The Empowering Humility Podcast

Dolores: Welcome to Empowering Humility,
where we're on a mission to promote human

flourishing by restoring humility as
a common denominator in society today.

Let's dive in.

Giancarlo Newsome: Well, good morning,
good afternoon, wherever you're at.

Welcome to the Empowering
Humility Podcast.

I'm John Carla Newsom and I'll
be your host for this podcast.

Uh, for those who are new, we explore how
technology, especially AI and Web3, and

today we're gonna talk about blockchain
technology, which is under Web3.

It can be used to strengthen
virtue rather than vice.

We believe the first virtue we
need to help restore to society is

humility at empowering humility.

We believe humility is the root
virtue for human flourishing,

and frankly, everything good.

Feel free to disagree with
us or also agree with us.

Share with us how you feel humility,
empowering humility and embracing

humility has made your life
better or at work, uh, in any way.

So before I introduce today's guest,
I want our listeners to know that

all our guests have a clear passion
and purpose greater than themselves.

And it's just such an honor to
have guys like Wade Preston you'll

meet today, because they truly,
in my opinion, are living in

what some have called flow state.

They, they kind of live in a state of,
of self-actualization as the, as Maslow

talked about where, um, money, um.

And pride, like they're,
they're way beyond that.

They're, they just live in a state of
pain for goodness and selflessness.

It doesn't mean that we don't, or
they don't have challenges, but it's

just a wonderful place to be and they
truly embody empowering humility.

And I also think, um, like especially
with Wade, when you meet Wade today,

you'll hear what, when you live in that
state of empowering humility, the fun you

can have, the way you see the world and
technology from a different perspective.

And so with that, I am thrilled
to introduce to you Wade Preston.

Um, he's coming from several
different sources of representation.

Like a lot of entrepreneurs I know he
is the global outreach lead and correct

me way where I go wrong here for the
North American Blockchain Association.

He owns a coffee company.

And if I understand correctly,
you also are, are, have a

startup called Click Capital.

Wade Preston: Yep.

Um, have a couple of startups.

Yeah.

Um, uh, click capital.

And then, uh, I'm co-founder of,
uh, the Drips Pay, the Drip payment

app, uh, which is, uh, kind of part
and parcel to, uh, click capital.

Uh, it's a stablecoin payment app
for, uh, in real life retailers.

Um, I also, uh, work with Stand With
Crypto, uh, at State Chapter Outreach.

So, uh, put mildly I am, uh,
just a glutton for punishment.

Giancarlo Newsome: Well, I think
that's, uh, evidence of kind of living

in flow state and we just, uh, tap
out, uh, our calling that I think

our creator gives each of us when we
can live in that state of abundance.

Um, so welcome to the
Empowering Humility Podcast.

Um, go a little deeper.

Tell us a little more about yourself.

Tell, give us like a verbal bio,
a little bit of backstory, kind of

thread the needle of, of, of how
you all these ventures and these

representations that you've made.

How, just tell us, take a moment.

Tell us about.

How Wade got to where Wade's at
and where Wade is going and why.

Wade Preston: Um, yeah, I think, um, in,
in, I think from the outside looking in,

it looks like I'm like kind of spread a
mile, widening an inch deep, and I have my

hand in all these different cookie jars.

Um, but for me, all of these
things are kind of related.

Um, and they all serve towards the same.

Kind of purpose, uh, in my life.

And, um, that, um, probably began.

I, I, when I was in undergrad, I
was, I was a little bit aimless and,

um, I was pretty, pretty sharp kid,
like in, uh, high school and stuff.

I didn't really have to study too much.

And I think there was a lot of folks that
kind of are like me, they just sort of

breeze through high school when they get
to college and they're like, oh, okay.

I actually maybe have to pay
attention a little bit and actually

think about what I want to do.

Uh, and I just decided that I was
gonna study philosophy in, in college,

um, for, for really knowing the
reason that it, it interest me, um,

which is probably a little different
than most of my peers who are really

trying to like, sort out a career.

Um, and maybe if I could go back
and do it differently, I might, but

I doubt it because, uh, philosophy
has really served me well.

Um, I can remember this
like really seminal moment.

Um.

Sitting in, uh, you know, sophomore
level, like Logic 1 0 1 and just

thinking like, oh my gosh, why
am I just now learning this?

You know, like, why, like I went
to a National Blue Ribbon High

School, I was a good student.

Like I've learned, you know, took
two semesters of a foreign language,

like, you know, a PUS history,
like, uh, you know, pre-calculus.

Even though I wasn't that great
at math, I still made it to that.

I was like, why, why?

All this stuff that I learned, I'm not
just like, no one walked me through.

Just like, how to rightly determine
the truth, value of ideas.

Like that just seems like such a,
a a baseline thing to know in life.

Um, and, uh, yeah, I, I kind of
carried that with me in just this

kind of first principles, thinking
about how I approach things.

So, um, uh, I, I kind of tend
to think of things more as like.

How they fit into, you know, a,
a theme and a calling in my life.

Um, you know, it's like, uh, Ocasio
Veritas, like, you know, the, the,

you know, our, our true calling.

Um, and, uh, I, to me, all these things
tie in in this way of like, I believe

that, I believe that, um, human beings,
like our, our superpower as a species,

um, isn't really our ability to reason.

Um, it's not like our supreme
intellect compared to other species

on this planet, although that,
that, you know, that is true.

Right?

Um, uh, I think that the, you
know, the real superpower of, um,

humanity is, is our ability to
flexibly coordinate with one another.

Um, and, and we're social animals
and we're, we're wired to.

Um, to move about the world in a social
context and, and to seek out one another.

And, uh, we kind of have this
innate draw, uh, towards that.

Um, and so I, I got into to coffee
and I, I believe, you know, I got into

coffee because I was originally started a
nonprofit world and I was, uh, you know,

I was just wanted to save the world.

I had my philosophy degree, you
know, and what do you do with that?

You go out and try to save the world.

And I was working, uh, with a development
nonprofit in West Africa, and, uh,

we were doing micro lending and I saw
these like entrepreneurs just on the

ground and in rural West Africa and just
was like, had this light bulb moment.

It's like, oh no.

Like it's, it's not charity that's
really going to, you know, change the

trajectory of, of places like this.

It's, it's markets like, it's, you
know, actual functioning, transparent.

Equitable accessible markets.

And, um, if you live in between the
20th parallels, you know, like you don't

have access to the same, you know, kind
of sophisticated financial tools that,

that the, the developed world has.

And that, that's a huge disadvantage.

And most of these are producer economies
that, you know, are, they're selling

things like, uh, cacao or coffee or rubber
to developed nations and they're, it

is just not a very level playing field.

