Tl;dr: Layer 1 blockchains/DLTs provide an advantage to traditional analog-based economies in terms of real-time GDP assessment and analyzing the flows of value. With AI and data mining, we can target levers to increase the amount and velocity of value flow within the economy. I was pointed to an article on Tascha Labs called “Public Blockchains Are the New National Economies of the Metaverse.” Essentially, we’re entering an era of supra-national economies. While the borders of the nation-sta...

Tl;dr: Layer 1 blockchains/DLTs provide an advantage to traditional analog-based economies in terms of real-time GDP assessment and analyzing the flows of value. With AI and data mining, we can target levers to increase the amount and velocity of value flow within the economy. I was pointed to an article on Tascha Labs called “Public Blockchains Are the New National Economies of the Metaverse.” Essentially, we’re entering an era of supra-national economies. While the borders of the nation-sta...

I wouldn’t call it a great piece of American literature. However, I would call it a great piece of American entrepreneurial literature. Shoe Dog is the story of Nike founder, Phil Knight, and his road to success. It’s easy, at this stage of the game, when he is worth north of $10 billion dollars to think one thing about him. What’s not as easy to do is to recognize and appreciate all of the hardships, sacrifices, hustle, and tough decisions he made along the way. There were some grueling mome...

I wouldn’t call it a great piece of American literature. However, I would call it a great piece of American entrepreneurial literature. Shoe Dog is the story of Nike founder, Phil Knight, and his road to success. It’s easy, at this stage of the game, when he is worth north of $10 billion dollars to think one thing about him. What’s not as easy to do is to recognize and appreciate all of the hardships, sacrifices, hustle, and tough decisions he made along the way. There were some grueling mome...

Tl;dr: I was listening to the Senate debate about passing the Omnibus resolution and got angry because Congress has proven that it cannot police itself when it comes to spending. This lack of fiscal responsibility may lead to an economic crisis in the future without sufficient wealth to issue enormous amounts of debt and print money. For some reason that I don’t fully understand, I was listening to the local NPR station in the car last night. They were replaying the “highlights,” if you can c...

Tl;dr: I was listening to the Senate debate about passing the Omnibus resolution and got angry because Congress has proven that it cannot police itself when it comes to spending. This lack of fiscal responsibility may lead to an economic crisis in the future without sufficient wealth to issue enormous amounts of debt and print money. For some reason that I don’t fully understand, I was listening to the local NPR station in the car last night. They were replaying the “highlights,” if you can c...

I was playing around with ChatGPT yesterday and started to wonder to myself “when are these guys going to start charging for this? Subsequently, I saw a Twitter post saying that OpenAI, the org behind ChatGPT, is going to take a 10% equity stake in certain companies to give them access to ChatGPTv4, which is the next version of the AI and which has learned from v3. In effect, it becomes an AI superweapon that is a competitive advantage for some companies over others. That’s how OpenAI will mo...

I was playing around with ChatGPT yesterday and started to wonder to myself “when are these guys going to start charging for this? Subsequently, I saw a Twitter post saying that OpenAI, the org behind ChatGPT, is going to take a 10% equity stake in certain companies to give them access to ChatGPTv4, which is the next version of the AI and which has learned from v3. In effect, it becomes an AI superweapon that is a competitive advantage for some companies over others. That’s how OpenAI will mo...

Tl;dr Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains is a blog post that introduces two concepts: hardness and casts. Hardness refers to something you can rely on with certainty, such as atoms or institutions, while casts are the paradigms that rule our world for a time. Over time, new casts emerge. Recognizing them is the key. “The growth of a global digital civilization mediated via the internet has accelerated our reliance on institutions, stretching and testing them past their breaking point.” That’s t...

Tl;dr Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains is a blog post that introduces two concepts: hardness and casts. Hardness refers to something you can rely on with certainty, such as atoms or institutions, while casts are the paradigms that rule our world for a time. Over time, new casts emerge. Recognizing them is the key. “The growth of a global digital civilization mediated via the internet has accelerated our reliance on institutions, stretching and testing them past their breaking point.” That’s t...

There was a powerful article in HBR recently called, Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash. It was heart-warming, in a strange way, because it showed that not every mainstream publication out there automatically equates crypto with FTX, Voyager, Celsius, and BlockFi. As they wrote:“these collapses weren’t at the level of crypto’s foundation.”In fact, they were on the periphery. The core of DeFi as those of us in the industry know, held up remarkably well because the “ext...

There was a powerful article in HBR recently called, Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash. It was heart-warming, in a strange way, because it showed that not every mainstream publication out there automatically equates crypto with FTX, Voyager, Celsius, and BlockFi. As they wrote:“these collapses weren’t at the level of crypto’s foundation.”In fact, they were on the periphery. The core of DeFi as those of us in the industry know, held up remarkably well because the “ext...

