Three Crypto Pioneers on Crypto’s Monolithic vs. Modular Debate - Ep. 589
In this episode of Unchained, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs, Nick White, COO at Celestia, and Chris Burniske, partner at VC firm Placeholder discuss the differences between modular and monolithic, or integrated, blockchains, with Solana epitomizing the monolithic approach and Celestia the modular one. They all agree that both approaches have their merits and will likely coexist, but argue each lends itself to specific use cases and developer preferences.They also discuss what will drive the next crypto bull cycle, and each gives their best predictions for a specific development in the crypto industry in the next few years.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights:
Chris’s explanation of the modular vs. monolithic approach in blockchains
What drove Anatoly to prioritize speed in Solana's architecture and its impact on the network
What Celestia is and how it represents the first modular blockchain network
Whether developers and users will gravitate more towards modular or monolithic blockchains
How Solana, as one of the fastest blockchains, is gearing up to handle massive usage and scalability
Why Chris views Celestia as a frontrunner in the data availability sector
How Nick perceives the philosophical similarities and executional differences between Celestia and Solana
Whether there's potential for Solana to transition into a modular blockchain in the future
Why Chris believes that the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) might surpass the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) in user adoption
What challenges Bitcoin faces in developing actual Layer 2 solutions, especially considering its "doomers storage" issue
What could drive the next crypto bull market
Top predictions for 2024 and beyond
Anatoly’s perspective on how a significant hack could pose a serious setback for the entire industry
Thank you to our sponsors!
Arbitrum Foundation
Popcorn Network
iTrustCapital
Guests:
Anatoly Yakovenko, cofounder of Solana Labs
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans
Will Solana Be the Execution Layer and Ethereum the Settlement Layer?
Can Solana Seize Marketshare From Ethereum With Serum?
Anatoly Yakovenko on Why Solana Is Building the SAGA
Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Two VCs on Why This Is the Perfect Time to Invest in Crypto
2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market
How To Value A Crypto Asset
Nick White, COO at Celestia Labs
Links
Modular vs. monolithic
Alchemy: Modular vs. Monolithic Blockchains
Visa: Monolithic vs. modular blockchain
Chris Burniske’s tweet on modular vs monolithic
“The horrific inefficiencies of monolithic blockchains” by polynya
Blockworks: A spicy salvo launched in the monolithic vs modular debate
Unchained: What Is the Blockchain Trilemma?
Celestia
Celestia’s explanation of modular blockchains
Data availability
Data availability sampling
An introduction to sovereign rollups
Spot Bitcoin ETF:
Unchained:
Why The Spot Bitcoin ETF Is a Big Deal
Deciding on Bitcoin: Should New Investors Jump In Now or Wait for an ETF?
Ledger ConnectKit incident
Unchained: Ledger Library Compromised, Causing Confusion and Panic in Crypto Community
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Two VCs on Why This Is the Perfect Time to Invest in Crypto - Ep. 522
Despite the doom and gloom, Placeholder VC partners Chris Burniske and Joel Monegro are highly bullish on the present moment. “We’re all going to look back on this period and remember it as fondly as we remember ‘18 and ‘19,” Monegro tells Laura Shin. The two long-term investors explain why the confluence of macroeconomic factors and crypto-native (and AI) innovations make this the ideal time to invest in a Web3 future. They cut their teeth on Bitcoin, they grew up with Ethereum; hear what they think is next.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights:
why Chris says crypto’s four-year cycle will likely play out once again
the role of interest rates in asset valuation
whether the crypto industry has learned its lessons from the “crypto carnage” of 2022
whether there’s a future for KYC’d DeFi
when failing in crypto should be considered a crime, as in the Do Kwon case
what could happen with the rate hikes and how the macroeconomic environment affects the markets
how the ruling in the Ripple case impacts the development of new crypto companies and user adoption
whether Joel felt relieved by the ruling, considering Placeholder has invested in many tokens that were named as securities by the SEC
what Joel thinks of the new crypto bill in Congress and how he wishes that smart contracts were used to self-regulate the industry
what Joel and Chris think of the delicate situations of crypto giants such as Binance and DCG
whether the fat protocol thesis still holds up and whether it colors Placeholder’s current investment thesis
why most of the Layer 1s will become rollups, according to Chris
why Chris is bullish on Solana, despite the massive collapse in value following the FTX debacle
how NFTs will play a significant role in “establishing the provenance of content”
whether AI agents will become crypto power users
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com
Arbitrum Foundation
TOKEN2049
Guests:
Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder VC
Previous appearance on Unchained:
2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market
How To Value A Crypto Asset
Joel Monegro, partner at Placeholder VC.
