This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Fonz. Fonz is the founder of Tokenproof, which lets NFT owners prove their ownership online and at events without exposing their wallets or tokens. I used the service at ApeFest last month and was blown away by how seamless it was. If you haven’t already listened to it, I recommend pairing this episode with our conversation on tokengating with Alex Danco. Please enjoy my conversation with Fonz. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:20] - [First question] - How things have changed at ApeFest thanks to Tokenproof[00:04:35] - Getting tickets through tokengating[00:07:56] - His story and what led to the development of his technology [00:13:33] - Explaining the power of tokengating with NFTs[00:15:34] - Future use-cases for NFT’s tokengating[00:17:03] - Partnering with brands [00:19:14] - How artists/athletes/celebrities could game fame [00:20:52] - Barriers that exist in the entertainment world relating to NFTs[00:23:11] - Exciting potential use cases for NFT monetization [00:24:26] - Can NFT’s be used for lower priced items[00:26:57] - Early reactions to Tokenproof [00:31:51] - Lessons from the ApeFest event[00:34:00] - Future of ApeFest and other events like it [00:36:17] - Could this tech work without the blockchain[00:39:12] - Could Tokenproof be used for ticket trading in the future[00:41:19] - Could they partner with a Ticketmaster or similar entity [00:42:47] - Connecting a wallet to Tokenproof[00:45:17] - How was Tokenproof received by users? [00:46:47] - Using this for digital vs real-world events[00:48:51] - Monetization for Tokenproof[00:49:54] - What Fonz is most excited to build  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and I'm back with Eric for our second quarterly recap. As you can imagine, the tone is slightly different to our first one of these, just three months ago. There’s a lot to digest but we tried our best. Jump in and enjoy. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:17] - [First question] - Whether the performance of crypto in the second quarter has changed Eric’s perceptions of the space[00:08:25] - The fall of Luna and what made it vulnerable[00:17:18] - Arguments for stablecoins[00:19:08] - The contagion post-Luna and its impact on Celsius[00:24:35] - The bankruptcy in Voyager and why we haven’t seen similar actions by others[00:30:00] - Does the crypto asset class need saving[00:34:11] - The collapse of Three Arrows Capital[00:39:40] - Removing the leverage in the system; Ken Stanley ILTB podcast episode[00:45:20] - The continued push into crypto from established financial institutions[00:48:07] - Where is the regulatory front moving on crypto[00:54:25] - Any regulatory events to keep an eye out for [01:00:56] - Takeaways from NFT NYC and ApeFest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Jarrod Dicker. Jarrod is a Partner at The Chernin Group, a consumer-focused investment firm, where he invests in Web3, blockchain, and other tech that connects fans with creators. Before TCG, Jarrod was the CEO of Po.et, a decentralized media start-up, and Commercial Chief at the Washington Post. He has spent his career at the intersection of media, technology, and consumer products – which is the focus of our discussion. Please enjoy this conversation with Jarrod Dicker.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:14] - [First question] - The evolution of the media industry post-internet age[00:06:23] - Bottoms-up ownership models of talent and whether or not power laws still exist[00:11:21] - Distilling big scenarios into simple narratives and where we are in the crypto narrative cycle[00:15:59] - Disintermediation between artists and their fans and the direct to fan connections that blockchain tech unlocks for creators [00:20:02] - Tiering structures, underestimating the financial dedication of super fans, and circumnavigating wealthy gatekeeping [00:25:13] - His venture funding investment process[00:30:51] - Some of his biggest surprises about people’s misunderstandings of web3[00:35:05] - The blindspots of the web3 space that should be discussed[00:40:17] - Humility amongst some of the most savvy builders in the crypto space[00:43:38] - Thoughts on the shift from renting to owning and the financialization of everything[00:48:14] - An ecosystem built around a focus on the active consumer [00:50:18] - What he’s most excited to invest in or build over the next six months and six years  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest today is Alex Danco from Shopify. Alex is our first triple crown guest, having first appeared on Invest Like the Best in 2019, Business Breakdowns on Shopify in 2021, and now Web3 Breakdowns. Our conversation today focuses on a new concept, tokengated commerce, and how Shopify is building around this theme. Given the market turmoil in crypto assets, we talk about true use cases of tokengated commerce and why blockchain technology is unlocking something that was not possible otherwise. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Danco.