🎙️ My guest today is Joe Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Unchained, a leading Bitcoin financial services company known for its collaborative custody model.
This was a great episode! I knew who Joe was but never had seen an in-depth interview like this. He is a super impressive guy and his background is absolutely fascinating. Really enjoyed learning personal things such as him living on a sailboat, being a pilot, etc. He is a great example of how early life experiences can form someone’s outlook on life. Loved his various ways of differentiating Bitcoin and crypto (e.g., Bitcoin is the signal and crypto is the noise, crypto taking blockchain technology and searching for a problem, etc.). Also, loved his thoughts on how heuristics and the tendency for people to need to group things together is causing the public to constantly lump Bitcoin in with crypto. I found his background in "complexity science” really interesting, and I actually found a lot of similarities between him and Saylor, who has a similar background in studying complex systems. Fascinating discussion around what he called “Get-there-itis”. And finally, really enjoyed the story of how and why he created Unchained. Overall, an amazing episode!!
Why there are not 1,000s of commentors continues to baffle me.
My comment (this one's easy, and no need to even wait 24 hours to come up with the right answer):
What gives you hope?
"All right. And Joe, as we wrap up, this is my favorite question is, what gives you hope? Where do you draw hope from?
Oh, yeah.
Ah, people like you, Efrat. People that bring people like you into the space. It's just that, I mean, the real clients we have at Unchained, I think that's, again, part of the privilege."
Real people, real understanding, real compassion, real value.
In my over 35 years of 'sales' I had to learn at least 1000 'one-liners' to create conversation/introductions, move a discussion along, get to the point of a meeting and ultimately, 'close the deal'.
An example of one of the 1000s:
Customer to me: "How are you today?"
Me to customer: "Fantastic, so much so that if I were any better, there'd be TWO of me".
And on and on and on.
The request for permission is this, you've closed out a number of your podcast interviews by asking your 'favorite' question, that being:
"What gives you hope?"
I'm asking permission to plagiarize that line and start utilizing in my daily walk (secret disclosure, "I already am"), from the moment I wake up, throughout the day's interactions with others, right up until my final thoughts in ending my day.
You say that in the end, all we really have is 'time'.
I'd like to use my time ensuring that "I" think in terms of what gives me hope, and I want your permission to use that line (crediting you of course) such that the 'time' we have is also 'positive & hope-filled'.
Blessings and cheers
PS: there might not be a 1000 comments (there still should be in my opinion), but know that you're indirectly 'connected' to at least a 1000 touch points throughout each week.
Even the minuscule impact of a single small pebble tossed into a pond, ripples clear to its edges.
I’m not a X person, but I clicked on the link anyway (it allows me to view) and I see, that in less than a single day, there are already over 1700 views.
dear friend, you are more than welcome to "steal" this simple question, that make us stand in our essence. make us (hopefully) align again on what gives us joy in life, what is something worth living for. and thank you for what you wrote in the end... "Even the minuscule impact of a single small pebble tossed into a pond, ripples clear to its edges". I love it.
This was a great episode! I knew who Joe was but never had seen an in-depth interview like this. He is a super impressive guy and his background is absolutely fascinating. Really enjoyed learning personal things such as him living on a sailboat, being a pilot, etc. He is a great example of how early life experiences can form someone’s outlook on life. Loved his various ways of differentiating Bitcoin and crypto (e.g., Bitcoin is the signal and crypto is the noise, crypto taking blockchain technology and searching for a problem, etc.). Also, loved his thoughts on how heuristics and the tendency for people to need to group things together is causing the public to constantly lump Bitcoin in with crypto. I found his background in "complexity science” really interesting, and I actually found a lot of similarities between him and Saylor, who has a similar background in studying complex systems. Fascinating discussion around what he called “Get-there-itis”. And finally, really enjoyed the story of how and why he created Unchained. Overall, an amazing episode!!
Thanks Larry! Joe is an amazing, humble and super smart human. Thanks for reviewing this episode, as always!
Why there are not 1,000s of commentors continues to baffle me.
My comment (this one's easy, and no need to even wait 24 hours to come up with the right answer):
What gives you hope?
"All right. And Joe, as we wrap up, this is my favorite question is, what gives you hope? Where do you draw hope from?
Oh, yeah.
Ah, people like you, Efrat. People that bring people like you into the space. It's just that, I mean, the real clients we have at Unchained, I think that's, again, part of the privilege."
Real people, real understanding, real compassion, real value.
Thank you.
Thank you so much dear… I don’t know why there aren’t thousands of comments… but what needs to happen happens… in life’s divine way.
🙏🏻🧡 keep spreading the love.
And on that note:
"🙏🏻🧡 keep spreading the love."
A request for permission:
In my over 35 years of 'sales' I had to learn at least 1000 'one-liners' to create conversation/introductions, move a discussion along, get to the point of a meeting and ultimately, 'close the deal'.
An example of one of the 1000s:
Customer to me: "How are you today?"
Me to customer: "Fantastic, so much so that if I were any better, there'd be TWO of me".
And on and on and on.
The request for permission is this, you've closed out a number of your podcast interviews by asking your 'favorite' question, that being:
"What gives you hope?"
I'm asking permission to plagiarize that line and start utilizing in my daily walk (secret disclosure, "I already am"), from the moment I wake up, throughout the day's interactions with others, right up until my final thoughts in ending my day.
You say that in the end, all we really have is 'time'.
I'd like to use my time ensuring that "I" think in terms of what gives me hope, and I want your permission to use that line (crediting you of course) such that the 'time' we have is also 'positive & hope-filled'.
Blessings and cheers
PS: there might not be a 1000 comments (there still should be in my opinion), but know that you're indirectly 'connected' to at least a 1000 touch points throughout each week.
Even the minuscule impact of a single small pebble tossed into a pond, ripples clear to its edges.
https://x.com/efenigson/status/1945052862813192343
I’m not a X person, but I clicked on the link anyway (it allows me to view) and I see, that in less than a single day, there are already over 1700 views.
They see you.
They know you.
They hear your voice.
They value you.
They appreciate you.
Hey "minuscule"…………..
Meet "Going Viral" !!!
LOL
PS: Now almost up to 2000 views .
2:28 AM · Jul 15, 2025
·
1,973
Views
Lots to learn from your marketing expertise.
Congrats.
dear friend, you are more than welcome to "steal" this simple question, that make us stand in our essence. make us (hopefully) align again on what gives us joy in life, what is something worth living for. and thank you for what you wrote in the end... "Even the minuscule impact of a single small pebble tossed into a pond, ripples clear to its edges". I love it.