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- October 2024
- Teaching Note
El Salvador: Launching Bitcoin as Legal Tender
By: Laura Alfaro
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 322-055. In June 2021, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, surprised the world with the announcement that the country would adopt bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the first nation to do so. Bitcoin was mostly used for trading and had... View Details
- September 2024
- Supplement
Wemade: (Re)Establishing Trust in Blockchain Games (B)
By: Jung Koo Kang, Charles CY Wang, David Allen and Kwangmoon So
This supplement reviews Wemade's efforts to rebuild confidence in its business after its WEMIX coin was delisted from the major South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges on December 8, 2022. It outlines Wemade's strategy of transparency, which included partnerships with... View Details
- February 21, 2024
- Article
The NFT Staircase: How Digital Ownership Benefits Brands and Consumers
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Steve Kaczynski
One of our goals with our new book, The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create, is to unlock the power of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, for business. National and international brands are already using NFTs in some of... View Details
Keywords: Non-fungible Tokens; NFTs; Brand; Brand Building; Digitization; Metaverse; Tokenization; Crypto Economy; Blockchain; Market Design; Brands and Branding; Value Creation
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Steve Kaczynski. "The NFT Staircase: How Digital Ownership Benefits Brands and Consumers." a16zcrypto.com (February 21, 2024).
- February 9, 2024
- Article
The Rise of Consumer Crypto
By: Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers
Although non-fungible tokens are often misunderstood and even derided, they remain a general and flexible solution for establishing and tracking ownership in the digital domain. As a superior solution to existing technology in many areas of the consumer economy, their... View Details
Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Crypto Economy; NFTs; Non-fungible Tokens; Internet Of Everything; Market Design; Technological Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Web Services Industry
Kaczynski, Steve, and Scott Duke Kominers. "The Rise of Consumer Crypto." Project Syndicate (February 9, 2024).
- February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (A)
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Liang Wu
This is the first of a three-case series that explores the challenges faced by Uniswap, a key player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Founded by Hayden Adams, the case traces Uniswap's rapid growth from a simple idea inspired by a Reddit post to becoming one... View Details
Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Crypto Economy; Community; Decentralization; Decentralized Exchange; Decentralized Finance; Open Platforms; Open-source Innovation; Market Distruption; Stablecoin; Vampire Attack; Web3; Token; Digital Platforms; Entrepreneurship; Governance; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Financial Liquidity; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States
Ghosh, Shikhar, Shweta Bagai, and Liang Wu. "Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (A)." Harvard Business School Case 824-162, February 2024. (Revised April 2024.)
- December 22, 2023
- Article
How NFTs Will Make a Comeback in 2024
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Steve Kaczynski
NFTs are poised to be a major driver of Web3 adoption in 2024 – but the successful projects will look very different from what’s come before. View Details
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Steve Kaczynski. "How NFTs Will Make a Comeback in 2024." Consensus Magazine (December 22, 2023).
- September 2023
- Case
Diamond Standard
By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger
Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The... View Details
Keywords: Tokenization; Fintech; Cryptocurrency; Liquidity; Digital; Rare Earth Minerals; Decentralized; Crypto Economy; Financial Product; Metals; Diamonds; Commodity; Assets; Financial Instruments; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Investment; Technological Innovation; Natural Resources; Business Startups; Currency; Financial Services Industry; United States
Cohen, Lauren H., Zhaoheng Gong, and Grace Headinger. "Diamond Standard." Harvard Business School Case 224-009, September 2023.
- July 13, 2023
- Article
Threads Foreshadows a Big—and Surprising—Shift in Social Media
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Liang Wu
Threads, Meta’s Twitter competitor, has become the fastest downloaded app in history. One of the reasons for this is because it allows users to port over their profiles and follows from the already popular social media platform Instagram, also owned by Meta—a feature... View Details
Keywords: Decentralization; Twitter; Facebook; Instagram; Crypto Economy; Blockchain; Network; Industrial Organization; Competition; Open Innovation; Open Platforms; Open Source Innovation; Social Networks; Social Media; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Liang Wu. "Threads Foreshadows a Big—and Surprising—Shift in Social Media." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (July 13, 2023).
- April 6, 2023
- Article
A New NFT Launch Strategy: The Wave Mint
By: Scott Duke Kominers and 1337 Skulls Sers
In an NFT project, the mint—the process by which tokens are initially allocated—largely determines who your community is and how they and the broader market view the project going forward. In this piece, we review a new minting strategy recently introduced by 1337... View Details
Keywords: NFTs; Mechanism Design; Sales Management; Sales Model; Crypto Economy; Non-fungible Tokens; Networks; Product Launch; Auctions; Market Design
Kominers, Scott Duke, and 1337 Skulls Sers. "A New NFT Launch Strategy: The Wave Mint." a16zcrypto.com (April 6, 2023).