Um, so that's, I wanted
to get into coffee.

I wanted to create, um.

These like, uh, direct trade relationships
to kind of even that balance out and

kind of solve this, you know, 400
year old disaster of a supply chain.

Um, that was the global coffee market.

So that was kind of a, probably the
first windmill I really took a tilt at.

Um, and, uh, uh, and uh, as I got into
that more and more, you know, kind of

this idea of like, you know, coffee as,
as this like mechanism to bring people

together was really strong for me.

Like, um, there's this great line,
um, in Goodwill Hunting, which is

one of my favorite films where many
drivers character, she's, she's

kind of trying to ask the, the
title character will out on a date.

Um, Matt Damon's character, and she
says, you know, why don't we get together

and have a cup of coffee sometimes
and, and Will just being who he is.

So, you know, fires back and
it's like real sardonic way.

It is like, well, why don't we just
get together and eat a bunch of

caramels, you know, and, and she says.

She looks at him funny and, and,
uh, he says, you know, if you think

about it, it's just as arbitrary.

Um, and, uh, it's true, right?

It's like coffee's just this arbitrary
thing that, you know, as humans, we've

decided is an excuse to get together.

And I think because of
that, it's awesome, you

know, uh, what, what a great thing.

Like we just, so, uh, I think, you
know, coffee houses are this weird like,

you know, decentralized infrastructure
for the, the spread of ideas.

They're this excuse for us to get
together and look each other in the whites

of our eyes and have a conversation.

And I think that's an important thing.

So that's what drew me into that.

And then.

In my, you know, kind of quicksodic,
uh, journey of, you know, wanting

to, to fix the global coffee market.

I stumbled upon blockchain technology
and this idea of like open, transparent

ledgers that were borderless and, you
know, that anybody could access, you know,

um, you know, financial tools and capital.

Um, and they didn't have to have,
you know, the dumb luck of being

born in a developed economy to do
that, uh, I thought was amazing.

And, uh, I just went deep down that rabbit
hole and, um, and realized that like,

hey, blockchains, uh, and blockchains
are kind of, uh, you know, crypto is the,

it's the intersection of the internet
and money and, um, I think the internet

and money are both, they're tools for,
um, flexible ho human coordination.

Just like coffee is, and, and
blockchains are, you know, they're

the, uh, the intersection of those two.

So blockchains are kind of this, they're
really a super powerful tool for flexible

human coordination and alignment.

So, you know, I, I have this
like crazy, like diverse set

of things that I do day to day.

I am kind of constantly code switching.

You know, one day, one moment I might
be like, underneath an espresso machine,

fixing a plumbing line, and then like
a, a a half hour later having a call

with a senator about blockchain policy.

Um, but to me it's, it all makes
sense because it's all towards this

idea of like, all these things bring
people together to unleash the human

superpower of flexible coordination.

Um, so yeah, that's just what I'm about.

So it just feels like one big
job to me, rather than a million

different disparate jobs.

Like I think it probably
looks from the outside.

So, uh, sorry for the, uh, the,
the, the, the long-winded response

there, but, uh, yeah, that's,
that's kind of how it all ties

together in my mind.

Giancarlo Newsome: I, I love it.

I think, um, very inspiring and that's
kind of the purpose of this podcast

is hopefully others will go, you know
what, um, listen deep to where your,

your greatest pain and love intersects.

Sunday had Lodge said that, and you know,
I, um, you made a comment of like, just

that, that humility of dumb luck, right.

Of where we're born, right.

That that's really most people
listening to this podcast are on that

side of the equation where like, okay.

When you start just recognizing
how blessed we were, we had

nothing to do with getting here.

And, um, I, I think it kind of, it should
enable us to, um, kind of want to give

back and, and I think anyone that's
brought on this planet, frankly, has given

a deck of cards for us to, to manage.

And then, you know, we, we reveal
these technologies to employ them.

And I, it's just so, so
cool the way I never.

I never would've thought, you know,
I, when you, when you coffee business

until you, you brought together kind
of the connection of people it creates

and the decentralization, decentralized
nature of coffee houses, it's now, okay,

that's very much acquisitive blockchain.

And, um, that, that was, uh, awesome.

Loved it.

A lot of, so we have a, our marketing
team, they, they take extracts and I,

I had a thought to myself, man, they're
gonna have so many great little extracts

of, of where you mentioned crypto is the
intersection of the internet and money.

You had a lot of other really good, I'm
not gonna call 'em cliches, just summary

soundbites that are very substantive.

I also wanted to kind of reinforce how,

you implicitly are, um, this, this
concept of human connection, right?

And that how, how that's like
almost our, our greater superpower.

You look at how society is struggling
with depression and loneliness.

You, you and, and in, in our theory and
in our view, is that social media mainly

as enemy number one, namely Facebook to
reinforce our own worlds, to basically

it shuts down that need and just makes us
worship ourselves when, when we're called

and designed to leverage that interaction.

Um, the, uh, I don't know.

You have any thoughts?

I can tell you Got it.

Wade Preston: Yeah.

Yeah.

I.

I, I, think about this a lot,
um, to be honest, because,

you know, and I'll go back, this
is probably a, an interesting

anecdote and, and I promise I'm
going somewhere with it, but we were

talking about, you know, coffee houses
as this, like, decentralized, um,

infrastructure for the spread of ideas.

Like that's, if you, if you talk to,
you know, uh, kind of sociologists or

like, you know, historical sociologists,
though, a lot of 'em will pretty readily

admit that one of the, the largest
catalysts for the enlightenment was.

The introduction to Coffee of Coffee
to, uh, the European continent,

and with it, the idea of coffee
houses, um, because it, it marked

this change in the European diet.

You know, like the, uh, uh, the, the Arab
world had been drinking hot beverages

for a long time as part of the culture.

They'd been acclimated
to coffee for a while.

Um, they were tee totaling culture,
so they didn't, you know, while, while

Europe needed to, to, to stay a off, um,
disease with, you know, alcohol, right?

Um, as their sterilization method,
like, uh, Arabs were a little more, um,

you know, uh, in, in their right mind
more often because they were, they were

using coffee, hot water, um, to do this.

They were boiling water.

Um, and then so when that hit.

The, the European continent, people
quickly switch from, you know, kind of

barbiturates to amphetamines, right?

They, it, it goes from like, you know, uh,
beer for breakfast, you know, gin at lunch

and wine at dinner, to now they're, you
know, downing coffee in the coffee house.

And so the flow of ideas and
the productivity that comes

around these things is like a
totally different thing, right?

And these coffee houses just
start pop popping up everywhere.

Um, and, um, and it, it, it created this,
this whole infrastructure and like, this

is where like a lot of like, um, uh,
beat writers started showing up, right?

