Robert Hackett

@hackr

124 Following

656 Followers

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What can you do when experts can’t be trusted? Draw lots. This episode examines the ancient practice of “sortition,” which delegates decision-making power to random members of the public. Sometimes called “government by lottery,” sortition was used in ancient Athenian democracy to elect public officials. Now it’s undergoing a revival as tech companies (like Meta) and AI startups (like OpenAI and Anthropic) use the method to shape their policies. Our guests today are Bailey Flanigan, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard who is joining MIT as an assistant professor next year, and who has helped develop selection algorithms for sortition that are in use today; and @andyhall, Stanford University poli sci professor, advisor to Meta, and consultant to a16z crypto research. w/ @hackr 🎙️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjG2qhAAz0Y

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Thanks and glad to have you!

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Tim Roughgarden

Over the past three summers @a16zcrypto we've had 19 tremendous research interns. Want to be part of the summer '25 cohort? The application is open now, for full consideration please apply by Nov 8. https://a16z.com/about/jobs/?gh_jid=6242445003

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In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of our newly released, annual State of Crypto Report — a16z crypto’s analysis of the latest data and trends that have defined the industry in 2024. This year’s report features some brand new insights, from estimating the number of real crypto users globally, to understanding how much interest in crypto swing states may have ahead of the U.S. election. We also dig into infrastructure improvements to blockchains and key applications — including stablecoins, AI, and so-called DePIN. @darenmatsuoka @eddy @hackr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY11_NsQt9o

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This morning we released our 2024 State of Crypto report, which I’ve been working on for the past few months. It’s been refreshing to take a step back and look at crypto from a broad, but data-driven, perspective. Check out the full report at: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/state-of-crypto-report-2024/

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We’ve just released our latest State of Crypto report. It shares insights on key trends — like stablecoins, L2s, and AI — plus, crypto’s rise as a hot policy issue, new data on builders and users, and much more. Here are 7 top takeaways ⬇️ 1. Crypto activity and usage hit all-time highs 2. Crypto has become a key political issue ahead of the U.S. election 3. Stablecoins have found product-market fit 4. Major scaling upgrades have drastically reduced onchain transaction costs 5. DeFi remains popular — and it’s growing 6. Crypto could solve some of AI’s most pressing challenges 7. More scalable infrastructure has unlocked new onchain applications Check out the full report: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/state-of-crypto-report-2024/

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Blockchain bridges have a history of succumbing to big hacks. Why? One of the builders who knows the world of blockchain interoperability best helps disentangle the mess. LayerZero Labs CEO and Cofounder Bryan Pellegrino (@primordialaa) joins a16z crypto General Partner Ali Yahya (@alive) and show cohost Robert Hackett (@hackr) for a tour of what goes on between chains. Check out the full podcast here: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/podcast/blockchain-bridges-layerzero-bryan-pellegrino/

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This book has the goods

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There’s no more instructive history for those who work in crypto than the rise of the personal finance industry. Almost everything we take for granted about money today… - credit cards and national payment networks - mutual funds, money markets, ETFs - high interest savings accounts and the discounting (later zeroing) of broker commissions - investment firms “going direct” to retail …even government financing through budget deficits and inflation! All these once heretical ideas had to be invented (circa 1958 on). By people who were crazy. Revolutionaries and renegades… who were RIGHT.

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51 feels like a prime number …it’s weird that 51 = 17 x 3

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A lot of people mistakenly call the recent BTC and ETH market products “ETF.” They’re not ETFs! Here’s why the nuance makes all the difference. https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/eth-etf-etp-faq/

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stand with crypto, stand with creators

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Jason Rosenthal

I’m excited to announce the 21 startups we’ve selected to join our Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX) Fall 2024 cohort, which starts this week. Over the next 8 weeks, they’ll get firsthand lessons from top crypto founders, receive guidance and support from @a16zcrypto’s investing and operating teams, and build connections with each other and the broader a16z network. The CSX Fall 2024 companies are coming to NYC from 11 different countries, and they’re building on every level of the crypto stack, including AI, DeFi, infrastructure, and consumer applications such as photo sharing and mapping. We’re thrilled to partner with each of these CSX companies on their journey to product market fit. https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/announcing-the-csx-fall-2024-cohort/

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Decentralization is hard and always has been. That doesn’t make it any less invaluable.

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(on)chainsmoking

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The gang talks books. Enjoy!

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the funk cannot be stopped the funk cannot be stopped you cannot stop the funk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWW4tFuzxGE

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find your next beach read here

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NFT royalties were never enforced onchain, even though everyone expected them to be. Onchain royalties on secondary sales have always been an important value proposition of NFTs, but they’ve been misunderstood for a while now. In a way, NFT royalties reached product-market fit before there ever was a “product.” Creators now have a few different solutions to choose from, but each come with tradeoffs that can be difficult to navigate. So how do NFT royalties work, and why have they been so challenging to implement? Here are some thoughts from @skominers, @darenmatsuoka, and myself on current designs, along with a few new ideas. Full post 👉 https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/how-nft-royalties-work/

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