Today we are very pleased to welcome Joel Monegro of Placeholder VC to our podcast. From working on payments infrastructure in the Dominican Republic, Joel entered venture capital in 2014 and started his own Placeholder VC in 2017. He is a prolific writer and we started off by discussing his recent article “Ethereum is Like Android and Solana is Like iOS”. 

 

We explored this from the angles of modularisation and standardisation, noting how, like Android, instead of vertically integrating the stack, Ethereum is becoming more of a platform for L2s to settle on, and most of the users of Ethereum are not using Mainnet directly but rather L2 networks. Solana, on the other hand, gives the impression of iOS in the sense that user experiences are superior because developers  don’t have to think about deploying on multiple L2s and having to manage all those trade offs. In a multichain future, Joel envisions millions of blockchains, including virtual blockchains built on top of others, serving as the backend for online services.

 

Joel shared his views on the web3 and AI intersection, anticipating the proliferation of AI agents and the role of blockchain networks in accommodating their transactions and interactions. Finally, we considered some DePIN projects, emerging social networks on Layer 2 solutions, and the regulatory focus on stablecoins for real-world assets signifying the ongoing generational transition in the blockchain industry. Enjoy his fascinating perspectives and delivery.