Fwd: Merry Christmas, Elon wrong on crypto, Sam Altman psychoanalyzed, George Michael & Wham! top the charts, Narcro Su…
Gunnar Larson
g at xny.io
Tue Dec 26 06:42:08 PST 2023
One of the best Christmas newsletters I have ever read.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: The Cryptonite Weekly Rap <cryptoniteventures at substack.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 25, 2023, 8:24 PM
Subject: Merry Christmas, Elon wrong on crypto, Sam Altman psychoanalyzed,
George Michael & Wham! top the charts, Narcro Su…
To: <g at xny.io>
Peace on Earth and goodwill toward all Merry Christmas and blessed holidays
to you🎅🏽🙏🏼. Not being one to get caught up in the commercial side of
Christmas, I relish the quiet of the end-of-the-year break and try to use
it as a time to stand above all the noise and re-assess the ‘noble cause.’
One data point I discovered when responding to Marc Andreessen’s
Forwarded this email? Subscribe here
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for more
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Merry Christmas, Elon wrong on crypto, Sam Altman psychoanalyzed, George
Michael & Wham! top the charts, Narcro Subs cruise the Amazon, and more
tidbits...
<https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=1665481&post_id=140040482&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1p5v0z&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDI3MzAwNjcsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE0MDA0MDQ4MiwiaWF0IjoxNzAzNTUyMTI2LCJleHAiOjE3MDYxNDQxMjYsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0xNjY1NDgxIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.XXuvYbCdjtDAg39V_ayhAN0FsywcHrkjMMpUBOQ19P0>
The Cryptonite Weekly Rap <https://substack.com/@cryptoniteventures>
and Anthony
Perkins
<https://substack.com/redirect/f48b75af-5b4b-47f9-b524-8687559fb213?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Dec 26
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READ IN APP
<https://open.substack.com/pub/cryptoniteventures/p/merry-christmas?utm_source=email&redirect=app-store>
<https://substack.com/redirect/cb3fbd16-bac7-406f-aac4-e220c84bd00d?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>Peace
on Earth and goodwill toward all Merry Christmas and blessed holidays to
you🎅🏽🙏🏼.
Not being one to get caught up in the commercial side of Christmas, I
relish the quiet of the end-of-the-year break and try to use it as a time
to stand above all the noise and re-assess the ‘noble cause.’ One data
point I discovered when responding to Marc Andreessen’s *The
Techno-Optimist Manifesto *last month is the fact that the poverty rate
dropped most dramatically right alongside the development of the World Wide
Web and commercialization of the Internet, and it turned out not to be a
coincidence. It is called the benefits of increased transaction velocity.
[image: AI—Good or bad? Marc Andreessen has an opinion on that and a few
other things]
<https://substack.com/redirect/0adc0d8f-e67b-427a-a338-3ad4bd79e2ba?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
AI—Good or bad? Marc Andreessen has an opinion on that and a few other
things
<https://substack.com/redirect/0adc0d8f-e67b-427a-a338-3ad4bd79e2ba?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
The Cryptonite Weekly Rap
<https://substack.com/profile/146561965-the-cryptonite-weekly-rap> and Anthony
Perkins
<https://substack.com/redirect/fe83a38e-e599-4731-92b4-f8edae815774?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
·
Oct 19
Read full story
<https://substack.com/redirect/0adc0d8f-e67b-427a-a338-3ad4bd79e2ba?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
<https://substack.com/redirect/f7b9185c-ba7e-40db-bc26-4c57bcd7d327?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
*The
World Wide Web (WWW) was developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, Switzerland,
in 1989
<https://substack.com/redirect/f0f55494-c6bc-4902-8b80-19ef29c1e360?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>,
which marked the beginning of a huge downward spike in the global poverty
rate.*
For those of us who rode bustin’ broncos during the Web1 and Web2 rodeos,
this is something to feel good about. It was a noble cause, and we didn’t
even know it ;)
Speaking of increasing the velocity of transactions, the 260 million
Chinese participating in the pilot program for the most successful
government-backed digital currency on the planet—the CCP’s e-CNY—are doing
just swimmingly using the e-CNY as a payment source for over 200 designated
services. It is beyond words why the US is so crypto tone-deaf, and this
subject has not been a subject of the US Presidential debates. I sincerely
hope South America takes off and lights a fire under our ass.
*"Right now, the balance of e-CNY is tiny, but this small balance supported
a big number of transactions, which means that the velocity of digital
currencies is significantly higher and more efficient than fiat by orders
of magnitude.’ *
*—Yi Gang, Governor of the Peoples Bank of China*
[image: The Bitcoin founders did it, and China's doing it. Where is the USD
global digital currency?]
