{"id":7706,"date":"2021-05-04T09:01:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=7706"},"modified":"2021-05-04T09:02:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:02:09","slug":"jr-willett-launched-first-ico-but-still-has-day-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/05\/04\/jr-willett-launched-first-ico-but-still-has-day-job","title":{"rendered":"J. R. Willett launched the first ICO\u2026 but still has a day job"},"content":{"rendered":"

ICOs? He held the first one. Stablecoins? He dreamed of them by accident. Vitalik Buterin tried to get him on board to help launch Ethereum, but he was too busy. He is J. R. Willett, one of the most fascinating men in the industry.<\/b><\/p>\n

Back in 2012, Willett, now 41, felt he could improve Bitcoin by making it possible for anyone to create interoperable tokens backed by the protocol. He released a white paper that described the new model and invented a way to fund the project with a token sale. He procrastinated for the next 18 months, hoping someone else would take the bait. Eventually, he gave in and announced the Mastercoin initial coin offering, which went on to inspire Ethereum and every subsequent ICO.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like I was just putting into words what was obviously going to happen \u2014 people were already talking about it, and I thought, \u2018Why hasn’t someone formalized this at least a little bit?\u2019 I just got tired of waiting for someone else.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the early days, he was worried that cryptocurrency would bring about a dystopia where either the late adopters became penniless or a one-world government would form to regulate everyone\u2019s transactions. He\u2019s still worried, but things are going better than he\u2019d feared.<\/p>\n

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\"Fan<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Fan tokens: Day trading your favorite sports team<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 7, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Icelandic<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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What it\u2019s like when the banks collapse: Iceland 2008 firsthand<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 5, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Crypto<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Crypto City: Guide to Tokyo<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> October 1, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Before<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Before NFTs: Surging interest in pre-CryptoPunk collectibles<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> September 27, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Bitcoin<\/div><\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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Bitcoin ledger as a secret weapon in war against ransomware<\/a><\/h3>\n
<\/i> September 16, 2021<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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In the sea of exceptional and charismatic people who rise to the top of the cryptocurrency world, Willett stands out. Not in his <\/span>absolutist conviction to a set of principles,<\/span><\/a> not in his <\/span>journey from rags to riches<\/span><\/a>, not in his \u201c<\/span>maniac drive\u201c to stick with a project<\/span><\/a>, not in his <\/span>outsized charitable pursuits<\/span><\/a>, and not even in <\/span>his artistic endeavors<\/span><\/a> or grand<\/span> visions for the future.<\/span><\/a> No. Willett stands out because despite the incredible things he has set in motion, he remains a humble family man who never forgot what was most important.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first ICO<\/h4>\n

When the world rang in the year 2012, Bitcoin was pretty much the only game in town. Bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency were one and the same, save for the newly birthed Litecoin fork that was not yet three months old (LTC was created via mining, just like Bitcoin). It\u2019s here that Willett arrived to stir the pot, <\/span>publishing<\/span><\/a> what he called<\/span> \u201c<\/span>The Second Bitcoin Whitepaper.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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the mastercoin prospectus is fascinating. it was the 1st ICO, and as far as white papers go, it is really good. it even has risk disclosures! it describes a lot of ideas that would be implemented years later \u2013 DEXes, stablecoins, tokenization, onchain govhttps:\/\/t.co\/noFt1PKzUD<\/a><\/p>\n

— nic carter (@nic__carter) December 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n