Musings on Technology
A personal collection of notes, reflections, and essays on technology, finance, and building — written over the years as I made sense of the ideas shaping our industry.
AI Coding Assistants Are Changing How We Build Software
GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and a wave of AI coding tools are transforming software development. After months of daily use, I can report: the productivity gains are real, the limitations are significant, and the implications for how we build technology — including crypto infrastructure — are profound.
RWA Tokenisation Crosses $1 Billion — The Tipping Point
Tokenised real-world assets on public blockchains have crossed $1 billion. Treasury bills, corporate bonds, and private credit are flowing on-chain at an accelerating pace. The convergence of DeFi and traditional finance is no longer a thesis — it is a market.
The Spot Bitcoin ETF Is Approved — A Decade in the Making
The SEC has approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously — including BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust. After a decade of rejections, Bitcoin now has a regulated, efficient investment vehicle accessible to every brokerage account in America. The implications for capital flows and market structure are profound.
2023 in Review: The Year of Convergence
AI exploded into the mainstream. BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin ETF. Tokenised Treasuries became DeFi's fastest-growing category. And the SEC went to war with the industry. 2023 was the year that AI, crypto, and traditional finance began converging — and the implications are just beginning to unfold.
SBF Found Guilty — Accountability Arrives
A jury convicted Sam Bankman-Fried on all seven counts in less than five hours. The verdict is a landmark: the most prominent figure in crypto's history will spend decades in prison. For the industry, it is both a reckoning and a turning point.
The AI Regulation Debate: Europe Leads Again
The EU AI Act is nearing final approval — the world's first comprehensive AI regulation. Like MiCA for crypto, Europe is setting the global standard. The framework's risk-based approach will shape how AI is developed and deployed worldwide. The parallels with crypto regulation are striking.
The SBF Trial and What It Means for Crypto
Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial has begun. The testimony is devastating — former colleagues describing systematic fraud, commingled funds, and a culture of deception. The trial is not just about one man. It is about the accountability structures that the crypto industry failed to build.
Institutional DeFi Is Quietly Arriving
While the SEC battles crypto exchanges, a parallel development is unfolding: traditional financial institutions are building on DeFi infrastructure. JPMorgan's Onyx, Aave Arc, and permissioned Uniswap pools are creating a new category — institutional DeFi — that may prove more consequential than the retail version.
AI Agents Will Need Crypto Rails
As AI systems become more autonomous — browsing the web, executing tasks, purchasing services — they will need the ability to transact. Traditional payment systems were not designed for machines. Crypto's programmable, permissionless infrastructure is the natural fit.
PayPal Launches PYUSD — Big Tech Stablecoins Arrive
PayPal has launched its own stablecoin — PYUSD — issued by Paxos and backed by dollar deposits and Treasury bills. A payment company with 430 million users now has its own dollar token. The stablecoin landscape just changed permanently.