Like writing, you know, it'd sit in
the coffee house that was like, you

know, outside of the Royal Academy
and they would write on, you know,

uh, what, what was being talked
about in this coffee house, right?

And that was kind of the, you know,
the, the Scholastic beat, right?

And then, you know, they
would sit in at like the, uh.

Coffee house, you know, um, by the port.

And they would write about the
shipping and commerce beat, right?

Because that's where all the
information was being shared.

It's actually, sorry, there's another
out frame that's actually, uh, um, a

coffee house, you know, where sailors
were coming back on leave, um, uh, and

drinking, sitting around drinking coffee.

Uh, they started, um, uh, creating
like a, a a a bedding table on,

uh, you know, setting the odds on
whether ships would return or not.

And they were, they were placing
bets on that in this coffee house.

And, uh, it, it got really sophisticated
as things do when people are, are

exchanging money, like people like really
wanna make sure everything's right.

Uh, so it became this huge like blackboard
with all these odds and, you know,

handicaps on things and money moving.

And, uh, and then ship owners
realized that like, oh, this is like

a great way to hedge my investment.

I can like bet a little bit
against my ship that way if it

doesn't come in, I can collect.

Uh, and, and eventually what
they did was they created, um.

um.

they created insurance like, uh,
and, and the name of this coffee

house was Lloyd's of London.

Like it's at, uh,

Giancarlo Newsome: Are you serious?

Wade Preston: yeah, yeah.

This is, I mean, you
can look up the history.

Lloyd's 11 became as a,
you know, began as a coffee

Giancarlo Newsome: Wow.

Wow.

Wade Preston: so yeah, it's even like
these financial primitives, right?

Uh, like they come out of this, this
idea of people coming together and,

you know, like, uh, you know, in the
same, you're in the same space and,

and sharing ideas and this flexible
ability to coordinate, um, happens.

Uh, so yeah, I, I taken all that,
like, we, we've like all the way to

the internet, you know, it's kind of
like the culmination of this, right?

It's like the, the, the internet
is the, like, when you take that

coffee house, like flexibility
and you just turn it to 11, right?

Like the, um.

Uh, the old, this is
spinal tap meme, right?

Like, it just, uh, which is great.

It's awesome, right?

Like, you, you and I can
have this conversation.

You're in Italy, I'm in Alabama,
and we're having this conversation

because of the internet.

That's great.

That's amazing.

That's awesome.

However, the downside of that is,
it's a little bit like the difference

between walking down a street with
someone and driving on the interstate,

right?

Like if, if you and I are walking down the
street, I, I live in Montgomery, Alabama.

It's one of the most
historic places on Earth.

You just, you can walk down Dexter Avenue.

So much history.

You, you and I could walk, we
could talk, I could tell you about,

you know, I could point at Dr.

King's church, the, the bus stop
where Rosa Parks got on the bus.

I could point at the winter building
where the, the, the telegram to

firearm, Fort Sumter was sent from,
I, I could talk about the Lehman

Brothers Bank starting just down the
street as a cotton brokerage firm.

Like we, we would have a blast
walking down the street, right?

Uh, if you and I are driving down the, in.

Though, right?

And, and we're, it's a much
more efficient form of communi,

uh, of, of, of, um, of travel.

And, um, you know, and maybe I
am, am driving down the interstate

and I I I, I come into your
lane a little too quick, right?

Well now we're both surrounded
by steel safety cages.

We're moving 70 miles an hour.

And you know, the interaction is not two
people affably walking down the street.

It's Oh, you son of a, you know, and like,
you know, like even your grandmother,

if they get cut off on the interstate is
gonna like rage on somebody because we've

created this, like the humanity has been,
you know, um, abstracted away, right?

Like we, it's hard to see a
human when we just see the car

come over in front of us, right?

Um.

and and we, we just rage about it.

That same person, if they kick, if
they kind of cut you off in the line

at, at the bank or in the grocery
store or something, like, you're just

like, Hey, hey, the line's back there.

Or you just, you don't
even worry about it.

You're like, yeah, whatever.

You know, like, um, and so we interact
with people differently in these

contexts, and I think the internet
is, is really like, you know, it,

it's abstract to the humanity away.

Um, in the same way that, you know,
someone cutting you off on the

interstate, someone says something on
the internet that you disagree with.

don't take that breath, you don't look
'em in the whites of their eyes and

say, well, that's interesting how,
you know, what made you think that?

How did you get to that conclusion?

You hear something you disagree with and
you go, oh, this son of a, like, I, yeah,

this guy's wrong.

I'm about to unleash on on this guy.

'cause, 'cause because I
believe something different.

And, um, I need to make sure that
all the other people, you know, we,

we imagine that everybody, you know,
is watching the, the, the debate.

Nobody cares.

Right.

Um, you know, like, no, nobody's, uh, CNN
is not reporting on your Facebook thread,

you know?

Um, but we just, we have this innate,
you know, sense that like, oh, I'm

gonna dunk on this guy because he has
a bad idea and I have a good idea.

Um,

Giancarlo Newsome: And there's no

Wade Preston: but

Giancarlo Newsome: uh, via that.

Yeah.

Wade Preston: and we don't
see him as a person, right?

And we're not looking at them thinking
like, well maybe they think this

way because they were brought up
differently and maybe they didn't have.

The same perspective that I had.

Maybe they didn't have access to
the same education that I had.

Maybe they grew up in a different
kind of household with different,

um, struggles or different, um,
opportunities that I didn't have.

And, and therefore they, they just
see the thing from a different angle.

Um, you know, I think it's
easier to do that when you're

looking at somebody face to face.

Uh, it is kind of easier, like
the old police song right?

Had this line in it about
like, even Russian mothers

love their children, right?

Like in the height of the Cold War, right?

It's like, yeah, we, we, we,
we all, we all love our moms.

We all want best for our children and our
neighbor and our, you know, friends and

generally, you know, I mean, we really
are a 90% agreement on a lot of things.

Um, so, uh, I think you get that
sense when you're face-to-face with

somebody that the internet kind
of, it abstracts it away too much.

Um, and, uh, I think that,
you know, the internet is, is

amazing in the sense that like.

It.

We are, we are more connected than we've
ever been in the history of the world

because of the internet, but we're somehow
less together because of the internet.

You know, it's like

Giancarlo Newsome: One, one of my
favorite, have you heard of Darrell Davis?

Wade Preston: I don't think so.

Giancarlo Newsome: He's this RB um,
African American guy who actively

befriend former, well, I guess at the
time, KU Klux Klan members, and he, he

restores their, I, I think their humanity.

And another favorite phrase, I
mean, I don't remember where I

heard it first, but, you know,
listen long enough to understand.

