Carpe Consensus - OPINIONATED: ‘You’re Starting to Democratize Access’: Arca’s Jeff Dorman on Crypto’s Impact on Organizational Structure and Other Big Trends to Look for in 2021

OPINIONATED: ‘You’re Starting to Democratize Access’: Arca’s Jeff Dorman on Crypto’s Impact on Organizational Structure and Other Big Trends to Look for in 2021

01/17/21 • 23 min

What impact will crypto have on the nature of organizations? Will experiments in crypto’s governance lab lead to lasting trends in how companies are orchestrated?

This week on the “Opinionated” podcast we discussed this big topic with Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, a crypto hedge fund.

Dorman, a CoinDesk columnist, argues that “community tokens” (like LINK or SUSHI) will inevitably outpace “VC tokens” (like COMP, ATOM) because of the preferable incentives at play.

And he believes the trend of community ownership in crypto will meld with the wider shift towards companies doing right by a range of stakeholders as well as just their shareholders.

Dorman contrasts a decentralized finance (DeFi) project like Uniswap with Airbnb and DoorDash, which are now heading for initial public offerings. The former rewards liquidity providers (and soon token holders) who share in the system’s success. The latter companies were built on the work of homeowners and delivery guys, but all the gains from a public listing will go to stock holders.

“With digital assets, you’re starting to democratize access to these companies and you’re starting to spread out income inequality,” he says.

Incentives are key to make more democratic governance work. “Nobody cares about governance until it affects their bottom line. Twitter isn’t going to change its governance for the sake of ideology. If there’s governance for the sake of cash flows, that is another story.”

A sharp thinker with two decades of investing experience, Dorman had plenty of insights in our conversation covering bitcoin, nonfungible tokens (NFT) and Twitter in the wake of the Capitol attack this week.

Check out the episode now and read Dorman’s CoinDesk columns here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What impact will crypto have on the nature of organizations? Will experiments in crypto’s governance lab lead to lasting trends in how companies are orchestrated?

This week on the “Opinionated” podcast we discussed this big topic with Jeff Dorman, the chief investment officer at Arca, a crypto hedge fund.

Dorman, a CoinDesk columnist, argues that “community tokens” (like LINK or SUSHI) will inevitably outpace “VC tokens” (like COMP, ATOM) because of the preferable incentives at play.

And he believes the trend of community ownership in crypto will meld with the wider shift towards companies doing right by a range of stakeholders as well as just their shareholders.

“With digital assets, you’re starting to democratize access to these companies and you’re starting to spread out income inequality,” he says.

Check out the episode now and read Dorman’s CoinDesk columns here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

OPINIONATED: ‘COVID-19 Was a Catalyst’: Henri Arslanian on a ‘Game-Changing’ Year for Crypto and 10 Predictions for 2021

This week on the Opinionated podcast, we’re joined by PwC’s Henri Arslanian, the consultancy’s very smart global crypto hand.

Arslanian wrote a 2021 look-ahead op-ed for CoinDesk giving 10 Predictions for 2021: China, Bitcoin, Taxes, Stablecoins and More

He thinks next year will see a number of big trends in crypto come to fruition.

“2020 has been a terrible year for pretty much the entire world but when we look at it from a fintech and crypto perspective, it has been a game-changing year,” Arslanian tells me.

“COVID-19 really acted as a catalyst.”

Take bank notes. We’ve been using them less for years but the pandemic has really stopped us using them. At the same time, people are hoarding bank notes (because it’s a crisis), leading central banks to think more seriously about issuing their own digital currencies.

Next year, Arslanian expects to see the first retail digital currencies. All eyes will be on China’s advanced project.

Arslanian also discusses bitcoin, derivatives and taxes. He expects lots of M&A activity as crypto unicorns become “crypto octopuses.”

Listen in for one of the smartest consultants in the crypto space.

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Next Episode

OPINIONATED: Preston Byrne on GameStop, Online Mobs and Marmots

Preston Byrne is a partner in Anderson Kill's Technology, Media and Distributed Systems Group, and a CoinDesk columnist.

He joins CoinDesk Features Editor Ben Schiller to discuss his recent op-ed about GameStop, Robinhood and the rise of online mobs.

See the article here:

‘The Squeezening’: How the GameStop Backlash Will Curtail Freedom

Schiller spoke to Byrne about:

The rise of online mobs from GameStop to Capitol Hill and how the internet is impacting real life in an increasingly tangible way
What policymakers can do to prevent mobs doing damage to decent companies
Why it’s likely the WallStreetBets Reddit contained some pump-and-dumpers
How the regulatory reaction to the WallStreetBets could impact cryptocurrencies
How the backlash from “elites” impacted by GameStop could harm free speech
Why Preston Byrne supports marmots (which are like squirrels or groundhogs)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.