This is “ReSolve’s Riffs” – live on YouTube every Friday afternoon to debate the most relevant investment topics of the day, hosted by Adam Butler, Mike Philbrick and Rodrigo Gordillo of ReSolve Global*.

This week we were joined by Brandon Caruana and Brian Tang, cofounders of Cayman-based Cartan Group, a consulting firm that specializes in blockchain technology solutions. The two combine for a deep and broad knowledge base of the emerging digital asset space, which made for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation that included topics such as:

• The full ‘crypto stack’ – core networks and their multiple layers
• Block sizes and transaction speeds – features or bugs?
• Proof of work vs proof of stake – validation methods and relative merits
• Energy costs, algorithm rules and security
• Trade-offs between different blockchains and layers – what problems are they trying to solve?
• Why base layers are always more secure than the stack
• Why Bitcoin is the asset-equivalent of a duck-billed platypus
• Asset-backed coins and varying collaterals for stable coins

We also discussed the attractive features of the Algorand protocol, Helium and ‘proof of space’, and the generational divide between living in the analog and digital realms. The conversation devolved into philosophical musings on Artificial Intelligence and techno-utopia (and at times dystopia), a future of abundance and the pursuit of passions and callings, which left us with the ultimate question: is AI going to eat, rule or serve the world?

Thank you for watching and listening. See you next week.

*ReSolve Global refers to ReSolve Asset Management SEZC (Cayman) which is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator. This registration is administered through the National Futures Association (“NFA”). Further, ReSolve Global is a registered person with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.