And it's a really great story.

Darryl Davis.

He's like, just a, i I love that guy.

'cause he really, and you think of
the tragedy that just happened with

Charlie Kirk, you know, like, how
on earth does a 22-year-old, you

know, not like, it's just so sad.

But unfortunately it is.

It's it.

This, um, let's, let's pivot a little
to, I think Capitalism and Corporatism

is suffering the same thing where, oh,
by the way, for our listeners, we, in,

in the EU Humility app, we've created
a group called Unhealthy Convenience.

And it talks about some of these things.

And then the purpose of this group is
to kind of document where have, where

have we accepted conveniences like.

The internet, the, the, uh, the
highway, the interstate, right,

um, to, and, and suffered from it
where, and or 24 hour supermarkets.

And, and so that we can at least just
create some humility, some self-awareness.

Say, you know what, maybe it's
better to go next door and ask

for that cup of sugar than to go
get in the car, that convenience.

Um, so I just wanna throw that
out to the, to the audience.

It's a fun, it's kind of done with
some satire, I think if you have any

suggestions, you know, throw it in there.

But I, you know, when we spoke, um, you,
I, I just loved, one of the things I,

I, I think I shared with you was, um,
here in Italy where I'm at, I was gonna

throw out some stories because I'd like
some of our listeners, especially who are

in America, you know, you to recognize
what we've lost in the past week.

I was so thrilled to go to my
hardware store, not a big Home Depot.

It's owned by two brothers and I'm
buying the sandpaper, uh, for a project.

And uh, Johnny goes, what's it for?

I'm like, well, I gotta
put it in my sander.

He goes, that won't last.

And I, at Home Depot, I
would've never had that.

I mean, every time I go
in, we have a discussion.

And that human interaction is
amazing with Luigi and Johnny.

Um, Julia was just here with his wife.

There are architects who actually do
like the interior, like installation.

And um, I remember meeting
his father-in-law, um, which

is Easy's, uh, uh, father.

And when you listen to like how
they've transferred from family member

to family member, artisan trades
that are beyond like the technology,

beyond that, that benefit, um.

I, I, I look so forward
to every Saturday morning.

We have a market here and, uh, Felipo
and Marco are my two main guys at

that market and who sell fruit.

And we have a conversation.

I, I've never had so many amazing peaches.

I mean, like, there's that personal touch
that a corporate buyer just can't have.

I, I'm sure he call 'em,
Hey, gimme the best peaches.

But that interaction, um, Elisa Beta
and Ivan are two different florists.

Um, it's, these are things I, I'll bet
money most Americans don't enjoy anymore.

They, and, and when you walk into a
major supermarket in the US or any

major department store, it's, I, I
get flashbacks to what I was taught.

Communism is, and you know, where
you have a central planner, they're

gonna get, here are your options.

We're gonna buy for you.

We know what's best for
you, for your options.

And, and then everyone's just
a number, just an employee.

And, and, um.

The, uh, uh, I now in Italy, the
artisans, the small businesses,

they're going extinct too.

Like, I watched a big corporate,
uh, pharmacy buy out this beautiful

family owned, um, pharmacy.

If you, if you walked up to
this pharmacy, you would've

thought, is this Beverly Hills?

I mean the, the, the, the glass and
the display case was so obviously

done with heart and passion that you
probably couldn't justify at, at a profit

level or, or another hardware store.

I loved, I walked in and you, you
immediately see three generations

working in there together.

You know, grandma sitting in back,
um, the young daughter, I mean like,

like I, we, we we're suffering a lot.

And when we spoke Wade, you had told
me about taking Token Safe harbor

to Main Street a, a policy brief.

Um.

What's your thoughts about corporatism?

How capital's been hijacked, and how
do you think blockchain technology can,

um, help us restore this empowering
humility to America and small business

and just the business and the, and
the and and the, i, I believe the

original intention of capitalism, right?

Where the free market really, we've
been stripped of our power as consumers.

They, the, the, and again, I've been
part of corporate America and I, and I

remember that we were making decisions
that the employee or the client would

not recognize in their lifetime.

Or another fun statistic for the audience
here, I was talking to, uh, to a dear

friend, a boss in my, in my army role,
and he's a big, he's, he's amazing.

Just a brain on bicycles
and bicycle history.

He had, he had come to work
today with, uh, what I thought,

is that a single gear bike?

He says, no, it's, it's two
gears and internal gear.

I'm like, whoa.

And as he started talking about this,
he mentioned, yeah, at the start

of the century in the 19th century,
there were like over a thousand

bicycle manufacturers, and now we know
it's reduced to like eight or nine.

So you go, you know, there's more
creativity out there, but how do, can

blockchain technology kind of unleash that
again, you know, when you, when you talk

to 'em about this token safe harbor for
Main Street, tell us about kind of your

vision there, your hopes there, and, and,
um, what, what's, tell us about that.

Wade Preston: Yeah, I, um, I think
the problem that, that you're,

you're hinting at here, putting out
there is one of, I think there's,

there's two two kind of dialectical.

One is, is the idea of the, the
transcendent versus the transactional,

right.

Um, 'cause what you're describing
are like, they're, it's commerce,

but it's, it's in a transcendent way.

You know, you go into the hardware store,
you see Johnny and Luigi and they know

you and they know they're interested
in what your, your, your project is.

They're, they, they want to help you,
um, in in a transcendent way, not just

because they see you as a customer and
they need to, um, you know, give you some

value so that you'll transact with them
and give them some value in return, right?

Um, they, they're, they're, they get
value, um, out of, um, knowing that

they helped you and that you're gonna
go back to your home and you're gonna be

able to do your project well, because.

They gave you that added value, right?

They, they, they take something from that.

And that's the other dialectic that
I would say is the, the, the, the

tension between qualitative value
and quantitative value, right?

These things are, so you kind of
have on one side the transcendent

experience that creates qualitative
value, and then on the other side,

you have the transactional experience
that creates, uh, quantitative value.

Right?

Um, and I think that
you're, you're correct.

I think that our, our form of
capitalism has way over indexed for,

um, you know, the, the quantitative
value and the transactional churn.

Um, because that, that, is the
thing that, you know, that's this

very like Freedman esque idea.

And I think Milton Friedman
was a complete, like, gig of

genius, like super smart guy.

Um, but you know, the Freedman
model, I, I think he, he thought a

lot about it and I think it's very
thoughtfully crafted in this idea that.

Hey, the, the moral imperative
of any business is to maximize

profit for the shareholder.

You know, even if the shareholder
is just a single, you know,

one person, entrepreneur.

Um, and because if you're maximizing
profit for the shareholder, then

you must necessarily be delivering
the best value for all stakeholders.

