Guests

• ​Suji (Mask Network): Yan, Founder of Mask Network
• ​Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist): Dávila, Founder of The Blockchain Socialist

Stream on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0dl77SVeseHs6mmQBgQwuH?si=2e6d9c4083684c32

Introduction and the Role of Social Media in Elections

Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist):
Hi everyone, my name is Joshua Dávila. I am a blogger, podcaster, and writer. My platform is called The Blockchain Socialist (@TBSocialist). Based on that, I’m sure you can at least imagine where I stand on the election of Trump. We’re going to talk less about personal politics, and I think what would be much more interesting in this conversation with Suji is the influence of social media on political systems.

I think, particularly in the last two elections or the ones since Obama, social media has become increasingly important in the proliferation of ideas and memes and has had the power to galvanize people to vote for one person or another.

Due to that rise in importance and people’s realization of it, certain moneyed interests have become muddled in this as well. Famously or infamously, in 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion dollars and has since pushed forth his political agenda by being a big supporter of Trump and pushing for the election of Trump.

So I’m curious, Suji, if you have any thoughts on the influence of Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter on the election and how that relates to the current setup that we have in our social media and information environment over the internet.

The Influence of Elon Musk’s Twitter Acquisition

Suji (Mask Network):

So, fully transparent. I can’t vote, and I have never voted. I hope I can vote in China as well. I lived in the States for many years since I was 17. I moved out, and now I’m living in Japan, Singapore, a little bit everywhere.

This is not the first attempt to acquire a large stake in Twitter and have a tremendous political impact on social networks or voting. The first attempt was in 2016. It wasn’t Twitter — it was Cambridge Analytica, right? They used Facebook, and you all saw the congressional hearing with Zuckerberg. That led to Trump’s win.

In 2020, Elliott Management, a notorious activist investor group run by Paul Singer, tried to acquire Twitter. They had a super large stake in Twitter and almost fired Jack Dorsey. Paul Singer is very pro-Republican, and his actions were aimed at pushing his agenda. However, Jack used his connections with Silver Lake, which has a pro-Democrat political stance, to resist Singer.

From what I understand, one of the peace deal conditions between Silver Lake and Elliott Management was to stop Twitter’s crypto and Bluesky experiments. Eventually, Jack was fired, but not before ensuring $50 million in funding for BlueSky as a public benefit LLC.

Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist):

So, you think Elon stumbled into owning Twitter?

Suji (Mask Network):

Yes, I think his initial plan was to own 10–20% and push Jack Dorsey back or find another professional CEO. But circumstances, maybe even legal battles, led him to fully acquire Twitter. After his acquisition, Twitter launched end-to-end encryption — a move they had resisted before under different leadership.

The Challenges of Decentralized and Centralized Social Media

Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist):

Given your work with Mask Network, which operates in both centralized and decentralized social media spaces, do you think the influence of elites is an issue exclusive to centralized platforms? Or does it persist in decentralized systems too?

Suji (Mask Network):

I’ll be very transparent. Most “decentralized” platforms are still controlled by a small group of founders or core teams. For example, Telegram is owned by the Durov Brothers. Even decentralized platforms like Bluesky or Farcaster have centralized control mechanisms like emergency exits written into their documentation.

Centralized platforms like Twitter are often tested against governments. Decentralized platforms haven’t faced such scrutiny. There’s always a concern about trust — for instance, people worry about Telegram’s secret chat keys being exposed. And let’s not forget that even supposedly decentralized entities like Signal had questionable connections, such as their association with MobileCoin and SBF from FTX.

The only truly decentralized examples I can think of are ENS and Mastodon. ENS has no VC involvement, and Mastodon is supported by donations from entities like us, the Samsung Family Foundation, and the EU.

Prediction Markets and Their Impact on Elections

Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist):

A big part of the narrative in this election was platforms like Polymarket. They allowed betting on election results, attracting significant capital and anxiety. What are your thoughts on the influence of prediction markets on elections?

Suji (Mask Network):

Prediction markets like Polymarket are fascinating. They essentially bring back a concept as old as ancient Rome using blockchain technology. However, these platforms face scrutiny. Just recently, the FBI raided Polymarket’s CEO, seizing his electronic devices.

While I’m not American and can’t question the democracy system, it’s evident these markets can sway public perception. If people believe one candidate is certain to win, they may lose motivation to vote.

Pioneering Ideas and Unified Efforts for a Healthier Social Media Ecosystem

Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist):
So my last question is, looking at this moment, do you have any thoughts on what a healthier social media ecosystem looks like?

Suji (Mask Network):
There’s an old champ, Ryan, the co-founder of Tethos, and I met him once. I believe he’s not in the crypto community anymore. His funny story is, in the 90s, there was something called heaven.co. You’ve probably heard of it. It was connected to a small imaginary country called Sealand, about 20 miles off the UK’s coast, in the water. It’s tiny — probably even smaller than this building.

It was a micronation, an imaginary micronation. By the way, under the new UN laws, it’s now considered part of the UK. But back in the 90s, you could claim it wasn’t. They tried to do some crazy stuff back then, like putting servers in this micronation.

It was called heaven.co. There’s a super long article on it from Wired, but obviously, it failed. When I see crypto bubbles, I think of that guy. I remember that crazy dude. I’d put half of my crypto into the wild projects that would spring up, and, of course, I lost it.

But I just want to say, now is the time for some crazy ideas like that. From a technical perspective, we’re far ahead of where we were 20 years ago. We’ve had Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, new chains, cloud computing, AI — even federated learning technology is way more advanced. But ideologically? We’re behind.

I want to see some crazy ideas again. The most insane thing I’ve heard of recently was from the Bitcoin Core team — Adam Back’s team. They tried to launch a satellite to broadcast Bitcoin transactions. One of my friends politely asked them, “Can we also broadcast Ethereum transactions?” And they said no.

Here’s the problem: if we don’t work together, we’re screwed. That’s my feedback.

Joshua (The Blockchain Socialist):
Alright, so you heard it here first — Suji wants to see something crazy.