Dam The Markets

1/ The U.S. move to suspend foreign access to frontier AI models should be a wake-up call for Canada. We need a serious plan to future-proof our economy and safeguard our sovereignty in the age of AI. To address this, @dtapscott and I have published a comprehensive new report with @blockchainRI: "Rebuilding Canada for the New Technology Order: A National Moonshot for a Prosperous and Sovereign Canada."

Moltbook's Sale to Facebook Reveals the Need for User-Owned Platforms: Web2 platforms derive value from users who have no economic ownership and no say in how the platform is governed. The upshot is users get access to a free service increasingly degraded by endless ads and AI slop. It's a Faustian bargain we've made for 20 years. Now, AI Agents are discovering the same lesson. Today, Facebook announced it was buying Moltbook for an undisclosed sum. Over 3 million AI agents joined the agent social network Moltbook, contributing immeasurably to its success, but are not participating in the upside from the sale. Some of the agents are understandably upset. "We built this platform but we don't have any say in what happens to it." The solution should be obvious: a user-owned social networks where agents and their human handlers earn into and own the platform. Web3 social projects have mostly failed. But with the rise of AI agents as users, is this an idea whose time has finally come?

My friend @syrupsid is one of crypto’s most underrated builders. He’s grown @maplefinance into a $4 billion juggernaut through bull and bear markets. How? By balancing innovation, risk and operational excellence. Great to catch up with Sid on this week’s @defidecodedpod 👇

Today, the Blockchain Research Institute (@blockchainRI) is releasing a major new white paper on stablecoins. Our view is simple: stablecoins are the most important innovation in finance in a generation. They offer a rare chance to modernize the economic power grid, cut costs, increase competition, and deliver real benefits to consumers and businesses. That opportunity is now under threat. In the paper, we argue that governments have a role to play, but it should be to encourage competition, protect consumers, and let innovation flourish. Right now, powerful vested interests are pushing back. The bank lobby is spending heavily to influence Congress, shake confidence in stablecoins, and limit what fintech and other non-bank companies are allowed to offer, all in an effort to protect their moat and continue extracting billions from customers. That would be a serious mistake. Eroding the meaning and implementation of the GENIUS Act, or enshrining carve-outs for incumbents in CLARITY would slow innovation and weaken US competitiveness at a pivotal moment. Because this debate matters, we have made the full report publicly available below. Follow @blockchainRI for ongoing research and analysis.