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Crypto decentralized finance exchanges / cap mkts Fractals & reflexivity IPO / SPAC

·Feb. 25, 2021

Why Coinbase’s $100B+ valuation makes sense, and how to compare it to $60B Ethereum DeFi, and to crypto-king Binance

his week, we look at:

There are two very large revenue pools in the crypto asset class — (1) mining, and (2) trading. There are some large revenue pools in crypto-as-a-software, too, but those tend to be less sensational.
This analysis will establish a 2021 baseline for the most regulated of crypto exchanges, Coinbase, including a detailed financial model building a $100B+ valuation case
We then consider the valuations and multiples of capital markets protocols in Decentralized Finance of Ethereum, now making up over $60B in token value
Lastly, we look at Binance’s $1B in profits, its $35B BNB token, and the activities on Binance Smart Chain

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DAOs decentralized finance Investing IPO / SPAC

·Dec. 15, 2021

The State of Decentralized network M&A in 2021, with Polygon’s $650MM of acquisitions

We look at the state of M&A in decentralized protocols, and the particular challenges and opportunities they present. Our analysis starts with Polygon, which has just spent $400 million on Mir, after committing $250 million to Hermez Network, in order to build out privacy and scalability technology. We then revisit several examples of acquisitions and mergers of various networks and business models, highlighting the strange problems that arise in combining corporations with tokens. We end with a few examples that seem more authentic, highlighting how they echo familiar legal rights, like tag alongs and drag alongs, from corporate law.

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Crypto decentralized finance exchanges / cap mkts regulation & compliance

·Aug. 28, 2020

Maturation of institutional crypto custody and prime brokerage with BitGo’s Mike Belshe

In this conversation, we talk with Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo and expert technologist about custody, prime brokerage, and the evolution of the institutional digital asset industry.

I often mention that crypto is still all about capital markets trading (i.e., manufacturing) and not about wealth management (i.e., distribution). This conversation touches on where we are in the maturity of market infrastructure, the role of fiduciaries, and the path forward. If you are sitting in a RIA, investment fund, or other asset manager, pay attention!

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big tech central bank / CBDC decentralized finance digital lending digital securities / STO enterprise blockchain exchanges / cap mkts

·Sep. 28, 2020

DeFi should take the middle road between the extremes of QAnon and J.P. Morgan

This week, we look at:

How the music industry needed The Pirate Bay and Napster
Why J.P.Morgan is paying $1B in fines for allegedly manipulating the precious metals market
Whether DeFi is flirting with self-dealing and veering towards apathy
Why QAnon and 8chan are a bad example for global governance
And how the European Commission’s proposed crypto-market rules are highly productive for blockchain-based capital markets infrastructure

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Crypto decentralized finance exchanges / cap mkts Fractals & reflexivity mega banks microeconomics

·Oct. 13, 2021

The Law of Unintended Consequences via Wells Fargo, Divergence Ventures, DeFi designs, and the Federal Reserve

We focus on the law of unintended consequences, and how making rules often creates the opposite outcome from the desired results. The analysis starts with the Cobra effect, and then extends to a discussion of the Wells Fargo account scandal, dYdX trading farming, Divergence Ventures executing Sybil attacks, and Federal Reserve insider trading. We touch on the concepts of credit underwriting and token economies, and leave the reader with a question about rules vs. principles.

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big tech decentralized finance enterprise blockchain

·Sep. 1, 2020

J.P.Morgan’s Quorum becomes part of ConsenSys, putting Ethereum at heart of commercial and financial infrastructure

The main driver of today's entry is the news -- which has largely percolated -- that ConsenSys acquired Quorum from J.P. Morgan, as well as received an investment from the bank in the company. There is a lot of jargon in the blockchain industry, and I want to try to pull this news apart to explain why it is interesting both to incumbent financial services players, as well as meaningful to the developing decentralized finance industry.

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artificial intelligence augmented reality Crypto decentralized finance enterprise blockchain Metaverse / xR narrative zeitgeist NFTs and digital objects regulation & compliance venture capital

·Nov. 27, 2020

Jamie Burke of Outlier Ventures on DeFi and NFT investing and acceleration

In this conversation, we talk with Jamie Burke of Outlier Ventures. This is a fascinating and educational conversation that covers frontier technology companies and protocols in blockchain, IoT, and artificial intelligence, and the convergence of these themes in the future. Jamie walks us through the core investment thesis, as well as the commercial model behind shifting from incubation to acceleration of 30+ companies. We pick up on wisdom about marketing timing and fund structure along the way.

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Crypto decentralized finance regulation & compliance

·Jul. 6, 2020

The Soviet Pyramid Scheme eating 10% of Ethereum and 50% of Paxos Stablecoin

Let me introduce you to MMM. While decentralized finance and digital asset companies bend over backwards to be customer centric and reform financial services (each in their own way), MMM is a pretender. It is a pretender that has stolen the language of the crypto economy to create a cancer in its body.

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decentralized finance

·Mar. 26, 2021

Uniswap’s V3 upgrade, the future of Automated Market Makers, and the financial compression algorithm

The most popular AMM, Uniswap, is annualizing to $1 billion in fees. That’s a chunky amount of value for its users.

The team has just released the third version of its protocol, and it is an innovation in the structure of the AMM logic. Instead of providing liquidity across the entire price curve, users are now able to specify pricing ranges for which they are participating in the curve. This protects market makers from the extreme price fluctuations which they may prefer not to fund. Because most trading also happens in narrower price bands, it is possible that capital is much more actively used in those bands, and generates higher fee returns comparatively.

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decentralized finance NFTs and digital objects philosophy supply chain / trade visual art

·Feb. 8, 2021

Non-fungible tokens and crypto art (like Hashmasks) will create multi-billion markets for digital objects with financial features

This week, we look at:

Hashmasks, CryptoPunks, and other large NFT / crypto art projects generating tens of millions of USD trading volume
Perceptions of financial value, as well as whether it matters to have an “original” digital art piece relative to its digital copy
The intersection of collectibles with decentralized finance, and its collateralization, tranching, lending, and trading, as well as a view on 2021

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