AI pulled talent away from crypto, and that may be what the industry needed

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Over the past few years, artificial intelligence has pulled talent, capital, and attention away from many markets, especially crypto, at a remarkable pace. But some founders who have been building at the intersection of both sectors think that's exactly what makes this moment more interesting.

Dom and Phil Kwok, the co-founders of EasyA, say they have watched this dynamic play out across hackathons, university blockchain clubs, and developer communities through their  platform, which helps developers learn about and build on blockchains. They’ve even had some alumni go on to raise billions. 

Grounded in that reality, Dom and Phil argue that AI’s actually a good thing for crypto. 

"AI is going to really expedite development overall," Dom said on StrataMedia's Talking Tokens podcast recently. "We've seen people build things in one or two days at hackathons, [projects that] would traditionally take three to four weeks, just because they can have that AI copilot with them. AI is really just a major accelerant towards getting us to the end goal much faster."

That goal involves finding helpful use cases for crypto, beyond stablecoins and trading. While AI can’t solve this directly, it compresses the time and effort it takes builders to get there. 

EasyA saw the first major proof of this in 2022, when a developer called Walden Yan pitched an idea at one of their hackathons and walked away with a $15,000 prize. Yan then went on to co-found Cognition AI, which recently raised $1 billion at a $26 billion valuation.

That dynamic cuts both ways, though. Since ChatGPT’s launch, Phil says he has seen early-stage crypto startups in their office shift to building AI products almost overnight. 

"All of the early-stage startups immediately pivoted from crypto to AI," he said. University blockchain clubs that EasyA works with closely, including at Harvard, Penn and Stanford, also saw students moving away from crypto, as the world suddenly focused on AI while crypto went through another phase of being widely disliked.

But Phil thinks the situation is beginning to lean back towards crypto, as the relationship between AI, talent and crypto grows complex. "AI right now is loved by many people, but it's also becoming very hated," he said. "People are going to start to realize that crypto ultimately was created for the people, and is really one of the most exciting ways for people to get ahead."

The entry-level job market is a good example of where that sentiment is beginning to shift. Young folks who would have spent two or three years in analyst or associate roles are seeing those roles disappearing, as in addition to making those jobs more efficient, in many cases, AI has made them redundant or unnecessary. 

So the very generation that embraced AI tools enthusiastically is now suffering the consequences of their prospective jobs being automated away as companies seek to make the most of AI tools to improve how they function and reduce redundancies. 

But AI has also collapsed the barrier between having an idea and building a product. "Literally anybody can start their own business," Phil said. "They don't need to hire a team of a hundred people. You literally have a hundred-person team in the palm of your hand with AI." 

EasyA has built its Kickstart launchpad specifically around this idea by giving founders fast access to funding, sometimes within 24 to 72 hours, to match the speed at which they can now build. 

The brothers argue that blockchains compound this dynamic, since vibe-coding a startup on a blockchain is now a realistic starting point for someone with no technical background. The very tools that let someone build a web app in an afternoon can draft up a smart contract, or generate a token. 

The broader market is starting to catch up, too. "People are very much interested in crypto now," Dom said. "Every year at our hackathons, we see more and more people from institutions coming. They want to see what's getting built."

The arc of how this movement is panning out looks a lot like the early internet, he added, pointing to how people were hesitant to shop online because they thought they'd get scammed, and the infrastructure took years to build trust. "That's really the stage we're at in crypto," Dom said. "It'll take a little bit more time. But we're doing everything we can to show people the tech, the use cases, get those use cases built out, and onboard people."

Check out the next section for more details and the full episode.

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For today’s episode, I interviewed Dom & Phil Kwok, co-founders of EasyA, a platform that teaches developers and consumers how to actually build and use blockchain technology. 

The brothers also run some of the biggest hackathons in the space at events like Consensus Miami and Consensus Hong Kong. 

Dom & Phil explain why so much of crypto's top talent drifted to AI over the past few years, why they think the sentiment around crypto is starting to shift, and how their new Kickstart product is trying to do for funding what AI did for building. 

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Sibling Entrepreneurs: The Journey Begins

02:31 Identifying Market Gaps in Blockchain Education

05:22 Trends in Consumer and Developer Interest

09:24 The Shift from AI to Crypto: A New Era

12:40 AI's Impact on the Workforce and Startups

15:50 Long-Term Vision: Balancing Roadmaps and Market Cycles

18:09 The Importance of Founder-Led Marketing

23:25 Getting Started on Social Media

24:38 Overcoming Fear of Posting

26:47 The Impact of AI on Content Creation

28:07 The Evolution of Startup Development

31:55 The Role of AI in Lowering Barriers to Entry

33:09 Bridging the Gap Between Wall Street and Crypto

35:45 The Growing Interest in Crypto on Wall Street

39:08 The Future of Tokenization and On-Chain Finance

43:11 Advice for Navigating the Crypto Landscape

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Please note this content is for informational and educational purposes only. Any views shared should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research. We may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this newsletter.