Joel Monegro

Monegro studied computer science and economics, co-founded three startups and ran a boutique software development shop. He worked on public policy for the technology industry in Latin America as manager of the Digital Economy Department for the Government of the Dominican Republic, a department of the country’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce.⁠[1][2]

In July 2014 Monegro joined the Union Square Ventures investment team, beginning his venture capital career, and developed the firm’s early crypto thesis and portfolio.⁠[1][3]

On November 30, 2014, he published the article “The Blockchain Application Stack” on CoinDeskCoinDeskCoinDesk is a cryptocurrency media, events, index, and data company founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York. Its businesses include the CoinDesk news website, the annual crypto industry conference Consensus, and the CoinDesk Indices index business. In November 2023, the digital asset exchange Bullish acquired CoinDesk from Digital Currency Group, and CoinDesk has since operated as an independent subsidiary of Bullish.Open the full entry.⁠[1]

On August 8, 2016, he published “Fat Protocols” on the Union Square Ventures website, arguing that the blockchain application stack is “a stack with “fat” protocols and “thin” applications,” reversing the relationship between protocols and applications on the earlier internet, and that a feedback loop driven by tokens is “how tokenized protocols become “fat” and its applications “thin”.”⁠[4]

Monegro met his future partner Chris BurniskeChris BurniskeChris Burniske is a cryptoasset investor and partner at Placeholder.Open the full entry in 2016, and in 2017 the two started the venture firm Placeholder. As managing partner he invests in ventures that aim to redesign capitalism by distributing capital over the internet, focusing on network governance, capital instrument design and related infrastructure.⁠[3]

On February 13, 2018, he and Burniske published “Investment Thesis Summary” on the Placeholder website.⁠[3]

On February 11, 2019, Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry released the a16z Podcast episode “a16z Podcast: Cryptonetworks as Emerging Economies (Done Right?),” in which Monegro spoke with Chris Burniske of Placeholder and Denis Nazarov and Jesse Walden of a16z crypto. The episode page introduced Monegro as the author of writing on “fat protocols.” The episode was uploaded to the a16z YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel on February 26, 2019, as “a16z Podcast | Cryptonetworks as Emerging Economies (Done Right?).”⁠[2][5]

The episode discussed designing cryptonetworks as emerging economies: how to avoid “the monetary and fiscal policy failings” of traditional economies, such as concentrating capital in a few hands, and how to give users access to capital while managing risk; it also argued that after hardware, software and data the next layer is governance, though the best way to implement it remains unclear.⁠[2]

His writing on the Placeholder website includes “The Cryptoeconomic Circle” (January 5, 2019), “Cryptonetwork Governance as Capital” (February 19, 2019), “Thin Applications” (January 30, 2020), “Stop Burning Tokens – Buyback and Make Instead” (September 17, 2020), “Ethereum and Solana” (October 10, 2023) and “AI Belongs Onchain” (October 23, 2023).⁠[3]

Placeholder: Official website: https://www.placeholder.vc/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]