Placeholder’s Joel Monegro on the Fat Protocols Thesis
Links
Fat Protocols by Joel Monegro
The Blockchain Application Stack by Joel Monegro
Decred Thesis by Joel Monegro and Chris Burniske
WSJ:
Binance Lays Off Over 1,000 Employees
Binance Cuts Back Employee Benefits, Citing Decline in Profit
CoinDesk: Unpacking the Latest Lummis-Gillibrand Bill Draft
Reuters: US SEC accepts six spot bitcoin ETF proposals for review
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156 - Investing in Waves with Chris Burniske
✨ DEBRIEF | Unpacking the episode: https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/debrief-chris-burniske
------ ✨ COLLECTIBLES | Collect this episode: https://collectibles.bankless.com/mint
------ Chris Burniske is Co-Founder of Placeholder VC, author of “Crypto-Assets,” and mentor to both David and Ryan. This is Chris’s third appearance on Bankless. He was first on three years ago for episode #20!
Investing in waves. Are we talking about surfing? Are we talking about capital deployment? The answer is yes.
In today’s episode, Chris unpacks why he uses the term “trashy” to describe many 2022 projects (and their founders), why crypto is like surfing and how you catch a good wave, his rules for staying sober during bull and bear markets (hint: don’t fall in love with your coconuts), and finally his bull case for Solana.
------ 📣 Crypto Tax Calculator | Free Crypto Tax Calculator https://bankless.cc/CTCpodcast
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------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
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------ Topics Covered
0:00 Intro 6:46 Crypto Assets 12:43 Right 2 Years Later 16:00 Wrong 2 Years Later 19:35 What Makes a Project Trashy 22:12 Psychological Perspective 26:33 Thesis Driven 30:00 Super Cycle Narratives 37:20 Market Timing & Advice (NFA) 47:25 Bull Market Indicators 54:30 Is the Bottom In? 57:53 What Ends the Bear Market? 1:01:17 The Crypto Repeat Story 1:08:00 BTC vs. ETH vs. SOL 1:18:54 The Solana Pitch 1:29:34 How to Approach Solana 1:36:51 Predicting SOL Value Accruel 1:41:35 The Solana Opportunity 1:46:18 Is Crypto a Net Good? 1:52:22 Action Items & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Chris Burniske https://twitter.com/cburniske
The Ethereum Opportunity https://youtu.be/oG3CUT9kziE
Electric Capital Developer Report https://github.com/electric-capital/developer-reports/blob/master/dev_report_2022.pdf
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
2022 in Review + How Cobie and Chris Burniske Are Playing the New Year - Ep. 434
What a year. Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, sift through 2022’s rubble for clues as to what lies ahead in 2023. The two bright lights of Crypto Twitter weigh in on SBF’s fraud, how to succeed through the bear market, and what remains promising despite the gloom and doom.
