Preston Byrne - Crypto-pocalypse - [Invest Like the Best, EP.72]

My guest this week is Preston Byrne. Preston is vocal critic of crazy prices and projects in the world cryptocurrencies. His background is in the legal world and also as a founder and former COO of Monax, which made the first open-source permissioned blockchain client. As Preston says, he is a “blockchain without bitcoin” guy, who believes that this crypto mania will end in some sort of apocalypse for token holders and ICO issuers . We tackle several issues, from his broad skepticism of crypto assets, to the potential regulatory reaction from major governments, to types of coins like stable coins, which Preston views as analogous to perpetual motion machines. Please enjoy our conversation and for any crypto investors out there, let me know if this conversation affects your opinion of the investing prospects for cryptocurrencies. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Bitcoin white paper The Bear Case for Crypto Hash Power series Zero Hedge Preston tweet on Reverse network effect Show Notes 2:12 - (First Question) –Ponzi scheme vs pyramid scheme vs Nakimoto scheme 5:29 – Why there are regulatory challenges to cryptocurrency 5:33 – The Bear Case for Crypto 9:59 – Who are the most influential people supporting this and how are they swaying the regulatory minefield on this issue 10:28 – Hash Power series 13:23 – Looking into the idea of a digital asset and the difference between blockchain and the token itself 16:09 – What about the idea that cryptocurrency’s only feature is that it’s censorship resistant 18:39 – Why cryptocurrencies become less usable the more successful they are 18:59 – Zero Hedge 21:04 – Why can’t we rely on offchain solutions to solve the scaling issue 22:29 – The idea of bubbles and what happens next in this one 25:41 – What are the incentives to build technology to support cryptocurrencies 29:23 – Explaining Ripple 31:21 – What would precipitate a massive reversal in the inflated valuations of cryptocurrencies 34:52 – Understanding reverse network effects 34:36 – Preston tweet on Reverse network effect 37:45 – The principles behind Stablecoin 42:20 – What has been the greatest lesson that Preston has learned about blockchain he wish he knew when he first got started 44:05 – How embedded will blockchain be by 2024/2025 45:12 – ICO’s, why Preston is not a fan and if there are any positives to them 50:20 – What are the conditions under which these things will be viewed legally. 54:00 – Preston’s history owning cryptocurrencies 55:35 – What has Preston most excited in the space 59:02 – Utility settlement coin 1:00:36 – Why the fascination with marmots 1:02:10 – What to reference before getting started with cryptocurrencies 1:04:03 – Understanding supply chains in block chain 1:07:14 – Some smart people on block chain to follow 1:08:24 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Preston Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag