This is my blog, where I write (mostly) daily about interesting ideas I've come across, things I'm pondering, or notes from things I read and enjoyed.

How Farcaster wins

New users come to Farcaster for two reasons: a) they find Warpcast a great social product and see their friends there and b) because of products built on the Farcaster protocol they want to use (like clanker, or super). The main driver for (a) is the good work of Dan, Varun and the Merkle factory team. Not much to say here besides noting their remarkable execution and prompt recovery from actions that arguably adversely impacted (b). (b) is the more interesting factor because it's the driver ...

No hassle borrowing - how crypto and ZK change the business of lending?

One of my favorite crypto use cases is borrowing for one-off expenses. I recently paid a large deposit. Instead of selling my savings acc...

#blockchain#zero-knowledge

Virtual Power Plants

This mini-series examines if the decentralization trend in energy networks makes crypto and DePin good for these markets.The grid is beco...

The problem of renewables in the energy grid

The paradox of renewable energy is that the more sources there are, the more unstable the grid becomes.The grid is responsible for transp...

#energy

The future of Bitcoin DeFi is on Ethereum

As of August 27th, 2024, there are ten times more wrapped bitcoin than Bitcoin TVL.Bitcoin’s market cap is $1.24 trillion, but most of it...

#defi#ethereum

Zero-knowledge proofs reduce verification costs

ZK applications enable use cases constrained by verification costs. My mental model for thinking about promising ZK app is to look for pl...

#zero-knowledge

Notes from Useful, Not True

I just read "Useful, Not True" by Derek Sivers. I always enjoy reading him because his writing leads to action. It's a good segue into th...

#book notes

Outsourcing your social graph

To a large extent, I believe Farcaster's success as a protocol and ecosystem will be measured by another successful app outsourcing its social graph ...

#farcaster#open social

Why is the Japanese yen and dollar exchange rate the most important macro indicator for crypto?

I recently read Arthur Hayes' "The Easy Button" and wanted to articulate his thesis.Arthur's macro methodology amounts to finding hidden or misunders...

#macro

Farcaster channels are valuable assets

The value of traditional social networks depends on directing users' attention to content & ads. Farcaster is pushing moderation at the channel level...