Tl;dr: Helvantine’s piece “Public Blockchains: An Endgame Thesis” reminds us of why we got involved in crypto and what’s required for a digital nation-state to emerge. It is a powerful call back to first principles and an important reminder that it’s not only about money. Given the debacle of FTX and all of the negative news surrounding crypto these days, it’s easy to feel pessimistic. That was one of the reasons we took a decidedly positive tone in marketing RadFi2022 and it seemed to resona...

Tl;dr: Helvantine’s piece “Public Blockchains: An Endgame Thesis” reminds us of why we got involved in crypto and what’s required for a digital nation-state to emerge. It is a powerful call back to first principles and an important reminder that it’s not only about money. Given the debacle of FTX and all of the negative news surrounding crypto these days, it’s easy to feel pessimistic. That was one of the reasons we took a decidedly positive tone in marketing RadFi2022 and it seemed to resona...

One of the errors I’ve made in the past when it comes to emerging technologies is that I underestimate how long the transition will take. Take the Internet or Social Media, for example. Basically, as soon as I was exposed to it, I realized they were going to be huge. What I didn’t appreciate was how long it would take to deploy the infrastructure and top rate user experiences that would make it huge for everyone. With crypto, I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Besides, it wasn’t diffi...

One of the errors I’ve made in the past when it comes to emerging technologies is that I underestimate how long the transition will take. Take the Internet or Social Media, for example. Basically, as soon as I was exposed to it, I realized they were going to be huge. What I didn’t appreciate was how long it would take to deploy the infrastructure and top rate user experiences that would make it huge for everyone. With crypto, I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Besides, it wasn’t diffi...

I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future any more than anyone else does, but my read of the situation is as follows. We all hope that the recession we’re in (and we’re in one, despite the fact that it would be politically counterproductive to admit it) is a short one. But, reading the WSJ yesterday, for example about the Fed’s inability to decide if inflation is persistent or not, has reminded me, once again, that they don’t necessarily know what is going on or how long it is going t...

I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future any more than anyone else does, but my read of the situation is as follows. We all hope that the recession we’re in (and we’re in one, despite the fact that it would be politically counterproductive to admit it) is a short one. But, reading the WSJ yesterday, for example about the Fed’s inability to decide if inflation is persistent or not, has reminded me, once again, that they don’t necessarily know what is going on or how long it is going t...

Tl;dr: AI is changing the way we think and write, but it's up to us to embrace it or not. We can gain a lot if we choose to use it well. Like many people, I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT and a number of other new AI tools. They are clearly game changers, but it remains to be seen how the game will be changed. My CEO observed the other day that, “we’re now moving to an era where it’s not about knowing the answer or finding the answer, but can you ask the AI the best and right questi...

Tl;dr: AI is changing the way we think and write, but it's up to us to embrace it or not. We can gain a lot if we choose to use it well. Like many people, I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT and a number of other new AI tools. They are clearly game changers, but it remains to be seen how the game will be changed. My CEO observed the other day that, “we’re now moving to an era where it’s not about knowing the answer or finding the answer, but can you ask the AI the best and right questi...

I was a history major in college. I am frequently asked now, as I was then, “what’s the use of a history degree?” The thing I have discovered over the years is that, when it comes to marketing, the skills one learns in the study of history are very similar to the skills required in marketing. One assembles disparate facts, develops a thesis relevant to an audience, and then creates a story around it that is either “bought” or not. More recently, as we’ve seen the implosion of the crypto secto...

I was a history major in college. I am frequently asked now, as I was then, “what’s the use of a history degree?” The thing I have discovered over the years is that, when it comes to marketing, the skills one learns in the study of history are very similar to the skills required in marketing. One assembles disparate facts, develops a thesis relevant to an audience, and then creates a story around it that is either “bought” or not. More recently, as we’ve seen the implosion of the crypto secto...

Where are we with the cycle of Web3 innovation? The answer depends a lot on the person with whom you are speaking. The long-time insiders seem to have reached a conclusion that Bitcoin will dominate the store-of-value market and Ethereum has too much staying power. They may be right. But I look at the world of people NOT in crypto. I think about how far removed they are from the powers of Web3 and I see the barriers to usage. For example, I can only publish this blog from computers that have ...

Where are we with the cycle of Web3 innovation? The answer depends a lot on the person with whom you are speaking. The long-time insiders seem to have reached a conclusion that Bitcoin will dominate the store-of-value market and Ethereum has too much staying power. They may be right. But I look at the world of people NOT in crypto. I think about how far removed they are from the powers of Web3 and I see the barriers to usage. For example, I can only publish this blog from computers that have ...