Edgy - The DeFi Edge 🗡️

Spending 2-3 hours today on these could save your entire net worth Accounts 1. Check if your emails have been leaked in a data breach haveibeenpwned.com. Change every leaked password first 2. Use a separate and non public email for CEXes, banks, social media. Don't open links on email 3. Use a password manager like @Bitwarden. Unique password for every account with 2FA and passkeys enabled (save passkeys in Bitwarden) 4. Stop using SMS 2FA. YubiKey or authenticator app only 5. Write down all your backup codes on paper, store it somewhere safe (fireproof and waterproof) 6. Bookmark every exchange and dApp websites. Never open them from Google or Telegram links Telegram 9. Under Privacy, turn on Two-Step Verification (its a password), use Passkey and set Stars for Messages so random people cannot DM you 10. Check Active Sessions and delete anything you don't recognise 11. Set your phone number to Nobody 12. Never open files people send you, even from friends. Their account could be hacked 13. Ignore any "free to catch up" with Calendly links, you can catch up over Telegram message itself 14. Disable Auto-Download Media (under Data and Storage) Wallets 15. Seed phrase on paper or metal. Never in a notes app or cloud or Notion 16. Cold wallets for large funds, best to use a multisig with cold wallets (p.s best to offramp more into your bank so you can sleep at night) 17. Split wallets to mitigate single attack vector: small hot wallet for dApps, cold wallet for the rest 19. Revoke old unlimited approvals (revoke.cash/) Devices (Mac checklist mac.0xosprey.com by @0x_Osprey) 20. FileVault + firewall on, auto login off 21. Auto updates on 22. Delete browser extensions you don't use 23. Separate browser (or device) just for crypto 24. Never run a recruiter's "coding challenge" especially if its something to install Misc 25. Don't use Zoom or Microsoft teams if you have to take a call 26. Remember you are not a VIP, no journalist is going to want to interview you for your takes nor will companies send you emails / letters to warn you of a compromised account 27. Some of the contacts that you saved on Telegram could be compromised, saving as contact doesn't do anything 28. Take note of some of the trading terminals that you have funds on, if the largest exchange can be compromised what more these smaller ones 29. Write a plan for if you get hacked, and leave one for your family 30. Remember to message @seal_911_bot if you have any emergencies @_SEAL_Org Stay paranoid.

I so desperately want to end the psyop that buybacks don't work: 1. Mechanically speaking, buybacks make the price go up 2. Crypto is not TradFi, there is a different social contract > The Mechanical Value of Buybacks First there's a large number of studies that confirm basic intuitions: * Market Underreaction to Open Market Share Repurchases NBER (1995) - Buybacks create long term value, especially for underpriced stocks * The Nature and Persistence of Buyback Anomalies (2009) - Reaffirms buybacks create persistent abnormal positive returns. They have an especially positive effect smoothing over price dips when the market overreacts to bad new * Actual Share Repurchases, Price Efficiency, and the Information Content of Stock Prices (2017) - Reaffirms the findings of the 2009 paper. Buybacks improve pricing efficiency, liquidity, and are especially positive during market declines * Pavilion Global Markets Buybacks Drive S&P 500 Returns (2023) - Buybacks can drive up to 43% of the returns in a single stock tldr: buybacks make the number go up. obviously they work better when your stock is at a lower p/e because of under appreciation or market downturns unrelated to the core business, but nonetheless they are positive on the stock THIS SHOULD BE REALLY OBVIOUS, you don't even need to read any of the papers above to understand the basic intuitions of why they work: * Price is a function of supply and demand. When buybacks take supply off the market, price goes up all else held equal * When shares get taken off the market, the shares you hold represent a larger share of the business meaning you benefit from EPS growth even if revenue isn't growing (let alone if it is) * Businesses providing constant single sided buys on their own shares has a smoothing effect on liquidity making deeps shallower and setting higher price floors in the long run (more shares are repurchased on a fixed buying program when price is lower) Some specific examples: * about 51% of Apple's EPS growth is credited to their legendary buyback program retiring so many outstanding shares * Autozone has bought back like 90% of their shares - the stock has had double the annualized returns of the SP for the last 2 decades * Home Depot is similar to Autozone What crypto people get uncomfortable is that buybacks take a long time to compound. This is totally fine in the stock market where there's many businesses you can forecast out in to the future for a decade+. In crypto I understand this rightfully makes people nervous One prime example of this would be PONS. It kinda doesn't matter how much %of supply was bought back by PONS if their business never recovers. The entire trade/business may end up being too much a flash-in-the-pan for the long term effect of buybacks to have compounded But we're now seeing a few crypto businesses start to cross the chasm into multi-cycle success stories. We can & should expect the businesses to implement long durable buyback programs that will compound excess positive returns for the years to come > The importance of buybacks in crypto I don't know if any of you noticed this, but you have no legal protections as token holders. It's also not even on any government roadmap to fix this Regulators are just now getting around to setting some guidelines for crypto projects to not get sued - but even then, none of those guidelines relate to you. You do not have voting rights. You do not have legal recourse. In fact most times you don't even own equity in the underlying businesses which actually collect the revenues IF token holders had legal rights. IF I could sue Compound or Aave for what they've done to token holders, I'd be far more sympathetic to the argument that teams should wait for buybacks. At the end of the day, I know I'd be able to pursue legal recourse & pressure with like minded token holders to force them to return capital when the time is right Unfortunately, you have none of these abilities. You have nothing but the promises of the team. IN FACT, a team that likely ran a points program or other to WIN YOUR BUSINESS by trading some of their equity. I'd argue they have a moral responsibility to you to show they're aligned in the long term with you even in the lack of regulatory requirements