Opinion | A Crypto Optimist Meets a Crypto Skeptic (Published 2021)

Ezra: I worry about a world where the stars can leave institutions and make their full market value. There is a lot about institutions that is valuable - fund investigative reporting, etc... I wonder about how this works in a decentralized vision as it empowers the individual and creates more winner takes all dynamics. Are we losing some of the str... See more

Katie: Excited about people building on decentralized virtual land. There are virtual real estate agents doing this as a full time job. If you think about the metaverse, it is a generational moment. There's a generation more comfortable spending time and money in the digital world than in the physical world. Roblox has bags that will sell for more ... See more

-The Company, about the creation of the LLC, which at the time was about a controversial idea.

Ezra: I'm convinced that an Internet where you can have ownership and scarce goods is a big deal. My skepticism is that people have mistaken a power problem for a technological problem. I don't understand what about the technology changes the desire for the customer that wants ease of use, simplicity, and that platform developing escalating power (... See more

-Indra Nooyi - My life in Full.

Katie: Right now you have janky consumer experiences. People say they value their privacy but when push comes to shove people go where it's convenient. But we can't judge the current state of innovation with the end state of innovation. We don't have the end state. People will say centralized companies are winning right now but you have these socio... See more

Ezra: Bitcoin is an energy disaster. If Bitcoin were a startup and you go to their board meeting, they would probably say we have to work on this energy problem. But given it's decentralized nature, nobody is giong to change it. It makes me wonder if there are downsides to smart contracts being hard to alter.

Katie: Arweave is a blockchain for permanent information. People want permanence when they buy NFTs, so you do own the representation of something that sits on the blockchain.

Katie: Centralized and decentralized models can coexist. There is a big class of consumers who might want to use a marketplace like OpenSea. In exchange for the take rate, you get discovery, reliability, etc... You will see decentralized marketplaces for NFTs as well.