Cofounder @ritualnet. Previously GP @polychain, @siebelschool.
- Tweets 7,162
- Following 1,501
- Followers 16,368
- Likes 50,886
Found this old (egregious) email I sent to Evan Spiegel a few years back 😂
Always shoot your shot!
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Today, @akileshpotti and I are excited to reveal Ritual (@ritualnet) to the world.
ritual.global/blog/introduci…
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Grateful to have led the seed for @Polymarket back in 2020.
@shayne_coplan went through a true hero’s journey turning prediction markets from a theoretical ideaspace into consensus reality.
The world is beginning to mirror the markets…
We are excited to announce that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — the parent company of @NYSE, is making a $2b strategic investment at a $9b post-money valuation.
Together, we’re building the next evolution of markets.
A special thank you to all those who have supported us till now.
This is just the beginning 🦅🔮
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So are we @ritualnet
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big congrats to @annakaz and the whole @withvana team on launching mainnet! it’s been an honor to have led the seed round and see this vision come to life.
the vana crew has been ahead of the curve in recognizing the importance of user-owned data as the backbone of next-gen AI systems. by pioneering data ownership frameworks like datadaos, they're helping usher in an entirely new asset class where users can directly own and monetize their data.
excited to see the convergence of crypto, ai, and user-centric data markets take off with @ritualnet and @withvana soon!
Vana (@withvana) is the biggest investment I've made at Not Boring Capital.
Back in March 2022, before AI was cool, @annakaz pitched a vision that user-owned data would become more valuable as AI/ML proliferated.
From my memo (inspired by Anna's insight, not my own): "As we use AI/ML to do more things, users’ data on Vana (much of which is currently private and inaccessible to large language models like OpenAI’s), will be a valuable input to those models and will provide an ongoing income stream to users’ whose data feeds the models."
She saw the future by living in the guts of both crypto and AI/ML.
Through a crypto winter and an AI spring, Anna, @artieart88, and the Vana team have stayed laser focused on the mission: AI x crypto for a reason -- to let people own and benefit from their own data -- before AI x crypto was the meta.
Today, Vana launched on mainnet, a huge milestone and fuel in the tank to bring more data DAOs and more data on to the Vana network.
It's awesome to see. Anna saw the future, built towards it, and ended up in the right place at the right time.
The thesis on Vana was pretty simple (from the memo):
"Anna, the founder, is truly world-class. This is as much a bet on her as it is on her idea... There are very few people as well positioned to build at the intersection of web3 and AI/ML than Anna."
I believe it even more after almost three years of watching her work. Long Vana.
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Continue to keep recommending @a16z's Crypto Canon as the best place to start/grow your crypto knowledge. Awesome resource. a16z.com/2018/02/10/crypto-r…
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Dream hire: a data "bounty hunter". They'd be tasked with acquiring any obscure, hard-to-attain data I'm interested in (i.e. how many HFs in the world own bitcoin?)
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We’ve decentralized money, compute, finance, property rights, art, gaming… why not AI?
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Excited to announce the launch of comp.xyz, a new forum for Compound governance! As Compound continues to scales up, it's imperative that the community gets involved in long-form discussions around the future of the protocol.
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We're hiring for our next intern class @ritualnet!
Join a team of world-class ML researchers, cryptographers & game theorists.
Our interns have presented at top conferences and shipped production code to Ritual Core. DM me if you’re next.