You know, the, the, um, you
know, the employee, the customer,

your community, all that.

Like, if, if you weren't
delivering maximum value, you

wouldn't have the highest profit.

Um, uh, and I think maybe in earlier
iterations of the market, that

probably held true a bit, but.

As we started to see a gap, like, and,
and we started to see like kind of the

concentrated coercive power, do what it
does and, and really bloat at the top.

Um, I think it that, that,
that model of capitalism really

started to show its flaws.

Um, and you have something like, I
mean, think about McDonald's, right?

Like McDonald's is a
publicly traded company.

You know, think about the, you know, top
10 shareholders of a McDonald's, right?

Like, uh, this, these are probably,
you know, think about the person

that they, that, that embodies
this's, probably the CEO of an

investment bank or something, right?

And, and think about these people and
ask yourself like, okay, does this

person regularly eat at a McDonald's?

You know, do their kids work
a summer job at McDonald's?

Uh, do they, do they live in the
kind of tertiary market where the

presence or absence of a McDonald's
has some, you know, outsize influence

on the local economy, right?

Like, no, no, and no.

You know, they, they have no,

there's no skin in the game for them
other than maximizing transactional

churn and pushing cost of goods as low as
they can and price as high as they can.

So they have the biggest spread and they
have the most people, and, and yeah, they

do have to be mindful of, you know, okay.

You know, can do, do I have an a, a, a
place where people are gonna show up and

work, and do I have a good enough product
where people are gonna show up and buy it?

But like, those are, they're just trying
to cross a minimum threshold there, right?

They're not concerned

Giancarlo Newsome: race
to the bottom really.

And, and one of my, one of
my favorite statistics that

I think I'll pay forward, Dr.

Nathan Fur, uh, when he
was with Brigham Young.

He, 75% of the Fortune 500
will not be there in 50 years.

In other words, they're all in decline.

Squeezing the, like, the free
market will correct itself.

But the issue is kinda like we're
seeing, I was listening yesterday with

the, with the, you heard government
study after government study that raised

concerns about the mercury in vaccines.

I'm not sure if you saw this, there
was one of the recent announcements

by, uh, uh, secretary Kennedy, and it
took 30 years for us to correct it.

The government even I, I mean
like, like the free market, just.

Wade Preston: I, I could do, we
could do a whole episode on, um,

you know, the, the medical, I, I
unfortunately got a deep dive into the.

All of the, the kind of stakeholders
within our medical infrastructure

and all the misaligned incentives
that lead to these crazy things.

Um, my, my, my, my sister and my
wife were both diagnosed with cancer

six months apart from each other.

So I went through this like, yeah, this
like, uh, you know, couple of years

where it was just like this eye-opening
thing about how a lot of this stuff

worked and, uh, particularly with cancer
care and like, you know, you kind of

realize that like, uh, it, it's not
that, you know, one particular group

is sitting there, you know, or one
particular person is like, you know,

sitting in a dark room, you know,

twisting his mustache, trying to like,
it's just several different, you know,

it's like a mullock trap, like all
these different, um, you know, just.

Slight misalignments of incentives
that that lead to this broken

system that just creates these
outcomes that are, are not optimal.

Right.

And, and, um, it, it's, it's really
fascinating how those things can work

and, and just how systems that we, you
know, even when we're trying to create

systems as human beings, like, uh, you
know, I think, uh, you know, this is

probably an unpopular thing to say,
um, maybe, um, but like GK Chesterton,

um, you know, he said sin is a fact
that's practical as potatoes, right?

Like, um, I, I, I, I think that's like
why even if you're not a particularly

religious person, I think that's wise
to live by is like understanding.

Like people are, are kind
of going to, uh, they, we.

You know, human beings, we, we,
we, you know, we have a, a devil

and an angel on our shoulder.

And, um,

we have, we have an, we have an appetite
for things and like, we're like, like

people will lean towards, you know,
greed and, and taking the, the, you know,

looking out for number one, so to speak.

And, and sometimes that's not even
like a, a particularly unvirtuous

thing to do, like in, in the example
of the medical establishment, right?

Like, you might have a doctor that
like really has some misgivings

about some things, right?

But like, they're gonna keep their
mouth shut because they have two kids

at home and they've got a mortgage and
they gotta show up and they, and they

really just want to help their patients
as best they can and like, that's

just not a hill they're gonna die on.

Right?

Like, they're, they're so, um,

Giancarlo Newsome: And
those hills add up, right?

So if he, maybe it's not a,
maybe it's a in, it's on its own.

It's a small, this is something I
notice in like big institutions like

the military is you, you, you have
legitimate, plausible deniability, right?

There's, there's so many
chains in that effect.

But, and that's kind of the essence
of empowering humility is like, as

a culture, if we can all double down
and there's something else that,

that, that kind of hit me this week.

Um, I was, I was getting, um,
in the military we have like

these annual trainings for sexual
harassment, suicide prevention,

and it's like ask care and escort.

But it was very interesting, the whole,
um, I have a little, little handout I

have here for active listening, you know.

Um, but what's really interesting
way and kind of what, what's

you're highlighting is there was no
discussion about virtue or vices.

Like, there's no why.

And, and I kind of wonder how have we
removed from, I know we're going a little

off topic here, but it really hit me in
our pop culture, in the media, you never

hear people talking about some of these
sins, like you said, the potatoes of sin,

of envy, and, and even, and, and some,
most of these sins beside the, like,

besides like lust, they're really, they're
really between us and, and our creator

or us and whatever we believe, right?

It is hard to catch someone
who's being envious.

It's hard to catch someone being
a little bit greedy, right?

It's hard to catch someone who's
even feeling inadequate, right?

Or insecure or fear.

Like there, there's all these, and, and
I, I used to be kind of a proponent,

oh, you know, this guy's falling,
we're becoming narcissistic, but maybe

nihilism where we, that may be the
bigger, the bigger umbrella sin is,

is I don't, I don't really believe,
I think most of us recognize that.

Narcissism is a really, um, that,
that's not, that people aren't, but

I, I wonder if if it just, we just end
up kind of existing, you know, and,

Wade Preston: I, I, I think that I, I,
I've kind of come to this conclusion that,

um, most of this is like guided by shame.

Like I think that when, uh, yeah, you
know, to chesterton's quote, like, sin

is a fact as practical as potatoes.

Like we, we all kind of deal with that.

But then like, I think, you know, to.

To the discredit of institutionalized
religion, I think institutionalized

religion and, and, and, and the,
the sinful souls within it have have

realized that shame is like a really
great lever to, to move people in

a direction that you want them to.

