Meet the Esprezzo Advisory Board: Boris Revsin

He’s a blockchain evangelist behind one of Boston’s earliest crypto funds

Esprezzo Advisor Boris Revsin

Last week, Esprezzo introduced you to Dr. Mihaela Ulieru — a blockchain visionary with 20 years of experience in distributed systems — as the first official member of our advisory board.

Joining Mihaela is Boris Revsin, a Boston entrepreneur who’s helped shape the future of numerous early-stage ventures as a founder and advisor. Today, Boris is an evangelist for the blockchain and crypto community, focused on investing in and advising companies bringing blockchain technology forward through his crypto fund, Game Theory Group.

We’re excited to let you get to know Boris better! If you’d like to follow his insight into blockchain and the crypto community, be sure to follow Game Theory Group’s The Blockchain Brief newsletter.

What aspects of Esprezzo encouraged you to join the company as an advisor?

Esprezzo represents an opportunity to fix one of the largest problems facing the blockchain community: lack of diversified talent in engineering familiar with development on the various blockchain technologies.

By providing the middleware and tooling necessary to attract new talent to the space, Esprezzo empowers developers to make the critical improvements necessary to move the entire community forward.

What level of innovation do you feel could be unlocked if modern developers receive democratized access to application development using blockchain?

In my view, innovation thrives where competition emerges. We need more talented computer scientists to build Dapps (Decentralized Apps) on the various blockchains to make the space usable for all consumers. The current market is under $700B. I think that the future of the space is worth 100x this number in the long-term. But we won’t achieve this goal without major increases in available apps, user experience and improved infrastructure.

How would you describe your overall role within the blockchain and crypto communities?

I consider myself a cheerleader of the blockchain community. I evangelize the space, while maintaining a critical eye on emerging technologies. Much of what the community is doing changes the world for the better, and it’s important to keep out the noise that seeks to change that. I write a weekly column for The Blockchain Brief that incorporates my learnings from speaking to experts in the field, and attempts to provide some transparency to a space that can only thrive in the open. I salute those that build on the blockchain, and those who provide the community with physical and digital spaces to encourage the builders.

What launched your interest in the crypto community and ultimately inspired you to start the Game Theory Crypto Group in Boston?

In 2010 I was the co-founder of a digital ad-tech company in Boston named Dailybreak. I still remember when my friend Mark, the designer on our team, first told me about Bitcoin. I remember making a vivid case against cryptocurrency, insisting that only criminals would use the technology. In retrospect, I was a little right and simultaneously very, very wrong (Sorry about costing you your early retirement, Mark).

I purchased my first full $BTC in 2015. In the midst of so much going on in the early-stage technology space at the time, the purchase was soon basically forgotten. I had many friends involved in blockchain technology, but the vast majority of the discussion was about Bitcoin, and to some extent, Ethereum.

My far deeper dive into the community began in early to mid 2017. My co-founder Julian Jung and I launched Game Theory Crypto Group over the summer, starting with meet-ups we dubbed “Crypto Poker”. Friends in the crypto space in Boston and New York would meet, play low-stakes poker, and talk blockchain, ICOs, and the future of the space.

As more and more people started to join the group, we sensed a hunger for more analysis and dissemination of crypto-related information out of the Boston area. Julian and I subsequently launched The Blockchain Brief newsletter, where we discuss macro and micro trends and topics in the space.

The newsletter spurred an enormous amount of activity and access to fascinating people and companies that surprised us both. In July of 2017 we decided to help our network capitalize on this activity by beginning work on Game Theory Crypto Group Fund I. Once we close the first fund in early March of 2018, we plan to invest primarily in promising, technology-first Initial Coin Offerings. Currently, we invest and advise as part of multiple syndicates.

Esprezzo represents an opportunity to fix one of the largest problems facing the blockchain community: lack of diversified talent in engineering familiar with development on the various blockchain technologies.

As a diversified mentor to early-stage startup ventures and now blockchain- and crypto-related ventures, what are the most important factors you consider before advising a company?

Several months ago, on a lark, I added #crypto to my title on LinkedIn. At the time, I was hoping to attract interesting people to my profile, and perhaps begin a dialogue.

What I found was equal parts fascinating and disheartening. There is an enormous ecosystem of ICO activity happening that has noble aims, but is naive in the lack of technology expertise it brings to the table. Projects are launched in lieu of traditional fundraising strategies, with hardly a developer present to build real, interesting technology. And it’s not for lack of trying — developers are nearly impossible to find at an affordable rate.

On the whole, my №1 goal is to advise (and invest) in companies that are building current infrastructure for the future of the space. I’m interested in both companies that bring the blockchain technology forward, or those that empower others to do so.

And because I look for projects that focus heavily on the technology itself, or the developer community, Esprezzo is a natural example of what I look to spend my time on.

You have a strong pulse on the crypto/blockchain community as a whole, so what resources and follows do you recommend to those looking to get involved or learn more about the space?

For aspiring blockchain developers, I encourage you to look at Zastrin. My friend Mahesh creates wonderful courses for those looking to learn to build on Ethereum. I would also follow Elizabeth Stark on Twitter, as she is pioneering the future of the major blockchains already adopted by the network.

For those looking to learn, find Ryan Selkis, Jameson Lopp, and Ari Paul on Twitter and give them a follow. All three write clever, cutting reviews on what they see happening in the space.

For those just starting out, I encourage you to begin with the Bad Crypto podcast. It’s a fun listen, and by the time you get to episode 72, you won’t be so “bad” anymore.

As we’ve turned the page from 2017 to 2018, what trends or themes do you expect to dominate the crypto and blockchain venture space this year?

I just published my 2018 predictions in The Blockchain Brief, but to paraphrase:

Huge increase in the total market cap of cryptocurrencies in general

Major pullback on tokens with poor technology, no product in the market, or outsized valuation to market opportunity

Bitcoin and Ethereum see all-time highs in late 2018, with Ethereum emerging as the №1 player

Bitcoin Cash… will crash

ICOs tighten up in terms of requirements for a strong launch — significantly better teams, larger markets, and hopefully realistic prices

These advisor introductions are kicking off a flurry of major announcements for the Esprezzo project. Join our Telegram channel so you never miss a beat: https://t.me/joinchat/G_WFwREkZ3gqfdVl9GdinA