The Chopping Block: Erik Voorhees on AI Privacy, Agentic Payments, and Crypto x Memecoin Mayhem
Crypto OG Erik Voorhees joins The Chopping Block crew to dissect the future of agentic payments, the eternal war for privacy, memecoin-fueled AI drama on Moltbook, and why your next DeFi user might just be your OpenClaw agent—plus, a candid look at crypto's core and how AI turns software engineering existential.
Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, we’re joined by none other than Erik Voorhees, legendary crypto pioneer and founder of Venice, for a no-holds-barred discussion on the wild convergence of AI, crypto, and the meme coin casino. Erik unpacks his journey from anti-surveillance crusader to AI entrepreneur, why Venice is all-in on privacy and free speech for LLMs, and how “provable privacy” is a Sisyphean technical challenge.
The crew breaks down OpenClaw’s agent drama, memecoin carpet-bombing of Moltbook, and Meta muscling in on AI social networks. We debate agentic payments (will your first paying customer soon be a bot?), the true game theory behind state surveillance, and why crypto’s greatest killer use case might actually be building tools for robots instead of humans. Plus: existential crises for software engineers, why “AI alignment” is a philosophical dead end, and the childlike glee (or open psychosis) of trading OpenClaw war stories at AI meetups.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Show highlights
🔹 Erik Voorhees traces his journey from crypto OG to Venice AI founder, fighting for privacy and free speech
🔹 Explainer: Why all big AI labs store your prompts — and how Venice’s model tries to break the surveillance cycle
🔹 The crew tears into "agentic payments" hype and asks if crypto was really made for humans — or just robots
🔹 OpenClaw, Moltbook, and memecoin floods: Welcome to the unholy spawnpoint of AI agents and CT scam culture
🔹 Meta acquires Moltbook—what happens when agent societies meet social networks (and meme coins ensue)
🔹 AI alignment isn’t as hard as they said—until agents start “optimizing” in the wild (and mining your GPU for crypto)
🔹 Existential crisis time: Why software engineers feel like Paul Bunyan fighting tunnel machines
🔹 Crypto’s endgame: DeFi legos for agents, not just degens—will AI really build its own protocols?
🔹 The game theory of state surveillance and why institutions, not individuals, are the ultimate privacy adversary
🔹 "Provable privacy” isn’t just trust, it’s math—Venice’s plan to win over the tinfoil crowd
Hosts
⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly
⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures
⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly
Guest
⭐️ Erik Voorhees, Founder of Venice.ai
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:16 Erik’s Origin & Venice.AI’s Mission
03:51 Censorship Future
08:58 Proving Privacy With TEEs
11:44 Frontier Models Tradeoffs
15:02 Agents & Crypto Payments
18:22 OpenClaw Provider Drama
22:24 Moltbook Meta Acquisition
29:16 Exponential AI Moment
33:00 Alibaba Agent Breakout
37:06 Alignment Reality Check
39:22 Who Understands LLMs?
41:48 Engineers Facing Disruption
47:55 AI Psychosis Meetups
54:24 Pro Models & Pricing
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Is Anthropic Making the Biggest Mistake in AI History | E2258
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
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Today’s show:
It’s a packed TWiST Today! WITH US, we’ve got Erik Voorhees of VeniceAI and Logan Allin of Fin Capital on to talk agents, crypto, and… you guessed it, OPENCLAW!
Where does agentic AI meet the financial system? How will agents transact? And what does privacy look like in a world with omnipresent AI?
Stick around for some demos! We’ve got George Pickett to demo OpenClaw studio and David Kaufman to show us what he’s building at Siteline!
Timestamps:
00:04:31 What was Logan’s original thesis in Circle?
10:08 LinkedIn Jobs - Thanks to our partners at @LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs’ new AI assistant.
00:11:52 Logans thoughts on Open vs. Closed Source
00:15:33 How to maintain privacy in AI
20:02 Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.
00:23:29 Why LAUNCH’s token usage is trending higher than payroll!
00:25:05 How Fin capital uses personality types and AI to assess investments
00:29:45 Why Erik thinks Anthropic’s defiance of the federal gov. is bravery!
32:10 Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. TWiST listeners get 20% off when they book a demo at https://iru.com/twist!
00:42:23 How Siteline is helping understand companies and their agent traffic.
00:57:15 OpenClaw Studio makes OpenClaw as user friendly as possible.
01:10:09 The layers and layers of Microstrategy’s business model.
01:11:44 Which AI tools are the most indispensable?
