Crypto is the digital finance revolution. Highly recommend a full read through of this speech by the SEC Chairman. Key takeaways & quotes from my readthrough: → SEC is committed to onshoring crypto. This marks the end of regulation by enforcement. With precise categorization of tokens, Americans will no longer be excluded from airdrops, ICOs, or participation in onchain protocols. → Fostering innovation: SEC is "contemplating an innovation exemption that would allow registrants and non-registrants to quickly go to market with new business models and services that do not neatly fit within our existing rules and regulations." → SEC recognizes that onchain protocols can operate with no intermediaries. "Decentralized finance and other forms of on-chain software systems will be part of our securities markets and not drowned out by duplicative or unnecessary regulation." → "Regulated super apps”: tradfi is coming for crypto just like crypto is coming for tradfi (w/ tokenized stocks). SEC is developing "a framework that will allow non-security crypto assets and crypto asset securities to be traded side-by-side on SEC-regulated platforms."

Coins/Tokens → Digital commodities ICOs = Initial commodities offerings?

In the age of AI slop, human-oriented communication requires conciseness and precision. Write less; not more.

"Executes 99% of transactions under 10ms" Performance of a centralized system with security of a decentralized chain.

Which property is more important for a rollup? 1. Canonical (& trust-minimized) asset bridging: assets can be deposited (from the L1) to the rollup without trusting any multi-sigs or intermediaries. Deposited assets are controlled by code. 2. Inheriting L1 security: (a) safety: L1-settled rollup blocks are final and (b) liveness / censorship resistance: transactions can be forced through the L1.

Lesson from the Tea data leak: "Can't do evil" > "Won't do evil" Crypto made "can't do evil" possible for financial apps: devs can program exchanges, lending, or yield protocols all without operating as the intermediary. Apps with personal data needs to be next: devs should be able to program on user data without the liability of custodying such sensitive data. In the age of vibe coding, asking devs to learn and implement better opsec for user data is just unrealistic. Leveraging trusted execution environments & cryptography, we can build systems that enforce self-sovereignty of personal data.

The CLARITY Act, if passed, is bullish for L1s (and decentralized L2s) because its "mature blockchain systems" definition of "impartial system" excludes centralized L2s (w/ single-entity sequencers). (However, L2s can satisfy this criteria if its sequencer is elected by decentralized governance.) Screenshot of Section 42(c)(2)(F) in CLARITY Act * more precisely L1 tokens or tokens of decentralized chains

Crypto as an industry has so much further to go. Crypto has only captured ~0.1% of its potential of disrupting the financial service industry, which is ~6x larger than all of software / "tech". (Data and chart compiled by ChatGPT o3)

Ethereum gas limit: 30M → 45M ETH: ~50% up over past month Clearly, the tech is 50% better.

Monthly reminder for infra builders: Blockchain scaling is about scaling network effects, not just throughput or TPS. Some questions to ask: → If there's a successful app in your eco, how does it benefit other apps? → If a users onboards to one app in your eco, do they also onboard to your eco as a result? → Why would the best app teams build on your infra? Is it just better tech or do they get access to users/liquidity/distribution?