7 Thoughts Following 14 Days At The Center of the Crypto Universe
Almost every day, somewhere on Earth, there is an undisputed center of the crypto universe. A place where so many crypto peeps we respect…
The Pool at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore
Almost every day, somewhere on Earth, there is an undisputed center of the crypto universe. A place where so many crypto peeps we respect aggregate, that the rest of us wish we were there. In August, it was EthBerlin, which I sorely missed. In September, I was at the center of the crypto universe twice. First at invest:asia in Singapore and then at the Ethereal Summit in Tel Aviv.
From Arthur Hayes in Singapore to Arthur Breitman in Tel Aviv, both events we’re a treasure trove of new ideas & new colleagues that are changing the world.
I came back to NYC as excited as ever about the crypto future and the better world it will bring. Compressing my observations from two amazing weeks in to one digestible blog post isn’t easy, but … :
1. There Are Two Things Going On In Crypto Today — Speculation & Decentralization (Web 3.0), and They Don’t Mix Much Yet
The trip affirmed my belief about the two major things going on in crypto today, Web 3.0 (largely in the U.S. and Europe) and speculation (largely in Asia). While there is overlap, it’s not as large as you’d think. In Singapore, at invest:asia, it was all about trading, exchanges, derivatives, and regulations. Speculation is the first killer app of crypto and it’s scaling rapidly.
Hanging in Singapore With Arthur Hayes (Co-Founder and CEO at BitMEX) &Sean Stella (w/ Hardforking.com)
In Tel Aviv, at the Ethereal Summit, it was largely about DeFi and decentralization.
Vitalik Speaking To A Packed Room At The Ethereal Summit
The Defi panel I moderated (with Gustav Arentoft of MakerDAO, Felix Feng of Set Protocol, Alexey Bashlykov of Zerion, Deniz Omer of Kyber Network) had a great turnout, and generated a lot of good insights, even though (to answer the panels title) little is really scaling in DeFi yet.
I also had the pleasure of doing a Fireside Chat with Andy Croghan, COO of FTX, a super interesting derivatives exchange out of Hong Kong. Apparently, given the smaller size of the audience, making money is a less interesting topic at Ethereal. Andy was great. Watch the video when it comes out.
Andy Croghan laying down some knowledge at our Ethereal Summit Fireside Chat
Later in the week in Tel Aviv, I was on a crypto panel at E&Y ‘s Journey, considered by many to be the premier tech conference in Israel. The conference was a mob scene. But the crypto panel I was on, titled “The end of romance — from crypto to blockchain” was in a half filled side room…. and the panel included Joe Lubin in addition to other well known panelists!
The Crypto Panel at E&Ys Journey conference in Tel Aviv on Sept. 18th
So it appears that at mainstream tech conferences, crypto is still a modest sideshow.
2. Singapore Is Awesome
invest:asia took place at the Marina Bay Sands. The rooftop pool is beyond sick:
The Sands is also remarkably beautiful from a distance:
They love to gamble in Singapore on a scale that blows away Las Vegas:
The gambling floor at The Marina Bay Sands
I even went kiteboarding by the airport (see the landing strip in the background):
Jodee Rich of NFT.Kred kiteboarding in Singapore
I can’t wait to return.
3. It’s Still Crypto 2017 In Asia
Speculation is a highly profitable business for those that are scaling. So its not surprising that the atmosphere was sometimes over the top.
4. Craig’s Wright’s Sister, Is Is Really Nice
I’m just saying. I don’t know or care if Craig Wright is Satoshi, because it’s not about the Founder, it’s about the community. But I got a chance to hang a bit with his little sis, Lisa Edwards, and the Australian couldn’t have been nicer.
Hanging With Lisa Edwards in Singapore
5. CryptoMondays Is A Thing In Singapore & Tel Aviv
Ok, I knew this already, but shameless plugs are a part of every blog post. I had the good fortune of being at the first CryptoMondays Singapore, hosted by Victor Lee of Bitcurate. The Meetup featured great talks by Mrinal Manohar from Casper Labs and Stephanie Vaughan (Weichsel) of Elixxir
I also had the enormous pleasure of being at CryptoMondays Tel Aviv which started with a talk by Arthur Breitman of Tezos fame, and featured a panel including Eyal Hertzog of Bancor, Dovey Wan of Primitive Ventures and Eli Mizroch of institutional grade crypto investment management company Silver Castle . Let’s just say Eyal and Dovey did not see eye-to-eye.
Eyal sharing his thoughts With Dovey, Eli Mizroch, and Yaniv Feldman
I’m looking forward to getting back to CryptoMondays NYC this week which features a Fireside Chat with zac prince of BlockFi
6. Blockchain & Booze Is A Wonderfully Fun & Informative Show On BlockTV
BlockTV is the leading provider of quality crypto video content. I really enjoyed being a guest on their weekly show Blockchain & Booze anchored by the talented Yael Lavie. My drinking buddies on the show included Mati Greenspan the Senior Market Analyst at eToro_Official, Aviya Arika of the law firm Aviya, and Gil Solomon of the law firm Gil Solomon & Co
BLOCKCHAIN ON BOOZE: ETFs, Vitalik, and the FED
Our panel gets their drink on and discusses some of the most pressing crypto topics.blocktv.com
7. Israel Continues To Create & Grow World Changing Crypto Companies
This was my 12th trip to Israel in four years. My first trip in 2015 was a revelation. Israelis are crypto crazy. And Israel gets community. I could go on and on about all the great new companies I met, and the older companies I caught up with. But I’m going to briefly touch on just two new companies and one company I’ve known for awhile
One of the new companies I met with is GK8. Their technology essentially eliminates the attack surface in crypto wallets:
GK8s founders, Lior Lamesh andShahar Shamai, are Cybersecurity veterans, including their time in the military together.
Israel will also kill it in crypto speculation. I caught up with legendary Israeli entrepreneur/investor Gigi Levy-Weiss, now with NFX. Gigi became well known when he was CEO of 888, a publicly listed online casino. Given that background, I had no doubt Gigi would be working on an interesting project on crypto speculation. I wasn’t disappointed. DX Exchange and it’s leveraged token are another step forward in the evolution of crypto speculation
Finally, I’ve been a fan of Eyal Herzog and Bancor since Feb., 2018, and I find their newest product, Creator.eco, a supper innovative way to leverage community and “3-Tier ecosystems”. This video by Eyal does a great job of putting the project, and everything else in crypto, in to context.
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