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You don’t need to comprehend it in order to utilize it.
That’s the vision of Empire co-host Santiago Santos when it comes to building Inversion Chain.
Feeling perplexed? Think back to the 1990s. Companies used “.com” and — except for the somewhat amusing Homes.com commercial during the Super Bowl — the term “dot com” is no longer in vogue. Just ask a Gen Zer and you’ll quickly realize how outdated it sounds.
The internet has become an integral part of conducting business in today’s world. For Santos, crypto or crypto rails are following a similar trajectory. He doesn’t feel the need to market Inversion Chain to the masses. They will only become aware of it through interactions with potential projects like Helium.
But let me backtrack: My aim is to ensure that you understand it, even if you don’t necessarily need to.
Santos officially announced Inversion Chain this week, although he has been contemplating it since his departure from ParaFi over four years ago. Seven months ago, he began strategizing, and now he is in the process of hiring staff.
There is no definitive timeline for the launch yet, but Santos mentioned that the goal is to do so “as soon as possible.”
The L1 will be constructed on Avalanche because, as Santos pointed out, it is one of the few platforms that allows for customizing the chain for specific use cases and offers comprehensive support.
Other advantages include the ability to permission your network at the validator, privacy features, EVM compatibility, and native interoperability.
After surveying the landscape, creating his own chain seemed like the most logical choice for Santos.
“Having our own chain enables us to intentionally design a platform tailored to the needs of the businesses we acquire, allowing us to deliver a bespoke solution,” he explained. “I envision a multi-chain world.”
Currently, we are not retaining users. As Santos pointed out, individuals are entering the blockchain space through exchanges with speculative intentions — and while speculation is not necessarily a negative aspect, given the nature of crypto (similar to stocks), the ultimate goal is to retain users and showcase the various use cases that crypto has to offer.
This is where Santos envisions the industry heading, with individuals seamlessly embracing the concept of crypto.
“I believe we are underselling ourselves as an industry, and we have the potential to lead. The focus is very specific: You start with a core service like mobile and FinTech — and when I say FinTech, I am referring to stablecoin,” Santos elaborated.
“My primary objective is to create an onboarding acquisition channel for the next 100, 200, 500 million users who will transition to the blockchain.”
His vision appears to be quite optimistic.
During this morning’s Empire Round Up, Santos discussed with co-host Jason Yanowitz his concept of building Berkshire on-chain.
Santos likened the analogy to what AOL did during the peak of the .com bubble. The stock was highly inflated, so what did they do? They acquired Time Warner, a legitimate business,” he explained.
“I believe the foundations’ role is to accelerate the adoption of crypto, the uptake. I don’t think they are being strategic enough. The opportunity here lies in utilizing the Treasury value in a strategic manner to acquire businesses and anchor them to the chain, thus activating that user base to transition to the blockchain,” he continued.
If executed properly, Santos believes that the economic activity on that chain will create a flywheel effect, where continuously acquiring more businesses and users generates ever-increasing activity.
Bringing it back to Berkshire: For Santos, it is about establishing a solid foundation from which to explore other avenues for profitability while remaining inconspicuous to the user base.
If you’re struggling to follow along, think about how Warren Buffett operates (and set aside any anti-crypto sentiments you may have about him). He seeks out potentially lucrative investments, but we don’t necessarily interact with Berkshire itself on a daily basis as customers.
They operate in the background, as essential as your own shadow.