Solana Thesis: The Fastest Horse Rises From the Ashes | Ryan Watkins, Wilson Withiam

Ryan Watkins and Wilson Withiam join us to discuss their Solana thesis and how crypto has just entered its next phase of adoption. Ryan is the founder of Syncracy Capital (a crypto hedge fund), and Wilson is their Head of Research. In this episode, we discuss the Bitcoin spot ETF, the Ethereum and LDO thesis, the MakerDAO opportunity, the Solana thesis, investing in SOL vs Solana applications, the DA Layer wars and more! - - Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:16) The Bitcoin ETF Approval (05:04) The Ethereum and Liquid Staking (LDO) Thesis (09:52) Crypto’s Greatest Misconception (11:27) MakerDAO Investment Thesis (17:17) ETH’s Role in the Crypto Economy (20:53) Access Protocol Ad (21:55) DAS London Plug (22:52) The Solana Thesis (38:24) How Crypto Assets Can Achieve a Monetary Premium (42:09) Investing in SOL vs Solana Applications (47:50) Aggregation Theory (53:34) The DA Layer Wars (01:00:25) From Researchers to Launching a Fund - - Access Protocol is the best way to discover premium content from crypto's top publishers and independent creators. Access Protocol has reinvented content monetization, meaning you can access this premium content without endless ads or hard-to-cancel subscriptions.  Access Protocol is crypto-native, built on Solana, and already has 225K users reading content, receiving NFTs and interacting with creators! Use this link to check out Access Protocol today:https://bit.ly/AccessProtocol_Lightspeed - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use LIGHTSPEED10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Follow Ryan: https://twitter.com/RyanWatkins_ Follow Wilson: https://twitter.com/WilsonWithiam Follow Mert: https://twitter.com/0xMert_ Follow Garrett: https://twitter.com/GarrettHarper_ Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/43o3Syk Subscribe on Apple: https://apple.co/3OhiXgV Subscribe on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OkF7PD Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Resources Syncracy Capital https://www.syncracy.io/ https://twitter.com/SyncracyCapital Solana Thesis – The Fastest Horse Rises From the Ashes https://www.syncracy.io/writing/solana-thesis - -  Disclaimers: Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation. Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Garrett and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.