The Network State Podcast

Where do you legally set up your DAO or web3 organization? You might check out the Marshall Islands. They recently passed a new bill that's a model for global crypto regulation. The Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Act of 2023 has several major features: it allows DAOs to be set up in 30 days, limits DAO liability for open-source, and makes clear that governance tokens are not securities. Joining Balaji today are the arc...

Joe Lonsdale is one of the most prominent investors in technology. He's the co-founder of Palantir, 8VC, Addepar, and the Cicero Institute — and one of Balaji's longtime friends. We have fun talking about education, longevity, space, and the little matter of completely reforming all governments with the internet. OUTLINE: 00:00 - How Silicon Valley got expensive 09:18 - Tech founders as philosophers 17:39 - 100% Democracy ...

Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, joins Balaji to talk about the new Solana Phone (https://solanamobile.com). The idea of the crypto phone is one where balances, encryption, privacy, and property rights are built into the very fabric of the operating system. Anatoly talks about how they did it. OUTLINE 0:06 - The Solana Phone 2:08 - Anatoly's Origin Story 6:03 - Solana Proof-of-History Algorithm 12:10 - Hardware Scales ...

Bryan Johnson founded Braintree and sold it for $800M. Then he plowed the proceeds into eternal life. He turned himself into the world's most measured man, got completely jacked, wrote a book, and just launched the Blueprint store (https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.com) for the world to copy what he's done. Now Balaji and Bryan talk about how we can extend lifespans through better technology. OUTLINE 0:00 - Bryan Doesn't ...

Read Write Own (readwriteown.com) is a new book by Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and founder of the largest crypto fund in the world. It's an important work that is simultaneously the best crypto tutorial for newcomers and an accessible reference for experts. Balaji and Chris are long-time friends and worked together at a16z for years. Here they discuss Read Write Own and the state of crypto in 2024...

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss talk with Balaji about how Washington, DC is losing crypto, while other countries like the UAE and Japan are winning web3.

OUTLINE

0:00 - I'm 6'5", 220, and there's two of me!

0:58 - Crypto flippening from America to Asia

7:15 - Crypto-friendly jurisdictions in the US: Wyoming, Tennessee

8:10 - The SEC is a failed regulator

18:45 - Crypto-friendly jurisdictions worldwide: Japan, Hong K...

The President of Palau and Balaji discuss how the tiny island country is becoming a digital leader, experimenting with everything from on-chain identity to drone delivery.  

Despite having less than 20,000 citizens, Palau is a full UN member state. Its path to diplomatic recognition holds many lessons for aspiring founders of new communities. Joining Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. in this chat is William Wang, founder of ...

Tobi Lütke (Shopify Founder & CEO), Kaz Nejatian (Shopify COO), and Balaji review how Shopify rose from tiny startup to $180B+ global economy, with an annual GMV on par with the GDP of New Zealand. In the process they touch on Hayek, the Hanseatic League, merchant cavemen, the history of the corporation, and the optimal level of platform decentralization.

OUTLINE
00:00 - Introduction
02:39 - Shopify has the scale of a s...

A discussion between Vitalik Buterin and Balaji Srinivasan on starting new countries, improving yourself, and upgrading Ethereum.

OUTLINE
00:00 - Introduction
01:27 - A brief history of Ethereum
16:54 - The DAO hack
20:32 - The Devcon 2 attack
33:24 - The Merge
35:52 - Ethereum Roadmap
47:41 - The de-OFACization of Ethereum?
1:06:18 - Starting new countries
1:22:20 - Svalbard
1:27:29 - Networ...