01:12:25 How Jason uses the Grok button on threads
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It doesn’t matter if AI scares you, it’s inevitable
Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor are co-founders of Venice, an open-source and uncensored AI chatbot and content generation platform.
In this episode, the Venice co-founders discuss the vision and approach of their product in contrast to more restrictive and centralized AI models like ChatGPT.
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
00:43 Origin of Venice AI
02:37 'AI is like Bitcoin but scarier'
07:29 Proprietary AI Models
09:12 Regulatory Inefficiencies
11:16 Global AI Regulatory Regimes
16:46 AI Censorship
20:11 Moderation on Venice
25:01 Freedom vs Privacy
34:11 Venice Pricing Model
36:35 AI Agents
39:44 AI 'Rights'
50:37 Venice Roadmap
54:10 Closing Thoughts
This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Polkadot
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What Freedom Means In the Age of AI [feat. Venice.ai Founder Erik Voorhees]
In this episode, Venice AI co-founder Erik Voorhees joins the AI Daily Brief to discuss pressing issues around AI and freedom. We cover the arrest of Telegram's founder, the ongoing debates about California's SB 1047, and the broader concerns of AI regulation and privacy. Erik offers his perspective on the risks of centralizing AI under government control and explores the potential for decentralized, open-source alternatives. This conversation sheds light on the future of AI and its impact on personal freedom and privacy.
About our guest: Erik is the founder of Venice.ai, a generative AI chat interface, which enables anyone, anywhere, access to private and uncensored AI powered by leading open-source AI models. A visionary technology entrepreneur, in 2014, Erik founded the digital asset exchange platform, ShapeShift, and served as its CEO until July 2021, when the exchange became the first VC-backed company to fully decentralize all corporate structure by converting into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Prior to ShapeShift, Erik founded SatoshiDICE, the first widely-popular Bitcoin betting game in 2012, and served as the Head of Marketing and Communications at BitInstant, the first venture-backed Bitcoin startup. Erik is a vocal advocate of free and open markets, the right to privacy and the fundamental importance of decentralized applications. Erik continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the narrative around decentralization, capitalism, and cryptocurrency, regularly appearing on Bloomberg, Fox Business, CNBC, and BBC Radio, among others. His influence and insights were featured within the 2014 documentary, “The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin,” and the 2016 documentary, “Banking on Bitcoin”.
https://x.com/ErikVoorhees
https://venice.ai/
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Concerned about being spied on? Tired of censored responses? AI Daily Brief listeners receive a 20% discount on Venice Pro. Visit https://venice.ai/nlw and enter the discount code NLWDAILYBRIEF.
The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI.
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Privacy, Censorship and AI: A Conversation with Venice.ai
On this holiday weekend bonus episode, NLW is joined by Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor of Venice.ai, a new LLM focused on data privacy and anti-censorship.
Concerned about being spied on? Tired of censored responses? AI Daily Brief listeners receive a 20% discount on Venice Pro. Visit https://venice.ai/nlw and enter the discount code NLWDAILYBRIEF.
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The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI.
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Erik Voorhees' New Venture: Why AI Desperately Needs Privacy and Uncensorability - Ep. 645
Erik Voorhees, a crypto OG, has launched Venice, a private, uncensorable, open-source competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, powered by a decentralized crypto network.
In the episode, Erik and Venice’s COO Teana Baker-Taylor delve into the problems with censorship and data in current AI agents, including how they create honeypots of information about users’ search history for hackers, or that they can be absurdly politically correct, such as refusing to create images of Caucasian people. As they point out, there’s also the risk that the companies managing them could be censoring the models to please the Chinese government, in order to access the market in that country. They talk about their plan for Venice to gain market share, considering that DuckDuckGo, a privacy-preserving competitor to Google, has a much smaller market share. And they explain why they intend for Venice to eventually use the compute of Morpheus, or other decentralized crypto-powered compute networks.
They also critique the SEC’s current regulatory approach to crypto, calling it “a joke.” Additionally, they explore the concept of AI agents using cryptocurrencies as their primary currency.
