Long Reads Sunday #71.
Hedge funder warnings.
Bitcoin analogies to past revolutions.
Blockchains & Tyranny.
De-Americanization.
LRS returns to its roots with an edition that is almost all big ideas>news. Get your ☕️or🥃and let’s do this thing!
Hedge funder warnings.
Bitcoin analogies to past revolutions.
Blockchains & Tyranny.
De-Americanization.
LRS returns to its roots with an edition that is almost all big ideas>news. Get your ☕️or🥃and let’s do this thing!
2/ Apropos of an all big thought content issue, may I recommend Bitcoin Macro - a pop-up podcast I produced with @CoinDesk for #InvestNYC all about Bitcoin in the macro context. 2nd drop features @melt_dem @reformedbroker @Ambresoub bitcoin-macro-coindesk.simplecast.com/episodes 
3/ Hey and speaking of @CoinDesk - I’ll be speaking about (what else) memes and crypto Twitter at #InvestNYC on Tuesday with @La__Cuen @TheStalwart and @DoveyWan . Say hi if you’re there. coindesk.com/events/invest-…
4/ Back to the topics at hand, Bitcoin in the macro context has been big on everyone’s mind lately. Although he didn’t mention bitcoin specifically, @RayDalio’s “World Has Gone Mad” set the community alight
5/ Of course, Dalio’s warning is about more than just the shifts that set the context for bitcoin. Not everyone’s buying the connection between inequality, cheap money and tech valuations though.
6/ Still, to the extent that there is a larger frameshift happening in economic circles everywhere, bitcoin and crypto folks do tend to be on the early side of it. See @gaborgurbacs simply explanation of one key mindset difference
7/ That said, not everyone is convinced that trying to to convince the world to care about sound money principles is the path to large-scale adoption. This reminds me of recent debates about how much sound money vs. censorship resistance matters
8/ At the same time, @nic__carter makes an important point that “Not wanting your savings debased is an emotional, not an intellectual feeling.” This principle is one that I think has even more resonance the more meme’d it gets.
9/ Speaking of a big picture view of bitcoin, I absolutely loved this research report on the parallels between the Protestant Reformation and today from @TuurDemeester & co. This is the quintessential long read for your Sunday.
10/ @balajis added some additional thoughts on ’The Bitcoin Reformation’ re: the disintermediation of religion.
I also thought this micro-thread on the US and China was provocative
I also thought this micro-thread on the US and China was provocative
11/ The atmosphere is thick with questions of technology, liberty and tyranny, with China often at the center of it. Take for example, @KyleSamani’s flagging of controversy around TikTok and what it might mean for decentralized platforms
12/ @Gladstein cut to the quick even more directly with his op-ed in @bitcoinmagazine featuring this epic line:
A Blockchain-Based Digital Yuan: ‘Lipstick for a Panoptical Pig’ bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/op-ed…
A Blockchain-Based Digital Yuan: ‘Lipstick for a Panoptical Pig’ bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/op-ed…
13/ With the critique that China’s blockchain projects are largely about exerting more control over citizens, it’s worth looking at where else examples of that control exist. See for example, new rules limiting time spent on games
14/ Ever thoughtful @benthompson wrote about tech and liberty in the context of Facebook’s decision to not fact check political ads (which, if you’ll remember, was basically all any Congress people wanted to discuss at Zuck’s Libra hearing)
15/ Speaking of Congress, @WarrenDavidson wrote a short opinion for the WSJ on why the House Financial Services Committee should overcome their fears around blockchain or risk losing talent and innovation
16/ His worries aren't un-founded. Huobi is the latest exchange to part ways with US customers, the latest in an ongoing de-Americanization #NarrativeWatch
17/ There is a strange dissonance between the intrinsically global and geographically unfettered potential of crypto and the fragmentation based on compliance. @jillruthcarlson made the observation that this is reflective of something more elemental
18/ Of course, many of those most interested in shifting that paradigm of geo-bound financial services are looking to DeFi. In this excellent thread, @ercwl argues that some are making a mistake ignoring it based on ideologically opposition to Ethereum.
19/ Within the DeFi world, many important conversations center around DAI - especially with Multi-Collateral Dai coming in just a matter of days.
20/ And speaking of DAI, with an ...erm shall we call it “forthright” prompt, Peter’s tweet on complexity and adoption ended up producing a pretty extensive and interesting conversation
21/ One more thing from the Ethereum world. A group just announced an Ethereum Marketing DAO. I have some intrinsic skepticism of collective decision making over individuals when it comes to marketing, but I’m glad to see such a full on experiment!
22/ @a16z announced a new educational program called Crypto Startup School, and I thought @brian_armstrong’s thread on why it was interesting and how crypto startups differ from other categories was worth a read
23/ Also from @a16z, they just published this excellent crypto glossary on key terms and concepts. Really great starting point for folks trying to immerse themselves
24/ Speaking of terms, here’s another one for you: ‘blitzscaling.’
Multicoin follows up its February BNB report with this look at Binance’s aggressive moves in the space, including launching 12 major initiatives in Q3.
Multicoin follows up its February BNB report with this look at Binance’s aggressive moves in the space, including launching 12 major initiatives in Q3.
25/ Binance was one of the topics of the epic two part podcast I did with @ClayCollins on the history of exchanges. We talk about everything from the earliest Bitcoin Exchanges to today’s trends
@ClayCollins 26/ Anyhoo, Multicoin and A16Z weren’t the only investors putting out interesting content. Placeholder published their latest on how to think about value placeholder.vc/blog/2019/10/2…
27/ Speaking of Placeholder, I also really liked this guest post from @contentnow on @TheBlock__ about @BradUSV’s vision of data ownership theblockcrypto.com/post/45806/wha…
28/ Like I said, there was so much good content this week, it was an awesome reminder of why I started LRS in the first place. Let’s wrap it up with a couple of threads from @ChrisEspley1 - the first was from the summer but re-highlighted by @DTAPCAP
29/ The second, from just a few days ago, is about “why crypto will win” and argues the importance of something called ‘generatively’ - 'the ability for unaccredited strangers to build, use and make changes to a network.’
30/ I could go on and on, but I’ll wrap there so you can actually make it through a reasonable chunk of these. If you prefer to read it all via email, sign up at getrevue.co/profile/nlw
