@danielmcglynn.bsky.social
I write about crypto and the internet at http://danielmcglynn.com/
Decentralized prediction markets are finally scaling.
The dream: sharper foresight, priced into public markets.
The fear: monetizing vibes, turning democracy into a betting pool.
A look at the paradox at the heart of Open Money:
www.danielmcglynn.com/future-of-pr...
Zero-knowledge proofs sound abstract — until you realize they can change how we trust software, data, and institutions.
I talked with Samuel Judson, head of zkVM engineering at Nexus, about why zk tech is having a moment — and what’s coming next.
🎧 Listen: open.spotify.com/episode/0PJX...
The myth gave Bitcoin its rhythm.
But markets grow up. Narratives evolve. Scarcity rituals now coexist with yield spreads and fund flows.
Full take: www.danielmcglynn.com/bitcoin-four...
The halving still matters — but it’s fading into the background.
What was once crypto’s internal clock now ticks in sync with global finance.
Liquidity cycles are louder than subsidy cuts.
An ETF doesn’t ape in at midnight.
It rebalances at quarter’s end.
It tracks inflows.
It benchmarks.
This isn’t magic Internet money anymore. It’s a macro asset.
Why the shift?
93% of all BTC is already mined
ETFs absorbed tens of billions
New buyers are institutions, not Discord traders
Liquidity flows > meme flows
But this time around?
Bitcoin’s price looks less like a retail chart... and more like a Wall Street one.
The beat isn’t block height. It’s ETF flows, Treasury yields, and the shape of the yield curve.
It wasn’t just a protocol change — it became folklore. Memes. Charts. Telegram cults counting down to the next block.
Retail-driven cycles where “number go up” felt coded into Bitcoin’s DNA.
The halving was simple and symbolic: Every 210,000 blocks, the Bitcoin subsidy gets cut in half. Scarcity goes up. Price follows.
2012 halving → 2013 run
2016 halving → 2017 mania
2020 halving → 2021 peak
A neat, four-beat rhythm.
Every four years, crypto tuned itself to the #Bitcoin halving — a ritual scarcity event that signaled the start of a bull market.
But 2025 feels different.
What happens when myth meets macro?
The SEC’s new “Project Crypto” is a blueprint for Open Money.
With clear rules, self-custody support, DeFi integration & an innovation exemption, it lays the groundwork for a composable, onchain financial system.
www.danielmcglynn.com/what-does-pr...
Platforms extract.
Protocols reinvest.
Profits to the protocol = funding public goods.
This week’s newsletter breaks it all down — PayPal, Walmart, Amazon, and why this marks an inflection point for Open Money.
www.danielmcglynn.com/megacorps-go...
The takeaway:
Stablecoins are becoming a default money layer for the internet.
The UI stays the same.
The rails change.
And the next time you check out online, crypto might be doing the heavy lifting.
Regulation is catching up, too.
The GENIUS Act is working its way through Congress.
If passed, it gives Walmart and Amazon a legal path to launch fully-reserved, regulated stablecoins at scale.
This isn’t mass adoption through onboarding.
It’s adoption by absorption.
Stablecoins hide the crypto and deliver the benefits.
No seed phrases. No L2s. Just dollars that move like messages.
Here’s the big unlock: stablecoins let web2 companies join web3 without changing the user experience.
You still tap “Pay.”
You still get your order.
Only now, the backend is programmable, fast, and global.
Meanwhile, Amazon and Walmart are reportedly exploring launching their own stablecoins.
They’re not chasing hype. They’re chasing margins.
Billions in annual card fees are on the table. Stablecoins cut out the middlemen.
PayPal just added Stellar as the third chain for PYUSD.
Why?
→ 5-second settlement
→ Sub-cent fees
→ Remittance rails that already reach the global edge
This isn’t a flex—it’s infrastructure.
Stablecoins are becoming crypto’s killer app—just like email was for the web.
And this month, PayPal, Amazon, and Walmart made moves that could quietly remake how money flows online. 🧵
Circle’s explosive IPO signals a turning point in crypto. ARK bets big, Gemini follows, and stablecoins step into Wall Street’s spotlight. From policy shifts to programmable dollars, this is how internet money finally goes mainstream. Don’t miss what's next.
www.danielmcglynn.com/circles-ipo-...
But increasingly when I think about the future of the internet I think about my kids...
29.05.2025 12:44 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Recently, the idea of thinking about internet architecture feels less revolutionary and more existential.
The motivations are different. I used to worry about macro outcomes -- things like decentralization and economics, etc. And to a large extent that's the stuff I still write about.
I write about the internet.
However unpopular the opinion might be, I believe the open internet and open money are fundamental to holding the line on things like unchecked power and the growing divide between the ruling class and everyone else.
www.danielmcglynn.com/21-capital-a...
01.05.2025 15:29 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0The 21 Capital launch is more than another institutional play. It introduces new performance metrics.
Instead of EPS, it reports bitcoin per share (BPS) and bitcoin return rate (BRR).
Investors aren’t buying dollar exposure — they’re buying a claim on a growing #bitcoin base.
#bitcoin blinks back
www.danielmcglynn.com/when-markets...
Stablecoins in today’s Money Stuff
02.04.2025 19:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Feeling this from @metalabel.bsky.social
02.04.2025 04:01 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
feels like decentralized infrastructure of all kinds is only going to become more important...
a16zcrypto.com/posts/listic...
