Crypto Phil Reads

Over the last year, I’ve been working every day in crypto. No hacks. No shortcuts. Just monotonous, daily consistency. And these 10 reads made sticking with crypto easier (despite wanting to give up hundreds of times) 🧵

1/ The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work It's easy to lose sight of the big picture when numba go down. I know I do. No paper better explains why crypto is so much more than just numbers on a screen.

2/ Independent Property Rights What is the key innovation of crypto? It's a question we've all had to answer, and I'm sure it's a question we've all struggled with at one point or another. This paper has helped me so much in answering this question.

Independent Property Rights

Until now, it was impossible to have strong property rights in places with a weak local government. Bitcoin does not depend on the existing system in any way and can give us the highest form of pro…

3/ DeFi Will Eat TradFi It's not always easy being in DeFi. The hacks, rugs, ponzis, and so-so price-action takes a toll. @Arthur_0x's classic article is a great reminder that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Dedicated crypto investor reveals his market-beating strategy and explains why he's so bullish on open finance.

4/ Why The 1% Don't Get It Another article beautifully puts into words "why" we're in crypto. @DeFiSurfer808 explanation of why crypto is superior to traditional financial never fails to motivate me.

The existing financial system works great for the affluent; of course they don't understand crypto.

5/ Why Web3 Matters Web2 is coming, and it's coming for reasons greater than just making money. It's coming to fix the problems of web1 and web3. @cdixon wonderfully breaks it down:

6/ How I Got a Full-Time Job in Web3 I never got closer to giving up crypto than during the job search. The ghosting took its toll, and it seemed hopeless for somebody with my background (PoliSci) to make it. @meowllark inspired me to keep going:

7/ What I'm Frustrated By In Crypto Probably the most pessimistic read on this list, but just as important as the others. Only by being realistic with where we are will we get where we want to go. And @Amirbolous is very honest about where we are.

8/ Behind Enemy Lines Sometimes the best motivator is fear. Not much has scared me more than the gross levels of surveillance and control advocated for by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). @samcallah has the summary:

9/ I was wrong, we need crypto The BIS stuff is scary, but the Canadian Trucker situation was much worse. If a Western democracy shutting off the money of protestors they don't like doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.

I was wrong, we need crypto

To say I've been skeptical about Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto universe would be an understatement of epic proportions. Since the early 2010s, some of my most ferocious Twitter battles have been against the HODL army with the laser eyes. There's just so much to oppose: Bitcoin's grotesque energy consumption, the ridiculous transac...

10/ The Tornado Cash Situation I don't have a specific read for this one. The scariest situation of them all doesn't need one. The sanctioning of code. The arrest of a dev. The blacklisting of addresses. It was the reminder we needed that the fight for our future is now.

Thank you for reading! I hope the reads are as inspiring to you as they are to me. Please feel free to share this thread with others who might be thinking of giving up.

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