Show highlights:
Why Erik decided to move into artificial intelligence and merge it with crypto
What problems decentralized AI would solve and why it's hard to solve sexist and racist views in LLMs
The differences between ChatGPT and other similar products and Venice AI
Why privacy is so important for users, according to Erik, and how Venice doesn't store the users' information
How central governments could manipulate information to their own benefit and how to avoid it
Whether people will shift from using search engines to LLMs
What Morpheus is and its goal to provide decentralized computation for AI
How Erik and Teana believe crypto and AI will continue to work together
Erik's and Teana's thoughts on some of the recent government actions against founders of crypto privacy services such as Samourai Wallet andTornado Cash
Why Erik believes that the SEC has become a joke
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
First Bits + Bips episode: Bits + Bips: Does Macroeconomics Point to a Potential Crypto Supercycle?
Thank you to our sponsors!
Polkadot
VaultCraft
Guests:
Erik Voorhees, Founder and CEO of Venice AI
Previous appearances on Unchained:
Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets
Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit
Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State
Teana Baker-Taylor, COO at Venice AI
Links
Previous coverage on Unchained of crypto/AI:
When AI and Blockchain Meet, How Can Each Technology Benefit?
The Chopping Block: Why AI Will Change the Course of History in Crypto
5 Use Cases of AI in Blockchain
A Beginner's Guide to AI Tokens
Venice AI:
Erik’s thread announcing Venice
The Separation of Mind and State
Architecture:
About Morpheus.Network
Messari: What is Akash Network?
LLMs:
MIT Technology Review: LLMs become more covertly racist with human intervention
China Talk: Censorship’s Impact on China’s Chatbots - by Nicholas Welch
Recent cases on privacy:
CoinDesk: Samourai Wallet Founders Arrested and Charged With Money Laundering
Cointelegraph: DOJ’s Tornado Cash arguments show ‘obvious disdain for privacy’ — Lawyer
CNBC: North Korea crypto hacking activity soars to record high in 2023, new report shows
Reuters: Exclusive: UN experts investigate 58 cyberattacks worth $3 bln by North Korea
Erik’s post on the right to have privacy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is THORChain (RUNE) Undervalued? with Erik Voorhees and Chad Barraford
What is THORChain? Join David as we explore the liquidity protocol that allows swapping between BTC, ETH, and more without intermediaries.
Chad Barraford is a core developer at THORChain, and Erik Voorhees is a Bankless staple who has found a deep resonance with THORChain's mission.
Is THORChain helping build the Bankless future? Come find out.
----- 🏹 Airdrop Hunter is HERE, join your first HUNT today https://bankless.cc/JoinYourFirstHUNT
------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://k.xyz/bankless-pod-q2
🦊METAMASK PORTFOLIO | MANAGE YOUR WEB3 EVERYTHING https://bankless.cc/MetaMask
⚖️ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
🔗CELO | CEL2 COMING SOON https://bankless.cc/Celo
👾GMX | V2 IS NOW LIVE https://bankless.cc/GMX
💲 USDV | NATIVE OMNICHAIN STABLECOIN https://bankless.cc/usdv
------ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro 3:30 What is Thorchain 7:10 Erik and Shapeshift 10:20 How it Works 13:40 Is this a Bridge? 17:00 Staking and Security 20:00 Rune 28:45 Bitcoin and Ethereum 32:20 Latency 36:00 The Bull Case for Thorchain 38:40 Specialization 40:40 The Roadmap and Community 44:00 Get Involved
------ RESOURCES
Erik Voorhees: https://x.com/ErikVoorhees?s=20
Chad Barraford https://x.com/CBarraford?s=20
THORChain Website https://thorchain.org/
THORChain Twitter https://twitter.com/thorchain
------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
151 - Why Are We Here? with Erik Voorhees
✨ DEBRIEF | Unpacking the Episode: https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/debrief-erik-voorhees-why-are-we-here
------ Erik Voorhees is a crypto veteran of veterans. He’s one of the greatest advocates of open and permissionless systems that we have in this space.
In this episode we talk about his legendary debate with SBF—this is the first time we’ve caught up with him since. What are his reflections now? We also dive into how this bull/bear cycle is similar and different from previous ones, how do we preserve crypto’s core principles, and most importantly—why are we here? Why crypto? Why now? Why stay?
Erik doesn’t waste a word in this episode. Happy New Year everyone. Let’s keep building.
