life” and hopes to ”see it ...