And that's been abused, um, and
institutionalized religion for a long

time because when people feel a certain
sense of shame, they're going to

react in particular ways to avoid it.

And I think nihilism is a way to avoid
the, the sense, any sense of shame.

I think narcissism is a way
to avoid a sense of shame.

It's a, it's a shield, right?

Um, and I think, I think humility is, is a
way to, to, to, like disarm shame, right?

Like if, if shame is the, you know, kind
of the, the, the dagger heading at our

heart, like humility blunts it, right?

Because it says, yeah.

Like I'm, I'm.

I'm kind of messed up.

Like I'm not quite right, you
know, but so are all my other

fellow travelers along with me,
and, and we're gonna be all right.

You know, like, uh, we're gonna,
we're gonna get through this together.

Um, and I, I think that's a powerful
thing and I think that, you know,

to kind of take it full circle,
that's why it's important for

us to be in, in spaces together.

That's why it's important for us to
not lose, uh, these transactional

experiences and, and trade them in.

I mean, while we shouldn't lose these
transcendent experiences rather,

and trade them in for transactional
experiences and why we need to be aware

of like, the qualitative value of things.

Um, and yeah, I mean to, I mean,
actually kind of, you know,

put a bow on the whole thing.

Like, that's what I want to do with, you
know, with blockchains and with this,

this click project is like create some
avenues to where we can take those things

that, that are hard to value right now.

That's something I really noticed
about like blockchain technology

that I wasn't even looking for, is
that it's actually a really efficient

rail for taking qualitative value and
putting a quantitative metric to it.

Uh, and, and it's, I, and I
think probably the absolute

most efficient rail to do that.

Um, uh, because you can bootstrap
liquidity, uh, on chain and

you can do interesting things
and you can just try things.

Like there's no, you know, there's no
like arbiter that's like, you know,

telling you what you can and can't do.

It's all permissionless.

So, you know, if you think that
the picture of the dog with the hat

is funny and you think that that
humor has some value to it, you can

speculate on the value of that humor.

It's a totally qualitative thing.

Um, you know, is that a, is
that a good use of capital?

Probably not, but it's an interesting
experiment in this idea of, uh,

qualitative value and finding
a, a quantitative metric for it.

And, and with Qlik, that's
what we're trying to do.

Qlik stands for Community
led Investment Capital.

And the idea that I'd noticed
in being a small business owner,

especially like a community business,
like I, I run a coffee shop, right?

And, um, I, um, as I'm running
this coffee shop, I, I, it's a sit

down, you know, nice get together,
community coffee shop, right?

Um, there's no drive through.

Like, it's not, you know,
sitting by the interstate, in

and out, anything like that.

It's not even like on like a
busy, or not even on like super

busy, pedestrian thorough affairs.

Um, uh, it, it's a place
for people to get together.

Um, and there's a lot of
value in that, I believe.

I think other people agree, but I
definitely believe in the value of

people having a space to be, um, and,
and for like the authentic and diverse

community that comes out of just.

Opening a space for people to be.

Um, now here's the deal.

There's a lot of
qualitative value in that.

The quantitative value takes a huge
hit when you decide to do that because

the Starbucks that's out by the
interstate that has the drive through,

you know, on a, on just an on idle
Tuesday, they're doing twice as much

business as my busiest day of the year.

You know, I mean, they're, they, they've
just got the transactional churn.

It's not just Starbucks, you
know, it's Dunking Donuts, it's

what, whatever, you know, any, any kind
of drive through coffee joint, like,

um, that's, that's well positioned.

Like, you know, they're gonna do
seven, 10, maybe $15,000 on a Saturday.

And like on my greatest days in my busiest
cafes, we're doing maybe $3,500, right?

Um, and, and, uh, but I'm delivering
more value to my community than they are.

Um, so how do we take that
qualitative value that we're

delivering, that we're creating?

And it's not just my, my business,
you know, coffee shops are easy to

extrapolate, but the same thing.

I just think even in the states, right?

Like we still have these touch
and feel community businesses that

people like to be a part of, but
they're, you know, they're record

stores, they're comic book shops.

They're, they're, they're
bicycle repair shops.

They're, you know, small bakeries,
um, uh, their pubs, you know, um,

you know, these types of places that
people just, yeah, barbershops man.

Like, just places where people just want
to be and they wanna be seen and they

want to, to interact with other people.

Uh, but they don't, they don't, have
the mechanism for, um, actualizing the

value that they're creating because
the value they're creating kind of

has this like, qualitative value lock,

right?

So, um, you know, the idea is
that like we take with Qlik,

we take essentially take like.

You know, customer loyalty programs, like
all the, the perks that you would get

from a customer loyalty program, and maybe
like, emphasize those even more, make

'em, make them bigger, make them better.

Um, and we tokenize those, right?

So it's, you know, if you, uh,
and, and we create, um, a capital

formation rail for small businesses.

So small businesses can, you know, in
an initial offering, they can, they can

sell this tokenized, these tokenized
loyalty points essentially, you know,

that are actually like real, you know,
crypto tokens on a chain, um, to, um,

uh, to their supporters, right, to
their friends, their family, their,

their loyal customers, their community.

Um, and those people, they can
exchange them for, you know.

The, the real world, you know, upside
of, of those tokens, whether it's, you

know, just like getting a cup of coffee
with them, or maybe if they, you know,

hold a certain number of them they're
eligible to go on a trip to Guatemala

and see the farm or, or whatever, you
know, the business wants to do with

those tokens to reward the, the people
in their community they can do with them,

or, you know, they can, um, they can sit
on those tokens as, as an asset, right?

And if they believe in the brand and they
believe the brand's expanding and that

there's gonna be more demand for these
tokens that are wrapped up in this brand.

Uh, and people see, you know, other
people are gonna see the qualitative

value of, of a, a small community
brand and want to invest in it, then

they hold onto 'em and they're, you
know, they're an appreciating asset,

uh, if that comes to fruition, right?

But they always have the backstop of
being able to, uh, utilize those tokens,

uh, you know, for the purpose of, uh,
you know, using them in the, in the

business that they already know and love.

So it's kind of a win-win, you
know, the customer gets, um.

They get to invest in the business, but
they also get like good liquidity to

be able to exchange the, the tokens.

And the tokens, you know, can be
exchanged for cash value equivalents.

You know, they can be exchanged
for other crypto or like stable

coins or anything like that.

Uh, or they can be exchanged
for, uh, you know, goods or

services within the, the business.

Um, so they get that liquidity that they
couldn't get if they invested in, in the

business as like a K one type investor.

Um, and they'd really have to like
lock up liquidity for a long time.

You know, uh, you're able to
take, you kind of crowdsource

things a little better.

You know, like Reg CF type crowdfunding
right now has like pretty much

no liquidity attached to it.