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:16] - [First question] - What Shopify itself is as an ecosystem and service[00:05:14] - An example of interoperability and the power of platforms outside of Shopify [00:07:02] - How interoperability and platforms come together[00:12:08] - Where a a constraint-standard resulted in failure [00:14:26] - Why Shopify is so heavily invested in tokengated commerce[00:17:10] - Lessons learned about the scarcity function of tokens and how they’ll work[00:20:34] - Whether or not Shopify will be building their own crypto wallet  [00:24:48] - The important role blockchains play in tokengated economics[00:28:16] - Overview of the mechanics and offering Shopify is building [00:32:16] - Tokens help establish protocol adoption[00:34:27] - Which blockchains and protocols will be mostly used in Shopify’s endeavor  [00:36:33] - Why can’t it be key-gated instead of tokengated[00:39:00] - Conjuring demand and how Shopify will create demand for their new system[00:45:46] - The differences between someone's identity and a token holder[00:47:55] - Signals that suggest tokengated commerce will be a big thing [00:51:02] - Why this concept hasn’t been more widely adopted already[00:54:39] - When there will be a solution to easily create and distribute tokens[00:56:39] - Where things will go from here [00:59:35] - Reasons why this might not have taken off in five years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Ovie Faruq, or as I know him, OSF. Ovie spent the best part of 9 years at Barclays as a distressed credit trader before moving into Web3 as a builder, investor, and artist. Given his wide range of experiences, both in TradFi and Crypto, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss the commonalities between fixed income and NFT trading, how to revive a failing PFP project, and what it felt like when he found out Snoop Dogg bought his artwork. Please enjoy this conversation with OSF.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:16] - [First question] - The different types of Web3 IP, how Goblintown and Rekt Guy have evolved, and how a creator can give the IP to the community[00:05:12] - Whether or not a lack of scarcity is unwinding the value accrual behind the original approach to NFTs [00:06:14] - Not having a roadmap and the advantage to being more freeform [00:09:35] - His take on the difference between a failed project versus a rugpull [00:12:50] - Finding out that Snoop Dogg bought a Rekt Guy and made it his profile picture [00:14:11] - What he was doing before stepping into the NFT space[00:15:09] - Similarities and differences between trading assets on TradFi and DeFi markets [00:17:24] - How he approaches measuring illiquidity in the NFT market[00:19:37] - YOLO trading and minting and selling a ton of Bored Apes[00:24:21] - The thesis of the Canary fund and thoughts on investing the money now[00:25:23] - How he thinks about where value accrues in NFTs as an investor[00:29:07] - When he started drawing and the road leading up to his NFTs[00:33:22] - Lessons for newer artists coming up and building an audience[00:35:36] - Working with Flips Finance and how he spends his days[00:37:20] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Bored Elon. Bored began as a parody account of Elon Musk on Twitter and has turned into a widely followed pseudonymous personality. We discuss the evolution of parody accounts and how Bored combined his massive following with years of experience in game design and mechanics to create his new blockchain based company, BoredBox. Please enjoy this conversation with Bored. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:07] - [First question] - What being a student of Hank Scorpio means[00:03:54] - The genesis of the Bored Elon pseudonym and his prior parody accounts[00:06:08] - What it is about pseudonymity that unlocks brand creation [00:07:28] - A deep look at the pros and cons of the social armor of a pseudonym [00:09:41] - Whether or not pseudonymity will have a larger footprint in the future[00:11:12] - Interesting challenges of operating as Bored Elon and not a person[00:13:38] - How he came across and moved into the NFT space[00:15:04] - The way the gaming world is setup today and its various tiers of game[00:16:46] - How many years it can take to build a AAA game like Call of Duty[00:17:49] - His perspective on games with built-in tokenomics at launch[00:20:29] - Whether we’ll see a shift in blockchain gaming back to free to play[00:22:51] - Combining pseudonymity and gaming with BoredBox[00:26:47] - Roughly how many blockchain game studios there are and the size of the space[00:28:14] - Thoughts on distribution, minting, frequency and varying rarity of loot boxes[00:31:59] - Tension between the traditional gaming industry and the blockchain one[00:35:04] - The types of builders and developers found in blockchain game studios [00:36:21] - Where we are in the investment cycle and when we’ll see great games drop[00:38:37] - If building your own chain to develop a game is a necessary feature[00:40:07] - The biggest problems game developers encounter in the blockchain space[00:42:14] - Examples of games that could benefit from a small player base[00:43:21] - Will great games incentivize users to learn blockchain tech to play them[00:44:56] - How it feels to launch BoredBox amidst a bear cycle[00:46:22] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce. Commissioner Peirce was sworn into the SEC in 2018. During her tenure, she has been a vocal advocate of free markets and a supporter of the crypto industry, to the point where she is often referred to as “Crypto Mom”. Regulation is a huge issue for our industry and I hope you’ll walk away from this discussion with a better appreciation for the nuance around protecting investors while letting innovation flourish. Please enjoy my conversation with Commissioner Hester Peirce. