3 Articles That Made Me Think

The author recaps three articles on crypto and consumer behavior: John Wang on "softcore gambling," Richard Chen of Varrock VC on crypto-native versus crypto-adjacent builders, and 0xKyle of Defiance Capital on Internet Capital Markets. Wang argues that gambling-like mechanics such as blind boxes, coin pushers and gamified rewards have spread into everyday consumer products, with Pop Mart fans and Shein shoppers cited as examples. Chen says crypto-native businesses face difficult retention and open-source moats, while crypto-adjacent companies treat crypto as a feature, and 0xKyle argues that investors can become operating partners alongside teams.