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BREAKDOWN: Starting a Bitcoin Startup During the COVID-19 Crisis, Feat. Yan Pritzker
With companies closing, unemployment rising and investors spooked in the age of the pandemic, NLW speaks with Swan BTC co-founder Yan Pritzker about the experience of launching a startup in the hyper-competitive world of Bitcoin.
ABOUT
Yan Pritzker is the CTO and cofounder of Swan Bitcoin, an automated bitcoin only investing app aiming to be the best onramp to bitcoin. He is also the author of Inventing Bitcoin.
On this episode, he and NLW discuss:
- How immigrating from the Soviet Union taught Yan about capital controls
- Buying bitcoin at $30 in 2011
- Why the type of capital available shapes what type of startups entrepreneurs found
- Why venture capitals focused investments away from bitcoin
- The emergence of a bitcoin only startup scene
- Starting a startup during the COVID-19 crisis
- Why bitcoin’s scarcity is its most important property
HOST
CoinDesk is the world leader in news, prices and information on bitcoin and other digital currencies.
We cover news and analysis on the trends, price movements, technologies, companies and people in the bitcoin and digital currency world.

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