Thread by @jamesjho_

1/ Crypto / blockchain is such a controversial topic - I have been thinking about how to explain to the non technical and in layman terms.

Here is my attempt :)

2/ I personally think crypto is a poor term to those not already in the industry.

It’s associated with “coins” and “speculation” given the 10+ year history - not entirely unfair.

Blockchain which is the transformative / core tech is much better term and I prefer.

3/ Fundamentally I think of this as decentralized compute, storage, event coordination. That’s it.

It’s a new architecture.

Tokens (hence crypto currency) are involved as the mechanism to economically incentivize this coordination.

4/ We have been on this 10+ year journey to unpack, discover what exactly decentralization enables. It’s been a long one.

One of the first was having a digitally native way to store / represent value.

Bcuz u have decentralized, trust less, immutable ledger (if done right).

5/ This first instantiation was Bitcoin - built purely for store of value.

Looking back there was no certainty in 2009 / 13 / 17 that Bitcoin had staying power.

Store of values are human narratives - just like gold been for millennia.

6/ However now, with the level of institutional buy in to Bitcoin, it’s staying power has cemented.

As @matthuang says - the big bull runs of Bitcoin is a feature not a bug.

We have pensions, endowments, corporates in this asset.

Hard to see this world roll back.

7/ Yet after Bitcoin - we have been searching for what else decentralized compute / storage can enable.

Much of this has been in the works for a long time - but just not obvious to the outside observer.

Not until DeFi Summer of ‘20, or the NFT boom of ‘21, or Axie Infinity.

8/ If you take a fresh look at landscape today, it’s clear we are at this tipping point of use cases - across multiple categories.

- Decentralized exchanges, lending
- NFTs for digital art
- Games w new mechanics (play to earn)
- DAOs that replace legalese w code

This is key.

9/ These are not new developments.

These big home runs and “overnight successes” like @AxieInfinity @Uniswap @compoundfinance @dapperlabs have been building for years and through crypto winters.

Just now going more mainstream.

10/ What is fascinating to me is seeing blockchain enter use cases OUTSIDE of just finance (which had direct applicability).

Bleeding into gaming, social, consumer, culture, law, and enterprise / software.

Gives this space a whole new dimension and potential.

11/ I think back to the early internet when everyone thought to take media / content and port online. MySpace, Yahoo, AOL.

Which makes sense.

But turns out most of new $$ was in use cases we couldn’t have imagined.

Mobile, Cloud computing, all commerce, new social models.

12/ While I don’t have a crystal ball into the 5 or 10 or 20 year arc ahead - it’s clear crypto / blockchain is only accelerating in pace.

Store of value, DeFi, NFTs, P2E games, DAOs etc.

It’s not stopping. This is just beginning.

Look at the talent pouring in.

13/ I am more excited than ever for the work we are doing at Altimeter w/ @altcap @Goyal_Vivek @Chris_Conforti @cathysshin

To partner w/ this next wave of entrepreneurs - building for this future.

New experiences, impacting billions.

We are excited to play a role in shaping.

14/ Writing this on my flight back from Digital asset summit this week in NYC :)

Killer event by @Blockworks_ @JasonYanowitz - and been making me reflect on our work in this space. - why we r so excited.

15/ Huge shout out to friends who helped shape my views in this fast moving space - @era_qian @mfmizbani @matthuang @ramnikarora @CryptoTokenAzn (give them a follow!)

All this is just the beginning.

Onwards!! 🔥🚀