<https://substack.com/redirect/a172cdc2-653b-4b17-9632-c62a59eac205?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
The Bitcoin founders did it, and China's doing it. Where is the USD global
digital currency?
<https://substack.com/redirect/a172cdc2-653b-4b17-9632-c62a59eac205?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Anthony Perkins
<https://substack.com/redirect/fe83a38e-e599-4731-92b4-f8edae815774?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
·
Aug 7
Read full story
<https://substack.com/redirect/a172cdc2-653b-4b17-9632-c62a59eac205?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
The CCP's digital currency success so far does help prove the promise of
Web3. At a minimum, we can continue to step up transaction velocity and
drive the poverty rate into the ground—basically eliminate world hunger. We
have no doubt we will accomplish this. Our further fantasy is for
individuals to be able to buy groceries and supplies for validated single
mothers and others in need on a direct giver-to-receiver blockchain dApp,
that offers transparency and traceability, and issues givers a token to
easily deduct donations on their tax returns. Now, that is a noble cause!
[image: What question would you ask the US Presidential candidates in 2024?]
<https://substack.com/redirect/9d9e69a2-dbe4-4ee6-8b98-0ac6c6b4a405?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
What question would you ask the US Presidential candidates in 2024?
<https://substack.com/redirect/9d9e69a2-dbe4-4ee6-8b98-0ac6c6b4a405?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
The Cryptonite Weekly Rap
<https://substack.com/profile/146561965-the-cryptonite-weekly-rap>
·
Oct 11
Read full story
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------------------------------
At Cryptonite, our noble cause is to do our best to chronicle the
entrepreneurs and enterprises driving Web3, as well as Greentech and the
Life Sciences. In 2024, we plan to support the *Weekly Rap* with a web and
mobile app-based *Daily Rap *and start producing insider interviews
and *Founder
Pitches* on our *Cryptonite Live!* webcasts. We are also set to introduce
AI-enhanced indexes with proprietary analytics for private companies,
altcoins, and VCs.
<https://substack.com/redirect/0e2317ef-9334-4b8d-a0fc-5e8fa582fee3?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
*British
humor.*
As always, we will live by the editorial approach that presumes reader
intelligence, strives to speak simply and to the point, and be upfront
about our worldview. And, like the old *Red Herring* and the
180-year-old *Economist
<https://substack.com/redirect/42e2597a-c3b5-4b48-b9e2-d3ee15aace77?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>*
magazine,
we will win trust by being straight up, doing our homework, and driven by
critical thinking. Media brands today are shallow sycophants to the
fashionably elite and try to hide their biases, which is why they are now
rapidly losing trust and failing.
Cryptonite is also about the American dream, which is simply supporting the
freedom of an individual to be whomever they wish to be as long as they
respect others—and believe this dream is our country’s greatest advantage.
This is why one in five potential migrants—about 158 million adults
worldwide
<https://substack.com/redirect/5dc54fd1-a21a-49a6-89d4-9f4bf258c06c?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>—name
the US as their desired future residence. This is not something to fear;
this is a great compliment!
<https://substack.com/redirect/091ff002-0a06-431d-9f43-04595a04f035?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Cryptonite is also about the American dream, which is simply supporting the
freedom of an individual to be whomever they wish to be as long as they
respect others—and believe this dream is our country’s greatest advantage.
This is why one in five potential migrants—about 158 million adults
worldwide
<https://substack.com/redirect/5dc54fd1-a21a-49a6-89d4-9f4bf258c06c?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>—name
the US as their desired future residence. This is not something to fear;
this is a great compliment!
But in America, we know in our hearts we are not living up to this dream.
The social network and corporate media honchos and politicians have chopped
us up into little groups of shallow stereotypes and successfully pitted us
against each other for their own survival (so they fantasize).
Part of our noble cause is to try to help bring people back together around
the American dream to live and let live.
To achieve this, Cryptonite promises to never utter political labels or
partisan talking points. We will focus on innovation and its impact and
opportunities. We will stick to facts-based journalism and well-reasoned
opinions. Our nature is to challenge convention, spark debate, and teach
but also learn. It’s an honest job if we do it right—and the kind of duty
the world needs right now to keep the powers that be honest and at bay.
This month marks our 6th month of publishing, and as noted, we have big
plans ahead. If you are feeling generous this Holiday Season, we would
appreciate your support by becoming a paid member of our community below.