So if somebody believes in a
business and they throw $500

at it, uh, and then, you know.

A kid falls and breaks their arm
and you know, you got a medical bill

and you need 500 bucks, like, you
know, tough luck if you're in like

a red CF or K one type environment.

But if you have liquid tokens
that have a, uh, a liquidity pool

attached to 'em that, you know,
will always allow them to be traded.

Like you can, you can take your,
your investment out, uh, if you need

Giancarlo Newsome: Well,

Wade Preston: So, yeah.

Giancarlo Newsome:
Could you have multiple?

So what I also love, um, getting to know
some of the polka dot people is you could

have multiple layers of tokens, right?

You could have like, maybe a city
could create, Hey, if you invest

your money to kind of like, I know
similar to Bexar County, like they

are matching Siber awards, right?

Why couldn't a county or a city
match with their own token?

Hey, look, if you invest X amount of
money, we can see this token on chain.

We have our own token that
we're gonna match, right?

That can be exchangeable and kind
of create several layers of tokens.

The interoperability between

Wade Preston: Yeah, and you
can do, uh, index tokens too.

Like, you know, people could, uh, you
know, they could buy an index token

for, that's a basket of tokens for a
whole neighborhood commerce district,

or, you know, an index token that's the
top 10, you know, specialty coffee shops

in America, you know, and, uh, yeah, I
mean, I think that, that when you get

into the programmability of, of money
that crypto allows it, it's so crazy.

Like, it's like, you know, uh, uh,
it's really just comes down to a

matter of your imagination and, and
working out the details of it all.

Giancarlo Newsome: Do you think that
can I, I don't, I don't know really

anyone who truly loves Starbucks.

Everyone I talk to understands the
transcendental value of the local

community coffee shop, but it, and
I also, I don't really know too

many people who are anti chains.

Right?

You know, there's just those who've
done a really good job like Chick-fil-A

and um, but I do think that.

Tokenization blockchain technology
can re-empower the consumer with more

flexibility like you're highlighting.

Right?

And, and maybe, and maybe, you know,
one of my hopes is to see, and maybe

you might, um, you know, share your
thoughts on, on, on this thought, but

also, uh, pivot a little bit to Bitcoin.

If bit, most people that are in the
stock market that are backstopping,

the, the big companies that we know are
not healthy, frankly for us, they're

doing it as a store of value, right?

So if it, if Bitcoin can be a better
store of value, can, can this put

pressure on the corporate change
to say, Hey, like I would love to

see Starbucks say, you know what?

We've got so much pressure
about we're losing.

Like, I'd love to see and say so many
people are moving from Starbucks stock to

Bitcoin, that we wanna start tokenizing
Warrior employees to take more ownership.

In other words, use Bitcoin
blockchain technology.

To help break down and decentralize,
um, that, uh, de let's decentralize this

transcendental value you're talking about.

What do you think?

Wade Preston: Yeah.

I mean, I think it, I think you're,
you're, you're right on both points and,

and you know, to the first one about.

Yeah, I mean, I, I, I, you know, sharing,
you know, how I feel and the way I view

the world, you know, throughout our
conversation, like, you know, the reality

is is I, I have like a, a favorite pizza
place, you know, here in my hometown.

And like I know the guy that runs that
pizza place and he makes amazing pizza,

and I dearly love him as a human being.

It's also downtown.

It's like, you know, probably 30 to 40
minutes round trip for me to get to him.

Um, uh, pizza's gonna be, um, you
know, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm in for

like 30, 40 bucks a pie, right?

Like, it's, you know, 'cause
it's good, good pizza, right?

And he, he's, he's an artisan.

He's, he's using all sorts of different
ingredients and things like that.

There's stuff that, like my
8-year-old daughter is probably

just not, uh, you know, we're,
we're gonna have a fight about.

Right?

Um, so what happens when, um, uh.

Friday night comes around and in my
house Friday night is family movie night.

And we're gonna, we're gonna eat
pizza and we're gonna eat popcorn and

we're gonna watch a movie together.

Um, I'm gonna go to the Domino's, it's

like half a mile from my house and I can

get two medium pizzas
that are like super lame.

I can get 'em for like eight bucks a pop.

I, I, I like touch my phone in just
the right places and I can pick

'em up in, you know, you know, 10,
15 minutes and like, it's easy.

Right.

and and I think that's the same case
with like my, my coffee shop, right?

There are plenty of people in my
town that would say that Prevail

Coffee is their favorite coffee shop.

They love that coffee shop, right?

And they probably come into that coffee
shop three to four times a month.

And they probably eat, they
probably drink at a Starbucks, you

know, three to four times a week

Giancarlo Newsome: Right,

Wade Preston: because of the fact
that like the Starbucks is like on

their way to work or like on their way
to the school drop off or whatever.

Right?

And here's the difference
though, is if the Starbucks.

You know, nearest them went
out of business, they would be

inconvenienced, but if we went out of
business, they would be heartbroken.

You know, and, and the same thing, like
if, if my friend's pizza, uh, spot went

out of business, I would be devastated.

Um, if the Domino's went out, I would
be like, eh, there's a Papa Johns It's

like a little bit further down the road.

I'll just go to that
on family movie night.

Right?

Um, and so I think that there's an
appetite for people to be able to

support a local small business that
they, they love and they believe in,

they, they see the qualitative value
without having to like constantly, you

know, be in this spot of, you know,
oh, like I, I must, if I care about

this thing, then I, I must necessarily,
um, you know, support it all the time.

Always.

Right?

Um, it's like, okay, yeah,
you can, convenience is fine.

You know?

It's, it's, yeah, it, it's not.

It's not like the pinnacle of, of, of
how we want to exist as human beings.

But like, also, you know what, I
wouldn't be able to do family movie

night with my kids every single Friday
night like clockwork if I didn't

have some convenient way to do that.

Right.

Maybe I'll find some other thing to do,
but like, you know, we, we can do that and

I can create family rituals and there's,
there's qualitative value to that as well.

So it's just like, can we make a mechanism
to where we can actually like, actualize

what our, our personal values are,
um, you know, uh, in, in, in this way.

So, uh, you know, I, I want people to be
able to, to have an avenue to do that.

I mean, I tell people all the time, like,
uh, here in the States, right, and the,

the, in July we have, you know, Robinhood
has prediction markets, you know, and

and like retail investors are hungry
for a place to put their money, right?

Um, and, uh, it can be in stocks and bonds
and options and, and prediction markets.

And in July, on the 4th of July,
um, you could actually like.

Make a prediction, market
investment in who is gonna win the

Nathan's hotdog eating contest.

Right?