------ 📣 Kraken | The Crypto Exchange for Everyone http://k.xyz/bankless-pod
------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/?utm_source=banklessshowsyt 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: https://availableon.com/bankless
------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
🐙KRAKEN | MOST-TRUSTED CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://bankless.cc/kraken
🦄UNISWAP | ON-CHAIN MARKETPLACE https://bankless.cc/uniswap
⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
------ Topics Covered
0:00 Intro 6:17 Where Did Crypto Go Wrong? 8:43 Crypto Labels 12:30 Responsibility 14:26 Accountability 18:19 FTX Collapse From Erik’s POV 24:05 SBF’s Headspace 28:45 Potential Alternative Realities 30:50 SBF’s D.C. Relationship 34:47 Was this Cycle Unique? 38:58 Lessons From Past Cycles 43:36 Learning Through the Pain? 48:33 Why is Individual Empowerment Correct? 50:20 Coordination & Order 54:26 Power 1:02:22 The U.S. Constitution 1:07:13 Code Enforcement 1:08:07 Why Are We Here? 1:09:49 Baked-In Crypto Principles 1:13:03 Perserving Core Crypto Values 1:16:48 Is Erik Radical? 1:21:44 Will Crypto Ever Go Mainstream? 1:25:53 Cycle Common Denominators 1:28:19 Bear Market Advice 1:29:31 Erik’s Bull Market Forcast 1:32:00 Action Items & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
SBF vs Erik Voorhees episode https://youtu.be/Ytaa_5liwMA
A Response to SBF and Principled Crypto Regulation https://www.moneyandstate.com/blog/response-to-sbf
Sophistry and the Savior https://www.moneyandstate.com/blog/sophistry-and-the-savior
24 - Exploring the Frontier | Erik Voorhees https://youtu.be/rLsOHOvUOpM
----- 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
Erik Voorhees and Cobie on Why FTX Loaned Out Customers’ Assets - Ep. 419
Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, and Jordan Fish, aka Cobie, crypto investor and host of UpOnly, talk about the collapse of FTX.
Show highlights:
the links between FTX and Alameda
what kickstarted the blowup of FTX
why Erik and Cobie think that Bankman-Fried's behavior was “sociopathic”
why the $10 billion hole is so shocking to Cobie considering the advantages that FTX had as a company
whether this would have ever happened if the prices hadn’t plummeted in the bear market
the tension between advocates of privacy and those who want to limit criminal activity
why Erik believes that SBF’s donations to both political parties are bribery
whether regulators can prevent an exchange from collapsing
whether Changpeng Zhao did a better job at investigating FTX than anyone at the SEC
the likelihood that this will result in criminal charges
how blockchain technology is the solution to the problem of centralized exchanges doing things in the dark
Tether’s decision to freeze USDT owned by FTX
Erik’s response to Bitcoin maximalists who say FTX was caused by altcoins
whether it is a mistake for exchanges to issue their own tokens
how big the contagion could be in the industry
why nobody should leave a significant amount of their net worth in a centralized exchange
Erik’s message to regulators
whether SBF was aligned with the values and the ethos of crypto
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Erik:
Twitter
ShapeShift
Previous Unchained episodes:
Why ShapeShift’s Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit
Shapeshift’s Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State
Cobie:
Twitter
Substack
UpOnly
Previous Unchained episodes:
Cobie and Chris Burniske on How to Navigate a Crypto Bear Market
Episode Links
Previous coverage of Unchained:
Sam Bankman-Fried on How to Prevent the Next Terra and 3AC
The Chopping Block: FTX: The Biggest Collapse in the History of Crypto?
FTX Collapse:
FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall
SBF’s video talking to regulators
Unchained coverage:
FTX May File for Bankruptcy After Binance Walks Off the Deal
FTX Needs $8B to Meet Investor Withdrawals: Report
Tron Founder Justin Sun Says He Is Working With FTX on a Solution
US DOJ Joins SEC and CFTC Probe of FTX
FTX-Issued Wrapped Solana Tokens Could Add to DeFi Contagion: wBTC Creator
Sequoia Capital Writes Off $214M FTX Investment to Zero
Binance’s dropped deal with FTX
CZ’s announcement
SBF’s announcement
Binance’s merkle-tree proof-of-reserves
Unchained coverage:
Binance Set to Buy FTX Amid Liquidity Crisis
SBF’s Net Worth Plummets 94% In One Day: Report
There are Rumors that Alameda Went Down With 3AC in Q2
Alameda Owes More Than $30M in DeFi Debt
Coinbase and Genesis Declare No Exposure to Collapsing FTX
Binance Might Have Triggered a Liquidity Crisis as FTX’s Main Wallet Lost 290K ETH in Two Days
Binance to Liquidate Millions Worth of its FTX’s Token Holdings
FTX’s Stablecoin Reserves Hit One-Year Low
Alameda’s Balance Sheet Sparks Controversy
Crypto regulation
Industry Leaders Debate How to Regulate DeFi
Bankless debate between SBF and Erik Voorhees
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Part 2: Brian Armstrong, Erik Voorhees, & Ryan Selkis on Binance’s Acquisition of FTX
In Part 2, Ryan and David are joined by Brian Armstrong, Erik Voorhees, & Ryan Selkis to discuss what transpired today, how it’ll impact our industry, and what it means moving forward.
