How George Washington’s failed Canal Ambitions led to the Constitutional Convention — I am republishing this newsletter entry, first published two years ago in my short-lived newsletter, Murmurations. Murmurations was published on Twitter’s newsletter platform, Revue, which has since been deprecated. Because I like this piece, I am posting it here for posterity. …

A refresher — Proof of Reserves (PoR) isn’t just a niche procedure debated by crypto bros and accountants any longer. It’s increasingly making its way into legislation and policy. The Texas legislature recently saw a bill introduced asking for segregated custody at exchanges alongside quarterly PoR attestations. Wyoming also mentions PoR in their…

A bright spot in an otherwise bad year — It’s undeniable that momentum around cryptographic Proofs of Reserve is gathering. This is a genuine silver lining from the FTX debacle. We may well yet emerge from this crisis with a major step forward in exchange credibility. …

As part of President Biden’s executive order, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) conducted a study into the climate impacts of crypto mining. You can find it here. I have annotated the study in full. You can find my annotated version by clicking the image below…

Why utility is the hottest trend in NFTs — You get a push notification. Your favorite designer is releasing a new limited-edition pair of sneakers. No need to worry about waiting in line, clicking furiously to catch the drop on a buggy website, or dealing with scalpers. You cryptographically, provably own two items from this designer already, so your…

Or: a eulogy for bitcoin maximalism — So yesterday I was the subject of controversy on Bitcoin Twitter over my firm Castle Island’s investment in Dynamic, a wallet-based sign on company. This was quite surprising to me. I figured that people knew what it was that I did for a living. There is nothing on the face…

How the NYT wields junk science in their attacks on Bitcoin — I want to thank the formerly eminent New York Times. I read their latest article on Bitcoin at 5:30 am this morning and I was immediately jolted into a state of alertness — no coffee needed. Their latest missive on Bitcoin’s climate footprint is so poorly-researched that once I read…

A response to Noah Smith — The Bloomberg columnist Noah Smith has a lot of thoughts on Bitcoin. Some of them are really solid and engage with the reality of the protocol itself, which is rare for a member of the mainstream media circuit. He also discloses that he owns Bitcoin, which is impressive for an…

An excellent account of a revealing epoch in Bitcoin’s history — Sometimes a text comes along that you feel a powerful obligation to read. Jonny Bier’s The Blocksize War ($22 for the paperback on Amazon) is one such book. Bier is the rarely-seen face of BitMEX Research, arguably the most insightful research desk in the industry. BitMEX Research consistently produces original…