Host @ The Breakdown Network - big picture power shifts explained @BreakdownNLW @BTCBuildersPod @AIBreakdownPod // Learn more https://t.co/sLA5z37pIJ
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Oct 7, 2018 • 30 tweets • 19 min read
1/ Long Reads Sunday #15. Queue the “Bitcoin-as-stablecoin” jokes. As BTC hovers at ~$6600, this week was most definitely not about price action. Instead, the story is a bubbling undercurrent of institutional activity setting the stage for what comes next.
“‘Centralization' gets used as a four-letter word..”
On Monday I was joined by @travis_kling, @katherineykwu@myles_snider for the first ever Long Reads Live and riffing on market manipulation, regulatory uncertainty and weaponizing narratives. /1 2/ Of course, ain’t nobody got an hour to kill, so on this Medium post I’ve captured the key time stamps so you can go straight to the parts that are actually interesting to you. I also posted some shorter clips on specific topics. medium.com/@nlw/weaponize…
Sep 30, 2018 • 31 tweets • 17 min read
1/ Long Reads Sunday #14. Daaaamn crypto, you really went for it. This was a week full of big announcements, market manipulation, regulatory enforcement, and a dash of various other assorted intrigue. Strap in, folks, it’s long reads time.
2/ One LRS note. Last week I announced that we’re taking this conversation off Twitter and into the realm of live. Well, it’s happening this MONDAY ~7pm EST. My first guest co-host will be @Travis_Kling and I couldn’t be more excited. More guests TBA soon. youtube.com/channel/UCMKxY…
Sep 28, 2018 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
Drumroll please 🥁....here are the most clicked links from last week's Long Reads Sunday.
getrevue.co/profile/nlw/is…
#5 One of the godfathers of the crypto space (as in, inventor of things like blind signatures OG) has a new blockchain project. @Adam_Tache recaps a recent presentation, summarizing everything shared so far
1/ Long Reads Sunday #13. What a week it was. We saw: XRP surge and (momentarily) flip ETH; a massive ratchet up in scrutiny around exchanges; a significant Bitcoin bug and so much more. Get your coffee black and steaming, it’s long reads time.
2/ Firstly, damn XRP. Ripple went crazy this week, doubling its market cap Thursday-Friday and bringing back echoes of 2017. @crypto_macro pointed to a couple of the better attempts at explanation.
1/ One of the most fascinating conversations happening on crypto twitter right now: on a global scale, what matters more - anti-inflationary crypto-fiat stability, or cryptocurrencies that are truly immune to seizure by hostile forces?
cfr.org/interactives/g…2/ The conversation was prompted by the @multicoincap boys who, whether you agree with them or not, can spark a debate like pretty much no one else. In short, they argued that crypto-fiat like Gemini Dollar will suck a huge amount of oxygen out of the room
2/ If blockchains are network organization tools, one of the most important answers to “why decentralize” is to eliminate the distinction between network owners and network participants.
Sep 16, 2018 • 31 tweets • 17 min read
1/ Long Reads Sunday #12. Now this, THIS was a week in crypto. We’ve got data, debates, emergent privacy technology, regulation, enforcement, mining 2.0, stablecoins (so, so many stablecoins), and, for good measure, the emergent global competition for citizenship.
2/ Rumors of Ethereum’s death have been greatly exaggerated. At least, that’s the attitude of the array of developers who participated in the various events around ETH Berlin last week. Check out the projects + memory hole of a 2014 hackathon
1/ I wrote a piece today about something crypto could do with a bit less of: “Complexity Theater” - when ideas are explained in an overly-complicated way in order to make those ideas seem more robust, intelligent, and worthy of attention. Thread 👇
2/ I’ve been watching the critique of white papers grow. This thread from @ljxie in particular caught my attention.
+ these are low-hanging fruit enforcements, not some Bond ish.
