Conversation

1) Working together

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2) Before crypto, I worked on Wall Street. There were some partnerships there. there had to be; each trade relied on like 12 companies coming together. The buyer, the retail broker, the PFOF firm, the dark pool, the prime broker, the clearing and settlement, the exchange...

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3) And then again on the seller's side. And maybe an ETF issuer and an AP while you're at it. But given that, things were pretty cutthroat. Not fucking each other over actively--at least where I was, there was a strong ethos against doing anything that seemed negative-sum.

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4) But the industry is defined by competition. You wouldn't wander into one quant shop and see them shooting the shit with another. Exchanges don't really work together on much. Which isn't shocking! They are, after all, in competition.

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5) Crypto feels different.

hired

to upgrade their memeing game. Sometimes they said good things about competitors, and I don't think it's some galaxy brain move: I think they say it because they think it's true.

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6) Maybe it's part of being an underdog industry, but there really is a strong sense of being in this together. That we're working to move the space, and the world, forward, and we're happy when others do that too. There are partisans, but honestly they're the exception.

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7) People move companies, sometimes, and that's ok. If someone works at FTX but would be happier and more productive and valuable at

or

or

or

, that's ok! People should be where they feel valued and can help the industry thrive.

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8) This movement happens, now and then, at Wall St firms, but it's often acrimonious, not cooperative. I think it wasn't until we got to a certain size that I realized the extent to which we really did have to be good stewards of crypto.

6:22 PM · Jun 29, 2021Twitter Web App

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9) The second order effects, as we help the industry and that helps us, start to become significant. I've had calls with

and

@brian_armstrong

and

and

. Sometimes we find great ways to work together. Other times we don't, and that's ok.

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10) Part of the goal was to directly find things to cooperate on. But part was to prove that we can have calls to talk about cooperation. To prove to each other that, when the time comes, we'll pick up the phone, and be respectful and constructive.

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11) And, yes, there are the hacks, not exactly signs of being a good citizen. I wish there weren't.

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12) I do take solace in the fact that

and

@AlamedaTrabucco

and

and

and

don't try to exploit protocols; that they consider themselves stewards of the ecosystem as well. And when they can work together to make it better, they do.

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13) But exploits aren't specific to crypto, either. Have you ever seen a fund whose shares over time graph looks like this?

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14) The point, in the end, is: Some of us are competing with each other. It would be silly to pretend otherwise, and in the end that matters. But we're also working together to try to make the crypto industry one that can take off.

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15) There are some who aren't interested in cooperation or partnerships; or might say they are, but will defect whenever they can. That sucks. But there are more who _are_ interested in working together than there are those who aren't.

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16) I'd like to think we'd be there for our counterparties, our customers, and even our competitors, when they really need us. I'd like to think others would, too. It's one of the most powerful reasons that crypto has grown so much, so quickly.

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