We like to keep most of our content free, as we calculate we are gaining 30
to 50 new young subscribers a day. But we do aspire to grow in 2024 and
bring on more talent to serve you better, and that will require new
investments.
We thank you for every time you land on one of our pages and look forward
to being with you on the brilliant journey in store for us in 2024 and
beyond.
*—Anthony Perkins, founder & editor, Cryptonite, Christmas Day 2023*
Cryptonite Weekly Rap’s paid members gain access to company and investor
lists and analytics and enjoy invitations to private events and global
summits. 💪🏼😎
Upgrade to paid
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Pay for annual subscription with Crypto!
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George Michael & Wham! top Christmas song chart for 2023
The late George Michael and Wham!’ Christmas tune, Last Christmas, is the
No 1 this season, 39 years after the song was written. The hit was streamed
13.3 million times this week and was helped along by special vinyl and CD
editions. The song’s official YouTube video
<https://substack.com/redirect/0cda9ee8-0a9c-44a7-8e52-3795b0e137af?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>has
over 862 million views.
<https://substack.com/redirect/6c7ed94a-c378-4ddc-9529-9d1244ff2f4f?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
*“George would be beside himself that we’ve finally obtained a No. 1
Christmas song. George said he wrote Last Christmas
<https://substack.com/redirect/0cda9ee8-0a9c-44a7-8e52-3795b0e137af?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
with
the intention of it being the No 1. Christmas song in 1984, and it was a
huge disappointment to us both when it didn’t reach No. 1 in 1984. Over
recent years, it seems it’s become part of the fabric of Christmas for a
lot of people, and so here we are in 2023—Mission accomplished!”*
*—Wham! ’s Andrew Ridgeley*
*Last Christmas
<https://substack.com/redirect/0cda9ee8-0a9c-44a7-8e52-3795b0e137af?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
*was denied the festive top spot back in 1984 by the release that same year
of Band-Aid’s Christmas song, *Do They Know It’s Christmas?,* which also
featured George Michael. We prefer the latter song of the two and posted it
below—How many 1980s icons in the music video can you recognize?
(Hints—Bono, Sting, Boy George, Phil on the drums…).
Did you know?
(*Overheard on the streets of the global Silicon Valley. Got any hot
insider tips? Email us editor at cryptoniteventures.com
<editor at cryptoniteventures.com>*)
Billionaire Boys & Girls Club
The *Washington Post* has written a longer gossipy piece about OpenAI’s Sam
Altman’s rise within a cabal of Silicon Valley top investors, including his
mentors: Peter Theil, Vinod Khosla, and Y-Combinator founder Paul Graham.
Typical of an article of this nature, the Post’s authors also play a game
of ‘palm journalism’ in the absence of critical analysis or conclusion. On
the one hand, Sam is positioned as the ‘strategy genius’ who sees
trillion-dollar opportunities before everyone. Yet, on the other hand, he
is an aloof, manipulative, and sometimes revengeful manager.
Our observation (we have yet to meet the man) is Sam Altman has proven
himself as a modestly successful entrepreneur (he made $5M for selling his
first company, Loopt, for $43M, after raising $21M in VC) to a successful
connector and early-stage investor as the young President of Y-Combinator
<https://substack.com/redirect/e6d30f1c-0c09-4c4e-a45f-5d1a9a212a9b?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>.
Still, it is way too early to claim victory at OpenAI.
<https://substack.com/redirect/f9946570-5ecb-4a39-9609-11fc1b8824bd?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
*An
analogy to where the AI business is today. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
only made 200 Apple-Is back in 1976 and sold them for $666.66..
<https://substack.com/redirect/4aa3b357-c147-4f65-8cd9-279eea3aa3f7?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
This one was sold for $400,000 at an auction in 2021.*
Despite our respect for the genius and success of Sam’s three mentors, we
see several red flags in Mr. Altman’s story that cause some pause. First,
Sam showed a lack of savvy by structuring OpenAI to report to a non-profit
board, which was clearly a flawed and unworkable idea from the beginning
and ironically led to his temporary ouster.
[image: OpenAI's Sam Altman out—maybe]
<https://substack.com/redirect/8549afb5-6afd-4969-ad45-d3cbe7486701?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
OpenAI's Sam Altman out—maybe
<https://substack.com/redirect/8549afb5-6afd-4969-ad45-d3cbe7486701?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Anthony Perkins
<https://substack.com/redirect/fe83a38e-e599-4731-92b4-f8edae815774?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
·
Nov 19
Read full story
<https://substack.com/redirect/8549afb5-6afd-4969-ad45-d3cbe7486701?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Second, Sam is said to operate ‘more as an investor, rather than a CEO.’
