Episode 20
Reimagining Institutions for the Modern Era with Andre Serrano (Ep. 20)
After taking some time to dive deep into the crypto ecosystem when he found Bitcoin in 2017, it was clear to Andre that digital currency was the future of economic empowerment. Having weathered numerous bear market cycles since then, Andre’s more excited than ever to see web3 learn from web2’s mistakes and make real, meaningful impact over the next 20 years.
Andre’s diverse background in philosophy, political science, and economics, may not have pointed him toward an obvious career path in the crypto space. However, it was precisely this unique, multidisciplinary informed insight that enabled him to connect the dots, and easily see the incredible potential of a world that trusts math and code over a fiat system. Soon, after finding Bitcoin he began his crypto education journey by reading books, engaging in the ecosystem, and making personal investments in projects he believed were making impact for what he saw for the long term vision of the industry. Now, having worked with various companies in the space, he’s now proud to be the sBTC Resident at the Stacks Foundation where he’s responsible for product and partnerships of sBTC.
What we unraveled —
5:07 - Andre’s crypto journey, and how diving deeper when he started in 2017 made him realise he wanted to devote his career to the space
7:07 - Why Andre says the experience of crypto’s natural cycles of bear and bull markets becomes easier over time and how to navigate them
8:41 - Andre’s professional background since joining the crypto space, and why the issue of privacy in web3 became the problem he wanted to focus on
12:38 - Unlocking the full potential of Bitcoin with sBTC, and why that’s so important for economic empowerment in a fragile time for the macro economy
18:21 - Andre’s take on what’s ahead for the long term for crypto and experimenting on blockchains other than Bitcoin
21:24 - Why ordinals and identity are exciting to Andre
24:37 - Why Andre believes infrastructure being built today on blockchain will replace all of our exisiting systems
29:17 - Andre’s take on governmental involvement in crypto and why he’s fundamentally optimistic
Unravel Further —
Links Mentioned in this Episode -
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
More of Andre -
Andre Serrano is a community builder, investor and strategist passionate about empowering people through technology and entrepreneurship.
Currently, he is the sBTC Resident at the Stacks Foundation focused on enabling users to put their Bitcoin to work in a secure and trust-minimized way. Previously, he was the Business Development Lead at Zcash, one of the oldest cryptocurrencies and first to implement zero-knowledge proof encryption.
Andre holds a B.A. from University of Pennsylvania in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics (PPE)
Connect with Andre on Twitter