Ryan Selkis - The Crypto Barbell and Token Curated Registries - [Invest Like the Best, EP.98]

This week’s conversation is for those interested in the nitty gritty of cryptocurrencies and for those who, like me, are fascinated by that world but more than a bit skeptical of the investing prospects for the many cryptocurrencies now in existence. My guest is Ryan Selkis, who I met at an event hosted by Union Square Ventures and Blocktower Capital. At that event, in a crowd of many brilliant people, Ryan was consistently asking hard questions and raising counterpoints. I love his perspective because he is both passionate, but realistic, excited about crypto, but worried about many aspects of the ecosystem. We discuss many new topics like his barbell analogy for thinking about different kinds of coins, token curated registries, and the need to better transparency around decentralized projects.

Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments

Please enjoy our conversation.

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For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

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Show Notes

2:55 - (First Question) – how he best explains blockchain technology

4:12 – How does he categorize each cryptocurrency

9:11 – How Numeraii is valued

10:04 – Explaining token curated registries (TCR)

12:58 – How Token Curated Registries are being applied

15:05 – Innovations that will protect against nefarious actors in the crypto space

16:37 – How do you convince investors to commit to TCR’s

18:40 – Biggest headwinds to this industry

22:12 – What are the quality filters to root out the bad actors

25:42 – Thoughts on the ICO market as an alternative to capital raising

29:23 – Litmus test for who should use an ICO to raise capital

34:28 – What is unique about creation of a token vs the normal exchange of cash to determine if a company needs a token

36:21 – How many ICO projects are really necessary

38:28 – How should people form an investment opinion about this space

41:35 – Core mission of his company

44:28 – What are some of the reasons his goals won’t happen

49:30 – Lessons learned while working at Coindesk

49:58 – What is he most excited about for the future of this space

52:56 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Ryan

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag