Just spoke with a16z this morning on building the next wave of truly present companions. The CEO of Neopets and I are cooking up something very special to reinvigorate the brand that had 150 million users at its peak, and still maintains over a million active users today…😁
My reflection on the recent $PIZZA sale: the greatest success of Pizza Ninjas and RadFi - and the greatest failure (that can still be fixed) of the Bitcoin ecosystem
First of all - my sincere congratulations to @TO, @benny_options, @ninjalerts, and @radfi_btc. This event proved how strong the BitcoinFi community actually is.
Despite the lack of infra, slow transactions, and UI that looked more like 2017 - the @ninjalerts raised over $1M from more than 2000 participants
Many will call it a failure, but lets be frank - it's easy to host a sale when you already have ten launchpads, fast transactions, polished UX, and network full of stablecoins and tokens. Bitcoin doesn’t have that yet.
Yet. But it will.
What this shows is that, despite the small userbase, engagement within BitcoinFi is extremely high - and that's probably the best possible indicator of a healthy future ecosystem. All we need now is to figure out how to bring more people in
Investing in @ninjalerts was like building the Internet in the 90s - slow modems, broken websites, but a clear sense you were part of something bigger than just clicking buttons
And Im thankful to everyone who took part in it. Even though I personally have no connection to @Pizza_Ninjas, what you did was a major contribution to the future of Bitcoin - and a signal to other teams to start paying attention and to start building.
Those who supported $PIZZA probably didn’t do it for a quick gain. It wasn’t about trading - it was about momentum. The kind that usually starts everything.
I'm sure Pizza has a great story ahead - and this is just a beginning
About @radfi_btc
Huge thanks to @benny_options for supporting this sale and the upcoming ninja strategy. Building in an early ecosystem is often a thankless job - you spend months working, get little recognition, and see no results
But it's exactly that kind of work that creates the foundation the rest of the industry builds on. Thanks to @radfi_btc, Bitcoin-Fi today exists and functions as an actual ecosystem despite the limitations
And I hope that with new infrastructure projects (including @midl_xyz) @radfi_btc will be able to elevate its UX, add new features, and keep its well-deserved position at the top of Btcfi
The greatest failure
The $PIZZA sale reinforced my belief in Btcfi's future - but it also exposed its weaknesses. Our ord bubble is still ridiculously small. And I dont see many serious attempts to expand it aside from few local efforts like @btcbongo streaming on @pumpdotfun or $DOG bridge to Solana
We're literally 10–20 thousand people recycling the same narratives and ideas. If we don’t start expanding the ecosystem soon, the future might be far less exciting than we all hope.
And to attract the next wave of users, enthusiasm alone won’t be enough. We need infrastructure, real products, stablecoins, price dynamics with pumps and dumps, proper DeFi tools, and at least some native yields.
Otherwise, Btcfi will remain a club of enthusiasts with vision - not the ecosystem
I’m not here to shill @midl_xyz but the ecosystem simply needs at least one project capable of closing these infra gaps. Whether that's us or someone else - doesn't matter - without such infrastructure, there's no future
What proper infrastructure brings to the ecosystem
1. Lowers the barrier for new teams -> more builders, more users, more experiments
2. Fixes the UX problem -> retail stops running away from clunky 2017-style apps
3. Speeds up the experience -> no more waiting for block confirmations: BTCfi feels closer to Ethereum or Solana
4. Enables native stablecoins -> giving access to those who don’t hold BTC but chase yields
5. Creates native yield opportunities -> growing TVL, attracting whales and institutions
6. Builds trust and decentralization -> turning btcfi from gray zone into a legit ecosystem
I'm absolutely convinced we’re standing at the start of a true Bitcoin renaissance. $PIZZA proved that faith and enthusiasm are still stronger than infrastructure - and that's all we need to build the next chapter
The first millions came despite everything - no UI, no stablecoins, no comfort. The next billions will come because of what we build from here.
This is just the beginning for the Bitcoin ecosystem. And just like the eth summer a few years ago - it's already unstoppable!
What's better than a weekend getting closer?
A weekend with community Poker night! 🃏
After amazing sessions on Friday, community asked, and Umi listened: the next Poker Game will be this Saturday, at 20:00 UTC! Register now and don't miss out at https://t.co/cV7W56piId 🎲
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