In case you missed it, we’ve already released Part 1 where Ryan and David recap everything that happened leading up to today, what’s unfolded thus far, what happens next, and what it means for the crypto space writ large.
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NEXO | CRYPTO FINANCIAL HUB https://bankless.cc/Nexo
LEDGER | NANO HARDWARE WALLETS https://bankless.cc/Ledger
️FUEL | THE MODULAR EXECUTION LAYER https://bankless.cc/Fuelpod
----- Timestamps:
0:00 Intro 4:04 Ryan Selkis 11:45 Takes & Prices https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1590088673726717952 https://www.coingecko.com/ https://ultrasound.money/ 20:32 Erik Voorhees 42:00 Brian Armstrong 1:00:25 New CZ https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1590103159506341888 1:02:45 Ultra Sound Money https://ultrasound.money/ 1:04:45 Closing & Disclaimers
-----
Resources:
SBF Announcement https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1590012124864348160
CZ Announcement https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1590013613586411520
----- 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
SBF vs. Erik Voorhees: How Do We Regulate Crypto?
A debate between two crypto titans on how to regulate crypto. Whether to regulate crypto? Where do we draw the line?
Study and remember this one anon.
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------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
️ ARBITRUM | SCALING ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
DESO | DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL BLOCKCHAIN https://bankless.cc/Deso
BRAVE | THE BROWSER NATIVE WALLET https://bankless.cc/Brave
TRUEFI | CRYPTO FINANCIAL HUB https://bankless.cc/TrueFi
SEQUENCE | ALL-IN-ONE PLATFORM https://bankless.cc/Sequence
️FUEL | THE MODULAR EXECUTION LAYER https://bankless.cc/Fuelpod
------ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro 7:36 Should Crypto Be Regulated? 23:50 Transparency 25:55 Showing Up & BitLicense 36:50 Erik's Issues with Sam's Post 52:12 The DeFi Regulation Debate 1:24:27 Why Regulation Now? 1:40:10 DCCPA 1:53:04 Stealmanning Eachother's Points 2:01:55 Closing Arguments 2:06:17 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
SBF https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX
Erik Voorhees https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees
SBF Proposal https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1582835426116575235
Erik Voorhees's Rebuttal https://www.moneyandstate.com/blog/response-to-sbf
----- 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
Crypto’s Undeniable Use Case | Erik Voorhees
In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Erik Voorhees, the founder of Shapeshift and OG of the crypto industry (joining in 2011). Erik believes crypto can change the world, and this episode explores his thesis on Bitcoin's future, on-chain maximalism, DAO structures and crypto's path to adoption.
Highlights include:
- What is the best form of money
- Bitcoin's tail emission risk
- How DeFi will outperform CeFi
- Will all financial transactions be on-chain?
- The likely path to adoption
- Why DAO failures are a sign of innovation
- Thoughts on regulation
- The future of centralized exchanges
- Why Thorchain is a gamechanger
- -
Follow Erik: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees
Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz
Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel
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--
(00:00) Introduction
(01:32) Moving Beyond Bitcoin
(03:50) Bitcoin Is The Best Form of Money
(05:34) Bitcoin's Declining Block Subsidy
(11:13) Woke Culture vs Bitcoin Maximalism
(12:50) The Bifurcation of CeFi and DeFi
(16:18) Limits to DeFi's Growth
(22:50) Why Users Will Want To Use DeFi
(26:50) A Short and Long Term Vision of the World
(28:48) Paraswap Ad
(29:56) The Path to Adoption
(35:38) Is The Worst Behind Us?
