1-min summary of “Bootstrapping a crypto network” by Tony Sheng

This is a 1-minute read summary of “Bootstrapping a crypto network” post by Tony Sheng published on 16 April 2019. The original is available at
https://www.tonysheng.com/bootstrapping-crypto-network.

Key take-away points from the post:

• The most valuable startups build network effects. The same logic applies to crypto networks
• Growing network effects tends to require subsidizing one of the sides of the network. For example, Airbnb and Uber subsidized the “supply side” of their marketplaces by providing homes and cars to their users at a discount
• Ethereum subsidized development (i.e. the supply side) in a variety of ways: ICOs, direct funding through grants, community building
• The community of true believers that Ethereum has grown, in turn has subsidised the demand side as these early adopters were using dapps despite many associated drawbacks
• Despite all efforts, Ethereum’s network effects are uncertain given lack of demand for dapps
• In 2019, several highly anticipated competitors such as Cosmos, Dfinity, Algorand, Polkadot are launching
• Question is whether people will migrate to the new platforms or stay. If a community of true believers is what needed to bootstrap a crypto network, then Ethereum will remain in the lead. However, traditional startup growth hacking applies to crypto networks, then it could be anybody’s game