Latest from Benjamin Schiller
Helium's Frank Mong: Building Out DePIN's First Big Success Story
Helium was a DePIN long before DePIN was a word. Long-time COO Mong is gratified to see (literally) a thousand projects emulating its economic model in 2024.
Fairshake: Crypto Titans Use Old-School Dollars to Turn Tide in Congress
The industry went from pariah in Washington to being a top political player in less than two years, thanks in part to unlimited spending and hard-nosed tactics.
Tigran Gambaryan: The Star Crypto Investigator Kidnapped by Nigeria
The star IRS investigator-turned-executive was unlawfully detained by Nigeria and charged with tax evasion for Binance. His case shocked the crypto industry.
Donald Trump: The Crypto President
His July speech at the Bitcoin Conference, in Nashville, was a turning point for crypto, promising an easier path for the industry heading into 2025.
Cynthia Lummis: Laser-Eyed Lawmaker
The Wyoming senator has been a major crypto supporter since joining Congress in 2021. Now she’s the leading advocate for creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Optimism’s Jing Wang and the Widely Adopted OP Stack
With Uniswap, World, Kraken, and Sony’s Blockchain Labs all adopting Optimism technology, Optimism was a clear winner in the Ethereum scaling race this year.
Mahesh Ramakrishnan: The DePIN Cheerleader
Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) took off bigtime this year, and EV3 Ventures’ Ramakrishnan was at the center of it all.
Balaji Srinivasan: Spreading the Network State
With renewing public institutions on the agenda, the Network State could be an idea whose time has come. If so, Srinivasan will again have been prescient.
Luca Netz: Powering Pudgy Penguins
Pudgy Penguins, the second most successful NFT collection of the last cycle, is pumping again. This time, it has a token to go with the cute plush toys.
Rune Christensen: Revamping the Maker/Sky
The issuer behind the largest decentralized stablecoin had a rebrand and looks set to benefit from clearer DeFi rules in the U.S.
