Seventy-two billion dollars. That, according to the Grifter Counter™, is the amount of money that's been swallowed up by crypto and blockchain scams and crashes. It's an enormous sum — but one that may not surprise you if you've kept up with the news. Bitcoin lost more than 60% of its value in 2022. FTX, once the world's third-largest crypto exchange, collapsed, and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was later found guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. And it's not just crypto that has seen dark days. Remember NFTs? They were once touted as a revolutionary new form of digital ownership made possible by the blockchain. Today, however, 95% of them have lost all of their value. That's right. All of it.
So it would seem like a suboptimal time to publish a book arguing that "blockchains and the software movement around them — typically called crypto or web3 — provide the only plausible path to sustaining the original vision of the internet as an open platform that incentivizes creativity and entrepreneurship." But that's precisely what Chris Dixon, founder of a16z crypto, has done with "Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet." Chris, who spoke with Rufus in a live taping of this show last week, says that while blockchains have been "maligned and associated with grift, casino culture, and fraud," they are tools that can be used for good. Today on the show, he makes that case.
WHY WE REMEMBER: The New Science of Improving Your Memory
SLOW PRODUCTIVITY: Can We Get More Done by Doing Less?
MAGICAL OVERTHINKING: Why Modern Life Is Making Us More Irrational
Everything Paul Bloom Knows About Psychology
GET THE PICTURE: Why Bother With Art?
LOOK AGAIN: How to See Your Life With Fresh Eyes
GENEROSITY: How Simple Acts of Kindness Can Change the World
BURN BOOK: Kara Swisher Takes on Big Tech
SUPERCOMMUNICATORS: How to Connect With Anyone
MIDLIFE: Once a Crisis, Now an Opportunity
RADICAL CANDOR: Why Compassionate Honesty Is a Gift
BIG BETS: A Practical Guide to Changing the World
CLIMATE OPTIMISM: Can We Still Build a Sustainable World?
FREE WILL: Are We Better Off Without It?
ATOMIC HABITS: James Clear’s Ultimate Guide to Building Good Habits (and Breaking Bad Ones)
THE GOOD LIFE: Lessons From the World's Longest Study of Happiness
How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization (2021)
Rory Stewart on Politics, Ambition, and Making a Difference
PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY: Timeless Lessons from Morgan Housel
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Vanished Podcast
American Scandal
The Generation Why Podcast
The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories
American History Tellers