Sunday Thoughts Newsletter #1
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I’ve had a few people ask me of late about the newsletter which I have rather neglected. This was partly down to not quite knowing what I wanted to write about and also partially due to not having enough subscribers earlier on in the year to make it worthwhile.
The format will likely change in the coming months but I am not going to focus on topical news or thought pieces as there are other newsletters better equipped to provide this (such as the excellent tokeneconomy.co weekly newsletter which I would encourage everyone to subscribe to).
Instead, I am going to concentrate on sharing the more interesting crypto focused articles I have read. Some of these will be recent, others may be from months or years ago. Crypto writing is fairly transient and as such lots of great writing gets lost very quickly. This is nonsensical as much of the writing from months or years ago remains highly relevant.
I am also going to share the books I have read in the past fortnight. Reading is, and likely always will be, one of my passions. It will always be the final section so as to not intrude if all you are after is pure crypto talk!
Crypto reads
Tokenisation
I’m fairly sceptical of some of the more ambitious claims made around tokenising everything. Why? Because it doesn’t make much sense. It seems to be driven by a desire to tokenise for the sake of tokenisation rather than to meet any actual need in many cases. Do I think tokenisation will become more and more prevalent? Yes. Do I think we are going to tokenise everything and move into a glorious realm where all of a sudden everything is immediately liquid and transferrable? No. These two reads from May summarise some of the reasons as to why.
What the Heck are Tokenised Securities by Michael Kogan (as an aside, I really like a lot of his stuff)
Tokens (Don’t) Rule Everything Around Me — Thoughts On Security Tokens by Parker Thompson
You can also find some additional thoughts in a Twitter conversation I was a part of here.
Governance
I’m also sceptical of some of the claims made around governance, which I’ll explore in more detail in the coming weeks. These two reads from April and December 2017 respectively cover some of my thinking.
Blockchains should not be democracies by Haseeb Qureshi
Against on-chain governance by Vlad Zamfir
And this is a great intro to a lot of the topics which came out on Friday:
The Crypto Governance Manifesto by Steven McKie
Other
Some other articles I’ve enjoyed this week:
Them Lightning Network Nodes Sure Do Look Centralized to Me by the always showmanlike and entertaining StopAndDecrypt
Will the Bitcoin Bubble Pop or Will it Envelop Us All? by Erik Hoel
Reflections Upon a SWATting by Jameson Lopp — another topic I will be focusing on shortly will be personal security and Lopp’s tale is a timely reminder of just why you should be keeping anonymous when discussing crypto. There are too many people around who are quite frankly lunatics.
Chasing a Perfect Storm by Jordan Cooper — this echoes many thoughts I have at present about how crypto is building up to the sort of scenario Cooper describes. Again, more on that to come in coming weeks.
Books
Not quite sure how to judge it. I enjoyed it, but he lost momentum about a third in and never quite got it back again. I never quite believed that he had the rage in him that coursed through Fight Club, it felt not try hard but just lacking, as if he was trying to replicate elements that made that so popular but couldn’t quite grab them.
Also, I hate it when people use ‘self-indulgent’ to describe a book, but two references to Fight Club within about 20 pages? Come on Chuck.
I read this when I was younger and contrived to not enjoy it. Not sure how as this time I read it in a single sitting and was captivated from start to finish. Probably the best book I’ve read this year.
Be prepared to feel melancholic after reading.
After years of studying dry academic history texts I now struggle with anything that isn’t written for a mass audience or is over 400 pages. The Shortest History of Europe is, however, just a bit too short to be of any real interest. It’s good for an overview if you know nothing about European history, but if you’re vaguely familiar or read on the subject you won’t learn much here.
Interesting tale, just not a very well written book I’m afraid.
I am currently reading:
And that’s it for this week — any thoughts as to what I can do to improve the newsletter gratefully received!
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