Advaith

Hey, I'm Advaith.

I currently work at a crypto hedge fund. I spend 100% of my time immersed in crypto, currently focusing exclusively on crypto consumer applications.

Crypto

Spending a lot of time thinking and hacking on consumer-centric crypto experiences.

Why Crypto?

It offers a unique potential to restructure internet interactions, creating a new trust paradigm. It represents a concentrated bet on future technological foundations, with Bitcoin and the blockchain ecosystem potentially underpinning Silicon Valley's ultimate trajectory.
It is inherently global from inception, which is often underestimated. I have observed a significant 'fix the asymmetries' movement outside the US, which is poised to emerge soon.
Near-instantaneous transaction settlement, a stark contrast to traditional finance.
Operates on a trustless, immutable state.
Addresses the distribution challenge: there is no need for a traditional aggregator when the blockchain serves as a super-aggregator.
Envisions a new type of online individual: sovereign, asset-bearing, possibly pseudonymous, with a strong emphasis on online reputation and integrity.
Complements the notion of software devouring the world, transitioning from analog finance to digital solutions that align with contemporary technology. As more individuals come online, there is a pressing need to minimize friction and develop neutral platforms.
Introduces the concept of public goods.
Emphasizes that merely 'writing an API and a frontend' seldom answers significant questions.
Represents the new frontier. The task of colonizing this space and establishing a reputation as a trustworthy entity on-chain is ours to undertake. I am committed to striving for this.

Blockchains - Optimum Aggregators

Let's consider a few assumptions:

Every business requires spreadsheets or record-keeping systems.
Each spreadsheet serves a specific purpose, aiding a business function with set rules around data.
In a pre-crypto era, maintaining data integrity necessitated trustworthy individuals.
The adoption curve typically starts with slow growth, followed by rapid expansion as industries innovate.
Platform risk is a genuine concern.
Technology investors prioritize growth over profits, with most IPOs from the 2010s benefiting from significant economies of scale.

Consequently, incumbents wield substantial influence over markets, competitors, and public sentiment. This influence is inevitable.

Currently, Facebook dominates by controlling the social graphs of a billion users. Similarly, banks manage our financial graphs, confined within national boundaries yet critically important.

The essential takeaway is that entities like Facebook and Google should not own these graphs but rather act as nodes within a larger, potentially crypto-driven network.

Blockchains eliminate the need for trusted intermediaries previously essential for maintaining data integrity. This simplification forms the core value proposition of blockchain technology.

Much of the surrounding narrative is either misleading or diverts attention from blockchain capabilities. Unnecessary rent-seeking is inappropriate; protocols should function as minimally extractive coordinators. Ethereum leads this effort, providing a neutral foundation for experimentation, which has proven successful thus far.

They aim to disrupt traditional revenue streams by eliminating rent-seekers. Currently, it appears that value is being redirected towards public goods (e.g., Uniswap and Synthetix, each with over $1 billion in their treasuries).

A prevalent narrative during 2017 suggested that 'Ethereum is the Myspace' and 'Bitcoin was the first, but I can improve it,' reminiscent of the early internet era. Consequently, several other chains have emerged, featuring advanced technology but limited activity. The challenge lies in the difficulty of forking communities.

I firmly believe in the future of multichain ecosystems (including app-specific and regional chains). However, the value of a chain likely correlates with its integration into a public chain (currently BTC and ETH).

Blockchains - The Long Tail

In the early to mid-2010s, those aiming to profit from the internet typically engaged in:

Running blogs, building audiences, and monetizing through CPM/CTC ads, affiliate marketing, or selling eBooks.
Developing mobile apps and generating revenue through advertisements (e.g., the creator of Flappy Bird earned approximately $50,000 per day at its peak).

Success in these endeavors often depended on mastering SEO, creating compelling content, and generating substantial traffic. This process required adherence to Google's stringent guidelines, with many closely monitoring updates from Matt Cutts, then head of search quality at Google, to gain a competitive edge. Achieving a top search ranking for a phrase with 100,000 monthly searches could yield a 30% click-through rate, translating to 30,000 monthly clicks.

This approach represented the primary method for user acquisition, demanding patience and consistent effort.

Niche Websites:

An intriguing trend involved the creation of niche websites or micro-sites focused on specific topics. Targeting a niche with approximately 10,000 to 15,000 monthly searches and low competition could yield promising results within a year, attracting thousands of unique visitors monthly. This strategy allowed for the effective monetization of a highly targeted audience, representing a focus on the long tail of content distribution.

With the advent of blockchains, markets can be integrated into virtually any domain, significantly impacting society. Blockchain technology eliminates the traditional need for seeking distribution; instead, distribution seeks you.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology lay the groundwork for open networks, offering the potential to vastly improve online experiences. Despite its gradual emergence and past fluctuations, the future of crypto is not a question of if, but when and how it will break into the mainstream. I prefer to assess the growth of crypto over the past five years rather than since the 2017 surge.

The crypto landscape has witnessed significant events, including the contentious block size debate, the notorious TheDAO hack, and the rapid rise and fall of ICOs.

I contend that cryptocurrencies are spurring the widespread adoption of cryptography. In the future, it is highly probable that every internet user will possess a cryptographic identity.