Bitcoin vs Crypto & Web3 with Ryan Selkis

 
 

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“A lot of us when we talk about Bitcoin we’d say look it’s schmuck insurance, or it’s a digital gold analogue or replacement. But because it can also be used as money, yes it’s very volatile, but it also has upward volatility, not a persistent depreciation of value over time like you have with some of these other currencies you’re going to hold your assets in.”
— Ryan Selkis

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Location: New York
Date: Tuesday 6th December
Company: Messari
Role: Founder & CEO

Bitcoin’s architecture uses decentralisation to achieve censorship-resistance and permissionless access to a revolutionary monetary protocol. And despite thousands of altcoins that claimed to be better or faster over the years, Bitcoin reigns as the non-sovereign store of value in the digital world.

However, what is not yet clear is if the wider world of ‘crypto’ can achieve similarly permissionless innovation outside of money, or if they are instead ‘decentralised in name only’.

Can these protocols resist influence by powerful actors? What is ‘enough’ decentralisation? Will the fundraising-via-token model survive the SEC? Will they adapt to increasing pressure? Is there real innovation, or is it all just a house of cards of venture capital and marketing? Many questions remain.

As Bitcoiners it is important to engage those with broader outlooks, even if we have seemingly incompatible ideologies.  The battle of ideas involves free, open, and respectful discussion.

In this interview, I talk to the founder and CEO of the research and data firm Messari, Ryan Selkis. We discuss Messari’s industry-leading opus on the state of the ecosystem, Bitcoin and gold, regulation, both sides of the Web3 debate and the differentiation of Bitcoin and ‘crypto’.

TIMESTAMPS

00:03:51: Introductions
00:06:26: Bitcoin vs gold and the flippening
00:10:10: Breaking cycles
00:11:08: Nation state adoption
00:14:19: El Salvador's volcano bond
00:18:58: The death of traditional journalism
00:23:26: Ripple, the SEC and outdated Securities Law
00:28:40: Web3 crypto narrative
00:41:44: Solana and the value of other crypto
00:47:58: NFTs on Web3
00:53:26: Separating Bitcoin and crypto
00:58:19: Mining, digital energy and ESG
01:09:06: The flippenings and Bitcoin's competition
01:17:05: An ETF for the US
01:21:54: Final comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

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Mentioned in the interview:

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