📈 Crypto is up BIG. What's next?

GM everyone. This is 2036, the crypto newsletter that pays you.

Today is Favorite Friday, where we serve up the resources we most enjoyed this week 🍲.

So if you're looking for content to dig into this weekend, this is your list...

🥢 Our Favorite Resources

What we most enjoyed this week

1/ Traditional finance is going all-in on crypto.

One piece of news dominated crypto headlines this week: 5 traditional asset managers filed for a Bitcoin ETF - including Blackrock.

Some of them have filed before and been denied.

But just like in soccer, lots of international football players sign with Major League Soccer.

It’s a whole different ball game (pun intended) when Messi signs.

And Blackrock is the Messi of finance.

Blackrock is the largest asset manager in the world, with $10 TRILLION in assets under management.

The CEO, Larry Fink, is more powerful than most heads of state. Blackrock likely wouldn’t haven’t filed it if they weren’t sure they’d get approved (their ETF approval rate is 575-1)

Most people are probably underestimating what this means for crypto.

Blackrock’s ETF - if it gets approved - will siphon retirement accounts, 401Ks, and large pension funds into bitcoin.

When gold got its big ETF - $GLD - the price of gold skyrocketed.

And the domino effect in finance has already started.

In the last 24 hours, Deutsche Bank and Crédit Agricole - some of the biggest financial institutions in Europe - filed to custody crypto for their clients.

And Fidelity, Citadel, and Charles Schwab are launching a crypto exchange that will offer:

• Bitcoin

• Ethereum

• Litecoin

• Bitcoin Cash

… which is why these coins are up BIG this week.

Combined with the bitcoin halving in 11 months, the ETF filing is likely an enormous catalyst for a big leg up in prices.

2/ Balaji Srinivasan on Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu

Balaji is a former partner at a16z - the most prestigious VC firm in the world - and one of the most respected people in technology. Some of his interviews are 8 hours long - and jam-packed with gold.

This 4-and-half-hour discussion with Tom Bilyeu takes it down a notch and explains what’s going on in the world in plain English. It’s 100% worth watching.

He also released a shorter, 50-min interview with the Winklevii twins of Facebook fame that you can watch here.

3/ Marc Andreessen on Why AI Will Save The World

Marc Andreessen is the founder of a16z.

A few weeks ago, he wrote the most important thing you’ll read about AI.

(We summarized it here just for readers of 2036).

He’s been criticized and praised left and right for his views. In this podcast with two technology heavyweights, he goes much deeper. If you’re into AI - you’ll love it.

4/ Speaking of AI - is it just hype?

AI will likely be the foundational technology of our lifetimes. But just like crypto has its hype cycles where everyone and your mother talk about it - so does AI.

Here’s where we are in the AI cycle:

This view was echoed by famous VC investor Fred Wilson in a recent interview:

He also reminded the audience that when things look bleak, it’s time to double down, a.k.a don’t be a monkey:

On a different note, did you see this kick-ass trailer that was posted yesterday?

🐦 A couple of Tweets we found interesting

The best of the bird

Why we don’t trust bankers anymore…

… or the media:

🏆 The winner of this week’s task

Earn $15 in ETH for trading on Uniswap

Thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s task.

Here’s a list of all the participants as well as the winner.

Congratulations to the winner 👏 - your $15 in ETH are on their way.

Paid tasks will resume next week.

🖼️ Crypto meme of the day

From across the world wide information superhighway