It’s time for a ‘flight to quality’ - Thrive founder Daniel Jacobs

The Block’s Head of Growth, Tim Copeland, was joined by Thrive Founder Daniel Jacobs.

In this episode, Jacobs explains how Thrive combines expert and AI agent reviewers to validate contributions, making funding faster, fairer, and focused on real value creation. He also critiques crypto’s value-extraction mindset and advocates for a shift toward long-term value and ecosystem sustainability.

OUTLINE
00:00 – Introduction
01:03 – The Origin of Thrive
04:23 – Reviewer Incentives 
05:35 – AI Agent Adoption
08:52 – Confirming AI Accuracy
12:36 – Comparisons to Kaito
13:58 – Growth Metrics
16:26 – Challenges in Crypto Grant Funding
20:50 – Extracting vs. Creating Value
25:07 – Are VCs good for the space?
28:37 – Moving into “Fundamental Season”
30:07 – Interesting projects
31:17 – Daniel’s Predictions for 2025
31:42 – Closing Thoughts

The Block Newsletters
The Block’s newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblock.co/newsletters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Guest links:
Daniel Jacobs – ⁠⁠https://x.com/thrivegiraffe⁠
Thrive Protocol – ⁠https://x.com/thriveprotocol⁠

Are you hiring in crypto?
Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test.
Faster hiring, stronger teams.
Sign up for a trial today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblock.co/campus