It can often be difficult to explain cryptocurrencies to people. Heck, it's even pretty difficult to explain traditional fiat monies to people, so it's kind of entertaining when we see a traditional media outlet give either one a shot. No wonder then that when John Oliver gave explaining crypto a try on his HBO show Last Week Tonight, I was rather surprised by how well he and his team managed to bumble their way through to being generally correct about quite a bit. While there were some unfortunate missteps in the segment, it was a familiar kind of sight in that we often see a touch of confusion when people start grasping the basics of an emerging technology that promises to change the world. At the very least, it was encouraging to see the embrace of new and perhaps overwhelming information about something so commonly thought of as esoteric and strange.
Despite the fact that the segment was perhaps not on the level of a lecture from a blockchain luminary like Andreas M. Antonopoulos, the fact remains that Oliver and co' did touch on something that I believe deserves a great deal of attention when it comes to the developing blockchain space. The ratio of exuberant investment decisions to simple five minute pauses of consideration stands at something like a gazillion billion to one. That is to say that people act rashly quite commonly and arguably this has become a systemic problem in the space. While Oliver's segment might not have been a slam dunk when it comes to the potential of crypto, his call for caution in the face of an exuberant marketplace is something that I think is deeply meritorious. His clever contrast of the #HODLGANG hashtag to his newly created #CRAEFULGANG hashtag, while a little churlish spoke very effectively to the need for people to indeed be careful and consider more fully their choices in a very excited market environment.
This draws me to what I feel very positive on as I think about Oliver's call for craefulness. The fact is, the market has indeed been pushing for more blockchain projects to display greater opportunities for due diligence on the part of investors and there is an increasingly palpable feeling of disapproval for projects that so very obviously launch token sales in a quest for a quick buck. So as a member of the newly minted #CRAEFULGANG, I'd like to advocate that our community be given greater opportunity to participate in token sales that are carefully put together by thoughtful teams. Token buyers would be well served by having a product to evaluate, or at least a reasonable window of time to examine a prospectus before a call for investment is delivered with the sense of urgency that one might expect on a used car lot. One such team that has achieved this is a group that I'm very excited about, and that's The Neureal Project. Neureal actually has a functioning "minimum viable product" and plans to offer a token generation event to the public that promotes broad inclusivity over a period of time rather than seeking max funding within a very short window. Projects that do this should, in my humble opinion be held as a gold standard for how token sales are offered to the public. The team at Neureal went even further and adopted important hallmarks of Vitalik Buterin's recommended DAICO model that holds a project accountable to token holders rather than just collecting money and walking away to either succeed or fail. In fact, Neureal's accountability documentation actually predates Vitalik's published thoughts on this.
I suppose I should mention here that it is the existence of these qualities and more at Neureal that made me comfortable about accepting a position as an advisor to the project; a position I have been offered elsewhere and have rejected simply because most projects don't live up to the standards I've long been hoping for in the space. Oliver's message of calm consideration meets what I see as the market's first steps toward true accountability in the blockchain space and it's something I'm very happy to be a part of.
Oh, and just to end, in addition to all of the wonderful comedic gags in Mr Oliver's show, there was one thing in particular that did get an extra chuckle out of me which had to do with another project that I've some affinity for; the EOS project. Oliver coyly humoured the camera as he pondered EOS being the next google while clearly indicating that he expects to be terribly wrong about such a notion. Skillfully engaging in his comical pontificating by focussing on a member of the EOS project and his somewhat unconventional lifestyle including a rainbow themed wedding at the Burning Man festival, Oliver soundly mocked the project through cofounder Brock Pierce's free spirited nature. While Oliver kept up his gag about the project being so foolish and certainly not the next Google, I was reminded of the fact that a certain someone had invested $50 Million dollars into BlockOne, the expected company that will curate the project's ecosystem. That certain someone? Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google who was still on Google's board of directors when he made the investment.
All in all, I'm made very happy by your wonderful message Mr Oliver and I'm excited to see you coming into your own on the topic of cryptocurrencies. And who knows; #CRAEFULGANG may end up being about the most well grounded and rational gateway to the #HODLGANG. We might have you to thank for a whole new era of rational and level headed investment in the crypto space and heroism like that isn't easily forgotten.