I love a good scoreboard, not only because I enjoy competing, but also because it reveals a great deal about the people it is scoring. Crypto has had many scoreboards over the years, some of which I've spoken about. I won't rehash all the historical details, but let's revisit one example: the L2beat TVL scoreboard. For several years, this was THE determining factor for which Layer 2 was "winning." Why was this the scoreboard? Total Value Locked (TVL) is a somewhat nonsensical m...

I love a good scoreboard, not only because I enjoy competing, but also because it reveals a great deal about the people it is scoring. Crypto has had many scoreboards over the years, some of which I've spoken about. I won't rehash all the historical details, but let's revisit one example: the L2beat TVL scoreboard. For several years, this was THE determining factor for which Layer 2 was "winning." Why was this the scoreboard? Total Value Locked (TVL) is a somewhat nonsensical m...

The Infinex Patron Sale wrapped up in September, and now the Patron Distribution is almost upon us, so I'm under pressure to write a retrospective on the sale. Also, I haven't been punched in the head this week, so my brain is working well enough for some long-form writing. “Why do this weird NFT thing and not a seed round from VCs?” I have been asked this question many times over the last few months. My quick, sarcastic response was usually, “Why do something easy when you can do s...

The Infinex Patron Sale wrapped up in September, and now the Patron Distribution is almost upon us, so I'm under pressure to write a retrospective on the sale. Also, I haven't been punched in the head this week, so my brain is working well enough for some long-form writing. “Why do this weird NFT thing and not a seed round from VCs?” I have been asked this question many times over the last few months. My quick, sarcastic response was usually, “Why do something easy when you can do s...

For me, the promise of crypto is in fairer and more transparent markets. I believe markets are the best mechanism for resource allocation. Yet, I also believe markets are imperfect and that we can have collective goals as a society that markets alone cannot solve. The view that we both need markets and social coordination is only a controversial take in the most radical circles. One of the most powerful aspects of crypto is its ability to create a parallel financial system that does not requi...

For me, the promise of crypto is in fairer and more transparent markets. I believe markets are the best mechanism for resource allocation. Yet, I also believe markets are imperfect and that we can have collective goals as a society that markets alone cannot solve. The view that we both need markets and social coordination is only a controversial take in the most radical circles. One of the most powerful aspects of crypto is its ability to create a parallel financial system that does not requi...

Historical ContextSince Synthetix launched, every SNX staker who minted sUSD has been responsible for their share of the collective protocol debt. While managing debt was never easy, it was initially easier since it only involved spot-price hedging of ETH and BTC. As the protocol evolved, debt hedging needed to cover a complex of inverse tokens, options, wrappers, and derivatives. At some point on this path, hedging debt became impossible. But even ignoring hedging price exposure, other unant...

Historical ContextSince Synthetix launched, every SNX staker who minted sUSD has been responsible for their share of the collective protocol debt. While managing debt was never easy, it was initially easier since it only involved spot-price hedging of ETH and BTC. As the protocol evolved, debt hedging needed to cover a complex of inverse tokens, options, wrappers, and derivatives. At some point on this path, hedging debt became impossible. But even ignoring hedging price exposure, other unant...

A new directionThis post will outline a new direction for Synthetix. Last year, I realised Synthetix was making progress following the governance overhaul, but a more radical change was needed to return to greatness. So, I wrote SIP-420. The 420 pool is now open for pre-deposits. I believe 420 is the best chance for Synthetix to leverage its strengths and carve out a place in modern DeFi. This post marks the start of my campaign to win back the hearts and minds of the SNX community and, soon,...

A new directionThis post will outline a new direction for Synthetix. Last year, I realised Synthetix was making progress following the governance overhaul, but a more radical change was needed to return to greatness. So, I wrote SIP-420. The 420 pool is now open for pre-deposits. I believe 420 is the best chance for Synthetix to leverage its strengths and carve out a place in modern DeFi. This post marks the start of my campaign to win back the hearts and minds of the SNX community and, soon,...

IntroductionIn the earliest days of Synthetix, aka the Havven era, there was a debate about whether debt issuance should be discretionary. Could we trust a bunch of degens to mint Nomins against Curits. I’m unsure why I chose these nonsensical names in the white paper. I may have been channelling @Runekek. The original Havven design let people deposit HAV tokens in a pool, and the protocol issued sUSD, i.e., stablecoins. We felt it would be safer to remove the ability for people to mint debt ...

IntroductionIn the earliest days of Synthetix, aka the Havven era, there was a debate about whether debt issuance should be discretionary. Could we trust a bunch of degens to mint Nomins against Curits. I’m unsure why I chose these nonsensical names in the white paper. I may have been channelling @Runekek. The original Havven design let people deposit HAV tokens in a pool, and the protocol issued sUSD, i.e., stablecoins. We felt it would be safer to remove the ability for people to mint debt ...

There appears to be some confusion. I am here to help. Why is Infinex doing weird stuff and not all the stuff you want it to do, like integrating your favourite AI-powered pizza delivery blockchain robot network? That is a good question; let’s dive in.Seasons ExplainedI have been thinking about how to conceptualise the various phases of Infinex so far and the ones that are rapidly approaching. What we have are Seasons. Season Zero was pre-launch, during which so many weird, wonderful, and hor...