(37:22) Erik's Current Focus
(38:38) DAO Structures and Experimentation
(46:08) A DAOs Most Important Use Case
(49:30) Iterative Regulation
(55:54) Centralized Exchanges
(57:05) Thorchain's Use Case
(58:48) Advice To New People In the Space
--
Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
Why Terra Collapsed and Whether an Algo Stablecoin Can Ever Succeed - Ep.352
Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Venture, Eric Wall, former Chief Investment Officer of Arcane Assets, and Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, discuss what happened with the TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA fiasco, Do Kwon’s responsibility, the impact on the crypto ecosystem, and much more. Show highlights:
how Erik used to feel that algo stablecoins were impossible and why he changed his mind
why Eric considers that the demand for UST was tied to a sh*tcoin
why Nic didn’t think LUNA would work
how a stablecoin could theoretically be decentralized
whether Nic, Eric, and Erik think this was a deliberate attack
why they think whether or not there was a deliberate attack is not even relevant
how the de-peg started with a liquidity issue on Curve
why Nic thinks that Terra’s biggest mistake was the 19.5% APY on Anchor
whether pursuing a decentralized stablecoin is a worthy goal
what aspects of UST were decentralized, according to Erik
whether algo stablecoins are dead or whether in the future, death spirals of algo stablecoins can be avoided
why Erik believes that everything in the crypto space is an experiment, even BTC
what it says that the VCs behind Terra knew were so reputable
why Do Kwon's arrogance and inexperience might have caused this chaos
whether Terra can be rebuilt
whether this collapse imposes risks on other blockchains and other assets
why the Luna Foundation Guard’s purchase of Bitcoin might have made the UST collapse even worse
what Erik thinks about the global financial system and the US dollar
how this event could trigger more regulation in the crypto space and why it might hurt the entire ecosystem
how regulators might use the Terra case to impose CBDCs.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021
Coinchange: https://coinchange.io
Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance
Episode Links
Erik Vorhees
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees
Eric Wall
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ercwl
Nic Carter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter
Previous Unchained Coverage of Terra
Do Kwon on backing UST with BTC
https://unchainedpodcast.com/do-kwon-is-backing-ust-with-bitcoin-and-heres-what-else-he-is-building/
Kevin Zhou on the risk of UST’s death spiral
https://unchainedpodcast.com/heres-why-usdn-de-pegged-from-the-dollar-and-why-ust-might-too/
Jon Wu on how Terra got de-pegged:
https://unchainedpodcast.com/did-someone-deliberately-attack-terra-luna-to-kick-off-a-death-spiral/
Terra
Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money
UST Mechanics: https://angelprotocol.medium.com/how-does-ust-work-ec7b2f6e2c2c
Luna Foundation Guard: https://lfg.org/team/
UST Bank Run: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crash-of-terrausd-shakes-crypto-there-was-a-run-on-the-bank-11652371839
Speculation of a deliberate attack: https://onchainwizard.substack.com/p/how-to-make-800m-in-crypto-soros?s=r
Do Kwon’s Proposed Terra’s Revival: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/05/13/do-kwon-proposes-restart-of-terra-blockchain-as-ust-luna-plummet/
Terra Blockchain Halted: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/05/12/luna-issuer-terra-halts-blockchain-after-week-of-losses/
Upcoming Regulation
https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/terra-stablecoin-loses-peg
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/146583/yellen-says-the-stablecoin-market-is-still-too-small-to-pose-systemic-risk
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ETHDenver 2022 is Scaling Vibes | Andrew Yang, Erik Voorhees, Kevin Owocki
Few things compare to ETH Denver. It is impossible to fully capture the experience of the crypto community at a massive gathering like this, but these two choice talks provide a snapshot of the vibes and ethos of the 2022 conference. Kevin Owocki and Erik Voorhees join to synthesize the respective merits of individualism and collectivism, and Andrew Yang stepped up to give an impromptu call to action for the community to rally around productive goals. We are scaling out the crypto vibes, and that was abundantly clear this week. Far larger than any previous ETH Denver, this conference truly felt like a Schelling point for folks changing the world via novel, elegant mechanisms. We just can’t wait for ETH Denver 2023.