Show highlights:
why 2022 is “the hangover of 2021”
why this year’s big meltdowns were different and dispiriting
why it was actually a year to remind us of why we’re all here
how the underlying protocols didn’t skip a beat
how to survive the bear market
what Chris feels guilty about in the wake of Alameda’s collapse
why Cobie hopes SBF spends life in jail
whether people will actually use decentralized alternatives – or if banking-like relationships will prevail
what Chris sees as the 2023 version of proof-of-stake in 2017
why Cobie thinks bitcoin is an area of opportunity over the next few years
whether the multichain thesis (“Solunavax”) will ever rise again
whether the contagion is over
if disgraced figureheads deserve a second chance
a lightning round lookback on 2022
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com
Chainalysis
Minima
DeFi Saver
Guests:
Cobie:
Twitter
Substack
UpOnly
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market
Chris:
Twitter
Placeholder VC
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Chris Burniske: A Blank Slate of State
Chris Burniske of Placeholder on the Downsides of ICOs
The year in crypto:
FTX
Unchained:
CFTC and SEC File Damning Complaints Against Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested Amid US Indictment
FTX Bankruptcy Overseer Says Company’s Collapse Is Worst He’s Ever Seen
Terra:
CoinDesk: The Fall of Terra: A Timeline of the Meteoric Rise and Crash of UST and LUNA
Three Arrows Capital
CNBC’s full interview with Three Arrows Capital’s Kyle Davies on the downfall of the defunct crypto hedge fund
CoinDesk: Three Arrows Capital Files for Bankruptcy in New York Tied to British Virgin Islands Proceeding
DeCrypt: Bankrupt Three Arrows Capital Owes $3.5B to Creditors, Including $2.3B to Genesis
Binance
Unchained: Binance Passes Withdrawal ‘Stress Test’ After $3B in Daily Outflows
Forbes: Kevin O’Leary Points Finger At Binance For FTX Crash In Senate Testimony
Silvergate
The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion
The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom
Genesis/DCG:
Unchained:
Genesis Warns of Bankruptcy If Funding Plans Fail: Report
On-chain Analysts ID 432 GBTC Addresses After Grayscale Says No to Proof-of-Reserves
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market - Ep.355
Cobie, co-founder of Lido and UpOnlyTv, and Chris Burniske, partner at Placeholder Ventures, talk about surviving a crypto bear market, the Terra collapse, lessons they’ve learned from their mistakes, and much more. Show highlights:
whether Chris and Cobie think crypto is in a bear market
why Chris says these are the times to buy
what effect the Terra debacle will have on the crypto industry
why Chris was expecting UST to blow up
why Chris thinks there is going to be another massive liquidation event
whether an algo stablecoin could work
why bear markets are sometimes a good thing
how USDT was stress tested and proved its resilience
how macro is affecting the crypto space and what the role of the Fed is
when will we see the bottom of this bear market
how meme coins are the symptoms of a broken system
why this crypto cycle is different
whether regulations are helping VCs rather than the retail investors
why risky assets are the ones that could increase 10,000x
whether the future of crypto is multichain or not
how developers signal what ecosystem is going to win in the next expansion cycle
whether Cobie thinks staking is dying
how Chris judges market bottoms and tops
what lessons Cobie and Chris have learned from their mistakes
what innovations will catalyze the next bull cycle
what needs to happen in the future for crypto to succeed
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021
Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto
Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance
Episode Links
Cobie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cobie
UpOnlyTv: https://uponly.tv/
Substack: https://cobie.substack.com/
L1 trading: https://cobie.substack.com/p/trading-the-metagame?s=r
Death of staking: https://cobie.substack.com/p/apecoin-and-the-death-of-staking?s=r
Token unlocks: https://cobie.substack.com/p/on-the-meme-of-market-caps-and-unlocks?s=r
Cycle Tweets:
Why “the next cycle” reasoning scares him
https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1524965475813568512
What projects will survive the bear
https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1469253171885318146
His call to “buy” on March 12 2020
https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1238282793244860417
Which VCs will win
https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1515667977118826500
Chris Burniske
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/burniske/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/cburniske
Previous Unchained episode
https://unchainedpodcast.com/chris-burniske-a-blank-slate-of-state/
https://unchainedpodcast.com/chris-burniske-of-placeholder-on-the-downsides-of-icos/
https://unchainedpodcast.com/want-to-diversify-your-portfolio-try-bitcoin-say-arks-chris-burniske-and-coinbases-adam-white/
https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-to-value-a-crypto-asset/
Cycle Tweets
Feb 2022 bear call
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1495468570708426754
March 2022 bear call
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1523021991619428352
November 2021 top call
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1457884538806308868
DCA advice
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1525906152881459200
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1500593438433021952
What could knock the market further down
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1525157945079496705
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524260987787902978
2017 ATH calls
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524838447784947712
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524524188366635008
Trying to time the bottom
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1523573129431240710
Chris x Cobie
Luna
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524280637431164929
Feeling sorry for people who have lost $
https://twitter.com/cburniske/status/1524267901456248832
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
82 - Investing in the Future | Cathie Wood, Chris Burniske, Yassine Elmandjra
Cathie Wood is Founder, CEO and CIO of Ark Invest, the investment management firm specializing in disruptive sectors. Yassine Elmandjra is an analyst at Ark, and Chris Burniske is the former blockchain lead at Ark and is now a partner at Placeholder VC. We’re incredibly excited to bring Cathie on the podcast for her industry-leading insights and perspective on the innovative investing space.