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:15] - [First question] - The role of a regulator and the relationship between a regulator and the sector or product they oversee[00:04:29] - Her thoughts on how regulators are more like lifeguards than parents[00:05:36] - Striking a balance that allows innovation to thrive instead of suppressing it[00:07:17] - Overview of the 3 pronged approach of the SEC’s crypto mission[00:10:15] - Being painted as an entirely fraudulent industry full of bad actors[00:11:18] - What it’s like working inside of the seeming blackbox that is the SEC[00:13:33] - How many of the 4,500 employees are dedicated to crypto and finances[00:14:19] - Internal debates and public meetings amongst the commissioners  [00:16:18] - Ways the commissioners learn about crypto being unable to participate in it[00:17:36] - Whether or not there are restrictions on crypto ownership for the rest of the SEC[00:20:38] - Managing the entrepreneurial spirit as we navigate the legalities of crypto[00:23:16] - How revolutionary it would be if TradFi transactions were on a public blockchain [00:26:29] - Risky corporate assets and how blockchains could have averted the 2008 crisis[00:28:47] - Difficulties of being a regulator and respecting the responsibility [00:29:56] - Self-reporting and the crypto community reporting suspicious activity[00:32:12] - A skin-in-the-game investment that promotes self-education[00:34:24] - Where the Safe Harbor stands and what it’ll take for it to move forward[00:35:37] - The Howey Test and realizing we need new securities laws[00:37:59] - Going from a security to a non-security and instruments that allow a transition[00:39:25] - Leading a commission and if there’s a risk of losing a case[00:43:18] - Alternative Trading Systems and Communications Protocol Systems[00:45:03] - When the market could expect a spot Bitcoin ETF[00:46:50] - NFT financialization and how they might need to be regulated[00:48:12] - Her thoughts on DAOs and they’re rapid evolution[00:50:29] - The underbanked using crypto and whether or not it impacts the SEC’s agenda[00:51:54] - Emergence of stablecoins and her thoughts on their development[00:53:37] - What role if any might self-regulating organizations play in the future[00:56:35] - What she’s excited to see achieved over the rest of her term and what are some exciting dates or events she’s watching in the crypto space Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Laura Shin. Laura is a crypto journalist, host of the Unchained podcast, and author of the book The Cryptopians. While writing her book, Laura uncovered one of the biggest mysteries in crypto - who was behind the 2016 DAO hack on Ethereum. We cover that episode in detail, her methods for gathering information in crypto more broadly, and what she learned from studying the founding of Ethereum. Please enjoy my conversation with Laura Shin. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:11] - [First question] - When she knew she wanted to become a journalist[00:04:06] - Stepping into crypto seven years ago and what pulled her into it[00:06:23] - Forbes’ thoughts on her covering crypto and going full-time[00:07:39] - Her TedX 2018 presentation and how her predictions held up today [00:10:39] - Doing 200 interviews over 2 years to write The Cryptopians[00:12:33] - Balancing how wild the story felt with factual evidence-based reporting[00:15:39] - What it was like to try and gather information in the crypto space[00:17:33] - Who she most relied on to tell the story and who she wishes she could have spoken with while writing it[00:20:25] - Idealists, capitalists and technologists shaping the messy foundation of Ethereum[00:22:19] - How Vitalik maintained his dominance and influence over Ethereum[00:23:54] - Thoughts on how a single figure can have so much power over an ecosystem[00:25:17] - The battle between the Nonprofit and For-Profit status of blockchains[00:28:16] - What made it so difficult to get involved in crypto in the early days[00:29:11] - The first DAO coming together and within a few weeks getting hacked[00:31:22] - Going from journalist to detective and trying to find out who the hacker was[00:38:47] - How nervous she was about someone else breaking the story first[00:42:08] - Big takeaways from illegal activity being traceable on public blockchains[00:45:28] - Why she