Giancarlo Newsome: Yeah,

Wade Preston: And I'm sitting there
looking at that going, how do we live in

a place where someone can, can make an
investment in a guy eating hot dogs in New

Jersey, but they can't invest in a local,
small business that they know and love,

Giancarlo Newsome: absolutely.

Yep.

Wade Preston: broken with that system?

Giancarlo Newsome: But, but, and you
know, for any corporate friends listening,

why not create the same incentives
between, so let's say you have a chain

of supermarkets, you have people bet and
invest in your local butchers, right?

Restore that, that transcendental value.

'cause it's there.

And, and in some, and in some isolated
places, and in some of the chains, you

can, you can find those, those employees
who've made personal ownership of their,

of their, of their corporate chain.

Right.

I, I, that's where I think the, you
know, I hope from this conversation,

our, our listeners will, will really
lean into blockchain technology

and how this en can enable that.

How, maybe, um, to wrap up here, Wade,
what does the postcard of the future

look like, uh, for you and how, how do
you recommend what's like if, uh, ifs,

um, uh, I, I, a veterinarian, uh, friend
who was in the workshop, we were, uh,

we were both in recently, she said,
I'd never even heard of, I've heard of

blockchain, but I didn't know about it.

What, how do, and I know we're, we're
kind of at the start of the internet.

Right.

So this is kind of like dial up, you
know, hear the noise of blockchain.

Well, how do we accelerate getting plus,
you know, that dial tone and, and how

can people help make kind of the vision?

You've talked about a reality.

What's the postcard of the future
and what's the best way for someone

to get started in your opinion,

Wade Preston: Um.

Giancarlo Newsome: and, and
attribute to this, to this, to this

movement, this blockchain movement?

Wade Preston: Yeah, I think, I
think the first thing is curiosity.

I think curiosity, uh, you know,
just to stay on theme here, curiosity

is a form of humility, right?

Curiosity begins with this idea of
like, I don't, I don't know, but that's

interesting, right?

Um, so, um, I, I worry, you know,
a little bit about, you know, or,

or is our, you know, education
system kind of squelching curiosity.

Um,

um, but, uh, so I think that's
probably the first place to begin.

And then, uh, two, just like I think, you
know, maybe in, in, in tandem with that

is like, just like being able to use your
imagination and, and consider that things

may be good enough right now for you.

Especially if we live in like these, like
western democracies and we have like.

I mean, to be honest, like a lot of the
things that like I think crypto solves for

a Western democracy are not like, really,
they're not really solving problems.

It's not really solving a problem,
it's just, it's, it's making, uh,

it more efficient, more transparent.

It's making it a little bit better.

It's a, you know, it's maybe a
10, 20%, you know, upgrade of the

system.

And, and sometimes that
just seems like, that just

seems

Giancarlo Newsome: worth the

Wade Preston: a heavy lift, right?

Um, but when you, when you zoom out a
little bit and you really understand

what that means, you understand what that
means for the world, for people that,

like we can plug an entire world into
sophisticated financial tools, right?

Uh, that like, you know, a guy growing
coffee in Guatemala can have access to, to

on chain crop insurance and like capital
formation tools that you would never have

otherwise, it becomes a worthy cause.

Um, and then also when you just think
about it, when you understand like, okay,

maybe right now it's just that 10 to
20% boost for like this huge, huge lift.

But, you know, that was kind of like how
we thought about the internet early on.

We were like, uh, yeah.

I mean, I guess it would be kind of
cool to like, order books online and

have 'em delivered to my door, but
like, also like my bookstore and I'll

go down there and like, you know, and
like, you know, we kind of didn't really

understand like the end game of Amazon,

Right.

We're like, uh, this is like a, I guess
this is, you know, novel and cool.

We had no idea that like
Amazon would become what it

is for better or worse, right?

Like, we couldn't, we could, you
couldn't go to 1996 and be like,

Hey, um, because of the internet.

Um, if you, if you touch your
phone in just the right place.

Um, a stranger will, will show up and
ring your doorbell and drop off whatever

food from whatever restaurant you want.

It'll just be there.

Right?

Oh, and, and, and also, when you get done
eating that food, if you touch your phone

again in different places, um, another
stranger will pick you up in a car.

It'll be nice and clean and
you won't, it'll be safe.

And, um, you know, they'll take
you to wherever you want to go.

Right.

Because of the internet.

Like, there's no way you could've
like, told someone that in

1996 and they believed you.

Right.

So I think just this idea of, you
know, be curious, figure out what

it is right now, dive into it.

I think that curiosity pays off,
but really like, just try to have an

imagination about where things are going.

And I think, you know, extrapolating it on
top of the idea of like where the internet

was in the late nineties is great.

Like, I just think that's a, it's
a good, it's a great analogy in my.

In my opinion, um, smart
contracts, blockchains, you know,

programmable blockchains have only
really been around for 10 years.

You know, Ethereum just
turned 10 years old.

So when we talk about kind of
the internet of money, you know,

that's what we're talking about.

And like, so you put that on, like,
you know, you compare that to like

home internet, you know, like you
really aren't talking about like

late nineties, 19 98, 19 99 maybe.

Uh, so, um, there are plenty of
pets dot coms out there, you know,

500 million valuation, 2 million
in revenue, vaporware, right?

Um, but that doesn't mean that
they're, they're bad ideas, right?

Like Chewy is.

You know, billion dollar company, right?

A multi-billion dollar company.

I think Chewy is pets.com.

Pets com was just, the infrastructure
wasn't quite there yet.

Right?

So, uh, you know, just because there's
financial speculation and hits and misses

and all this crazy stuff doesn't mean
that it's, you know, just a, a scam space.

And, you know, it's all
about financial nihilism.

It just means that it, it it's
early iterations and, and be curious

and be, you know, uh, critical
when you need to be critical.

And, uh, but, but also like with,
with every, you know, helping

of, of, of critical thinking.

Also have a helping of imagination.

Giancarlo Newsome: I love it.

E excellent wrap up.

I think.

Um, so the North American I'll,
I'll throw out, you know, join

one of these associations.

I had a friend of mine who helped
found the Texas Blockchain Council.

That's where I met Wade.

Um, and have loved participating, going
deeper and deeper, uh, learning about it.

So I loved, uh, I loved your comic.

Curiosity is, um, is a form of humility.

That's, that's awesome.

Well, wait, thanks so much
for sharing your insight.

God bless you.

And I hope it's been, it's,
it's been fun as always.

And, uh, have a great rest of your day.

Wade Preston: Awesome.

Thank you so much.

It's been such a, such an awesome time.

So, uh, have a good one, man.

Giancarlo Newsome: All right.

Thanks, Mike.

All right.

Take

Wade Preston: See you.