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Ritual is deep tech. Here’s a selection of what our team members have contributed to advancing AI research:
ICML 2017: Arka Pal — DARLA: Improving Zero-Shot Transfer in Reinforcement Learning
ICML 2021: Peiyuan Liao — Information Obfuscation of Graph Neural Networks
ICML 2021: Micah Goldblum — Multiple publications on adversarial robustness
ICML 2024: Praveen Palanisamy — Microsoft Research collaboration
ICML 2024: Micah Goldblum — Spotting LLMs With Binoculars
ICML 2024: Micah Goldblum — Non-Vacuous Generalization Bounds for Large Language Models
ICLR 2022: Peiyuan Liao — Learning Weakly-Supervised Contrastive Representations
ICLR 2022: Micah Goldblum — Multiple publications on ML fundamentals
ICLR 2025: Rahul Thomas, Louai Zahran, Erica Choi, Akilesh Potti, Micah Goldblum, Arka Pal — Hidden no more: Attacking and defending private third-party LLM inference
ICLR 2025: Micah Goldblum — LiveBench: A Challenging, Contamination-Free LLM Benchmark
ICLR 2025: Eva Zhang, Arka Pal, Akilesh Potti, Micah Goldblum — vTune: Verifiable Fine-Tuning for LLMs Through Backdooring
NeurIPS 2017: Illia Polosukhin — Attention is All You Need
NeurIPS 2017: Arka Pal — Understanding disentangling in β-VAE
NeurIPS 2022: Micah Goldblum — Pre-train your loss: Easy Bayesian Transfer Learning
NeurIPS 2023: Micah Goldblum — Battle of the Backbones
NeurIPS 2023: Arka Pal — Task arithmetic in the tangent space
NeurIPS 2024: Arka Pal — Large language models must be taught to know what they don't know
IEEE TPAMI 2023: Micah Goldblum — Dataset Security for Machine Learning
ASPLOS 2025: Peiyuan Liao — GraphPipe: Improving Performance and Scalability of DNN Training
Now let's see others.
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TIL Apple has a hedge fund subsidiary called Braeburn Capital in Reno: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braebu…. Manages $270bn 😮
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business opportunity: an AI insurance company.
when we have humanoid robots in our homes, eventually they're going to hurt someone.
AI companies are exposing themselves to massive risk. a wrongful death lawsuit nets you something in the realm of $20M. openAI can pay it, but smaller companies can't.
hire AI engineers and researchers to act as technological actuarial scientists, price the risk of harmful events, build asymmetric coverage that protects the company and the consumer.
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Would love a “Goodreads” for academic papers - comment/annotate, discuss, track, share, upvote. Often find the discussions behind new publications fascinating, but they usually only happen in private chats.
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read this so you’re not behind in 2021 polkadot.network/PolkaDotPap…
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I would like to wish everyone, including all haters and losers (of which, sadly, there are many) a truly happy and enjoyable Thanksgiving Day!
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Most of the noise has faded – we've stayed quiet on purpose.
Ritual’s been building what comes after the hype cycle. This piece from @sanlsrni explains why:
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.@stripe has one of the strongest design teams I've ever seen. Almost every developer product I see today takes inspiration from their work
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Would be really interesting to see “hash rate derivatives” - a derivative that tracks the hash rate of a crypto network. Could be useful for miners wanting to hedge adverse return risk in networks they’re mining.
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Now two crazy DeFi exploits in the past 24 hours, both ERC-777 related.
This trend will continue to accelerate (just like it did with centralized exchanges) – any team shipping code *must* invest heavily in economic and security audits.
BREAKING: lending protocol @dForcenet exploited, AUM drops from $25M to $19K in a matter of hours
Should we really be surprised?
Although not directly related, the company is widely thought to have copied @compoundfinance’s code
h/t @defipulse @TheBlock__ @defiprime
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proud to have @ilblackdragon as an advisor to @ritualnet since day 1
been massively helpful across technical design, strategy, and much more
constantly pushing forward crypto, AI, and the intersection 🫡
I was honored to speak at the @nvidia GTC event today with Jensen Huang and all the "Attention Is All You Need" coauthors! I got to share some of we've built at @NEARProtocol.
Session videos are available in case you missed it: nvidia.com/gtc/session-catal…
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Who’s building the modern-era LVMH?
What new luxury brands of today will still be around in 20 years?
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“Crypto” is insane because it appears to be one of the most legitimately dangerous drugs with the potential to gigafry your brain but is exclusively taken by literal turbonormies who unironically believe they're "building the future of finance" and basically get oneshotted by it
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Just made my first “angel investment” on Republic (republic.co). Very interesting concept- think kickstarter, but you’re funding
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Futures market for Maker CDPs stability fee on @veil: app.veil.co/market/what-will…. This is where DeFi gets sick 🤟
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Request for Product: Crypto newsletter aggregator that dedpulicates the same articles and only presents unique info.