There appears to be some confusion. I am here to help. Why is Infinex doing weird stuff and not all the stuff you want it to do, like integrating your favourite AI-powered pizza delivery blockchain robot network? That is a good question; let’s dive in.Seasons ExplainedI have been thinking about how to conceptualise the various phases of Infinex so far and the ones that are rapidly approaching. What we have are Seasons. Season Zero was pre-launch, during which so many weird, wonderful, and hor...

IntroductionThere are three phases to a user action in crypto.DiscoveryIntentOrchestrationOK, maybe four…profit (rip)Intent has been discussed at length on the timeline, but discovery and orchestration have received far less attention. The key insight this year at Infinex is that orchestration is how we improve the crypto experience. There is a feedback loop between orchestration and discovery. A platform can’t allow the user to discover something it cannot orchestrate, or it will create user...

IntroductionThere are three phases to a user action in crypto.DiscoveryIntentOrchestrationOK, maybe four…profit (rip)Intent has been discussed at length on the timeline, but discovery and orchestration have received far less attention. The key insight this year at Infinex is that orchestration is how we improve the crypto experience. There is a feedback loop between orchestration and discovery. A platform can’t allow the user to discover something it cannot orchestrate, or it will create user...

Firstly, a big shout-out to Fifa and Cav, who helped review and critique my thoughts on this post. It is still unclear which Synthetix entity is responsible for the roadmap (it isn’t, but no one actually adheres to this aspect of governance). Because of this, you are likely to read a range of roadmap proposals from various authors. Decentralised roadmaps ftw! Surely, some ICO must have pitched this idea back in 2017? Most of what I wrote in A Fork in the Road back in October 2023 is still rel...

Firstly, a big shout-out to Fifa and Cav, who helped review and critique my thoughts on this post. It is still unclear which Synthetix entity is responsible for the roadmap (it isn’t, but no one actually adheres to this aspect of governance). Because of this, you are likely to read a range of roadmap proposals from various authors. Decentralised roadmaps ftw! Surely, some ICO must have pitched this idea back in 2017? Most of what I wrote in A Fork in the Road back in October 2023 is still rel...

IntroductionSwidge has been in Closed Beta for a few weeks. We are now ready to transition to Open Beta this week. While we hadn’t anticipated a president dropping a memecoin during our beta period, it was perfect timing. The launch of $TRUMP highlighted several areas of opportunity. The rest of this post will cover the features and improvements we are making to ensure Infinex is the best place for you to trade onchain. However, I want to contextualize the market before covering specific feat...

IntroductionSwidge has been in Closed Beta for a few weeks. We are now ready to transition to Open Beta this week. While we hadn’t anticipated a president dropping a memecoin during our beta period, it was perfect timing. The launch of $TRUMP highlighted several areas of opportunity. The rest of this post will cover the features and improvements we are making to ensure Infinex is the best place for you to trade onchain. However, I want to contextualize the market before covering specific feat...

IntroductionI'm sure you are saying, “V2? But Infinex doesn't do anything!” Well, Infinex V1 begs to differ.We learned a lot building Infinex this year. Infinex is the best onboarding experience in crypto, but we can do even better, and after a lot of R&D, we know how. Since Infinex launched in May 2024, we have delivered:Speedrun the waitlist, a TVL campaign with 150m+ in deposits.Craterun, a second TVL campaign with a twist, users earned crates powered by Pyth onchain entropy.Meme...

IntroductionI'm sure you are saying, “V2? But Infinex doesn't do anything!” Well, Infinex V1 begs to differ.We learned a lot building Infinex this year. Infinex is the best onboarding experience in crypto, but we can do even better, and after a lot of R&D, we know how. Since Infinex launched in May 2024, we have delivered:Speedrun the waitlist, a TVL campaign with 150m+ in deposits.Craterun, a second TVL campaign with a twist, users earned crates powered by Pyth onchain entropy.Meme...

kain.mega @kaiynne It’s still a bull market relax. 1,758 5:39 AM • May 22, 2021 This post will cover the projects I am most interested (invested) in at the start of 2025. My primary focus is Infinex, but most of these projects are somewhat related to Infinex, so I’m dumping everything into one post. I will cover my thoughts on, and in some cases, plans for:InfinexSynthetixThe Patrons Echo Group and Echo generallySTNKPengu/Pudgies/AbstractEthereumDeriveEthenaSolana and FogoA game (it’s not AAA...

kain.mega @kaiynne It’s still a bull market relax. 1,758 5:39 AM • May 22, 2021 This post will cover the projects I am most interested (invested) in at the start of 2025. My primary focus is Infinex, but most of these projects are somewhat related to Infinex, so I’m dumping everything into one post. I will cover my thoughts on, and in some cases, plans for:InfinexSynthetixThe Patrons Echo Group and Echo generallySTNKPengu/Pudgies/AbstractEthereumDeriveEthenaSolana and FogoA game (it’s not AAA...