In this episode of UpOnly, Ledger interviews Frankie “Scoops” Chaparro, from The Block. They discuss narratives of the last month since UpOnly has been off, from LL/Yuga to crypto politics, and more.
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Show Notes
Why Shave Mustache?
– “It’ll come back”
– Cousins getting married, doesn’t wanna steal the show
The Block
– Scoops has been there since 2018
– Soon to be 4 year anniversary
– 100+ people
– Have data, research content, consulting/ advisory
– Subscription products for all these legacy folks
Venture Capital
– Last year there was 32B that poured into crypto VC
NFTs
– Bored Apes/ Larva Labs
– Some people outside of crypto may not think apes are impressive from an art standpoint
– “this price is ridiculous!”
– But there are so many things that are like that, handbags for example
Environmental Impact of NFTs?
– There is a lag between what we know in crypto vs what the outside world knows
– Even when there are changes to make it better, it takes a long time for the public to accept a net narrative
– It’s just a viral narrative
Larva Labs Deal
– Scoops was surprised
– He never expected M&A among NFT entities
– Might even be a bit of a risk arbitrage
– Mike Dudas talked about how LinksDAO was in the cross hairs of regulators
Crypto Politics
– “If it quacks like a duck and it walks like a duck, then its a security!” -Franky Scoops
– People will likely get voted out of office if they take an anti crypto stance
– Ryan Selkis potentially running
– There are a few other crypto natives thinking about running
– Free market resonates with the right
– Protect the power of the dollar pushes away the right
– “Banking the unbanked” resonates with the left
– Environmental concerns pushes away the left
– Ted Cruz will do anything for a vote
– Ledger: “I think we need to get Dan Matuszewski to run up there in Boston”
– “He’d hate it so much that he’d be a good politician”
– Frank: “He’d be a great politician”
– Ledger: “Can you imagine Dan up there getting grilled by congress”
– “He’s start grilling them back give them the Boston treatment”
Exciting Trends
– Excited about NFTs moving separately from the other markets
– Interest rates in crypto
Insane Wealth
– SBF and CZ just have unheard of money
– More scared of normal multimillionaires than crypto billionaires
– The crypto billionaires have just been super humble – SBFs story is classic
– Scoops: “Comparison is often the thief of joy”
– Why can people not hang on to their Bored Apes?!
– Just targeted much more often
Terra and Do Kwon
– Do Kwon is very relaxed
– They want to make UST the largest stablecoin across various different chains
– Sometimes he wakes up, puts on pants, and just buys $1B worth of Bitcoin
FINAL ALPHA
– When prices are going down, just remember to count all of the blessings that you have in your life. Things could be a lot worse 🙂
Music by GiovanniPickle