DeFi Dad, Hall of Flame – Cointelegraph Magazine
2023.05.24 10:08
DeFi Dad has 152,100 Twitter followers. He’s a DeFi podcaster, head of portfolios at Fourth Revolution Capital and a prolific crypto YouTuber.
Who is this guy anyway?
Travis Blane, who is better known as “DeFi Dad” to his 152,100 Twitter followers, has been actively making crypto content since 2019.
He’s also the head honcho of marketing and portfolio support at Fourth Revolution Capital, an adviser for several Web3 projects, including Zapper and Push Protocol, and hosts two podcasts, The Edge Podcast and The DeFi Podcast.
Somehow, he still manages to tuck his two kids into bed every night and fight off monsters for them – which is completely on brand for Blane.
Been fairly checked out this week on vacation with kids and I have to say, it feels good to tune out while still having FOMO for what I missed.
Got asked “don’t you enjoy being away from work?” and answer is “nah, I love what I do. And I love crypto.”
😁 pic.twitter.com/631kznAFSU
— DeFi Dad ⟠ defidad.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@DeFi_Dad) February 24, 2023
Blane is a jack of many trades but has defied the old saying and actually mastered some, too.
After completing his studies at the University of Chicago, he started a chemistry Ph.D. program with aspirations of becoming a teacher. He got bored of that idea and started a food delivery business, which he says “was a great and horrific experience.”
“This was before Uber Eats and before the whole food delivery craze started. It was an exciting business.”
“I’m pretty convinced I would be divorced today and probably have no children if I had stayed in food delivery,” he jokes.
Seeking new challenges, Blane transitioned to software startups and then unexpectedly found himself selling “all sorts of camera equipment” in a camera shop.
“I definitely have a lot of experience hopping different industries, which is probably why I ended up in crypto at one point in my life.”
It was during yet another role as a project manager at an events company in New York, where he was assigned to blockchain events, that Blane discovered his passion for crypto, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Who knows? In five years’ time, we might catch up with Blane only to find out he has become an astronaut.
What led to Twitter fame?
Blane exudes the vibe of a hustler determined to ensure his kids have a full plate every night.
“No doubt it’s the typical combination of a lot of focus, really hard work, grinding it out and being present across as many different parts of Crypto Twitter at the same time,” he explains.
Blane’s early DeFi videos began amassing over 10,000 views during the first surge of interest in the topic in the lead-up to “DeFi Summer” in 2020.
“I was very lucky with the timing that I was into DeFi in, like mid-early 2019, and obviously, it took off within a year’s time. It has exploded and become a mainstream talking point and financial news — that’s luck. Right place, right time.”
DeFi Dad loves Ethereum and his kids, too. (Supplied)
What to expect from Twitter Content
Blane describes his Twitter content as “advice on how to get started and how to upscale yourself in relation to DeFi, and Web3 games,” adding:
“I’m more there to kind of help tell the story of what’s being built and why games need Web3 elements because we’re just not there yet — it’s way too early.”
He warmly welcomes memecoin enthusiasts to follow him on Twitter but wants to make one thing clear: He won’t be pumping them anytime soon.
“I’m not someone who’s going to trade a memecoin like PEPE. I’m more of a long-term investor, but I’m super happy for folks making money off it,” he says.
Every now and then, you might be lucky enough to catch Blane throwing out a cheeky price prediction.
I think ARB goes to near $5-$10
Mid take: But that would put FDV at $100B! And that’s absurd if you compare it to Optimism, Polygon, and others.
I think the ARB price could shock people.
— DeFi Dad ⟠ defidad.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@DeFi_Dad) March 21, 2023
What do you enjoy on Crypto Twitter?
Blane is an unashamed fanboy of Guy Turner, the founder and face of Coin Bureau, whose ethics he admires.
“He has a team that acts with a lot of integrity, at least in my experience, and they are such great storytellers,” he says.
Blane admits he is “definitely trying to emulate” what Guy is doing by being very objective and creating content that is “going to onboard as many folks in the space as possible.”
“There is a really fine line to ensuring that you don’t compromise on your ethics and become something of a shill.”
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Twitter Beef
Blane proudly states that he holds no grudges against anyone and jokes that his lack of Crypto Twitter beefs is “not going to be good for engagement on this article.”
However, he doesn’t shy away from throwing some shade every now and then. When crypto exchange FTX collapsed, he didn’t hold back, taking a dig at Sam Trabucco, co-CEO of Alameda Research, calling him a “f*cking terrible trader.”
No, you didn’t “reach the point in life where I have to prioritize other things.”
You’re only ~29 yrs old and worked a job for 3 years.
You misused customer deposits from FTX, lost 11 figures, and then left before shit hit the fan.
You’re a liar and a f*cking terrible trader. pic.twitter.com/XVOGwUQOmD
— DeFi Dad ⟠ defidad.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@DeFi_Dad) November 11, 2022
While he’s a fan of healthy debates to keep people informed, he tends to avoid confrontation.
“I don’t like being in conflict with people; I’d rather be more of a cheerleader for these different DeFi protocols,” he says.
He also tries to rally the troops following negative events, like the collapse of FTX, telling his followers that “crypto is so much bigger than FTX.”
Can we stop saying today was the worst day in crypto history?
Crypto is so much bigger than FTX
Crypto is trustless
Crypto is permissionless
Crypto is decentralized
FTX and Alameda were none of this
So good riddance
Let’s get back to crypto
Onward and upward
🚀
— DeFi Dad ⟠ defidad.eth 🦇🔊🐼 (@DeFi_Dad) November 9, 2022
Predictions?
Despite being a man who steers clear of making price predictions, Blane has confidence that Bitcoin’s price will skyrocket in the next decade, declaring:
“I would be shocked if Bitcoin doesn’t go to $500,000, to a million, in the next 10 years.”
But as a DeFi Dad, it’s probably unsurprising that his big love is Ethereum.
“To me, Ethereum is just woefully undervalued because of all the economic activity built on it,” he says.
He even likens Ethereum to the network effects and moats of Customer Relationship management platforms Salesforce and Marketo.
“People use [Salesforce] as a database of all their contacts and all of the deal flow that they’re tracking,” believing that it hooks people in by seamlessly integrating with their business operations.
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“If you track all of your contacts and all of your sales data in it, that’s going to be very difficult to migrate away from and use a different software in the world,” Blane says.
He compares this to Ethereum, saying that the more time is invested and “resources and data put into Ethereum, the more powerful it becomes over time.”
As for Ether’s price, Blane states that $10,000 “is a conservative [price for Ether] at this point.”
“It could go to $20,000 to $30,000 easily.”
Blane takes pleasure in shooting down those who underestimate the price potential of Ethereum.
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Ciaran Lyons
Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He’s also a standup comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.