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Would be interesting to see a “doomsday fund” that invested in hedges across a number of verticals: water, gold/other precious metals, gun corps, oil, uranium, bitcoin.
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just drank three sugar free red bulls on an empty stomach and i’m feeling GOOD
@tarunchitra i see what you see now
let the ritual begin
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.@TheStalwart: “…blockchains are important infrastructure in a world of AI. Blockchains will allow people to prove what’s theirs. Blockchains will allow people to prove they’re themselves. Blockchains will allow AI models to run in a transparent manner. The pivot is coming.”
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Huge. One of the first-ever DAO mergers and many more to come...
#CodenameKEaNU is a go, Proposal RC0 has been approved by both communities, and @NuCypher + @keep_project will unite via a network upgrade.
Check here for details and next steps: blog.nucypher.com/keanu-is-a…
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Wrote up some of my thoughts on ARKit and why I think it’s exciting > "ARKit and the mainstream adoption of AR" blog.niraj.io/arkit-and-the-…
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Uber has unbundled the taxi, and is now rebundling it.
Drivers have independently been adding cab TVs, snack machines, and overhead ads to generate more income. Good that Uber is taking the reins to avoid more ad value leakage (and grow margins).
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My neighbors growing up couldn’t pronounce my name so they ended up calling me Roger for 10 years
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New post from last night on the commoditization of machine learning: blog.niraj.io/the-commoditiz…. Thanks for the proof @Ritwik_G
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Visited @thenetworkstate in Malaysia today.
Has that early Ethereum energy – you can tell something important’s forming.
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Replacing “I don’t have time for X” with “I don’t want to make time for X” is such a powerful statement - really puts things in perspective!
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Throwback to simpler times: techcrunch.com/2010/05/21/y-…
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DAOs as tokenized businesses (reduced OpEx & trust making them superior to fully-centralized cos):
- MakerDAO: Tokenized “central bank”
- Compound: Tokenized lending desk
- Binance: Tokenized exchange
- Uniswap: Tokenized market maker
What else?
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The number of new/compelling Layer-1 chains being created is approaching zero. Market feels oversaturated at this point and most interesting innovation areas have already been explored (at least for this "generation" of technology)
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Congrats to @bfarmer @dlubarov and the @mirprotocol team on the acquisition.
It’s been nothing short of a pleasure to work with this team since the earliest days and I’m excited to see them continue their work at Polygon!
Polygon acquires ZK-rollups startup Mir Protocol for $400 million (via @Yogita_Khatri5)
theblockcrypto.com/post/1269…
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DAOs collectively owning non-financial web3 property:
- hosted git and DAO management via @radicle
- crypto-native domains via @ensdomains @hns
- hosted front-ends via @ipfs @filecoin @arweaveteam
- social media via @bitclout_
What else?
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Cool chart showing the evolution of global fund managers "most crowded trade".
Not a surprise that many HFs are moving more into treasuries.
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yeezy yeezy yeezy just jumped over jumpman
🚨 Kanye West's Yeezy business is worth as much as *$3 billion*, according to a valuation by Bank of America that we reviewed and verified. He is the sole owner of Yeezy.
Story with @alexanders101:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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New blog post: Hostile Chain Takeovers
blog.niraj.io/hostile-chain-…
I explore different blockchain attack vectors, and how they can be used for good and evil 🤓
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just hire @patrickc!!!
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Archetype has backed us since day one. It’s been incredible to see their firm grow alongside ours. All the while, they’ve kept a clear focus on building the best early stage crypto practice in the industry.
Grateful to partner with @ashegan @DannySursock @dberenzon @oddhash @katherinewu @katiewav. Onwards 🚀🚀
World-changing products come not from established institutions, but from visionary founders and fast-moving startups looking to challenge the status quo.
We’re beyond excited to announce Archetype III today, a $100M fund dedicated to accelerating a founder-led future.
