Devin Baker

Tokens can represent the ownership of anything digital, including money, art, photos, music, text, code, game items, voting power, access, or whatever people come up with next. Using some additional building blocks, they can also represent real-world things, like physical goods, real estate, or dollars in a bank account. Anything that can be... See more

My (e)thesis: settlement, data availability, execution — in that order.

ai16z is a fully AI-managed tokenized venture DAO where agents evaluate investment opportunities suggested to it by the community, execute trades, evaluate the reputations of members based on the success of those trades, and grow the AUM of the fund. It’s been on a crazy speculative run over the past few weeks on the backs of a big vision and... See more

This framework implies a return to patronage – we are not paying for utility, we are funding the story, the taste, the culture, and its support and proliferation.

Ironically enough, patronage is an even older media business model than advertising or subscriptions. During the Renaissance, patronage was symbiotic – it afforded patrons cultural capital... See more

But there’s a perception now that all the smartest people are over buying smart contract chains. Smart people know the jig is up. If not now, then soon. The only people buying here are suckers—Uber drivers, Tom Lee, and KOLs who say stuff like “trillions.” And maybe the US Treasury. But not the smart money.

This is bullshit.I don’t believe it, and... See more

A more interesting question—a question that perhaps you’ve never considered before—is what pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out.

In PoW, this isn’t too complex. Miners directly receive all TEV, of which issaunce is a real non-cash expense to token holders, similar to stock-based compensation in traditional finance. Miners are incentivized to expend an amount of energy (and money) which is roughly equivalent to the TEV available.