https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/10738139/armstrong-the-future-of-crypto
Podcast Introduction
Invest Like the Best was chosen as one of the top five podcasts rated by the Wall Street Journal. Its host Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management. The host speaks with investors, founders, and CEOs willing to share some of what they've learned in their lives. The podcast is now expanding its horizons to cover personalities from different fields like Politics, Journalism, and Media.
Guest Introduction
Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase – the world's most renowned digital currency exchange. The topic of the conversation is the future of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance.
December 2017 Madness
Coinbase saw daily signups on the platform jump from 500/day to a record high 500,000/day making Coinbase the top app on Appstore. The irrational exuberance was at its peak. The platform attracted novice traders and the general public dabbling without any knowledge treating crypto as a “get rick quick” scheme.
Like the Dot Com bubble, it burst. Investors got disheartened as the crypto prices crashed. Brian reckons this was needed as the churning of such investors with a "wrong mentality" rendered crypto assets some long term adoption and rational backers.
Post Crash
The core technology and vision have strengthened. Central Banks are pushing for digital currencies on the back of Facebook’s announcement of the Libra Project. Chinese Yuan and US Dollar are exploring in this direction.
Next-Generation Blockchain and Smart Contracts led Decentralized Finance has gained traction focusing on scalability, developer tools, and faster transactions. Brian draws a parallel with the Internet migrating from Dial-Up to Broadband.
Where Traditional Finance stutters
Brian explains the Open Financial System by contrasting it against traditional financial systems. Traditional financial systems function on the back of robust credit and steady inflation. Domestic transactions are seamless with plenty of options for peer to peer as well as merchant payments.