I’m thinking of testing out mirror.xyz specifically to write about my findings with blockchain, NFT, cryptocurrency, DeFi, smart contracts, zero-knowledge proofs, and other subjects as I learn about them.

I have several other blogs, most of them gathering dust, but I enjoy the process of jumping from one blog platform to the next. Each one provides a different space and context for my writing, allowing me to explore different tones, subjects, and writing styles. I haven’t yet had the desire to build my own blogging platform, I’m simply not that interested in web development, CSS design, and the baggage that comes with maintaining your own website or having to learn Jekyll, Eleventy, Vercel, or whatever. I simply want a place to write.

This stream will be fairly different than other spaces I write in:

• less to do with creative coding and generative art, and more to do with blockchain (although these may intersect at times).
• hopefully less formal and perhaps more haphazardly written. I’d like to set the bar a little lower so that I don’t feel so much pressure with each new post.
• you can imagine this like a Twitter stream of thought: “shouting into the void”, but without the character limitations and fragmented threading.

My main motivation for this writing stream is that I’ve been knee-deep in researching, using and developing things on top of Ethereum and Tezos since around Feb 2021, and have learned a lot in this time that I’d like to share. I really love the process of Learning in Public; it helps me better digest what I’m learning, but I also feel the public dissection and documentation can provide a lot of value to others.

Another motivator is that in the last several months, these topics have been making rounds on social media and news aggregators (like HackerNews), and there is frequently a poor understanding of how it all works. I’ve seen many pro-crypto writings that imagine unrealistic futures (such as “all our data will be on the blockchain”), and many anti-crypto writings that make rather weak criticisms (“these JPEGs aren’t even on the blockchain”).

My hope is that these posts will be a little educational—perhaps steering the discussion toward more productive ends—and inspire some new ways of critically analyzing and using these systems.