This is a problem because investors are always looking for the next deal,
whereby CEOs must maniacally focus on their company’s handful of top risks
and solve them. Two completely different mentalities.
And finally, as an extension of the last point, Sam seems scattered
literally all over the map, while his only real job of claiming the
generative AI throne is very far from achieved. OpenAI is living in a
highly competitive, overheated marketplace that is very competitive. Using
ChatGPT today is like playing Pong on an Apple I with a wooden keyboard
back in 1976—It was insanely cool then but still a $666.66 toy. Sam still
has a huge mountain to climb.
[image: Top AI & ML private companies nominated to the Cryptonite 300
competition for 2024]
<https://substack.com/redirect/e3d10c62-eef3-454f-833d-febdf97a6dd3?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Top AI & ML private companies nominated to the Cryptonite 300 competition
for 2024
<https://substack.com/redirect/e3d10c62-eef3-454f-833d-febdf97a6dd3?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
The Cryptonite Weekly Rap
<https://substack.com/profile/146561965-the-cryptonite-weekly-rap>
·
Nov 4
Read full story
<https://substack.com/redirect/e3d10c62-eef3-454f-833d-febdf97a6dd3?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Sam is literally scattered all over the map trying to create a Worldcoin,
hop-scotching the Middle East seeking money to build AI chips, a giganticly
expensive endeavor, and schmoozing politicians. Sam demonstrates a clear
sense of urgency about OpenAI’s ‘ever-expanding capabilities to make huge
profits,’ yet he lacks the Steve Jobs-like focus.
Sam posted this advice to entrepreneurs back in 2019, ‘You also want to be
an exponential curve yourself - you should aim for your life to follow an
ever-increasing up-and-to-the-right trajectory.’ That sounds lovely, but
the law of physics also states that given today's technology, if you are
flying much faster than Mach 3, your aircraft is likely to blow up in
mid-air.
[image: Sam Altman's plan for Worldcoin domination]
<https://substack.com/redirect/b08b7c22-294f-4fdf-a61c-866ca891e7b2?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Sam Altman's plan for Worldcoin domination
<https://substack.com/redirect/b08b7c22-294f-4fdf-a61c-866ca891e7b2?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
Anthony Perkins
<https://substack.com/redirect/fe83a38e-e599-4731-92b4-f8edae815774?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
·
Jun 16
Read full story
<https://substack.com/redirect/b08b7c22-294f-4fdf-a61c-866ca891e7b2?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
UnSocial Networking
In an interview on X last Thursday, Elon told ARK Invest Boss Lady and
Tesla bull Cathie Wood he wants to grow X by turning it into a ‘giant
brain’ and adding financial services to the platform. Elon has the AI
pedigree to build the brain, but is he right enough about where payment
services are trending to pull from the financial services platform?
*“‘I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrency—hardly any at
all. I have thought for a long time about money and the nature of money,
and it’s really a database for resource allocation. Fiat currency is
actually fine as a database for resource allocation, provided that it’s
rules-based and there’s not much abuse from the government. You want to
minimize noise, minimize latency, and minimize packet loss. Inflation adds
noise to the system.”*
*—Elon’s response when he was asked about Bitcoin*
We have no doubt that in spite of losing nearly half its value since Elon
bought the network, he and X Boss Lady Linda Yaccarino will diversify and
grow X’s paid services business and get back into growth mode. Most of the
loss in X’s value had to do with being overvalued in the first place by bot
traffic and an industry-wide advertising slump.
>From the very beginning, Elon always said he wanted to be the WeChat of the
West. [WeChat is a Chinese social network app that combines instant
messaging and mobile payments developed by Tencent with 1.3 billion users
vs. *X* at 556 million.] Twitter has primarily operated as a one-trick pony
with a group chat supported by advertising.
<https://substack.com/redirect/b8832c86-89ce-4d31-af22-142437b6c815?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
*The
Facebook/Whatsapp/Instagram cabal still dominates social.*
Elon's weak position on Bitcoin and his resolve to trust Fiat currencies
are definitely anti-trends. If Elon wants to be a payments platform, we
suggest
<https://substack.com/redirect/8333c04b-2302-45c6-b2ee-4195269b3ef9?j=eyJ1IjoiMXA1djB6In0.5Szn4CYVluYxbDPnqVhSiylyhBLFmwyRmnG-VvbUuSI>
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