Reid Hoffman produces crypto rap battle to spark better dialogue

Quick Take

  • Greylock Partners’ Reid Hoffman has produced a rap battle on YouTube to bring awareness to crypto
  • In it, Alexander Hamilton takes on anonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto
  • Hoffman said he hopes this will elevate conversations surrounding crypto beyond ad hominem attacks as the rap breaks down common concerns
  • Some famous crypto faces also made cameos in the video

"Does anyone know what this crypto-thing means?" traditional finance is asking the digital world, with none other than Alexander Hamilton spitting fire on its behalf. Sort of.

An “epic rap battle” produced by San Francisco venture capitalist firm Greylock pits the founding father and his centralized bank against the anonymous founder of decentralized currency, Satoshi Nakamoto. The billion-dollar venture capital firm is hoping humor and catchy bars will help demystify crypto and push the dialogue surrounding digital assets to the forefront. 

Greylock released the video today in partnership with the YouTube channel Rhyme Combinator which produces comedic rap battles. Over the course of the six-minute video, the Hamilton and Satoshi antagonize each other with common arguments against centralized and decentralized money while an audience of high profile crypto players observes. Faces like Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn, CEO of ZCash, Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo, among others, grimace as Hamilton makes his case.

In the crowd is Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, partner at Greylock, and executive producer of the video. The rap battle was Hoffman’s brainchild, inspired by the Tony-winning musical Hamilton to blend crypto and hip-hop. Greylock has made investments in the crypto space, but Hoffman says this latest project is an investment in the dialogue surrounding crypto, to limit the ad hominem attacks and enable more informed discussion between bankers and crypto players. Many people who are less crypto literate are concerned with its use for criminal activity, its voracious energy consumption, and envision eccentric tech geniuses utilizing it for malicious purposes, according to Hoffman.

"There needs to be a discourse about the vision for the future, not who has the ball, or this is a duel between them,” he said. “We need to be thoughtful about the great futures we could make. There are competing notions of the futures, but let's create a discourse around that."

Ironically, a duel with pithy comebacks to the common concerns may be just what society needs to understand centralization and decentralization. The video comes complete with a Twitter poll from Hoffman asking viewers to vote on who won – Satoshi reigned supreme. Indeed, Hoffman is credited as a writer of the track, and Satoshi spends much of the battle refuting the power of central banks before turning to crypto’s pros.

Despite the classic rap battle structure, Hoffman hopes there isn’t a mic drop, but that the dialogue continues, especially in the regulatory arena. He led the Xapo investment for Greylock, and personally invests in Blockstream as well as holding bitcoin. Key investments are hopefully good for society and good for the world, according to Hoffman.

“All of those investments passed a hurdle,” he said. “When you get to regulation, this is an additional risky factor. You are hoping you can get regulation to align with the shape of why you think your investment is not just a good for customers, not just good business, but also good for society.”

Hoffman pointed to the regulatory conversations surrounding Facebook’s Libra. After two congressional hearings and multiple open letters and comments from government officials across the world, he said the dialogue so far wasn’t as promising for the future of crypto conversations.

“The messaging around the Libra launch didn’t go the way I would hope for the crypto ecosystem...it is a good thing to have stablecoins that are in dialogue with the regulators,” he said.

While a rap battle between Facebook’s David Marcus and Congress’s Maxine Waters doesn’t seem to be on the horizon, the conversations surrounding Libra and crypto regulation are ongoing.

A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that Greylock had invested in Proof of Capital.


© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Authors

Aislinn Keely is a reporter on The Block's policy team holding down the legal beat. She covers court decisions, bankruptcies, regulatory actions and other key moments in the legal sphere, putting them in context for the wider crypto industry. Before The Block, she lent her voice to the NPR affiliate WFUV and helmed Fordham University's student newspaper. Send tips or thoughts on all things policy and legal to [email protected] or follow her on Twitter for updates @AislinnKeely.
Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].