2008年初比特幣的出現，並非偶然。在2008年9月份雷曼兄弟破產，美國股市崩盤的前兩個星期，bitcoin.org悄無聲息註冊上線。圈子裡神神叨叨的專家動不動就大談信仰，卻很少人普及常識。經濟和社會發展的大週期和趨勢是重要的常識，這裡說下我們看到的三個不可逆的趨勢。
三個不可逆的趨勢
第一個是貧富差距日益增長的趨勢。二戰後的世界基尼係數日漸走高，單單在韓國，65歲以上老人的貧困率高達49.6%。退休就等於破產，貧窮成了繼續工作唯一理由。未來的中國社會與韓國類似，富三代出現後產生的精英與貴族階層，可以在很長的一段時間內享有財務積累帶來的社會資源與特權。資本驅動的社會需要強大的社會流動性 (social dynamism) 來維繫整個社會的魯棒性，可是隨著資本主義的深入，社會流動性日漸下行，階級日益板結。
第二個是全球化趨勢與國粹主義的衝突。 經濟全球化有利於各個生產要素在全球範圍內的最佳配置，但要求我們能夠有人類整體命運的高度和跨越民族的格局。在經濟發展下行趨勢下，原本更加應該擁抱全球化的我們，看到了與“中國民族的偉大復興”如出一轍且正面衝突的“Make America Great Again”，看到了世界範圍的貿易戰、匯率戰升級，以及川普各項令人扼腕嘆息的反移民草案。政客在當今政治環境下的大旋律就是 “不達成共識”，全球化在民粹主義的強勢下舉步維艱。
第三個是持續個人主義化的大浪潮。隨著消費主義的發展給消費者帶來極大的選擇空間，人們對”表達自我“的需求也成為在溫飽後的第一消費要素。Instagram大當其道，人人都是媒體，網紅代替品牌，抖音火過明星。隨著社會朝極度個人主義發展，個人需要直面作為生存主體的孤獨，這就要求真正意義上的財產所有權，以及數據擁有權，這才是“人生而平等”的基本條件。
在三個不可逆的大趨勢下，個體的力量似乎只不過是滄海一粟，歷史的車輪總會悄無聲息地碾過。
Primitive 是什麼
Eric Meltzer與我相識於對Zcash社區的建設，成為了彼此最好的朋友。作為一個標準的假老外，我們共同作為Zcash的董事會選舉人，經歷了一個也許是比特幣之後最優秀的cryto community從無到有的發展過程。他一口京腔中帶著洋味兒的普通話，和我不是特別標準的廣普，常常給我們日常的對話添了不少笑料。我們兩一起是Zcash，Dfinity, Sia, KyberNetwork, 0x, Cosmos, StarkWare, Chia Network, Mobilecoin, Handshake, Celer, Spacemesh 等項目最早的投資人。
貌似還算正兒八經的合照只有這張了...
我們清晰地認識到一個好的區塊鏈項目，需要的不僅僅是優秀的加密學家和程序員，更需要有創造性的經濟學家，跨界的設計師，以及具有政治領袖氣質的社區領袖。
我們經常互相開玩笑說 ”我們不僅僅要穿越熊牛，我們要一起穿越熊群和牛群“ 。我們熟諳”流動性溢價“的套路與致命性，我們在價值判斷時保持著極高的批判性。我們都喜歡問創業者一個問題“你這輩子做過什麼最叛逆的事情”，我們都有快速區別投機者和founder的眼睛。
無數個夜晚我們會就對未來世界的憧憬聊到天空泛白，無數個項目討論我們會在對方還沒說完就知道對方的判斷邏輯。無數通宵討論後，我們決定一起聯手，篤定未來，創辦Primitive Ventures。
Primitive在英文的意思有個特別簡單優雅的定義—— "First of its kind"。經常用在計算機學科裡表示基本的數據類別和基本的計算操作，或者用在加密學裡表示以構建加密協議的底層加密算法，或者在生物學裡面表示進化早期的物種。我們正處於這個行業的前三分鐘，We are in a primitive stage of the industry.