The thesis is simple: invest in the future. As a society, we are entering a new age of exponential and unprecedented growth, afforded by compounding technological advancements and a turning point of innovation. Ark Invest is poised to capitalize on these opportunities and has eyed cryptoassets as an important vehicle for this substantial, societal change. Dive in and learn about Wright’s Law, managing haters, Ark’s thoughts on the triple point asset, and DeFi.
✨ GET THE EXCLUSIVE DEBRIEF ✨ https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/exclusive-debrief-investing-in-the
------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ 🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
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------
Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 7:42 Cathie, Chris, and Yassine 12:00 Investing in the Future 17:57 Wright’s Law & Retail 22:02 Fear of Change 28:17 Ark and Bitcoin 38:19 Ether and Ethereum 47:12 NFTs 49:28 Triple Point Asset 55:55 Yield, Banks, and Regulation 1:03:24 ETH’s Risk Free Rate 1:06:35 Fintech & DeFi Mullet 1:16:50 DeFi and AI 1:26:07 Regulatory Limits 1:33:53 Crypto’s Challenges 1:41:46 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Cathie on Twitter https://twitter.com/CathieDWood?s=20 Chris On Twitter https://twitter.com/cburniske?s=20 Yassine on Twitter https://twitter.com/yassineARK?s=20 Episode with Chris https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-ethereum-opportunity-chris-burniske Cryptoassets https://www.amazon.com/Cryptoassets-Innovative-Investors-Bitcoin-Beyond/dp/1260026671
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures
Chris Burniske on the Original Sins of Crypto
Chris Burniske is a co-founder of Placeholder, a New York venture firm that specializes in cryptoassets, and co-author of the book, Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond. He joins us to talk about crypto's past, and the implications that has for its future.
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Follow me on Twitter @JasonYanowitz and let me know what you thought of the show!
62 - Governance and Capital | Joel Monegro
Joel Monegro is a partner at Placeholder VC, where he invests in decentralized networks and companies that democratize data, wealth, and power.
------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/ 🎖 CLAIM YOUR BADGE: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/-guide-2-using-the-bankless-badge 🎧 Get this Episode's Debrief: https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/exclusive-debrief-governance-and ------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
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------ 📣 DHARMA | From Dollars to DeFi in a Tap! https://bankless.cc/dharma ------
Bankless Podcast #62 | Governance and Capital Guest: Joel Monegro
Joel Monegro is a partner at Placeholder, a venture capital firm where he invests in decentralized networks and companies that democratize access to data, wealth, and power. He started the firm in 2017 with his friend Chris Burniske and mentor Brad Burnham after three years at Union Square Ventures, developing the firm’s early blockchain thesis and portfolio.
In this episode, Joel explores the relationship between Governance and Capital, broadly used terms in desperate need of proper definition. Governance focuses on the decision making process in regards to capital. Capital is a broad term for economic resources – that which has utility. Governance can refer to autocratic individual decision making, but we dive into governance as a mechanism for collective decisions and achieving consensus. It is typically tied to a social and/or economic system and is made of structures that drive decision making among groups of people.
Capital represents influence, power, or control over economic resources. Capital and its utility are natural social phenomena and are relative in nature. Governance and Capital are deeply linked and arguably synonymous. The optimization of governance over capital and capital instruments are priorities of blockchains, which involve both financial and governance technology. The utility of capital can increase when pooled, especially when governance is scaled and effective.
A core argument of the crypto industry is that blockchains offer a more advanced instrumentation of capital, creating maximally efficient pathways for the exchange of value. They allow the transaction/contract settlement layer to migrate away from a state-backed system, which involves the use of courts and violence to achieve security. Replacing violence with cryptographic consensus is a powerful but challenging concept – one explored deeply in this episode with Joel Monegro.
