1/ @Stripe just pulled back the curtain on @tempo, its corporate blockchain, and the pitch is a classic. You get an all-star team, state-of-the-art tech, an impressive roster of partners—including one of the card networks the whole thing is designed to replace—and "neutrality." 2/ The price for this grand bargain? Just handing the fintech giant the keys to global payments. If this gives you a powerful sense of déjà vu, you're not alone. The only question is if Stripe can write a different ending for the movie Meta already showed us.

1/ Fintech powerhouse Stripe is secretly building a high-performance blockchain called "Tempo," per a now-removed job posting and Fortune’s reporting. 2/ Stablecoins promise to make crypto mainstream by delivering faster, cheaper, more interconnected global payments. The paradox: the same move could undercut what the technology set out to achieve.

1/ Stablecoins were graduating from the playpen of crypto traders and DeFi “degens” to the main stage of mainstream payments. That fight is now on—albeit mostly off-camera—as a new wave of challengers readies its lines against incumbents Tether and Circle. 2/ With flawless execution, a determined stablecoin CEO could still pull off the Herculean feat of turning a plain dollar-jar into something unmistakably special...

1/ The Internet Of Money Wants To Be Free—Yesterday, @Coinbase unveiled a bold new white paper, proposing permissionless networks as the key to transforming payments, finance, and beyond. But to grasp why this is significant, we have to travel back in time. 2/ When Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin whitepaper on October 31, 2008, he likely could not have fully foreseen the profound impact his invention would have on the world.

1/ AI and Crypto (Part I): Decentralizing AI—Big Dreams, Bigger Hype? This is the first thread 🧵and article in a four-part series delving into the intersection of crypto and AI. Buckle Up! 2/ As Steve Jobs allegedly said, “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller,” and nowhere is this more evident than in the crypto space.

1/ Why everyone is wrong about stablecoins
@Stripe’s recent acquisition of stablecoin orchestration startup Bridge sent shockwaves through the crypto world. For the first time, a major payments company committed over a billion dollars to accelerate its use of this technology. 2/ What most miss: Bridge might be worth $1.1 billion to Stripe, but on its own, it likely wouldn’t have hit that mark. This isn’t due to any lack of talent— @zcabrams and his team assembled a top group of engineers—...

Stablecoins, a novel form of interoperable and programmable money, have the potential to rewire the global financial system. In doing so, they could allow software to eat banking and financial services — sectors left relatively untouched by the internet. @HarvardBiz w/@wu_jane Given these high stakes, we are witnessing intensifying competition among stablecoin issuers, prominent digital wallet providers, and traditional banks, each racing to establish their platform as the dominant one.

1/ Excited to unveil to the world! Over the past year, we've been working hard to enhance Lightning — making it simpler to use, smarter, and highly scalable. https://t.co/zVOdBekWMFlightspark.com 2/ Lightning can become the open protocol for money that the Internet has long needed. It's massively scalable, low-cost, offers instant settlement and full interoperability for all participants. All of this is built on the most secure and decentralized blockchain: #Bitcoin.

1/ The US risks squandering its technological leadership in the crypto domain. The @WhiteHouse's economic report exemplifies the insufficient research conducted to offer a balanced perspective on its underlying economics: whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl… 2/ Like any General Purpose Technology (GPT), crypto presents immense potential but also poses new challenges. For instance, it could reintroduce competition to economic sectors that haven't seen it in decades! nber.org/papers/w22952

1/ 🧵#Stablecoin regulation by Congress can bring clarity and consumer protection, unlocking benefits for consumers & SMEs. Faster, affordable payments await! (see papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…). 2/ Designing stablecoins isn't rocket science, 🚀 but avoid pitfalls! ⚡️⚡️⚡️ (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…). State (e.g., @NYDFS) and federal regulators and agencies (@federalreserve, @USOCC, @FDICgov) can play a key role in this.

1/13 Four years ago we came together as the founding team of ≋Libra to use crypto to democratize access to the financial system. As the last person from the original ≋ founding team involved in this phase of Diem, here are some personal thoughts and reflections on the journey. 2/13 A longer account is for another day, as the dust will need to settle for an objective assessment of the contributions (if any!) to the space. It has been an incredible learning experience and rollercoaster 🎢, and one that allowed me to meet some truly amazing people 😉.

1/7 There is substantial confusion & FUD around what stablecoins could look like if they were only backed by high quality, liquid assets. Robust stablecoin design based on short-term US Treasuries can minimize counterparty risk & support meaningful scale. insights.som.yale.edu/insights/how-s… 2/7 As of September, there are $3.15T in Treasuries with a residual maturity under ~3 months. The total market capitalization of all stablecoins (including algorithmic and crypto-collateralized ones) is ~$130B, or ~4% of the supply,...

1/8 The word stablecoin has become somewhat of a misnomer, as it is currently being used for a range of coins with drastically different economic properties. We discuss robust economic design w/@alonsodegortari: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… 2/8 Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to trade at par with a reference asset, typically the U.S. Dollar. While they all share the same fundamental objective of maintaining stability against their reference assets...

1/15 Following @GaryGensler's remarks @AspenSecurity it's worth resurfacing the challenges regulating DeFi entails. With Jai Massari we wrote: theregreview.org/2021/05/10/mas… 2/15 DeFi projects go further by seeking to eliminate the need for intermediaries in financial transactions — replacing exchanges, market-makers, asset managers, banks, and other lenders with software protocols.

1/10 "In my judgment, we do not need to fear stablecoins. The Federal Reserve has traditionally supported responsible private-sector innovation. Consistent with this tradition, I believe that we must take strong account of the potential benefits of stablecoins, including..." 2/10 "the possibility that a U.S. dollar stablecoin might support the role of the dollar in the global economy. For example, a global U.S. dollar stablecoin network could encourage use of the dollar by making cross-border payments faster and cheaper, and it potentially could..."

1/12 More than a decade in, most economists still fundamentally misunderstand #Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, #DeFi and #NFTs. In a piece for @ProSyn with @skominers and Ravi Jagadeesan, we write that: 2/12 "Societies create and maintain a consensus about money through a combination of technology and institutions. While technology can enable better forms of money, when and how such new forms are actually adopted depends critically...

1/8 Key misunderstandings in @JosephEStiglitz’s piece on @Libra_: the reserve is designed to build on the progress central banks have made in ensuring stability and value preservation. Libra is a complement to their monetary policies, not a substitute. 2/8 Libra is only minted and burned in response to market demand. The development of central bank digital currencies would be a positive development for Libra, as it would allow the reserve to integrate with them directly, increasing efficiency and robustness.

Thanks @tylercowen for the post! Great questions, here are replies to some of them. All the issues you raise, and especially those we have not addressed directly, will be formalized by the Libra Association @Libra_ after gathering feedback from everyone in the ecosystem. 1/15 The documents we shared today are meant to be the start of a conversation with the open source and economic communities, as well as regulators.

(1) Libra will be backed by bank deposits and short-term government securities in currencies from a small number of stable... 2/15