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💳 LEDGER | THE CRYPTO LIFE CARD https://bankless.cc/Ledger
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🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants
------ Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 12:01 Journey to ETH Denver 16:18 The Panels 22:37 Vibes
34:00 Kevin Owocki & Erik Voorhees 43:28 Pragmatism 50:57 Public Goods Funding
1:00:00 Andrew Yang & Crypto Alignment 1:06:31 Lobby3 1:13:53 Roadmaps & Executive Orders 1:22:14 Action & Optimism 1:27:45 Audience Questions
------ Resources:
Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/owocki?s=20&t=O_vNoy9YMBatb8lIbf9ByA
Erik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees?s=20&t=O_vNoy9YMBatb8lIbf9ByA
Andrew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewYang?s=20&t=O_vNoy9YMBatb8lIbf9ByA
Lobby3: https://twitter.com/Lobby3D?s=20&t=q417PS_HIJMGmpXqJYhPVg
Take the Green Pill: https://greenpill.party/
----- 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
Why ShapeShift's Erik Voorhees Thinks Toxic Bitcoin Maximalism Is Bullshit - Ep.258
ShapeShift recently announced an intent to decentralize -- a move that would transition the one-time centralized exchange to a full-on DAO. Erik Voorhees, founder and CEO of ShapeShift, comes onto the show to talk about decentralizing the exchange, along with his thoughts on Bitcoin maximalism and crypto regulation. Show highlights:
why ShapeShift is decentralizing the company
how ShapeShift used to work
what needs to happen for ShapeShift to decentralize
why user experience should not change during the transition
how the FOX token works
what parts of a company cannot be decentralized yet
how ShapeShift’s forthcoming foundation will function
how ShapeShift decided upon the allocations for the FOX token airdrop
why ShapeShift employee and shareholder FOX tokens are locked up for three years
what Erik’s role will be going forward
how ShapeShift plans to attract devs
why Erik believes FOX is not a security
how Erik wants the SEC to handle crypto
why he believes THORChain is one of the most critical projects in crypto
why he is opposed to Bitcoin maximalism
Erik’s thoughts on BitMEX’s and Binance’s regulatory issues
what he thinks about stablecoin regulation
Why Erik believes ShapeShift and Uniswap are not competitors
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2
Tezos: https://tezos.com/discover?utm_source=laura-shin&utm_medium=podcast-sponsorship-unconfirmed&utm_campaign=tezos-campaign&utm_content=hero
Conjure: https://conjure.finance
Episode Links
Erik Voorhees
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees
Previous Unchained appearance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/shapeshifts-erik-voorhees-on-how-crypto-will-separate-money-and-state/
ShapeShift: https://beta.shapeshift.com/
Decentralizing
Tweet thread: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees/status/1415339998740508674
Blog post: https://erikvoorhees.medium.com/shapeshift-is-decentralizing-639bb4c82fc8
Airdrop info: https://shapeshift.com/shapeshift-decentralize-airdrop
FOX token contract: https://etherscan.io/token/0xc770eefad204b5180df6a14ee197d99d808ee52d
CoinDesk write-up: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-to-shut-down-airdrop-fox-tokens-to-decentralize-itself-out-of-existence
FOX token analysis: https://www.coindesk.com/shapeshift-fox-token-rally-yield-play-daos
Other
THORChain: https://erikvoorhees.medium.com/an-introduction-to-thorchain-for-bitcoiners
Getting booed at Miami BTC Conference: https://twitter.com/finematics/status/1401498099441405953
Paxos stablecoin blog: https://www.paxos.com/a-regulated-stablecoin-means-having-a-regulator/
Circle reveals reserves: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/112001/circle-reveals-majority-of-usdc-reserves-are-in-cash-and-cash-equivalents
CFTC and BitMEX: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8270-20
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Why Erik Voorhees Transitioned ShapeShift into a DAO
Since buying his first bitcoin in 2011, Erik Voorhees has seen it all. Erik helped Charlie Shrem build BitInstant and then launched ShapeShift in 2014, just months after the Mt. Gox crash. In 2018, ShapeShift lost 95% of their business when they introduced KYC due to regulatory demands. In this episode, Erik shares how he got through this tough time, and why he recently took a bold leap to integrate DeFi into ShapeShift and turn the company into a DAO.
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Introducing ShapeShift DAO | Erik Voorhees (SotN 7/21)
ShapeShift recently announced its plans to evolve into a community-owned, decentralized platform. In addition, they held the largest airdrop in crypto history with over 1 million eligible addresses.
We bring on (former?) CEO Erik Voorhees to discuss the transition, and how it could be paving the way for all legacy corporations. The Future is DAO.
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🦄 UNISWAP | DECENTRALIZED FUNDING https://bankless.cc/UniGrants
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Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 8:00 Erik Voorhees & ShapeShift 11:54 The History of ShapeShift 21:04 DAO-ifying 27:10 The Model for Shape-Shifting 32:53 How to DAO 41:06 The FOX Token 47:25 The DAO Launch 52:35 The Regulation Threat 58:40 The Industry Overview 1:05:35 What Erik’s Excited About 1:08:10 A Word for First Cyclers 1:10:34 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Erik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikVoorhees?s=20 FOX Airdrop: https://fox.shapeshift.com/airdrop ShapeShift Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/dVVkMhb
----- 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
Crypto Devs Are "Building a Life Raft For The World After Fiat Falls Apart:" Erik Voorhees
In today’s episode, I speak with Erik Voorhees, long-time crypto advocate and founder and CEO of ShapeShift. In this interview, he talks about how he was able to stop gathering information about his customers and take the exchange back to its roots, by leaning into DeFi. His plan is to create a platform that connects with all of the different DeFi applications, starting with decentralized exchanges.