------ Resources:
Placeholder VC Blog https://www.placeholder.vc/
Joel on Twitter https://twitter.com/jmonegro?s=20
Generations - Strauss and Howe https://www.amazon.com/Generations-History-Americas-Future-1584/dp/0688119123
------ This Week on Bankless:
🧢 Weekly Action Recap (4/24): https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/ethereum-at-aths-weekly-recap 🗞️ Weekly Rollup (4/23): https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/-rollup-venmo-huge-eth-q1-canada ⚫ The future of synthetic assets (4/22): https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/the-wild-future-of-synthetic-assets ✏️ A Short History of Ethereum Hacks (4/21): https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/a-short-history-of-ethereum-hacks 🏴 Coinbase Goes Direct (4/21): https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/-sotn-43-coinbase-goes-direct-jeff
------ Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures
20 - The Ethereum Opportunity | Chris Burniske
Episode: #20 July 6, 2020
We sit down in this episode with Chris Burniske to talk about crypto, DeFi, and the Ethereum opportunity. Why are we here? How will crypto make the world better? Where are we going next? Oh...and is ETH money?
Chris has the incredible ability to drill deep into intricate analysis one moment then zoom out across history to tell us what is means for the future of humanity. Enjoy this conversation with our favorite crypto analyst-philosopher.
We cover:
Evolution of token valuations
Fixing the inequality of capital
Is DeFi a better system for the world?
Balancer as a case study
Have his views on governance changed?
Tribalism!
The reason we're here
Going west toward the Infinite Whitespace
The Ethereum opportunity!
Bullish ETH?
Chris's next book
Join us next Monday for a fresh episode!
-----
Tools from our sponsors to go bankless:
Rocket Dollar - tax shelter your crypto ($50 w/ "BANKLESS")
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Monolith - holy grail of bankless Visa cards
Aave - money lego for lending & borrowing
----- Resources discussed:
Read our favorite writings by Chris: A Superior Financial System
The Likely Fate of Ethereum Killers
Protocols As Minimally Extractive Coordinators
Value Capture & Quantification: Cryptocapital vs Cryptocommodities
Cryptonetworks Are Not Companies
Follow Chris on Twitter
Listen to Chris Read "A Blank State of Slate"
Check out Crypto Assets Book
----- Episode Actions:
Read our favorite articles from Chris (see above)
Listen to episode 4 on ETH as a Triple Point Asset
Subscribe to State of the Nation on YouTube!
Also...subscribe to Bankless YouTube to watch State of the Nation every Tuesday.
-----
Chris Burniske is a partner at Placeholder, a New York venture firm that invests in decentralized information networks. Prior to Placeholder, he co-authored, Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond, and spearheaded ARK Investment Management’s crypto efforts, including its 2015 bitcoin investment. His commentary has been featured on national media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, and Bloomberg. Twitter @cburniske. ----- Subscribe to podcast on iTunes | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Feed
Leave a review on iTunes
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Subscribe to the Bankless newsletter program
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----- Not financial or tax advice. This podcast is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Do your own research.
Chris Burniske: A Blank Slate of State - Ep.163
In this essay, Chris Burniske of Placeholder Capital talks about what kind of world crypto entrepreneurs are creating and want to be creating with the systems they build. He talks about different kinds of values, the dangers of only pursuing market values, and why crypto has a unique opportunity now to recalibrate those market values and incorporate more of the societal virtues we hold dear. Then he dives into which values he hopes to imbue into crypto networks and how that informs his thinking as a VC in the space.
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a16z Podcast: Cryptonetworks as Emerging Economies (Done Right?)
with Chris Burniske (@cburniske), Joel Monegro (@jmonegro), Denis Nazarov (@Iiterature), and Jesse Walden (@jessewldn)
When designing cryptonetworks -- really, emerging economies -- how do we avoid some of the monetary and fiscal policy failings of "real-world" economies? Like not separating currency and capital, which accelerated and spread economic growth through the former... but also concentrated the latter into the hands of a few? Yet how can we empower users to access capital while also managing risk?
If the promise of cryptonetworks is to better align incentives and value capture, then we can't make the same mistakes as we did in traditional economies. We also have the chance to do novel things not possible in the physical world, through software. So this episode of the a16z Podcast -- featuring voices from Placeholder VC and a16z Crypto -- goes deep into the nuances and mechanisms of cryptonetworks, tokens, and decentralized applications at every layer of the "stack". Chris Burniske (who has written a lot about financial modeling-influenced frameworks for analyzing crypto) and Joel Monegro (who has written about "fat protocols", and once managed the Digital Economy Department at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Dominican Republic) of Placeholder VC discuss and debate all of the above -- and more! -- with a16z crypto's Denis Nazarov and Jesse Walden (co-founders of Mediachain, which was acquired by Spotify).
