Neal Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” in his seminal 1992 sci-fi hit novel “Snow Crash.” Now he’s helming a metaverse blockchain company called Lamina1 and advocating for one free and open metaverse. He spoke to Dan Roberts and Stephen Graves at length about what he got right and wrong in “Snow Crash,” goggles and flat screens, Big Tech, NFTs and digital ownership, and more.
For more from Decrypt, visit decrypt.co and follow @gmdecrypt on Twitter. Be sure to join the gm Telegram room for direct access to our hosts and guests.
Hosts and guests:
Dan Roberts Twitter: @readDanwrite
Stephen Graves Twitter: @stephengraves
Neal Stephenson Twitter: @nealstephenson
Podcast thumbnail art by Grant Kempster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

gm: Neal Stephenson Maps Out the Metaverse

gm! Host Stacy Elliott and other Decrypt journalists bring you candid deep-dive conversations with the biggest names in crypto. Get schooled on the latest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, Metaverse, and all things Web3 culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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For a while there, Adidas Web3 lead Erika Wykes-Sneyd worried her push to get the 74-year-old brand working with Web3 partners might not work out. "Like signing a deal with the Bored Ape Yacht Club when Gargamel and Gordon were not doxxed individuals—that got me nervous," she told Stacy Elliott and Andrew Hayward. "Approving the first ever ETH purchase on a public company. Like DAX organizations are pretty risk averse. I was like, definitely could get fired for this." Spoiler: She wasn't fired. Now, the company's crafting narratives for its new ALTS collection.
For more from Decrypt, visit decrypt.co and follow @gmdecrypt on Twitter. Be sure to join the gm Telegram room for direct access to our hosts and guests.
Hosts and guests:
Stacy Elliott Twitter: @stacyannj
Andrew Hayward Twitter: @ahaywa
Erika Wykes-Sneyd Twitter: @shadows_eth
Podcast thumbnail art by Grant Kempster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

gm: Token-Gated Merch and ALTS with Adidas's Erika Wykes-Sneyd

Avenged Sevenfold lead singer Matt Sanders, a.k.a. M. Shadows, is rehearsing for the band's upcoming tour and also figuring out how to upend what it means to be a fan. The band launched a Deathbats Club NFT collection in 2021. That is to say, they were early. The lead singer said it was timed to give fans a chance to get comfortable with Web3 technology ahead of the group's 2023 tour, when the NFT holders can use their Deathbats for early access to tickets. M. Shadows also talks to hosts Andrew Hayward and Stephen Graves about AI and Web3 gaming.
For more from Decrypt, visit decrypt.co and follow @gmdecrypt on Twitter. Be sure to join the gm Telegram room for direct access to our hosts and guests.
Hosts and guests:
Andrew Hayward Twitter: @ahaywa
Stephen Graves Twitter: @stephengraves
M. Shadows Twitter: @shadows_eth
Podcast thumbnail art by Grant Kempster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

gm: Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows on Deathbats, Fandom, and AI

When Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi launched two years ago, CEO and founder Mitchell Amador says the bug bounties weren't great and adoption was slow. But the tides started to turn because even if exploiting a smart contract nets a bigger payday than a bounty, it comes with a huge drawback. "There's a ton of risk when you engage in this, you know, wantonly criminal behavior and steal $200 million from someone else," he said. "There's no way someone's not going to come looking."
For more from Decrypt, visit decrypt.co and follow @gmdecrypt on Twitter. Be sure to join the gm Telegram room for direct access to our hosts and guests.
Hosts and guests:
Stacy Elliott Twitter: @stacyannj
Liam Kelly Twitter: @Liam_Gallas
Mitchell Amador Twitter: @MitchellAmador
Podcast thumbnail art by Grant Kempster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

gm: Mitchell Amador, Immunefi's White Hat Whisperer

There's no doubt that the SEC dealt Kraken—and the outlook for crypto staking products in the U.S.—a big blow when it announced a $30 million settlement and ordered the company to stop offering the service to its customers in the states in February. Now Marco Santori, the company's chief legal officer, says the exchange is eager to move on from it. That means reckoning with a really challenging regulatory environment and growing its customer base overseas. And as Santori quips: "Kraken's master account application has not yet been rejected."
For more from Decrypt, visit decrypt.co and follow @gmdecrypt on Twitter. Be sure to join the gm Telegram room for direct access to our hosts and guests.
Hosts and guests:
Dan Roberts Twitter: @readDanwrite
Stacy Elliott Twitter: @stacyannj
Marco Santori Twitter: @msantoriESQ
Podcast thumbnail art by Grant Kempster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

gm: Marco Santori and Kraken Fight Back

Arthur Hayes says the speed at which projects like Terra grow and then implode is a feature of the crypto industry, not a bug. He founded crypto exchange Bitmex in 2014 and then became the original crypto bad boy. In 2021 the DOJ charged him in with violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act for not implementing an anti-money laundering program at Bitmex. He plead guilty and was sentenced to two years probation and six months of home detention. In fact, he was still sporting an ankle bracelet on a recent cover of New York Magazine. Now he's living in Singapore, offering up his views on the crypto industry with long form, meme-filled essays, and still thinks the crypto industry will save investors from what he calls a broken banking system. "I don't care if you're capitalist or you're a communist. Everybody put on a lot of debt. We've passed the point where that debt is becoming useful," he said. "And therefore everyone is going to take an L unless they get some crypto or some gold—some hard asset that's outside of the traditional banking system."
For more from Decrypt, visit decrypt.co and follow @gmdecrypt on Twitter. Be sure to join the gm Telegram room for direct access to our hosts and guests.
Hosts and guests:
Dan Roberts Twitter: @readDanwrite
Stacy Elliott Twitter: @stacyannj
Arthur Hayes Twitter: @CryptoHayes
Podcast thumbnail art by Grant Kempster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

gm: Neal Stephenson Maps Out the Metaverse

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