+ focused not just on issuers but intermediaries
+ Bloomberg title shockingly not completely accurate
1/ Long Reads Sunday #11. Another Sunday, another sea of red. Put on your galoshes & sneak some hooch into your coffee as we wade through the blood with contemplation on governance, China, death spirals, decentralization, liberalism and tyranny. Thread 👇
2/ One small organizational note - by popular request, I’m now archiving all LRS’s and delivering it via email. See the past issues or sign up here: whittemore.io/long-reads-sun…
Sep 6, 2018 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
What do token buybacks, fat monies, open finance, accredited investor rules, dapp experiments in incentivizing behaviors, 'decentralization' examination, and app store-crypto collision courses have in common? Twitter threads of course. ICYMI - quick recap of summer threads. 👇
1. Dapps Are Experiments In New Behaviors
NARRATIVE WATCH: "OPEN FINANCE." If you’ve opened CryptoTwitter in the last few days, you likely seen the phrase “Open Finance,” and based on who you follow, it might be extremely positive or extraordinarily negative. So, what’s going on? Thread 👇/1
2/ As public perception of tokenized projects, ICOs, and Dapps languishes, so too does the base protocol underlying them struggle. Ethereum skepticism has been a narrative on the rise -really all year but especially this summer. tokeneconomy.co/market-narrati…
Sep 2, 2018 • 34 tweets • 20 min read
1/ LONG READS SUNDAY #10. There are two ways one might see the crypto conversation: 1) an acrimonious battle of opposing tribes; 2) a crucible of learning, debate and experimentation that, of course, gets heated..but only because new worlds are born in fire.
2/ Consider each of these Long Reads Sunday lists a submission of evidence for latter. The labor put into all of these pieces is an expression of their writers' desires to build and create, and is to be celebrated. So, without further ado, here’s the Labor Day edition of LRS 👇
Aug 31, 2018 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
App stores are one of the most difficult centralized monopolies to displace, and - as they represent almost the exact opposite paradigm as permissionless, decentralized models- are almost certainly on a broader collision course with crypto. /1
coindesk.com/apple-orders-c…2/ Why so hard to displace? Among other things, users who buy into app ecosystems have serious sunk and switching costs. What's more, people usually only participate in one at a time. For more, see: medium.com/public-market/…
Aug 26, 2018 • 31 tweets • 16 min read
1/ Long Reads Sunday #9. We may not be at Burning Man, but that doesn’t mean you can’t slap on some faux fur, throw some dubstep on the headphones and enjoy this week’s micro-dose of crypto goodness. With BTC honey badgering through China bans & ETF denials, it’s a good one. 👇
2/ Within hours of last week’s LRS @Melt_Dem went and dropped what became and stayed my favorite thread of the week: Decentralization Is A Myth. TL;DR we should identify the outcomes of decentralization we’re striving for.
1/ Crypto Narrative Watchlist: Token Buybacks. I’ve noticed an uptick in chatter about the idea of token projects buying back tokens. Some examples:
2/ This thread really super charged the discussion, and basically contains every aspect of it - from people who argue for it as a way to show confidence & reward holders to those re-articulating the belief that tokens are worthless.
Thread. 👇
2/ In a previous thread, I put together a number of examples of the growing conversation about whether decentralized networks could replaced centralized firms as a model for human organization.
Beliefs shape reality. The Crypto Narrative Index tracks the stories shaping the crypto discourse, in order that they can inform without provoking tactical over-correction and volatility. Here’s a thread summing up the first index. /1👇 tokeneconomy.co/market-narrati…2/ The core idea animating this is that market narratives are marketing or, at least, that anyone sharing a narrative has an upside - be it financial or in terms of social status. Narratives are attempts at self-fulfilling prophecy.
Aug 19, 2018 • 26 tweets • 11 min read
1/ Long Reads Sunday #8. Price crashes. The Decoupling. ETH Death Spirals. This week was exhibit A in the crypto market’s volatility and the reflexivity of narrative<>behavior. Luckily, if you peel back these price convos, a teeming world of vibrant longtermism awaits.
2/ Let’s start with some smart, shall we? Decentralization is one of crypto’s most important concepts, but tends to be weaponized either as explanation for everything or as an embodiment in of naivete. What it really means & why it matters:
1/ We wanted alt season and we got the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones. For all the survivors and refugees, here’s a quick "Fat Monies Thesis” (and related, Money Crypto thinking) primer.
2/ First, wtf is Fat Monies? @twobitidiot called it one of the top 5 crypto theses of the year, while @arjunblj called it a cool name for monetary maximalist.
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