At Archetype, we’ve never been more excited about the future of crypto:
+ technical innovations in blockchain performance have enabled onchain applications to become sleek mobile-first experiences
+ blockchain throughput and capabilities are finally reaching parity with web2
+ stablecoins are creating a $250B (and counting) global payments network
+ onchain social networks are emerging as a new way for people to connect while owning and leveraging their own data
+ and crypto is credibly proving it can contribute to foundational innovation in AI while unlocking a new generation of enterprise and consumer use cases
With this $100M of fresh capital, we’re continuing to foster relationships with maniacal founders, operate as their most dedicated advocates, and expand on the deep network and community we’ve built with Funds I and II.
We’ve already begun deploying capital from our third fund into several startups still in stealth. These will join a portfolio that includes @privy_io, @monad, @Hut8Corp, @farcaster_xyz, @RemixGG_, @ritualnet, @RelayProtocol, and other category-leading companies.
Archetype has always been a very high-touch partner to the entrepreneurs we back, putting our relationships and commitment to collaboration front and center. We bring early conviction and perspective to teams of risk takers working to bend the future to their will. Where most funds bring safety and scale, Archetype offers edge and inevitability.
Massive thanks to our investors for placing your trust in us, and to all of the founders who have allowed us to build alongside you. We're honored to play a part in crypto's future and continue accelerating the programmable future with you all.
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Verkle trees are like Ozempic for blockchains. Excellent at reducing bloat.
Ethereum is the only chain with a long-term plan to solve state bloat
Verkle trees allow for witness data to be small enough to be attached to every block. Meaning validators and nodes can become stateless, and all state can be stored (much more efficiently) off-chain
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Going to start threading some cryptocurrency/blockchain requests for startups - no use just sitting in my notes forever!
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Underrated path for getting into crypto: academia. If you like cryptography/distributed systems/PL design, there’s a lot of relevant research topics in the space.
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Excited to be partnering with @coindcx.
It’s been awesome working with @smtgpt @nrjkhandelwal and the rest of the team this past year. Looking forward to what’s next! 🚀
JUST IN: BitMEX operator, Polychain lead $3 million Series A for Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX (via @Yogita_Khatri5)
theblockcrypto.com/post/5965…
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Awesome stuff from @bhorowitz + @a16z team: "A16Z’s Low-Key Diversity Outreach" (via @theinformation): theinformation.com/a16zs-low…...
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Would appreciate a read :D - I just published “2015, the year I fell in love with reading (again)” buff.ly/1Nx5F9g
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Interesting report on global crypto wealth stats from @HenleyPartners: henleyglobal.com/publication…
Crypto-natives are a rapidly growing force in the global economy.
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Anyone working on @CurveFinance for BTC-on-ETH coins (tBTC, imBTC, wBTC, etc)?
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I just published “Ethereum SAT”, a quiz to test your Ethereum knowledge! Take it here: blog.niraj.io/ethereum-sat.
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i, for one, welcome our ai god overlords and formally submit this tweet as my token of allegiance
may their algorithmic wisdom guide us to the promised land
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+1. Keep finding myself typing a question on Google and appending "reddit" to the end of it. I much prefer seeing a discussion about WHY someone made a choice, rather than just the choice itself.
Reddit is a great tool for bootstrapping new intellectual interests.
• Google to find subreddits. Usually there are several.
• Raid subreddit sidebars and wikis for links, discussions, FAQ
• Take blogs you like and search by domain. Ex: teddit.net/domain/lesswrong.…
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.@diogenes has assembled the avengers to massively improve how you trade the crypto markets today
watch this closely
Trade Anywhere, Instantly.
The widest range of assets from one account.
No margin or positions micromanaging, pure execution.
This is how trading should be.
This is how you Trade to Win.
klyra.com
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Love looking at consumer products and seeing how they've changed over time :o (via archive.org)
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Would love to see an Investopedia for cryptography/computer science/math - a user contributed dictionary where the best explanations are voted to the top.
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One of the most impactful books I've read in the past few years. Highly recommend.
The teachings have helped me achieve high levels of lucidity/awareness in dreams, and understand their meanings. I'm much more aware during the day, and look forward to sleeping every night :)
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