Crypto Hour and IQ, the Next Great Culture War Issue
"Moment of Zen"
Introduction
This chapter discusses the contradiction of supporting technological advancements while opposing cryptocurrency, highlighting the innovative nature of crypto and the launch of the permissionless protocol, Farcaster. The conversation also touches upon Ethereum, its critiques, and its efforts to address energy consumption and climate change through L2s.
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg discuss what is exciting in Crypto right now, covering friend.tech, Farcaster’s updates, PWAs, superchain 2a, and infrastructure improvements for more use cases. If you’re building a business and need compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR or HIPAA, head to www.vanta.com/zen for $1000 off.
Moment of Zen is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: www.turpentine.co
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
(00:01:36) How Dan is building Farcaster
(00:02:39) Using Ethereum is expensive
(00:04:14) Crypto and climate change
(00:07:49) Dan's take on the buzzy new friend.tech
(00:12:27) Friend.tech's smart use of a PWA + impressive growth
(00:17:11) Coinbase has its own blockchain now
(00:21:47) Are SPACs worse than Crypto's scammy retail stuff
(00:24:21) Chamath and accountability
(00:30:24) How will crypto get to a billion users?
(00:39:11) The case for Farcaster and the future of social media
(00:52:25) How much value can be captured by subscaled social networks?
(00:56:51) Why we'll see startups move away from venture-backed business models
(00:59:26) Most successful media company of the past decade
(01:03:59) Crypto's regulations are a gray cloud over financial innovation
(01:08:08) Opportunities to expand upside for people, from businesses to UBI
(01:09:12) Crypto is not politicized
(01:14:40) Genetics and IQ
(01:24:04) The Sam Harris + Ezra Klein Charles Murray debate
(01:32:48) Why this is the next major culture war issue
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Upstream w/ Erik Torenberg ft/ Sam Harris
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0DeR2VZOjpnE9pQ9b3Om9S?si=u662cEDUTt6D27D09Jnk0w
Upstream with Erik Torenberg ft/ Ezra Klein
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/36vTPPcpisMVXSgq9bnj1w?si=WEysQWc4RouTxd1hzNl1iw
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