Throughout the history of information technology, we've gone from hardware to software, and software to data. So what's next, what's the layer above data? The answer is governance -- which gives more people a way to participate in decision making around a given network -- but the answer for how to implement the best governance isn't so clear.
Stay Updated:
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20VC: Why Most The Value In Crypto Will Accrue in Governance, When Institutional Capital Will Enter The Space and How To Think About Liquidity In Crypto with Joel Monegro, Founding Partner @ Placeholder.VC
Joel Monegro is Founding Partner @ Placeholder.VC, one of the new venture capital partnerships that invest solely in crypto assets and more specifically in decentralized information networks. Prior to founding Placeholder, Joel spent three years at Union Square Ventures developing the firm's blockchain investment thesis and portfolio. Before USV, Joel started the Digital Economy Department at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Dominican Republic, a government office in charge of developing the country's national and technology agenda.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Joel made his way into the world of VC with USV and what created his love of crypto and led to his leaving USV to found Placeholder? What were some of Joel's biggest investing lessons from his time with USV?
2.) How does Joel approach portfolio construction in building out a crypto portfolio? How does the use of reserves and building positions change when comparing VC to crypto? Why does Joel believe that the most interesting place to invest in crypto is in the assets themselves, rather than the companies?
3.) When does Joel think we will see institutional capital begin to move into the space in a meaningful way? What needs to happen/change for this institutional interest to materialize? How is the element of "custody" crucial to the entrance of institutions?
4.) In terms of fund construction, liquidity is often an attractive element to crypto, why does Joel believe that a traditional venture fund structure is necessary for Placeholder? What are the benefits both to the fund and the projects it backs? How do LPs both traditional and non-traditional respond to this?
5.) Joel has said before the 2 core elements are crypto economics and governance, why does Josh believe this? Why is governance the foundational layer where value will accrue in the space? How does the lack of defensibility of crypto projects make governance ever more valuable?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Joel's Fave Book: Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
Joel's Most Recent Investment: Decred Investment Thesis
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Joel on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
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Placeholder's Joel Monegro on the Fat Protocols Thesis Today - Ep.65
Joel Monegro, partner at crypto VC firm Placeholder Ventures, describes how well his seminal blog post, "Fat Protocols," is holding up, why he and his partner Chris Burniske opted to found a crypto VC firm as opposed to a hedge fund, and what main factors they think will determine the success of a blockchain. He also describes how crypto and blockchains fit into the evolution of technology, how the business models in the crypto space will be built, and why their first publicly known investment was in Decred. Plus, he reveals why their firm is called Placeholder.
Placeholder: https://www.placeholder.vc
Joel: https://twitter.com/jmonegro
The Placeholder investment thesis: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmZL4eT1gxnE168Pmw3KyejW6fUfMNzMgeKMgcWJUfYGRj/Placeholder%20Thesis%20Summary.pdf
The Fat Protocols Thesis:
https://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols
Decred investment thesis: https://www.placeholder.vc/blog/2018/5/12/decred-investment-thesis
Blog post on information technology cycles: https://monegro.org/work/2018/2/20/information-technology-market-cycles-a-brief-history
Joel's blog post on the shared data layer of the blockchain application stack:
http://joel.mn/post/104755282493/the-shared-data-layer-of-the-blockchain
and on the blockchain application stack: http://joel.mn/post/103546215249/the-blockchain-application-stack
Two episodes featuring his partner, Chris Burniske:
http://unchainedpodcast.co/how-to-valuate-a-crypto-asset-s3e08
http://unchainedpodcast.co/want-higher-returns-invest-in-bitcoin-say-arks-chris-burniske-and-coinbases-adam-white
Another episode that I forgot to mention during the show, the interview with Bill Tai, which contains ideas that overlap quite a bit with Joel's:
http://unchainedpodcast.co/maitai-globals-bill-tai-on-why-blockchain-is-the-6th-wave-of-technology
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Chris Burniske - How to Value a Cryptoasset - [Invest Like the Best, EP.62]
This episode is a continuation of the Hash Power series. It is the first of what we will call a Hash Power single—a series of conversations each with a single guest on a specific topic. In this case my guest is Chris Burniske, and the topic is cryptoasset valuation. This conversation is loaded with information, I think you are going to love it.
