We are witnessing the early days of the emergence of a global, open financial system, the impact of which will rival that of the internet itself. Its growth will redistribute existing assets, create new ones, and change the nature of how money is created and flows. Permissionless access to non-sovereign…

Prize Linked Savings for the World IDEO CoLab Ventures is thrilled to be backing and collaborating with the team behind PoolTogether, a Prize Linked Savings protocol built on Ethereum and popular Open Finance (or DeFi) protocols. PoolTogether allows users to deposit a USD-pegged asset (currently DAI; soon, others) into a smart contract. That contract in turn…

How DeFi Will Centralize Staking and the Ethereum Network Imagine you own an asset. It’s called ETH and it’s something of a digital commodity (some even say ETH is money). …

IDEO CoLab’s Startup Studio for Blockchain Entrepreneurs has largely been focused on in-person events and workshops in San Francisco. This hackathon with CoinList and our partners from Ethereum, NEAR, Oasis, Stellar, and Tezos, is our first foray into programming for early stage builders and entrepreneurs on a global basis. …

A multi-protocol online hackathon focused on growing the global crypto ecosystem. Get started building by signing up here. Earlier this month, IDEO CoLab announced the launch of its new Startup Studio program to help accelerate the world’s best blockchain entrepreneurs and startups, in partnership with over 20 leading organizations and…

We are thrilled to announce IDEO CoLab Ventures’ participation in the latest venture funding round for Near, creators of NEAR Protocol, a developer-friendly blockchain for building decentralized applications. What? Another smart contract platform? Yes. While there are dozens of other teams seeking to build more scalable blockchains capable of supporting…

What happens when collateral becomes liquid? — While the past year was a tough one for the public crypto markets, talented and dedicated teams spent it heads down, shipping what appear to be some of the building blocks of a truly open financial system. …

A Tool for Network Adoption and Governance If you’ve ever opened your crypto wallet and found tokens that you didn’t knowingly purchase or accept, you’ve probably been the recipient of an airdrop — an event where free tokens or crypto assets are distributed to a group of prospective users. Why…

Why designing for security requires thinking about platforms beyond your own — Last week, I met with the founding team of a group building a project in the cryptocurrency space. They walked my IDEO CoLab colleagues and me through their web app, showing how people could buy and store BTC or ETH in a custodial wallet, then use those funds in a…