Sthumph.eth

I’ve been feeling quite down re: crypto lately. The space has markedly devolved. It’s great tech with world-changing potential but not the only such tech + the immaturity here is a block. Yet a great convo with @thaika has inspired me to write about the still-inspiring: Ok, there will be a mix of DeFi, AI x crypto, and DePIN in here. I’m going to highlight a few of my own investments (disclosure!) in doing so, as there are reasons I made those investments in the first place lol. And don’t read too much into me -not- mentioning some of my investments… I just have a particular focus here. DeSci was what I was excited to explore when I first engaged with crypto at depth, but I gravitated to DeFi bc the innovation there was phenomenal (and that innovation and infrastructure can set foundations for other areas, and of course there can also be cross-area integration benefits). DeFi has some aspirational facets, and seeing anyone from anywhere (though it started to become exclusionary to be in the USA lol) being able to transact was indeed inspiring. But I think the process and the showcase of what can be done via on-chain, immutable smart contracts (and then the lego-like integrations across protocols!) is why it did and still shines. From a personal perspective, the ability to make meaningful contributions as a community member and investors were also very special. I could invest in something and then meaningfully, positively impact the product and affect the outcome. Great stuff. I’ll shout out one of my past investments, @pendle_fi $PENDLE, here, as a shining star for the space… and trust me, they had a vision and kept building towards it LONG before their brilliant innovations were widely recognized and then adopted. Now, I see @PeapodsFinance $PEAS in a similar situation (but arguably with much better tokenomics), and I’m excited for the leadership I think that this project is about to start showing on a similar scale, and also as a lasting showcase protocol coming out of the current generation alongside PENDLE. In particular, they’re about to ship a second brilliant, novel primitive on top of their first brilliant, novel primitive. And the team is the most professional x creative that I’ve ever worked with in the space… so it is solid all around, and I’m excited to see this protocol help our space recover from some of the negativity over the coming months! AI x crypto. It’s a messy, noisy space, and the hyperbole is off the charts… so it is understandably hard to see the signal through the noise. But I truly think that 𝔹asedAI @getbasedai has transformative potential for -both- the crypto and AI spaces. Transformative like maybe on the scale of Bitcoin (first decentralized cryptocurrency) and ethereum (on-chain smart contracts) for crypto. Of course, it has to work — the 𝔹asedAI mainnet L1 is supposed to ship in the next week. But if it does work, then we’ll have a whole new wave of energy and thinking and building, which we do need. We’re effectively talking about 1,024 customizable or even vanity L2s running on a smartly incentivized, decentralized, zk-LLM enabled compute network. Oh, the 1,024 ‘brains’ can be obtained via OG #pepecoin @pepecoins burning or staking, so that meme+utility play stands to explode upwards in value if 𝔹asedAI is successful. DePIN. The leaders here will benefit from being showcased like crazy over the coming years. There are multiple interesting options but I am absolutely pumped about @WorldMobileTeam @wmtoken $WMTX. Partly this is because I am really into the importance and value in greatly expanded 5G mobile + broadband coverage and access (and my biggest equities holding is $ASTS). It is a KEY unlock for broader economic development and opportunity. But also, DAMN just look into what they are cooking and how much they already have going (with revenue!)… I promise that you will be very impressed (and hopefully inspired, as I am), even if you choose not to invest!

Hard not to be excited about @pepecoins and @getbasedai. A Dev team that understands the importance of attracting both the Meme & Defi audience within the crypto space whilst building a protocol that focuses on two of the hottest trends in this space. AI and Privacy = 🚀🚀🚀