Greetings from Chicago!

My Report from the DNC

Frank Corva

Aug 26, 2024

[Editor’s note: Click on images to be taken to corresponding links.]

This week, I went to Chicago to cover the DNC for Bitcoin Magazine.

Here’s the piece I wrote on the event:

I spent most of my time there trying to track down politicians to speak with, an endeavor with which I had mixed success.

I was able to speak with Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC), NY Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D) and Obama appointee Cleve Mesidor, all pro-Bitcoin/pro-crypto Dems and all of whom I cited in the piece above.

I still have little faith that a Harris administration would be any better to the Bitcoin/crypto industry than the Biden administration was, despite what some prominent Democrats told me. But I’m remaining patient and open-minded.

As for the rest of the event, it felt pretty lackluster, which was odd consider that so many people texted me to ask almost the exact same question: What’s the energy like there?

My answer: Whatever being blasted non-stop with propaganda feels like to you.

VIBEZ

There was very little talk about the details of any policy. I heard a number of people with serious jobs in the political sphere at the event talk about how the primary goal for the event was good vibes.

And when you consider that the Dems hired Steven Spielberg to help curate the event, you can bet you were watching near Soviet-level propaganda.

One of the things I found most fascinating about the way they had media cover the event was that the moved the corporate press (e.g., CNN, Fox, etc.) and other press up to the 300 section of the arena, while they put the influencers on the floor. Truly fascinating. VIBEZ > Actual Reporting.

But the truth was there wasn’t much to report on, as not many issues of substance were discussed in detail at the event, aside from maybe issues around women’s reproductive rights and women’s safety — two very important issues that I was glad to hear brought up repeatedly, I might add.

I’m glad the Democratic party takes these issues seriously, and I mostly agree with all of their stances on these issues.

But I was a bit confused when Bill Clinton, someone who’s known for raping and abusing women and who was a frequenter of Jeffrey Epstein’s island, took the stage to applause.

Do Democrats only dislike non-Democrats who abuse women? If so, that’s weird.

Anyway, I’ll stop there and won’t let my cynicism seep into this edition of the newsletter too much.

The DNC was whatever. This was my least favorite trip of this year.

Lastly, if you want to watch a very, very good political speech, watch this one:

I’d love to see more political candidates talk about issues with this kind of nuance and detail.

Lastly, lastly, I’d highly recommend you watch this rant from Chris Cuomo (who I normally don’t like at all.)

He did a great job in summarizing the hypocrisy at play at the DNC.

River Is A Great Bitcoin Exchange

For my Founders piece this week for Bitcoin Magazine, I profiled Alex Leishman, CTO and CEO of River.

Fedi Superapp App Live

Since I was too busy to write last week, I’m sharing my Founders piece from last week this week.

In the piece above, I profiled Obi Nwosu, a gentleman of Nigerian decent who’s created a superapp for The Global South.

What’s a superapp? Well, it includes Bitcoin, Lightning, end-to-end encrypted messaging and like a million other types of “freedom tech,” as Obi puts it. Read the piece to learn more.

Okay, my body is very tired. I have to go to sleep now.

Thanks for reading.

Don’t be susceptible to propaganda.

Expect more from your leaders.

Best,