⌐◪-◪ → ⌐◪-◪ → Balaji Srinivasan, former GP at a16z and former CTO at Coinbase, just announced The Balaji Fund in a post on X.

The fund will focus on building "network states" - parallel societies with pro-tech and libertarian ideals. Sort of like a DAO that secures land around the world that eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states/governments.

The fund is backed by heavy hitters like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant, and VC Fred Wilson.

We already have some examples of what this looks like in practice with: Prospera, Cabin, Lekki Free Zone, and Freedom Ridge.

⌐◪-◪ → From our November headline "SafeMoon Not Safe" to "SafeMoon Bankrupt - another one bites the dust."

The District of Utah bankruptcy filing shows that the firm has estimated assets of $10M-$50M, 50-99 creditors, and $100k-$500k in liabilities.

A letter from the "Chief Restructuring Officer" to employees indicates employees need to file claims for unpaid wages.

This all comes after 2 of the 3 founders were arrested by the DOJ.

To the 1 founder who remains at large, Kyle Nagy - you can run, but you can't hide.

⌐◪-◪ → If you're looking for some quality weekend reading, check out this thread from a16z crypto on their investment focus for 2024.

The thread covers a few popular areas like 1) AI + blockchain, 2) NFTs for big brands, 3) easy smart contract development, 4) SNARKs, 5) AI + web3 games.

None of these areas come as a surprise to me, and they actually fit quite nicely with my own investment thesis, which revolves around 1) solving the cost-prohibitive reality of web3 (scalability) and 2) making development as easy as building an iPhone app. A simple two-pronged approach.