While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been around since early 2018, they were initially used for a fringe use-case (collecting digital… — While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been around since early 2018, they were initially used for a fringe use-case (collecting digital cats) within a fringe community (cryptocurrency enthusiasts). Three years later, we are witnessing the adoption of the technology from artists, designers, game developers, musicians, and writers.

Pioneered by IDEX in October 2017, refined by Synthetix in July 2019, and implemented at scale by Compound in June 2020, liquidity mining… — Pioneered by IDEX in October 2017, refined by Synthetix in July 2019, and implemented at scale by Compound in June 2020, liquidity mining (LM) has captured the imagination of dozens of protocols as a better way to distribute tokens. The effect on the DeFi sector has been electrifying — Total…

In many markets, there may not be enough organic liquidity to support active trade. Market makers are agents that alleviate this problem… — In many markets, there may not be enough organic liquidity to support active trade. Market makers are agents that alleviate this problem by facilitating trade that would otherwise not occur in those markets. …

The past two years have been filled with much hype but little traction around blockchain games. — The past two years have been filled with much hype but little traction around blockchain games. In addition, while many “general purpose” smart contract platforms, such as Ethereum, have launched, the market is trending towards use-case-specific platforms, as in the announcement of Flow by Dapper Labs and Immutable by Gods…

Synthetics are a key building block for the maturation of cryptoasset markets and many projects are already building them today. — While the primary use-case for cryptoassets continues to be speculation, I don’t believe this is a bad thing. Speculation was a key driver in the development of traditional financial markets and continues to play an important role in the industry today. Most importantly, speculators provide liquidity, allowing participants to more…

If you told a Bitcoiner in 2009 that Facebook would be developing a cryptocurrency, you would have been laughed out of the room. At the… — If you told a Bitcoiner in 2009 that Facebook would be developing a cryptocurrency, you would have been laughed out of the room. At the Bitcoin 2019 conference in San Francisco, Libra was an inevitable topic on most panels. Libra is a stable cryptocurrency that’s backed by a reserve of…

“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” — Mark Twain — Introduction P2P networks and blockchains are tales of many converging roads. While blockchain was invented in 2009, it combined multiple technologies from prior decades, such as Merkle trees (‘80), fault tolerance (‘89), linked timestamping (‘90), and proof-of-work (‘92). Similarly, the underlying components of P2P networks have also assembled themselves throughout the…

In July 2018, I published a market map of the various state channel projects in development. In this post, I will provide an overview of… — In July 2018, I published a market map of the various state channel projects in development. In this post, I will provide an overview of where we are with this technology today and a summary of the projects below. In a nutshell, we’ve come a long way this year. …

What do railroads, credit cards, and CryptoKitties have in common? The answer is that they were all enabled by industry standards. As a… — What do railroads, credit cards, and CryptoKitties have in common? The answer is that they were all enabled by industry standards. As a definition, industry standards are established norms or requirements followed by the members of an industry. Many industries have embraced standards as a way to unlock value from…