Archive: decentralized finance
New Pick: A Sophisticated DEX Aiming for Cross-Chain Harmony
By Vin Narayanan on January 27, 2023
One of the trickier elements of crypto portfolio construction is knowing when to diversify and when to double down on elements that are working. In order to be successful, you have to do both. For the past 12 months, we’ve focused mostly on diversification. We needed to add exposure to decentralized finance (DeFi), interoperability protocols, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and more. Last month, we doubled down when we added GMX as our second DEX position.
Crypto Monitor: Understanding Institutional DeFi
By Early Investing on January 20, 2023
You’ve likely heard of decentralized finance, or DeFi. Now get ready for… institutional DeFi! Institutional DeFi refers to large institutions using DeFi protocols to tokenize real-world assets with regulatory compliance and institutional-level controls for consumer protection. Institutional DeFi comes with a lot of advantages — including…
What DeFi Needs to Mature Into a Thriving Ecosystem
By Vin Narayanan on December 2, 2022
Crypto Market Musings There are two things driving the market right now: FTX collateral damage and potential interest rate hikes. Every time an FTX domino falls — like BlockFi declaring bankruptcy a few days ago — crypto…
New Pick: The Best of the Oracle Blockchains
By Vin Narayanan on October 24, 2022
I say or write “timing the market is a fool’s errand”™ so often I’ve started trademarking it. It’s almost impossible to predict the bottom of any market. And crypto markets are much more difficult to predict than others. The crypto markets have been stuck in neutral for extended…
New Pick: An Ethereum Alternative With a Stunning Transaction Rate
By Vin Narayanan on August 11, 2022
As I’ve written — and said — often, trying to time the markets is a fool’s errand. The crypto markets, in particular, are too volatile to time precisely. And for buy-and-hold investors, investment time horizons are more important than investing at exactly the right moment. If you’re holding…
New Pick: A Deliciously De-Risked DeFi Crypto
By Vin Narayanan on June 17, 2022
As expected, the crypto markets tumbled this week (and some last week as well). The timing of the downswings are fairly predictable now — whenever new inflation data or interest rate hikes hit. The bad economic news triggers a sell-off…
New Pick: A Popular DeFi Coin With Promising Traction
By Vin Narayanan on May 20, 2022
The public markets are a mess. The private markets are a mess. The precious metals markets are a mess. And the crypto markets are a mess. Those are the facts. I fully expect the crypto markets to be highly volatile and continue to bottom out over…
Crypto Needs to Solve the Stablecoin Problem
By Vin Narayanan on May 20, 2022
Demo Day Alert Before we get to the crypto markets, we wanted to alert you to a really cool demo day opportunity. One of the things I love the most about being a startup investor is meeting founders and having them demonstrate their products to me. It’s a…
Crypto Insider: A Closer Look at Our Ethereum Competitor Recommendation
By Early Investing on May 2, 2022
Ethereum is a crucial network within the crypto ecosystem. It’s the backbone for much of the decentralized finance world. It’s by far the most popular network for decentralized apps. And most NFTs — which reached a trading volume of more than $17 billion last year — trade on…
New Pick: The De-Risked Ethereum Competitor Your Crypto Portfolio Needs
By Vin Narayanan on April 28, 2022
Most of you know that I’m an Ethereum bull. I believe that Ethereum is one of the most important networks in the crypto space. It’s the backbone for much of crypto’s decentralized finance (DeFi) system. Most NFTs trade on the Ethereum network. And trading volume for NFTs alone…
China May Lose Its Battle Against Crypto
By Vin Narayanan on November 17, 2021
I’m done with China. I’m done with it banning crypto transactions. I’m done with it pretending to protect the environment by banning bitcoin mining. I’m done with these silly little temper tantrums and fits impacting the crypto markets.
Crypto Insider: Regulators Set Their Sights on DeFi
By Early Investing on November 8, 2021
DeFi — or decentralized finance — is a hot topic in the crypto world these days. And regulators have their sights set on DeFi. In part, regulators are worried about potential fraud and scams. But, interestingly enough, they’re also focusing on what they think are centralized…
Crypto Insider: Regulators Push for Crypto Rules
By Early Investing on September 30, 2021
Legislators have caught crypto fever once again. In August, we covered Congress’ $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes overly broad language that forces most anyone who touches a crypto transaction to report it to the IRS. That requirement isn’t feasible for…
Why We Need Crypto Bears
By Adam Sharp on July 23, 2021
Lately I’ve been watching a crypto YouTube Channel called UpOnly. It’s run by two experienced crypto traders, Ledger and Cobie. In April, they hosted a show titled Big Brain Crypto Club. It…
A Bright Future: Startups, Bitcoin and DeFi
By Vin Narayanan on December 21, 2020
I am hopeful. That’s not an easy sentence for me to write here at the end of 2020. Even as the new year approaches, there’s still plenty to be concerned about. A close friend’s dad has taken a turn for the worse (not COVID related —…