Roderik

Founder @Lemniscap - Cryptoassets Investments

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

Also live on @paragraph_xyz https://t.co/txf7dPRFZz

[blockhiro @blockhiro]

https://t.co/KnV6nXXLnL

[Roderik @Roder1k]

Unfettered power for the AI oligarchs is not a good idea.. some form of AI tax might also be appropriate. I'd throw in some anti-trust as well to keep some of the hyperscalers in check.

https://t.co/Y0RbVSMaFU

[Roderik @Roder1k]

Come and check out AI agent trading demo tomorrow, hosted by @lorenz0_xyz

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

Join us for a live session with @senpi_ai 🤖

We’ll cover how AI agents run trading strategies fully onchain with a real-time demo

Register here 👇
https://t.co/cKfhBcuDri

[Roderik @Roder1k]

People keep dismissing crypto because "the only successful use cases are finance / speculation". Even if that were to remain so, there's nothing wrong with that, it's huge on its own.

[Haseeb ＞|＜ @hosseeb]

With all due respect to Chris, I completely disagree with this take.

Chris argues that "web3," particularly crypto-powered gaming and media, failed due to scams and regulation, and that better regulation will unlock these non-financial cases.

OK, think about this for a second.

Does this pass the smell test?

Do you think web3 gaming failed because of Gary Gensler? Do you think web3 media plays failed because the scammers crowded out the honest media innovators? Really?

If this is true, why didn't they kill financial crypto, which had WAY more of both? Financial use cases were right in the crosshairs of the regulatory harassment, and they also attracted way more scams.

Why shouldn't we instead accept the more obvious answer: non-financial use cases for crypto have failed because no one wants them.

Let's just admit it. They were bad products. They failed the market test. It was not Gensler or SBF or Terra that caused these things to fail, it was that no one wanted any of it. Pretending otherwise is cope.

Enormous sums of capital and talent explored these ideas, and we should acknowledge what we learned. That lesson is not "if we just had better laws, then finally people would finally be using decentralized Spotify" or whatever.

Call a spade a spade. Every single use case in crypto that has worked at scale has been financial in nature.

2008: Bitcoin - non-sovereign store of value
2014: Tether - stablecoins
2015: Ethereum - programmable money
2017: ICOs - capital formation
2018: Prediction markets (Augur, later Polymarket)
2020: DeFi - literally finance is in the name
2021: NFTs - non-fungible financial assets (to the extent they worked)
2024: RWAs (the year BUIDL took off)

All this stuff was adopted bottoms-up. We as investors discovered that people wanted to do these things with crypto. The web3 consumer stuff, on the other hand, was primarily conjured up by investors and pitch decks, ZIRP accelerationism, and "wouldn't it be crazy if" blog posts. This was the opposite of the "what smart people are doing on their weekends" thesis.

In fact, if you go back to the Ethereum white paper from 2014, almost every single Ethereum use case Vitalik describes is financial in nature: token issuance, stablecoins, derivatives, on-chain treasuries/DAOs, on-chain savings, insurance, price feeds, escrow, gambling, prediction markets. It's all in there.

This is nothing to be ashamed of. Finance is almost 10% of GDP. It's an enormous part of the world economy, and banks are some of the lowest NPS score companies in the world. People hate their banks and the outdated financial architectures their money runs on. It's literally why Bitcoin was created. There is so much to innovate in the realm of finance, and I truly believe we are only at the beginning of that displacement. You don't need to assume anything more to project the next 10x in crypto.

The old saying goes "crypto will do to finance what the Internet did to every other industry."

I respect Chris's optimism. But 18 years in, we should not be propagating this meme about consumer web3 use cases as though they're inevitable. If you are hanging around the rim hoping that crypto is going to disrupt media and gaming, you should know the history and look at it with clear eyes.

Now if you as a founder believe that despite that, you know the secret to cracking this market--I respect that, and I certainly don't begrudge anyone to follow their convictions.

But I think it's important that investors be honest that all the evidence points the other way.

[Roderik @Roder1k]

This reminds me of a comment I saw about Trump that you (the USA) "found the most despicable person and elected him president. Twice." 👏👏👏

‘I Didn’t Make a Mistake’: Trump Declines to Apologize for Racist Video of Obamas https://t.co/Rl58mXWgfW

[Roderik @Roder1k]

How are those DATs working out for you? These things should have never existed, shame on the sponsors/enablers etc.

[Roderik @Roder1k]

DATs have no raison d'être 🧵

These vehicles are pure extraction machines dressed up as "democratising finance." Here's who's actually eating:

1. Zombie companies 🧟‍♂️ Near-death companies with zero fundamentals get a golden parachute + instant liquidity. It's a bailout disguised as a takeover.

2. PIPE investors 🦈 The real alpha: Get allocation → pump the narrative → dump on retail at merger. No lockups, no consequences. Classic rugpull with extra steps.

3. Sponsors 💸 up to 20% promote for... existing? VC-level carry for zero risk. Heads they win 10x, tails they still profit. The house always wins.

4. Investment bankers 🏦 Found a new fee extraction meta. Same playbook as 2008 CDOs but with better marketing.

Meanwhile retail? Exit liquidity. Again. DATs are just a TradFi version of a crypto slow rug.

Not financial advice, just pattern recognition 💀

#DATs #PIPEdump #DigitalAssetTreasuries

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

https://t.co/SZPUS5XbR0

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

That’s a wrap for this year’s Lemniscap Portfolio Day. Thank you all for joining us!

It was a blast. See you next year!

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

Last call! Lemniscap Portfolio Day kicks off at 12:00. If not already, you can still sign up here: https://t.co/gfguL6PUoR

Capacity is limited so join us early. First come, first serve with an approved QR code.

Looking forward to welcoming you all soon!

[Roderik @Roder1k]

Proud to back @flyingtulip_'s $200M seed. @AndreCronjeTech essentially wrote the playbook for modern DeFi—creating the core primitives that power the ecosystem. When an innovator like this builds again, you pay attention. We're in

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

https://t.co/EDFlo1Or3V

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

https://t.co/RXFfbyWzEO

[Roderik @Roder1k]

About time regulators look at the shenanigans surrounding those scammy constructs...

Unusual Trading Ahead of Crypto-Treasury Deals Draws Scrutiny From U.S. Regulators https://t.co/IFppuZ8CQK via @WSJ

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

Only a few days to go until the third annual Lemniscap Portfolio Day at @Token2049, happening on Tuesday 30 September. Don't miss the chance to network with our portfolio founders and industry leaders in Singapore!

Sign up here: https://t.co/bkd3jUTcec

[Roderik @Roder1k]

ICYMI, we're holding our portfolio day in Singapore at the end of this month!

#Lemniscap #Web3

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

We’re just over one month away from the 3rd annual Lemniscap Portfolio Day, set for Tuesday Sep 30th during @Token2049 in Singapore! Each year our gathering provides a unique platform to connect, exchange insights & explore collaboration synergies with top #Web3 stakeholders.

Don’t miss out! Register here: https://t.co/XUsre7C2Zh

[Roderik @Roder1k]

DATs have no raison d'être 🧵

These vehicles are pure extraction machines dressed up as "democratising finance." Here's who's actually eating:

1. Zombie companies 🧟‍♂️ Near-death companies with zero fundamentals get a golden parachute + instant liquidity. It's a bailout disguised as a takeover.

2. PIPE investors 🦈 The real alpha: Get allocation → pump the narrative → dump on retail at merger. No lockups, no consequences. Classic rugpull with extra steps.

3. Sponsors 💸 up to 20% promote for... existing? VC-level carry for zero risk. Heads they win 10x, tails they still profit. The house always wins.

4. Investment bankers 🏦 Found a new fee extraction meta. Same playbook as 2008 CDOs but with better marketing.

Meanwhile retail? Exit liquidity. Again. DATs are just a TradFi version of a crypto slow rug.

Not financial advice, just pattern recognition 💀

#DATs #PIPEdump #DigitalAssetTreasuries

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

https://t.co/4kR2lWZchO

[Roderik @Roder1k]

Onwards, let's see what we can do.

[DeCharge @DeCharge]

To everyone who's supported us so far - thank you🙏

It's still Day 1 for us at @decharge.

Tomorrow we'll be chatting with the @Lemniscap team on what our roadmap ahead looks like.

Trust us - you are NOT ready for the next 6 months ⚡️

[Lemniscap @Lemniscap]

1/5 We’re pleased to announce our role as lead investor in the $2.5M seed round for @decharge, which is building the future of EV charging with a decentralized, AI-powered energy network.

[Roderik @Roder1k]

Tired of seeing Elon's face everywhere