The Chopping Block: A Network State in 10 Years? Balaji Srinivasan Says Yes - Ep. 379

Welcome to The Chopping Block! Crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news in the digital asset industry. In this episode, Balaji Srinivasan discusses his latest book, “The Network State, how different digital tools like crypto will help empower network states, and analyzes how crypto fits into the current political environment. 

 

Show topics:

• why Balaji wrote a book and why he is so enthralled with a digitized future
• what a “network state” is, and what components of crypto are embedded into the idea
• why Balaji is interested in “re-centralization”
• why Balaji believes that networks states need to be recognized by real nations
• what makes a network state better than a physical nation or digital community
• why Balaji thinks a community of people who eat a keto diet could be the first network state
• why Balaji thinks the network states will be a good thing
• where Bitcoin maximalism fits into the left vs. right political divide, woke culture, and Christianity
• what the overlap between politics and crypto will be going forward
• what is the best way to learn, read, and debate “The Network State”
• where crypto tools and communities have gone wrong so far and how the industry can improve going forward
• what lessons Balaji learned from the tech bubble in the early 2000s
• what Balaji’s over-under is for when the first network state will arrive
• Balaji’s pitch for a 50:50 BTC/ETH portfolio (note: not investment advice)

 

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/hosseeb
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Capital
• • https://twitter.com/tomhschmidt
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures
• • https://twitter.com/tarunchitra 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound 
• • https://twitter.com/rleshner 

 

Guest: Balaji Srinivasan

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/balajis 

 

Episode Links

 

The Network State

• ​​https://thenetworkstate.com/ 

 

Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital

• https://www.amazon.com/Technological-Revolutions-Financial-Capital-Dynamics/dp/1843763311