John Zettler

Product leader @krakenfx (trade, earn, borrow)
Prev @coinbase, $cbETH, @rareartlabs
Builder. Investor. Writer.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

Five years ago, I found a Lost Robbie in a drawer.
One of 300 frames of Robbie Barrat’s AI art, given away at Christie’s in 2018.
Today I’m launching a tracker for the finds, the sales and the story.
How many other drawers hold one?
@videodrome

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

$NVDA is one of the biggest longs in my portfolio.

I’m not sure I want to hold the stock without Jensen at the helm. Certainly not at this size. The Board should reinstate.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@_itzsammy No different than land or capital.

The wonder of capitalism is that we can combine these resources into something humans demand more.

That value creation benefits all sides: the input provider, the customer, and the entrepreneur. Every trade is voluntary.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@rivatez Interesting. Where do you track space weather?

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@ThomBrady5 I’m bullish and optimistic for industrialization of the South, but how would one express this view as an investment? Bitcoin was easy (in retrospect). Not sure about this one

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

Discovering suburbs from first principles

[Viktor Bunin 🛡️🇺🇸 @ViktorBunin]

As a father who just chose not to send my older son to public school, here's what's happening:

1. NYC public schools are full of woke, mentally ill people. The teachers, the students, the counselors, everyone is wacked out. If you're just a normal parent that wants a normal school with a normal focus on education, good behavior, friendship, manners, etc. you are shit out of luck.

2. While there are some good elementary schools, most middle schools are atrocious, and result in some of the biggest drops in education outcomes. Even if you send your kid to a good elementary public school, you're 100% going to move in time for middle school. And if you make it to high school, your only hope are the specialized schools, but mamdani the islamist is intent on destroying them, which would completely fuck your kids.

3. The average kid in an average NYC public school is stupid as hell. 70% do not read proficiently for their grade level. They can't do math. They have a ton of behavioral issues and are bad influences on your kid.

As a normal father of a normal family I'm paying an absurd amount of taxes and for what? My hard earned money is being wasted on the comically evil teachers union, paying adult day care fraudsters, and subsidizing the "73% of public school students in poverty." This is just a scam. Those kids are not in poverty. Their parents work under the table, don't report anything to not pay taxes, and get ridiculous government subsidies.

Everyone is running a scam and families like mine are paying for it. It's no wonder so many of my peers left and despite living in NYC for coming on 30 years, I probably will too at some point.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@ViktorBunin The scam won’t stop

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

there are months that feel like days happened

and days that feel like months happened

today was the latter. time for a drink...

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@alive_ @a16z @cdixon @bhorowitz @pmarca LFG! Onward and upward 🚀

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@sidrmsh very cool – excited to check it out!

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

Damnit now I need a Roadster

[Mippo 🟪 @MikeIppolito_]

People are sleeping on @Payward

They're still behind Coinbase and Robinhood in terms of volume, but they're coming up fast.

Entirely different energy from a couple of years ago, very impressive to see and a company to keep an eye on.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

For those who don’t know… LFG Ventures’ newsletter is one of the higher signal/noise missives in the growth equity investing space

[Rob Madelmayer 🇺🇸 @RMadelmayer]

4 of our top investors unsubscribed from our deal list this week.

Then I called each of them because this seemed odd.

Every single one was an AI assistant doing an inbox cleanup. Muse, Instinct, etc. None of it intentional.

Bots are unsubscribing people from deals they actually want.

Stay vigilant out there.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@brian__foster @Morpho @PaulFrambot Wow! Major hire. Congrats @brian__foster & @PaulFrambot

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

Good takes on the state of crypto right now

[Mippo 🟪 @MikeIppolito_]

I spent the last two weeks in Asia at DAS Asia, Token2049, and KBW.

It's been said a lot but I'll repeat it: the industry has fundamentally changed.

My thoughts on why below.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

@bot give my bot an email address

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

Reminder to turn on PIN codes for Uber & Lyft.

Drivers can’t start a ride without you. Other passengers can’t steal your ride.

[Elizabeth Laraki @elizlaraki]

An Uber driver totally scammed me:

→ 2:53AM picks me up from hotel (drives 19mins)

→ 3:12AM drops me at the airport (then stays put and leaves the trip running for another 1hr 11mins)

→ 4:25AM ends the trip

Uber has no classification for this type of fraud.

It was early, I had barely slept the night before and was bleary eyed. But the middle-of-the-night prices in Mexico City were $10 for Uber X or $25 for Black SUV. I splurged.

The guy showed up in a huge black Suburban with Mexican flags proudly waving from the front of the vehicle.

There was no traffic and the trip was 19mins.

We pulled up to Terminal 1, I hopped out and he handed me my bag. I asked if I could take a photo of his flags and with his consent, I did. That photo was time stamped 3:12am.

I went through security, bought some water, found a seat in surprisingly packed terminal and read for an hour. As I boarded the plane ~4:30, I got a notification that my Uber was $66 and was confused but didn't have the time or capacity to figure it out.

When I got home, I looked into what could possibly have happened. Yes the estimate had been $24.56. No, there were no extra fees. And that's when I saw that the driver ran the trip for 1hr 31mins (instead of the 19mins it actually took).

No problem, I went right into Uber support. But that's when I realized there actually was a problem: My issue didn't fit neatly into any of Uber's support queues. It wasn't a route issue, it wasn't an incorrect origination or destination, it wasn't a no-show.

The driver just literally sat in place for an extra 1hr 11mins, running the trip (likely until another customer requested a ride). And this was a scam that Uber didn't classify as a scam.

I have photographic evidence that I was outside the vehicle at 3:12pm and credit card purchases from inside the airport while the driver was running the trip.

But Uber support doesn't consider this fraud and their AI support chat is totally useless.

If you're still reading and...
1. You work at Uber, fix the loophole and please help.
2. You take Uber, make sure your driver ends the trip when you arrive.
3. You take Ubers in Mexico City, avoid my schmuck of a driver.

I would like to think the driver didn't intentionally run the meter for an additional 1hr 11mins, but I am starting to lose faith in my initial optimism. I haven't yet given the driver a 1 star rating, but if Uber won't acknowledge this, I don't have much choice. This isn't about the $40. It's about the loophole, the violation, and the lack of Uber support to correct the issue and penalize the driver.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

To echo Chairman @SECPaulSAtkins: Commissioner @HesterPeirce, thank you for standing up for the crypto industry when it meant standing alone.

Your courage helped protect livelihoods and keep crypto jobs here in America. We won’t forget it. You will always be our "Crypto Mom" ❤️

https://t.co/Xffvme2Yd3

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

This rocks! Everything is computer.

[Department of State @StateDept]

SECRETARY RUBIO on https://t.co/pt9rQXC44r PASSPORTS: No printing forms, no drugstore hostage photo, no appointment, no line, no middleman that you're paying to do something that should be available to you.

[John Zettler @johnzettler]

accelerate! 🚀

[Elena Nisonoff @elenanisonoff]

Imagine running agents on your boy’s hotspot at the Beford L grind sesh