Why Chatroulette Founder Andrey Ternovskiy Fell in Love With Crypto

While researching for The Cryptopians, I discovered that Andrey Ternovskiy, the founder of internet sensation Chatroulette, was heavily involved in The DAO back in 2016. In this episode, we skirt around revealing major spoilers from The Cryptopians and discuss Andrey’s experience founding Chatroulette, how he fell down the crypto rabbit hole, whether hacking smart contracts is ethical, and more. Show topics:

Andrey’s background
how Andrey’s struggles with PayPal at Chatroulette led him to quickly understand the need for crypto
what Andrey’s involvement at Chatroulette is
the different ways Andrey thinks crypto can disrupt middlemen
why Andrey became infatuated with the narrative behind the “crypto” movement
why Andrey became a fan of Ethereum
why Andrey decided to tell me about his previously undisclosed involvement in The DAO and early Ethereum
whether hacking smart contracts is ethical (or legal)
what Andrey thinks about how Ukraine has used crypto in its fight against Russia’s invasion
why Andrey will most likely not decentralize Chatroulette
what Andrey’s perspective is on decentralization in terms of DeFi and DAOs

Upcoming Book Events

For folks in the Bay Area: On Tuesday March 8, I’ll be doing a reading and signing at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, moderated by The Information’s Kate Clark. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. , the program begins at 6 p.m., and the book signing is at 7 p.m. https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-03-08/laura-shin-inside-first-cryptocurrency-craze

For people in Seattle: I’ll be doing a reading and signing as part of town Hall Seattle on Wednesday March 9, at 7:30pm at The Forum, moderated by Steve Scher, of Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org/event/laura-shin/

And, I may also be at SXSW on March 12 — details still TBD, and I may also be in Boston at Harvard the weekend of March 26. No promises on either score, but I guess if you feel strongly about either one, you can tweet at me, as that might tip the scales. On April 5th, I’ll be in Miami doing a reading, and on April 9th, I’ll be in Annapolis at the Annapolis Book Festival. Finally, on March 23rd, I’ll be doing a virtual reading with Powell’s bookstore at 8pm Eastern Time/5pm Pacific Time, and Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt and author of Kings of Crypto will be moderating.