在文章下面，我附上了我們兩的簡歷和我們的英文的公開信: The Primitive Manifesto.
Satoshi在第一篇公開的論壇帖子裡有一句極其值得玩味的話 "It(Bitcoin) takes advantage of the nature of information being easy to spread but hard to stifle" [比特幣利用了信息“極易傳播，難以被壓制”的特性]。我們過去幾年的對加密事業的探索過程中，看到了個體之間達成的分佈式共識力量之強大，與信息會"持續消散“的特點，讓crypto asset擁有了極強的生命力。正是來自於個體對自由和平等，以及對資產和數據確定性最根本的渴望，讓我們看到了”熵永增，crypto 永生" 的可能。
我們堅信個體在貧富差距拉大環境下，經濟發展下行趨勢下，民粹主義升級中以及個人主義化的大潮下，更加需要另一種選擇的可能，一個創造平行世界的機會，一個對沖現實世界系統性風險的保險。區塊鏈是在人類在追尋自由和平等的道路上，一個偉大的嘗試。
人生最幸運的事情，莫過於和最鐵的哥們一起，銀鞍白馬，快意江湖。
THE PRIMITIVE MANIFESTO
10 years before Satoshi set Bitcoin in motion, John Perry Barlow of the EFF wrote regarding governments in his “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” that:
“[They] have not engaged in our great and gathering conversation, nor did they create the wealth of our marketplaces. They do not know our culture, our ethics, or the unwritten codes that already provide our society with more order than could be obtained by any of their impositions.”
The same could be said of the majority of investors in the cryptocurrency space. A venture investor’s job ends once a company’s stock becomes liquid, but a crypto investors work has just begun. A hedge fund manager only starts paying attention to opportunities when they hit public markets, but a crypto asset investor should have the tools and network (and indeed, the passion and excitement for new things being built!) to help early-stage startups expand and thrive from day one.
Many firms in the space have rigid theses in which they expound on how people ought to be using crypto assets. We chose the name Primitive to emphasize that we’re still in the Precambrian days of cryptoasset networks. Writing a thesis about something so nascent is an exercise in futility—after a few months, it will only serve as a reminder that no one really knows where the space is going. As William Gibson put it: “The street finds its own uses for things” and indeed, the use cases that real people find for crypto networks are inevitably more innovative and incredible than the ones investors can imagine. At Primitive, we’re proudly thesis-free, and instead, spend all of our waking hours finding and supporting the people building truly valuable things.
We start at the earliest stage and provide founders with capital, support, advice, and the best network in the game. We then continue to support companies and cryptoasset networks as they grow with capital, community, media, and hiring support. We see a viable crypto project as built not only by cryptographers or engineers, but also creative economists, interdisciplinary designers, and charismatic community leaders. Most are fixed-issuance, which means that getting undilutable early stakes in the best projects can create outsized returns.
We’re long-term holders and market cycle agnostic. We've held Bitcoin since the days when most people bought it on an exchange that was intended for trading collectible cards, through two massive bear markets, and rarely trade. We understand crypto economics and human psychology well in a fast liquidity cycle, but don't expect our portfolio to rush for premature liquidity, as it can be fundamentally harmful. There is no compression algorithm for the growth of any community, nor to any form of consensus.
We aim to be a global firm from day one because crypto will be one of the first sectors where Silicon Valley and the US don't have an unfair advantage, unlike the last few major tech cycles. Two of our co-founders speak English and Chinese equally well, and have been fully immersed in those two major investment ecosystems; We are equally well-connected with the exchanges and mining powerhouses in China/Asia, the long-term investors in the Bay Area, hacker houses in Buenos Aires, academic labs in Tel Aviv, and trading communities in Tokyo and Korea.
As we execute this simple but effective strategy, we’re stoked to be backed by some of the most experienced and resourceful investors in the space, about whom we will share more in our following press releases. The list includes top crypto strategies, Asian conglomerates, wall-street powerhouses, the most successful angel investors in the world, and founders we invested before who now choose to reinvest in us.
If you’re working on an interesting project in the cryptoasset space, it’s never too early to get in touch with us: [email protected]
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