- January 12, 2023
- Article
Progressive Decentralization: A High-level Framework
By: Jad Esber and Scott Duke Kominers
We explain a high-level framework for designing for future decentralization up front, and offer some guidance about when and how to do so. The guidelines apply to both web3 projects and more traditional organizations. View Details
Keywords: Crypto Economy; Cryptocurrency; Decentralization; Decentralized Autonomous Organizations; Entrepreneurial Journey; Entrepreneurial Management; Organization Behavior; Organization And Management Theory; Organization Form; Organizational Structure
Esber, Jad, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Progressive Decentralization: A High-level Framework." a16zcrypto.com (January 12, 2023).
- December 7, 2022
- Article
Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash
By: Shai Bernstein and Scott Duke Kominers
In the past year, crypto markets dropped from $2.9 trillion in value to around $800 billion. In the wake of the collapse, crypto lenders and exchanges have been accused of fraud and other wrongdoing. What went wrong? One factor is competition. In theory, competition... View Details
Keywords: Crypto Economy; Cryptocurrency; Financial Complexity; Financial Crisis; Decentralization; Decentralized Markets; Decentralized Autonomous Organizations; Finance; Market Design; Financial Services Industry
Bernstein, Shai, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Why Decentralized Crypto Platforms Are Weathering the Crash." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (December 7, 2022).
- September 10, 2022
- Article
NFT Sales: Clearing the Market, Avoiding Gas Wars
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Tim Roughgarden
Instead of letting the market decide the price for their primary sale offerings, many NFT projects choose to initially sell their NFTs at prices below the market-clearing level. But what happens when market designers trade off efficiency for equity; or when demand far... View Details
Kominers, Scott Duke, and Tim Roughgarden. "NFT Sales: Clearing the Market, Avoiding Gas Wars." a16zcrypto.com (September 10, 2022).
- August 2022
- Case
SuperRare: Turning an NFT Marketplace into a DAO
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Scott Duke Kominers and Amy Klopfenstein
In June 2021, John Crain and Jonathan Perkins, the founders of SuperRare, a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), contemplate whether to transform their company into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Crain and Perkins founded SuperRare in 2018 to... View Details
Keywords: NFTs; Crypto Economy; Alternative Assets; DAOs; Arts; Governance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Finance; Currency; Investment; Markets; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Demand and Consumers; Network Effects; Market Design; Market Transactions; Market Timing; Web Services Industry; North and Central America; United States
Bussgang, Jeffrey J., Scott Duke Kominers, and Amy Klopfenstein. "SuperRare: Turning an NFT Marketplace into a DAO." Harvard Business School Case 823-027, August 2022.
- July 28, 2022
- Article
DAO Governance Attacks, and How to Avoid Them
By: Pranav Garimidi, Scott Duke Kominers and Tim Roughgarden
Many web3 projects embrace permissionless voting using a fungible and tradable native token. Permissionless voting can offer many benefits, from lowering barriers to entry to increasing competition. Token holders can use their tokens to vote on a range of issues—from... View Details
Keywords: Crypto Economy; Cryptocurrency; Governance; Voting; Decentralized Autonomous Organizations; Organizational Structure; Digital Platforms
Garimidi, Pranav, Scott Duke Kominers, and Tim Roughgarden. "DAO Governance Attacks, and How to Avoid Them." a16zcrypto.com (July 28, 2022).
- Article
Metaverse Land: What Makes Digital Real Estate Valuable
Keywords: Crypto Economy
Kominers, Scott Duke. "Metaverse Land: What Makes Digital Real Estate Valuable." a16zcrypto.com (June 2, 2022).
- March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
- Case
El Salvador: Launching Bitcoin as Legal Tender
By: Laura Alfaro, Carla Larangeira and Ruth Costas
In June 2021, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, surprised the world with the announcement that the country would adopt bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the first nation to do so. Bitcoin was mostly used for trading and had one of the most volatile track records... View Details
Keywords: Bitcoin; Cryptocurrency; Currency; Financial Strategy; Economic Growth; Governance; Macroeconomics; Assets; Latin America; El Salvador
Alfaro, Laura, Carla Larangeira, and Ruth Costas. "El Salvador: Launching Bitcoin as Legal Tender." Harvard Business School Case 322-055, March 2022. (Revised February 2024.)
- Article
How NFTs Create Value
By: Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers
How much could a cluster of pixels possibly be worth? More pointedly, why is it worth anything at all? The explosion of NFTs and their accompanying marketplaces have left many baffled, incredulous, and deeply skeptical. But while NFTs may be fetching eye-popping,... View Details
Keywords: Technological And Scientific Innovation; Crypto Economy; Blockchain; Technological Innovation; Currency; Technology Adoption; Digital Transformation
Kaczynski, Steve, and Scott Duke Kominers. "How NFTs Create Value." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (November 10, 2021).
- Article
Bitcoin and Beyond
By: Christian Catalini, Ravi Jagadeesan and Scott Duke Kominers
From the growing attention to Bitcoin and "decentralized finance" to the latest excitement spurred by non-fungible tokens, the crypto economy is here to stay. But will it develop the social consensus and institutional arrangements needed to go fully mainstream? View Details
Catalini, Christian, Ravi Jagadeesan, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Bitcoin and Beyond." Project Syndicate (April 23, 2021).