GM my friends.

A personal update today.

As some of you know, I’ve been pretty infatuated with crypto and the “tokenization” of everything from culture to finance since roughly 2019.

The idea just always made sense to me, even before I could understand it on a more technical level.

I realize this obsession with digital technology might seem paradoxical within the context of this newsletter, but I’d actually argue the opposite.

I see it as complimentary.

It’s seems obvious to me that the things we love and build in the real world are incredibly valuable and must be preserved + enhanced through tech.

Even the purist of artisans accept your credit card for their goods.

That led me to NFTs which, admittedly, did not fulfill their promise (yet) but exposed me to the world of blockchain. It was my gateway drug.

Since then, despite my human-proof leanings, I’ve always wanted to work at the frontier of new technology.

Partly because it felt imperative to approach this domain from a bit of an “outsider” perspective, and also because I didn’t want to have to explain to my grandchildren how and why I missed out on these revolutions.

On an even deeper level, I have always wrestled with the relationship between “work” and “identity”.

In my 20’s, I worked and built things in the areas I’m passionate about. Mostly because it was all I could focus on, and I felt like I had to be a DJ or a Travel Advisor if I liked music or boutique hotels.

I had marginal “success” in those fields on some level, but in retrospect I often opted for and prioritized the perks and enjoyment of the “job” at the sacrifice of the work. If that makes sense.

I was also too stubborn to think I needed to learn how to build an efficient deck, or develop critical data analysis skills. I thought I’d just make a living being a fun, likable guy.

Well, thanks to AI, I’ve been partially redeemed. Claude can make a better deck in 5 minutes than I could make in a week. Not the content, but the format.

I always had the ideas, concepts, and unique approach towards challenging tasks in my head, but struggled to effectively communicate them in the way it was required.

That hurdle is gone. And with that, a whole new world of opportunity has opened up for me.

The white collar busywork has been abstracted from most roles and the value of creativity, intuition, communication, and empathy has skyrocketed.

In turn, I’ve been blessed to unlock some incredible new opportunities for myself - and I’m proud to share that I am joining the marketing team at Circle.

Circle is the creator and issuer of the stablecoin USDC, and a category leader in the space for over a decade.

But beyond USDC, I’ll be focused on developing the ecosystem on Arc: Circle’s native blockchain.

Think of it as the Economic Operating System of the Internet. The digital rails for programmable money.

I’ll be designing campaigns and telling stories with partners from Visa and Goldman to Ramp and Robinhood. From legacy banks to frontier DeFi protocols.

If we do our job, we’ll democratize access to financial services for everyone on the globe.

We’ll make it cheaper and easier for hard-working immigrants to send remittances back home to their families.

We’ll make paying an international vendor for a wedding venue as quick and frictionless as sending a venmo.

We’ll unlock new captial opportunities and cultural growth in places like Africa and Latin America.

I’m excited to apply my unique background to this domain and join an incredible team led by the visionary founder Jeremy Allaire.

Of course, I’ll still be highlighting Human-Proof Experiences here, and I’m excited to see how my exposure to this new world enhances my understanding and appreciation for ours.

Thanks for reading - enjoy the weekend.

RP WEEKLY!!!!