Why subscribe?

Most of crypto is a scam. But within that tiny sliver of legitimacy, you’ll find the future of finance. You only need to know where to look.

Although I was born in the USA, I’ve lived abroad most of my life. In 2020, my EU-based IT consulting business had just one bank account, and that bank suddenly, without warning, blocked all my funds.

As you can imagine, my business came to an abrupt halt. I spent the next few weeks sending copies of invoices, contracts, tax records, and financial filings to my bank, hoping they would reconsider.

Eventually, the bank grudgingly accepted that the money in my account was truly mine. But I vowed never to depend on a single bank's whims again. The incident taught me an important lesson about modern banking: you can only use your money with their permission.

Around that time, I learned about decentralized finance (DeFi) on Ethereum. I already owned Bitcoin and appreciated how revolutionary it was in theory, but I was never too impressed with my practical options with BTC: buy, sell, send, hodl…

However, with DeFi on Ethereum, I could see the beginnings of an entirely new financial system. One in which, perhaps over time, I would no longer need to beg my bank to use my funds.

Eventually, I began to manage my business almost entirely onchain. Today, I invoice clients in stablecoins. I pay contractors. I use a debit card linked to my crypto account for daily expenses. I manage costs and support tax filings using accounting and analytics apps like rotki.

Moving operations onchain has saved me time and money. I no longer need to wait “2-3 business days” to transfer money. Fees are pennies. Most importantly, I now have total control of my financial accounts. My money, under my control.

Here are some of the topics I’ll cover in this Substack

• How to minimize risk when operating onchain

• How to manage a business with crypto

• Decentralized applications (DApps) I use daily in my business

• Projects that are building long-term value for token holders

• Bitcoin versus Ethereum

• Cypherpunk values in theory and practice

• The many flavors and uses of stablecoins

Disclaimer

This is not financial advice. Crypto is inherently risky. You should never invest money you are unwilling to lose.