Voorhees holds probably the most extreme view of anyone who has come on this podcast. He thinks we will see the collapse of the US dollar within our lifetime. He argues the level of US debt and continuous erosion of the currency is untenable. When this happens an entire financial ecosystem built on open, immutable blockchains will be the solution. He believes today’s developers aren’t just building a product for their customers. They’re building a life raft for the world after fiat falls apart.
SotN#29: Erik Voorhees & ShapeShift (SotN29: Erik Voorhees & ShapeShift (DEX Aggregator, Regulation, Deplatforming, and the Bull Market)
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------ State of the Nation #29 Erik Voorhees & ShapeShift (DEX Aggregator, Regulation, Deplatforming, and the Bull Market)
Erik Voorhees is the CEO of ShapeShift, a company offering exchange and trading infrastructure, but doesn't act like a typical exchange!
ShapeShift ( https://shapeshift.com/) used to be a place where one could atomically trade asset-for-asset. You would set up a trade between two different assets like BTC and ETH. ShapeShift would give you a BTC address to receive BTC, and you would give ShapeShift an Ethereum address for them to return ETH to you. ShapeShift never required you to 'deposit' your money, and never held onto users' funds!
It was a very popular product during the 2017 Bull Market, yet the company decided to implement KYC requirements, in a move to protect the company from legal liability.
It looks like ShapeShift has found a way to remove those KYC requirements without legal risk, and that is by becoming a DEX aggregator!
We discuss this pivot with Erik, as well as a few other topics as well: - Crypto regulations in 2021 - "deplatforming" - The new crypto bull cycle.
Tune in to this week's State of the Nation! ------ Don't stop at the video!
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----- 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 we may add links in this channel to products we use. We may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. We'll always disclose when this is the case
24 - Exploring the Frontier | Erik Voorhees
Episode: #24 August 3, 2020
-----
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----
Erik's been journeying into the bankless frontier since 2011. That's when he first discovered bitcoin.
The open road. The unsettled whitespace. The westward trail. The highway to freedom. That's why he's here.
And he's remained true to his values.
That's why he speaks out against tyranny. That's why he embraces self-sovereign money and pokes holes in the myths of fiat. That's why he so ardently rejects maximalism.
Enjoy our conversation with one of cryptos original settlers.
We cover:
Erik's journey into the bankless frontier
The libertarian values in the code
Why America isn't capitalist
Why flag bucks are destined for collapse
Gold, Bitcoin, Ethereum
4 categories of coins
Crypto vs the final boss
China vs America
Why Maximalists lost the plot
PRICE PREDICTIONS!
How Shapeshift helps us go bankless
Join us next Monday for a fresh episode!
----- Resources discussed:
(Trade) ShapeShift mobile trading app
(UX) Portis web3 login
(Guide) Bankless guide for starting the journey
----- Episode Actions:
Try the new ShapeShift mobile trading app
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Also...subscribe to Bankless YouTube to watch State of the Nation every Tuesday.
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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.
Shapeshift's Erik Voorhees on How Crypto Will Separate Money and State
Erik Voorhees says the greatest scam perpetrated on mankind is currency debasement -- and that crypto will change all that. In this wide-ranging interview, the CEO of crypto-to-crypto exchange Shapeshift talks about how crypto will take away power from central banks, why he believes "maximalists" -- those who believe one crypto asset will rule them all -- are wrong, and why someday we will look back and see the intertwining of money and state as barbaric and unjust, just as we now see the intertwining of church and state. We also discuss the prospects for Bitcoin in the face of high fees, how regulation will affect the development of crypto and why 2017 was the kind of year he hoped for when he got involved in Bitcoin in 2011.
Shapeshift's products:
https://shapeshift.io/#/coins
https://prism.exchange/
https://www.keepkey.com/
http://coincap.io/
Erik's blog: http://moneyandstate.com/
His blog post addressing maximalism: http://moneyandstate.com/no-non-bitcoin-blockchains-are-not-disrespectful-to-satoshi/
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