According to Yahoo! Finance, “Cryptocurrency exchange FTX stood on the brink of failure on Thursday after a bailout from larger rival Binance collapsed. Chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried said he was exploring all options for his firm.”

My Thoughts

I had a friend ask if this was the “end of crypto”. The answer is, “No”. If the panic surrounding “Peak Oil” tacitly admits that oil is a net positive because running out is bad, then right now, we’re in “Peak Crypto”.

Crypto != Web3

There is no one “crypto space”. There are speculators, builders, private market investors, foundations, exchanges, markets, chains, currencies, and so on. The space at large is far more vibrant, diverse, and larger than the overwhelming majority of people realize. Perhaps the most enduring and enthusiastic among this constellation are the builders, who are generally understood as Web3. Web3 is not going anywhere. While Web3 may have crossover with speculative investments, they are distinctly apart from speculators, day traders, and so on. It comprises people building new and amazing products on blockchain technologies, like the website on which you’re reading this post, Mirror.xyz. I see lots of panic right now among the speculators and day traders. I see the builders just as excited, galvanized, and focused as they were a week ago. Traders != builders as investments != products. Web3 is moving forward unabated.

Crypto v The People

It’s important to remember that when we talk about “Crypto”, we’re talking about technology—that’s it. The people around Crypto are causal—not the technology. Crypto doesn’t defraud people—people defraud people. This week’s events weren’t revenge. They were a reckoning.

Transparency != Prevention

Blockchain transparency is not in the business of prevention, but it is a wonderful arbiter of retaliation. Samuel “Madoff” Bankman-Fried is getting a first-handed lesson in that right now.

Altruism != Value unto itself

After everything we’ve learned this week, I’ll leave you with a good laugh.

Don’t be fooled by the chicanery.

-Luke

Initial thoughts: Exciting.

Somehow, the days of Web2 feel…old. I just loaded up my Substack and it felt vacuous. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that my content is being stored in some server over which I have zero control. Perhaps it’s that maybe some day, I could make money from gracious readers bestowing upon me their subscription dollars. Maybe. Perhaps it’s both.

Either way, the idea that I am selling my content, and it’s mine--forever--feels like for the first time, I am living outside the control of some other third party. The Internet suddenly feels different. Perhaps that’s the point.

Let’s see if the excitement wears off.

Til next time.

-Luke