key takeaways
- Days after his release from prison on fraud charges, Martin Shkreli said he was optimistic about the future of crypto during a Twitter space session.
- Shkreli was particularly excited about DeFi and said that he used Uniswap in prison.
- He named Algorand and Solana as promising projects, saying he thinks Ethereum could overtake bitcoin in the future.
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Shkreli was released from prison on Wednesday.
Martin Shkreli talks DeFi
Martin Shkreli, the so-called “pharma bro”, who became notorious for raising the price of the life-saving drug Daraprim by more than 5,000%, is bullish on DeFi.
On a Twitter space call early Saturday, the controversial entrepreneur discussed his thoughts on the future of Bitcoin and DeFi to a crypto enthusiast audience. Shkreli said he was optimistic about where DeFi is headed and revealed that he has used the technology in the past. “Uniswap is really cool. I started using Uniswap in prison,” he said of Ethereum’s top decentralized exchange. They also discussed how DeFi could usurp the traditional finance system in the future. “I don’t think it’s on the limit where it can go,” he said. “I think we will see more and more financial products that end up in DeFi… eventually we will see some crypto entities bigger than the banking giants.”
Shkreli also commented on how traditional shares can be tokenized using blockchain. “There are many ways we can work with DeFi. Clearly there has to be an Apple coin and a Tesla coin,” he said. DeFi has already made it possible for Apple and Tesla to trade with synthetic assets, Although they have yet to see mainstream adoption. Shkreli denounced the stock buying process in the US, suggesting that DeFi could improve the experience. “The idea that I can’t buy Tesla shares without going through this SEC mechanism And all these other steps are kinda crazy… people are breaking the silo and trying to destroy it forever, I hope.”
Shkreli, who made his career as a hedge fund manager before founding Turing Pharmaceuticals, said DeFi could give people “real freedom” by giving them the ability to trade any asset anywhere in the world.
Shkreli Bullish Solana, Flipping
Shkreli named several other crypto projects during the discussion, some of them relatively niche ventures that are unknown outside crypto circles. He compared Ethereum name service domain names to AOL screen names and mentioned NFT projects Milady Maker and Not OK Bear (Shkreli also “wearing” Milady NFTs). his twitter avatar at press time). Before joining the call, Shkreli had tweeted That “It would be nice to have Martinshkreli ens.”
He named Algorand and Solana as two Layer 1 projects that could reduce bitcoin’s dominance on the market, commenting that he thinks the governance of the top crypto could be “eaten up” over time. He said he thinks Ethereum may overtake bitcoin’s market cap, a hypothetical phenomenon Ethereum enthusiasts refer to as “flipping.” “The so-called ‘flipping’ where ether is worth more than bitcoin…
Australian singer-songwriter Sia joins the discussion with Shkreli, commenting on how Web3 “changed” [her] life in the past few years” and he thinks it can end world poverty in the future. After Sia’s long hiatus, Shkreli drew comparisons between himself and Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin. “It takes a real talent to think outside the box,” he said of the pair. He encouraged her to look into Proof of Humanity, the Ethereum project behind Universal Basic Income. “If you’re not on it you can really help the project move forward,” he said, explaining that Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin was involved.
How can we create a culture where it is difficult to set (or become) the subject of public conversation by doing something terrible and easy?
— vitalik.eth (@vitalikbuterin) 21 May 2022
Interestingly, Buterin posted a tweet During the call that can be interpreted as digging in Shkreli. ,How can we create a culture where it’s hard to set (or become) the subject of public conversation by doing something terrible and it’s easier to do so by doing something great? He has written.
In 2018, Shkreli was found guilty of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Outside of the Daraprim scandal, he also became known for his takeover of the Wu Tang Clan. Once Upon a Time in ShaolinA unique album that was later acquired by PleasrDAO.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this article owns ETH and several other cryptocurrencies. He also had exposure to UNI in the cryptocurrency index.