In this unscripted and insightful conversation, two lifelong friends, Kris Tyte and Sean Snodgrass, dissect the collapse of FTX, illusions of value in the cryptocurrency markets, and question the effects of social media, drawing parallels to substance use. From monkey NFTs to Elon's Twitter (now called X) catastrophe, and the psychological warfare of these social platforms. Join us for raw, humorous, and intellectual exploration of the world of Crypto, economic illusions, and digital culture.
Follow Up Notes
Discussion of how FTX went from $32 billion valuation to worthless, illustrating how value in modern society is often based purely on collective belief rather than tangible assets.
Follow Up Notes
Exploration of why the mining metaphor breaks down: gold has physical utility while Bitcoin lacks tangible purpose beyond digital transactions, questioning its long-term value proposition.
Ripple XRP and Cross-Border Payments
Information about XRP's purpose as a bridge currency for international banking, representing one of the few cryptocurrencies with clear utility beyond speculation.
Follow Up Notes
Story of Bored Ape Yacht Club creator having his own NFT stolen and having to pay to get it back for his cartoon series, highlighting the absurdity of digital ownership concepts.
Quotable
“This box is worth $1 million. And a bunch of other people agree with that... all kinds of companies and trading and state exchanges and speculative markets and hedge funds... are spun up around this box, proverbial box that perhaps in reality is nothing but a cat turd in it.
”
Metaphor explaining how entire financial ecosystems can be built around perceived value even when underlying assets are worthless.
Follow Up Notes
Dark observation that humans are treated as corporate assets under maritime law, with companies taking life insurance policies on employees to protect against "human resource" losses.
Infographic illustrating the psychological mechanisms of social media addiction.
Listener Q&A
Whose life would actually be affected if Facebook and Twitter disappeared?
Mainly businesses using these platforms for advertising and people addicted to scrolling, but society would likely be better off after a withdrawal period, similar to ending drug addiction.
Follow Up Notes
Argument that social media platforms divert energy and money from communities without providing genuine value, functioning as parasitic systems that weaken social foundations.
Quotable
“Maybe these social media platforms and these things that are like now this new form of drug, right, this new derivative of like, it's like a social drug, right.
”
Classification of social media as a new category of addictive substance with social rather than chemical dependency mechanisms.
Follow Up Notes
Unverified claim that TikTok shows educational content to Chinese users while showing mindless entertainment to American users, representing potential psychological warfare through algorithmic content manipulation.
Quotable
“We can start to see all of culture as this preponderance of like scheme of who controls the minds, the hearts and minds of, of of populations. And in America is corporate control 100%.
”
Analysis of culture as a battleground for psychological influence, with corporations wielding primary control over American minds through media and advertising.
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