This interview is the long-form version of a conversation about the potential of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts with Matthew Roszak, Co-Founder of Bloq and Founding Partner of Tally Capital. www.bloq.com, www.tallycapital.com
Clips from the interview
A generational opportunity
“I haven’t seen anything this exciting in my entire investment career.”
Getting into bitcoin
“I came into bitcoin through a social gaming company, moving money cross-boarder. Friction was high. But when bitcoin came on the scene, I discounted it as silly Internet money. Lock yourself in a room and study the technology for a day, it’s the best advice.”
Decentralized network effects
“Blockchains are networks that are decentralized as a coorperative. What are the economics vs. today’s discussion, that is mostly about tech. The question tomorrow will be how to build network effects on these new railroads.”
A supercomputer in your pocket
“Disruption will come from “the bank of one”. The next generation of a banking network that resides on a phone. It’s not just for enterprises and governments but also for society. If you’re in the developing world, you have no access to the global financial system. But you have a supercomputer (smartphone) in your pocket, that connects you to the global economy.”
New railroads
“What the Internet did to media and communications, blockchain will do to many industries. New railroads emerge on top of the Internet. Payment rails within Facebook, Alibaba, Amazon. This will provide payment layers on top of their existing networks and create network effects within their pool of customers.”
Trillion-dollar protocols
“In the Internet, value is on top of the protocol in the application layer. But with blockchain, the protocol is more valuable than applications. Bitcoin is currently $15-20B, Ethereum $1B. Protocols could be worth trillions of dollars. You could be right on the space and wrong on the horse, but protocol networks allow you to participate in that value.”
The future of intermediaries
“Middlemen will have to face up to the fact that the center of their services is now free. They need to build new services around their network and brand as a network operator etc. The middle piece is being disrupted away by blockchain.”