1/ Sentiment thread for the personal journal:

https://twitter.com/max_bronstein/status/1593621328267018240?s=20&t=z8n5cZ5JrT6--WWAe-Fx4Q

2/ ft.com/content/68ca53…

1/ On Synapse Chain and why it’s powerful infrastructure for next-gen decentralized applications.

TLDR: Synapse Chain allows dapps to create user experiences akin to centralized products, while retaining all of the benefits that come with being an *on-chain* application. 2/ Centralized products have historically been superior to on-chain products across two dimensions:

1. Performance
2. Multi-chain support

1/ Thread on app-chains and their implications for bridges/cross-chain messaging networks like @SynapseProtocol.

TL;DR: the proliferation of app-chains will drastically increase demand for bridging. 2/ For context, app-chains refer to blockchains that are custom built to support a single application unlike larger layer 1 blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche which are designed to support a much more broad and generalized set of use cases.

1/ Cross-chain bridges have quickly become necessary pieces of infrastructure for the multi-chain world. Tens of billions in bridged volume, applications and assets moving cross-chain, the trend is clear.

Want to learn more about each bridge? check out the resource 🧵 below. 2/ These platforms are all focused on the same problem: how to send generic messages from one blockchain to another in the most secure way possible.

Current setups rely on validators to monitor transactions on one chain, verify finality, and relay them to a different chain.

1/ A lot has been said on BTC's performance during bouts of equity volatility, but not as much on how BTC would perform during bouts of FX/currency volatility.

With global currency vols off historic lows and a huge wave of new debt, fireworks are coming to the currency market. 2/ The global monetary system was already fragile coming into the crisis, namely because of the dollar's strength and high levels of dollar indebtedness.

Months into the crisis, many currencies are now vulnerable to devaluation.

1/ Q1 2020 will be etched into financial history as the time where worries about buybacks, cheap liquidity, and exorbitant leverage came to roost.

Bitcoin wasn’t immune either, falling 11.67%. And while fear is high, reports of Bitcoin's death have been greatly exaggerated. 2/ From a market structure perspective, the dominant theme of the last few weeks has been deleveraging and hedging into the quarter's close. The March 13 events that took place on @BitMEXdotcom are starting to feel like crypto's equivalent of Black Monday in 1987.

1/ Some thoughts on why Bitcoin-backed lending has been, and will likely continue to be, a large driver of institutional participation in the crypto ecosystem 2/ To set the stage, it's difficult for capital markets to grow without the ability to take on debt. Debt is a vital source of liquidity as it allows participants to access the value of their future assets today in exchange for an interest fee.

1/ I just published ‘Decred Governance: An Iterative Approach’ which includes analysis on the @decredproject's PoW/PoS consensus, upcoming DAO-controlled treasury, Politeia, skin-in-the-game decision making, and much more.

medium.com/@maxbronstein/… 2/ The most interesting part of the Decred experiment is the attempt to create a more level playing field between every stakeholder in a crypto network: holders, miners, and developers, while being able to easily adapt to changing conditions.

https://twitter.com/lukebp_/status/1132310565093879808

1/ @MakerDAO growth has been astounding, some numbers:

— 19,600 unique addresses
— 20% monthly growth
— 76m $DAI outstanding

While the end goal is to get $DAI into the hands of those who most need a stable asset, today, the system is primarily used as a means for easy leverage 2/ In the recent 'Dai in Numbers' report, we see that 77% of all $DAI transactions are employed for some type of leverage activity. Specifically:

— Exchanging it for $ETH through @oasisdirect
— Sending it to @hitbtc to purchase $BTC
— Sending it to their CDP to get more leverage

{Thread} 1/ The more I think about the decentralized financial system, the more I think that 'Relayers' are one of the highest leverage business opportunities in the blockchain space 2/ When most people think of relayers, they associate them with a specific protocol. For example, we think of @RadarRelay and @ParadexIO as specifically '0x relayers,' and @bloqboard as a 'Dharma relayer.' Relayers don't have to be constrained to one protocol