was able to find the DAO hacker before the government did[00:46:21] - Whether or not there will be a movie made out of Cryptopians[00:46:47] - What she’s most excited to see built in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Dan Matuszewski, co-founder of CMS Holdings. If you follow Dan on Twitter, you’ll recognize him as one of the wittiest and most fun voices in crypto. In this episode, we cover a wide variety of topics including Dan’s successful trading career that led to the launch of CMS - a proprietary trading firm, why he is so attracted to this space, and how from his perspective markets have evolved over the past few years. We also discuss the importance and mechanics of stablecoins, and it is worth pointing out we recorded this before they became frontpage news last week. Please enjoy my conversation with Dan Matuszewski. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:22] - [First question] - Dan’s early years and his first steps into crypto [00:06:17] - Whether or not he was accumulating Bitcoin and saw the long-term utility of cryptocurrencies out of the gate [00:07:41] - How traders would get money in and out of old crypto wallets and exchanges[00:10:16] - Having moments of doubt and why he stuck with crypto amidst it’s shortcomings[00:11:02] - What he was hired at Kraken to do and becoming an active crypto trader[00:13:41] - The ICO coin boom and what it was like trading the order flow in 2017[00:15:20] - Thoughts on what it looked like during the ICO boom as a trading desk[00:16:07] - Where stablecoins came from and why they were so necessary to invent[00:17:59] - Tether’s negative reputation and his views of Tether outside of bad press[00:21:14] - How stablecoins make money and how Circle makes money on USDC[00:21:43] - Thoughts on leverage in the crypto space and how borrow rates affect investment decisions [00:23:48] - Arriving at a risk-free rate and how CMS’ liquidity is structured [00:24:27] - Capital allocation and the size and scope of CMS today [00:25:10] - Differences between running a fund with your own money versus investors[00:26:42] - How megafunds will impact the market[00:27:18] - Getting into exotic collectibles and buying a Triceratops fossil  [00:29:10] - The impacts of the war in Ukraine, inflation and current events on crypto[00:30:01] - The role and impact of leverage in a market selloff [00:31:20] - Coming regulatory oversight and the path ahead [00:32:19] - Why crypto investors and traders prefer the CFTC[00:32:50] - Thoughts on NFTs as an asset class and how his mind has changed on them[00:33:37] - What running a farming operation means and strategies that he runs[00:35:06] - Ways for the average person can get involved in crypto and get exposure [00:35:55] - His information flow and where he sources his signals[00:36:44] - How helpful it is to have a liquid token side and venture capital arm[00:37:05] - What he’s most excited to see in the next six months and six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Reed McGinley-Stempel. Reed is the co-founder and CEO of Stytch, which is on a mission to eliminate friction and improve security on the internet. Stytch started with passwordless authentication and Reed does a great job explaining why this is so important to businesses. We discuss the power of using Ethereum to sign on to any website and, towards the end of the conversation, Reed shares their newest product, Vessel - a wallet solution that eliminates the need to memorize 12 word seed phrases. Please enjoy my conversation with Reed McGinley-Stempel. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----Web3 Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Web3 Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @Web3Breakdowns | @ericgoldenx | @patrick_oshag  Show Notes[00:02:18] - [First question] - The history of people using passwords online[00:05:34] - How the password structure we use today came to be [00:08:22] - How attack vectors open up and what hackers do to get your information[00:11:49] - His time at Plaid and how it led to him co-founding Stytch[00:15:20] - What it means to be passwordless for the company and the N users [00:18:17] - How they decided where to put their focus when starting Stytch[00:21:24] - What companies did before Stytch to handle different levels of security[00:22:19] - What the authentication of logging in with Google, Apple or email is [00:25:11] - Their ethos on building for developers and being an API first company[00:28:30] - The pros and cons of being an API company and a SDK company [00:31:45] - His first exposure to the Web3 space and how Stytch plays a role in it[00:36:31] - His thoughts on Web2 and if they will adopt the security measures of Web3[00:40:14] - How Stytch will make it easier to attend something based on token gated access[00:42:52] - What a passport of the internet is and what Stytch is doing with it[00:47:17] - Their onboarding process for users from the Web2 space[00:54:00] - What he’s most excited to see built over the next six months and the next six years Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices