0:39BGood question. I think a lot of it is the community, and a lot of it is also just kind of the very different angles people come at it from, whether you’re a degen or a DeFi degen or you’re, you know --
0:58AWhat’s degen for those who don’t know?
0:59BDegen is like somebody who’s a gambler. I know that a lot of degens probably don’t like that. Or no, I take that back. A lot of degen is not gambling. I think a lot of the yields on a lot of DeFi protocols and stuff where you can get good yields is actually not gambling. But there’s also an element of gambling, of course. There’s always a lot of risk on these platforms. So degen is like a person who likes to gamble or or play around with their crypto on different ways to make money.
1:26AShort for degenerate, right?
1:28BYeah, degenerate.
1:30AOkay, awesome. And I’m curious, when you think about the community, you said the community inspires. Can you talk more about how you would describe the community of people you’ve met in this ecosystem? I think for most people, they would never imagine how international it is, how diverse it is. So I’m curious, how would you describe it?
1:45BIt’s super international. I think international is one of the, you know, kind of the the things I really love about this space. It’s like these conferences happen kind of everywhere in the world. I mean, right now we’re in New York, which is definitely a hub in the US, but it also happens in places like Miami or in the Bay Area or out around Europe, you know, Berlin, Paris, or Asia is definitely huge, Korea, Singapore. And in a lot of these places, you know, you see people from everywhere going to all of these places to to network and to kind of become one community, really. And I find that super fascinating. Like, a lot of us are nomads, right? And our home base is, well, not so much for me anymore, but our home base is an event like this. And I think that’s kind of what the Ethereum community actually provides. It provides this kind of home base to a lot of folks who work in this space or interested in the space, uh, and just kind of want to keep traveling as well.
2:52AOkay, awesome. And what are you working on these days?
2:56BYou know, right now, uh, I’ve really been looking at trying to, uh, run for local government.
3:02AOkay, really?
3:03BOh yeah.
3:03AOkay, in what capacity?
3:05BSo, um, you know, maybe city council or, you know, who knows, maybe I’ll just Hail Mary a higher seat. I mean, You know what, I’m gonna throw my hat in the ring for president. Maybe in a couple of years. I’ll say maybe in a decade.
3:21AWhy?
3:22BWhy? I think right now we’re in a very -- it’s a very -- US politics is in a state of flux right now. The Republicans are changing quite a lot. You kind of see a lot of the inner conflict within the party, within multiple sides of their party. And you see that in the Democrats as well, within the more progressive side and then the more traditional side. So you have kind of these conflicts in the party that I think then has more opening for new entrants, right? And combined with that, we’re seeing a record number of folks retiring. I mean, obviously Pelosi’s retiring this year, but she’s one of more than 50 Congress members who are retiring this year, and that is really unprecedented. So you don’t really get these kinds of opportunities very often where the parties are in such flux and where folks are retiring to make room for newcomers. So I think that’s gonna go on for the next couple of cycles. And then I think once we miss this opportunity, it’s gonna be a lot more challenging to get into office. given that politics is usually pretty static.
4:37AYeah, yeah. And you know what, something that stands out to me when you’re talking about that is, um, you know, we had some people on the Supreme Court step down the last time Trump was in office, and I know that was very controversial because then he was able to appoint people. Um, and I know RBG, she passed away, actually, I think is actually what happened, right? And so now you’re saying people in Congress are stepping down, which I would say is kind of a similar circumstance where we’re seeing, you know, doors open for new people to enter. And I’m curious, how do you see what, like, the next decade could look like You know, when these seats are filled with whomever shows up? You know, what are the potential futures we’re looking at? If you have a take, you don’t have to have a take, but that’s where you brought me.
5:12BSo I think I’ve seen some analysis that, like, folks have, like, on all these surveys and stuff, they’ve, you know, at least in California, you know, which has the highest population and stuff. So I think that, you know, it’s not representative, but it is somewhat representative. California has like kind of 3 -- it’s kind of a triangular political lean, more so than a bipolar blue and red lean, right? So you have the more kind of progressive folks, and you kind of can associate people in really kind of the more very progressive crowd in SF or, you know, Oakland, East Bay, Berkeley, North Bay, kind of with that very progressive wing.
5:12BAnd then on the other hand, you have this more technocratic wing. Which is definitely coming from all the tech people and kind of very pro-tech, almost more libertarian vibes, tends to vote Democrat, but that’s not reliable really. So you have kind of a distinct technocratic wing that’s really kind of catching on, I think. And then of course you have the more conservative wing as well. And I do believe that there could be room for a third party. Within the near future. I think especially given that now California, now 3 states have non-party primaries, that really, that could, I mean, the game theory changes a bit.
5:12BSo I don’t know if that does, but that could open the door for a third party. And I think that’s fascinating. Yeah.
6:46AOkay. And so say more about that. Like what’s exciting you about that premise?
6:51BI mean, the two-party system, I think a lot of folks say the two-party system is flawed. Even people who are very strongly pro one or the other party, they’ll still say, well, it’d be better if we were not in a two-party system.
7:05AYeah.
7:05BBut, you know, for the lesser of two evils, I am very much a Democrat or a Republican. Well, if we can break the two-party system, I think that’s, that’s an interesting That’d be a very interesting outcome. And I think a lot of folks would -- I think as soon as there’s a viable third party, I think people might start rallying around it.
7:30AI agree with that.
7:32BI agree with that.
7:32AI think it takes away one of the biggest tools of division that we see, you know, in this country at least. Okay, awesome.
7:38BYeah.
7:38AAnd I’m curious, last words. Do you have a message for the ecosystem? Oh gosh.
7:45BWhat should I say to the ecosystem? I mean, uh, uh, they always say HODL. I have not HODL’d, and I wish I had. Or certain things I wish I had and certain things I wish I didn’t. So, uh, don’t blindly follow any kind of advice.
8:08AMm-hmm.
8:09BUm, I think a lot of folks are very religious in this space. And I think historically religious folks have done well.
8:18ALike actually religious, or do you say that in terms of like being more cultic around participating in this ecosystem?
8:27BYeah, kind of the cultic, more religious vibe. They kind of got into this certain, you know, a certain religion, certain ecosystem maybe a decade ago, and they’ve, you know, kind of held. Yeah. And I think they’ve done very well. But I think for folks who are entering, you know, more recently, maybe a religious mindset is not going to be --
8:51ABe more open.
8:53BYeah, you got to be more open.
8:54AAwesome.
8:55BYeah.
8:56AAnd for those who aren’t in crypto, what do you think they don’t get? Like, what do you think is the biggest misconception that people have outside crypto and how would you address it?
9:10BIt’s not just finance bros and it’s not just tech bros. It is quite a diverse ecosystem. I mean, folks come into crypto because they’re passionate about the nonprofit space. They want more accountability for their, you know, for whatever area of ecology that they’re passionate about. They come because they want more transparency. They come because they’re more -- they’re privacy nerds. And I mean, folks do come as finance bros and tech bros as well. But I think there’s a lot more diversity in this space than you think. And these events are very open. Anybody can sign up and anybody can join a hackathon. Uh, and anybody can win. Um, yeah, anybody can do it.
10:07AHeck yeah. All right, man. Well, I’d love for you to say, like, I know you’re working on this project. I don’t know if you wanna speak about it at all, but you’re welcome to. Um, and if not, I’d love for you to say booyah. Booyah is how we close out a lot of our content. It’s like 3, 2, 1, and then we go booyah.
10:21BAll right. Booyah.
10:23ABooyah. All right. Thanks, Jeff.
10:25BAll right.
10:26AI appreciate it.
10:27BNice to chat.
10:28AHow was that for you? That’s fun.
