Kim Jong-un Crypto & The Warrior’s Way

3 min readMay 16, 2018

Our interview with Sam Abbassi from Bushido Lab is out on iTunes and Google Play! We discussed getting fundamentals right on blockchain protocols, token economics in the music market, and Kim Jong-un collectables. Sam briefed us on how crypto creates new market economies yet fosters tribalism.

Highlights below:

Tell us about your background coming into crypto?

Sam was a writer for the Miami Herald, a neuroscience researcher, and coder. Crypto and distributed protocols were a natural fit since it married all those skills with his interest in Austrian economics.

What Does Bushido Lab Do?

They research and build customized software for enterprises and startups. Sam runs the blockchain unit.

True to R&D, Sam reads a lot whitepapers. The focus is academic and lab testing, without industry applications to keep an open mind. Sam says we need to get fundamentals right on the protocol level. We still need a robust privacy coin. There’s a clear use case for users in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, and other regions.

We Can Trade Kim Jong-un on the blockchain? No Way!

Think Crypto Kitties but political fun. Sam’s team is creating Kim Jong-un tokens, non-fungible ERC-721 tokens so people can buy, and sell Kim Jong-un digital cards (up to millions of Kim Jong renditions). The ERC-721 Ethereum framework has many use cases, like real estate, crypto kitties, or tokens tied to other physical assets that are provably unique. By contrast, digital currencies like Bitcoin are fungible.

Can Token Economics Change Our World?

Just as the separation between church and state was a foreign concept at first, people think decoupling money and government is audacious. But history shows contrarian views can become the orthodoxy. This tech empowers us to create new economies. People have access to private money that are tradeable and spendable in the real economy. For example, TUNE credits users for contributing to their music ecosystem — creating or curating music. People can then trade and liquidate tokens on exchanges.

Sam thinks that more effective digital tokens will empower niche economies and appeal to user tribalism or sense of identity. For example, RecordGram / TUNE Token, a startup he’s advising, creates a community-driven economy for music creators, curators, and publishers.

Biggest Myth About Crypto?

Crypto shouldn’t be a place for bad actors. Bitcoin and Ethereum aren’t really private transactions. Currently, fiat money still facilitates the lion’s share of criminal activities. The fact that some bad actors use crypto doesn’t mean it’s a bad technology.