Chris recently released book called Cryptoassets, which is a must read for those interested in this field. Chris was at one point the only tradintional buy side analyst covering bitcoin, and is now a partner at a new crypto firm called Placeholder. Chris has developed new frameworks for evaluating and valuing cryptocurrencies, marrying techniques and ways of thinking for several different asset classes to assess the newest asset class. Chris prefers the term cryptoassets because as you’ll hear, several of these tokens aren’t really currencies at all. We discuss the differences between cryptocurrencies, cryptocommodities, and cryptotokens. We begin our conversation with a deep dive into the equation of exchange, which Chris has been using as a starting point for understanding utility value.
You can see all crypto related conversations at investorfieldguide.com/Hashpower. Please enjoy this conversation with Chris Burniske.
Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
Links Referenced
Hash Power Podcast Documentary
Nic Carter (twitter)
Cryptoasset Valuations (Medium)
Show Notes
4:58 - (First Question) – Chris’s overall method for evaluating cryptocurrencies
5:14– Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
6:47 – The equation exchange
11:19 – Bonding
12:35 – How bonding may represent a more efficient way of representing consensus over proof of work
14:29 – Why the amount being bonded and held should be taken out of the float
16:58 – Using bitcoin as an example to figure out remittances in the PQ side
18:31 – Looking at the velocity of various crypto-assets
21:04 – Chris’s impression of the different way of categorizing various crypto assets
24:37 – Explaining Auger as an example of a cryptotoken
25:38 – How could these networks be impacted by not having any censorship
27:57 – Exploring the gap between expectation vs reality in the value of crypto currency
30:43 – Other ways of valuing these crypto assets
30:50 – Hash Power Podcast Documentary
33:32 – Explaining the idea of billion dollar a day onchain transactions
36:05 – How to measure the value of the underlying network
36:37 – Nic Carter (twitter)
37:13 – What are the variables that matter when investing in cryptocurrency on a long-term horizon
39:24 – Determining when it’s better for a network to be centralized vs decentralized
42:03 – Networks that Chris is most excited about
44:06 – Understanding the consumption side of the steam marketplace
46:01 – Deep dive into the Aragon network
47:27 – How does Chris evaluate existential risk of networks
51:09 – Could these assets really ever go to zero?
54:07 – Is there a scenario in which velocity gets so high that it negatively effects the price
56:10 – What are the unknowns of cryptocurrency that Chris is most interested in
56:24 – Cryptoasset Valuations (Medium)
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
How To Value A Crypto Asset
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Chris Burniske of Placeholder Ventures has recently come out with a new book, "Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investors' Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond" that dives into what crypto assets are, what makes them a new asset class, and how you calculate a valuation for such a network. He applies what is known as the equation of exchange (MV = PQ) to crypto assets and describes why the velocity of crypto assets -- the frequency with which they change hands during a particular time frame -- is likely to be much higher than for traditional assets, and discusses why he gives crypto assets much higher discount rates, which are used to determine what you should pay now for something will be worth more later. Plus, we talk about why the financial incumbents are in for a rude awakening from public blockchains.
Show notes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/10/17/how-to-value-a-crypto-asset/
Book: https://www.bitcoinandbeyond.com/
Chris's Medium post on crypto asset valuations: https://medium.com/@cburniske/cryptoasset-valuations-ac83479ffca7
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Inside The Booming World of Initial Coin Offerings
By now everyone's heard of Bitcoin, and probably has an opinion on it. But the world of cryptocurrencies has a new object of fascination: ICOs. Whereas the tech boom in the 90s was characterized by an obsession with IPOs, these ICOs (initial coin offerings) are cryptographic tokens being sold onto the market for hungry investors eager to get in on new ventures. And while some ICOs are connected to companies, others are connected to "protocols" that aren't even recognizably corporations. Confused? You're not alone. On this week's episode, we talk to Chris Burniske of asset management company Ark Invest to talk about this fascinating new world.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Want to Diversify Your Portfolio? Try Bitcoin, Say ARK's Chris Burniske And Coinbase's Adam White
Invest in oil and gold? In this episode, the co-authors of a compelling white paper explain the four reasons why they believe you may soon be investing in digital oil and digital gold instead. Find out why their analysis prompted Burniske to say of bitcoin, "That's an investor's dream," why White mentioned the saying, "On the blockchain, no one knows you're a refrigerator," and how well ARK's investment in bitcoin has performed.
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