Long Reads Sunday #72. The ideas, news and content that defined the last week in crypto, including multi-collateral DAI on the horizon; the surge in crypto derivatives; and the rise of #DissidentTech. Strap in kiddo’s, it’s long reads time.
3/ The point, of course, was not that this PayPal block would impact most people, but the reminder that, to an alarming extent, technology controls us as much as we control it. This is why so many are getting more and more excited about the concept of #DissidentTech
https://twitter.com/prestonjbyrne/status/1193962358504329219
6/ Keeping in mind the caveat to verify, not trust, some of the most interesting #DissidentTech news of the week came from @fund_unknown, who announced a fully anonymous $75m bitcoin fund for investing in privacy, anonymity and crypto projects.
https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1195133563194269699
8/ Indeed, just as it has been for months, China continued to be a key point of discussion in crypto. This week it was reports of an impending crackdown on crypto trading - the excitement around which had gone up in the wake of a recent pro-blockchain shift (although some were skeptical)
https://twitter.com/danheld/status/1195460946409320448
14/ The derivatives space - and the idea of institutional crypto more broadly, is on of the 7 parts of the “Current State Of Crypto Markets” section of @CoinsharesCo’s massive Mary Meeker-esque trends report. Seriously, this thing is solid gold.
https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem/status/1194373561630236672
16/ If the history of exchanges is up your alley, might I recommend this epic 5000 word piece by yours truly and @nomics @ClayCollins. We did a two part podcast on this as well, going all the way back to the Bitcointalk message that announced the very first bitcoin exchange in Jan 2010.
https://blog.nomics.com/essays/crypto-exchanges-history/
18/ Speaking of new funds, @ConsenSys @samcassatt has departed and announced a new fund called “Aligned Capital,” looking at transformations in the global financial system, physical and mental health, and AI + human beings. Should be interesting to watch!
https://twitter.com/samcassatt/status/1195474604782866432
19/ On the topic of new approaches to venture capital, @jgarzik highlighted an initiative from @Coinbase in September to support DeFi projects in a different way, arguing that there may be better incentive alignment than with traditional VC.
https://twitter.com/jgarzik/status/1195046501682229248
23/ I’m *sure* there will be much more on Maker next week, so for now, let’s do just a few more articles and a few congrats and get you outta here and back to your families.
28/ Lastly, there are some congrats in order. @donnie and te fine folks at @bitski (digital wallet aiming at mainstream adoption) and @twobitidiot and the excellent @messaricrypto both announced successful fundraises this week. Here’s to good actors working to make the space better.
29/ And of course, I gotta close on the most important congrats of all. Everything we do here - every effort to try to make things better for future generations - comes back to world we want to see for our families. So to @APompliano & @polina_marinova, here’s to yours!
https://twitter.com/APompliano/status/1196051173243002881