Software, design, product.
Joined November 2012
- Tweets 240
- Following 468
- Followers 595
- Likes 5,068
4 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
7 Jun 2024
This week we announced @nocturne_xyz was winding down. It’s disappointing—we felt it showed great promise for privacy, and we know many shared this sentiment.
I went into this endeavor with the understanding that real privacy adoption would require people to not have to make sacrifices or change behavior to get it (it should be as easy opt-in as Venmo private pay), but the reality is that, significant infra hurdles have to first be overcome here. Until then, to have their privacy, the payer either suffers hundreds in fees (for the computation—ZK is quite expensive), or must bridge and experience fragmented liquidity anonymity set. If you wonder why the "infra must come before apps" meme continues to persist in crypto, it’s for reasons like this.
That being said, there are emerging areas today where crypto infra can be an enabler for hit consumer apps, not the bottleneck; a detail, not the feature. Given the sheer size of the industries, social, gaming, and entertainment apps are the biggest targets, and for good reason—they're what people use everyday.
When I think of why we don’t have mainstream crypto app in these categories, I believe it’s because approaches have all been a flavor of simply, "___ but onchain" (i.e, that’s the only reason for the app) that is usually a worse UX, or a flavor of "popular web2 brand cashing in on crypto hype" (think Starbucks x Polygon loyal rewards) that is short-lived. The apps that will win will be the ones where crypto is used to offer people a better experience than they would have had without it.
A team I believe that is best positioned to use crypto to enable this is @Azuki, so much so that I’ve chosen to join them to help shape their vision. If you don’t know, Azuki has entered the anime production and distribution space, and have launched an anime mini-series (first episode is already almost at 1M views!), and it really is just the starting form. Alongside @animecoin, the larger vision is to change the way anime fans are able to interact with and experience their favorite shows. Even if you’re not a fan of anime, adoption like this really does work to push web3 forward. (I’m excited to build this vision with @2pmflow @jojochuu @hoshiboyzen @locationtba @heyskylark @0xTraderJo @metag33 @0xseraph @elaineazuki14 and more!)
In reflecting on the past, and planning for the future, there are couple things I can’t help but mention:
• Working with @sebastienladuca and @luketchang has been an experience of a lifetime. Everyone familiar with either of them knows how talented they are, and I can validate that sentiment firsthand
• A long-awaited thank you note, to Vitalik, the whole team at Bain (one of the best leads you could ask for), our connects at Polychain, Hack, Robot, Bankless, and all of our angels—your inputs and support have been invaluable. Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported Nocturne’s mission in its lifetime.
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DK retweeted
DESIGN.md is how we work with agents now, but a text file is a terrible way for a human to make a visual decision.
So we built our preview to give some of that control back: edit the file as text or pick colors visually, and the two stay in sync.
And swatches sit on the actual light and dark backgrounds because color only means something in the context you'll see it in.
We improved our design system feature to include design.md imports alongside any website and Tailwind files.
Best part: your design system isn't just available when creating natively in MagicPath, it can be used by any external agent simply via mentioning it.
It's amazing.
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DK retweeted
17 Sep 2025
White Rabbit just became the first crypto project to win an Emmy
imagine telling 2021 CT that in a few years our producers and ETH would get a shoutout on stage at the Emmys
u wouldn't believe us
"૮₍ ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა
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28 Feb 2025
Having fun building for anime fans old and new. Thanks for all who came tonight—see you next time.
Only at anime.com
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DK retweeted
4 Feb 2025
It is with heartfelt sadness that I want to share that my dear mother, Kultida Woods, passed away early this morning. My Mom was a force of nature all her own, her spirit was simply undeniable. She was quick with the needle and a laugh. She was my biggest fan, greatest supporter, without her none of my personal achievements would have been possible. She was loved by so many, but especially by her two grandchildren, Sam and Charlie. Thank you all for your support, prayers and privacy at this difficult time for me and my family. Love you Mom.
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Announcing Azuki x Aniplex
We're thrilled to partner with @AniplexUSA to bring the iconic Fate series to Anime.com! This collaboration introduces new ways for anime creators to connect with fans through digital collectibles and new experiences.
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Welcome to the team @panieldark!
Let’s give Daniel a warm garden welcome ⛩️
7 Jun 2024
This week we announced @nocturne_xyz was winding down. It’s disappointing—we felt it showed great promise for privacy, and we know many shared this sentiment.
I went into this endeavor with the understanding that real privacy adoption would require people to not have to make sacrifices or change behavior to get it (it should be as easy opt-in as Venmo private pay), but the reality is that, significant infra hurdles have to first be overcome here. Until then, to have their privacy, the payer either suffers hundreds in fees (for the computation—ZK is quite expensive), or must bridge and experience fragmented liquidity anonymity set. If you wonder why the "infra must come before apps" meme continues to persist in crypto, it’s for reasons like this.
That being said, there are emerging areas today where crypto infra can be an enabler for hit consumer apps, not the bottleneck; a detail, not the feature. Given the sheer size of the industries, social, gaming, and entertainment apps are the biggest targets, and for good reason—they're what people use everyday.
When I think of why we don’t have mainstream crypto app in these categories, I believe it’s because approaches have all been a flavor of simply, "___ but onchain" (i.e, that’s the only reason for the app) that is usually a worse UX, or a flavor of "popular web2 brand cashing in on crypto hype" (think Starbucks x Polygon loyal rewards) that is short-lived. The apps that will win will be the ones where crypto is used to offer people a better experience than they would have had without it.
A team I believe that is best positioned to use crypto to enable this is @Azuki, so much so that I’ve chosen to join them to help shape their vision. If you don’t know, Azuki has entered the anime production and distribution space, and have launched an anime mini-series (first episode is already almost at 1M views!), and it really is just the starting form. Alongside @animecoin, the larger vision is to change the way anime fans are able to interact with and experience their favorite shows. Even if you’re not a fan of anime, adoption like this really does work to push web3 forward. (I’m excited to build this vision with @2pmflow @jojochuu @hoshiboyzen @locationtba @heyskylark @0xTraderJo @metag33 @0xseraph @elaineazuki14 and more!)
In reflecting on the past, and planning for the future, there are couple things I can’t help but mention:
• Working with @sebastienladuca and @luketchang has been an experience of a lifetime. Everyone familiar with either of them knows how talented they are, and I can validate that sentiment firsthand
• A long-awaited thank you note, to Vitalik, the whole team at Bain (one of the best leads you could ask for), our connects at Polychain, Hack, Robot, Bankless, and all of our angels—your inputs and support have been invaluable. Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported Nocturne’s mission in its lifetime.
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Welcome to the team @panieldark !
7 Jun 2024
This week we announced @nocturne_xyz was winding down. It’s disappointing—we felt it showed great promise for privacy, and we know many shared this sentiment.
I went into this endeavor with the understanding that real privacy adoption would require people to not have to make sacrifices or change behavior to get it (it should be as easy opt-in as Venmo private pay), but the reality is that, significant infra hurdles have to first be overcome here. Until then, to have their privacy, the payer either suffers hundreds in fees (for the computation—ZK is quite expensive), or must bridge and experience fragmented liquidity anonymity set. If you wonder why the "infra must come before apps" meme continues to persist in crypto, it’s for reasons like this.
That being said, there are emerging areas today where crypto infra can be an enabler for hit consumer apps, not the bottleneck; a detail, not the feature. Given the sheer size of the industries, social, gaming, and entertainment apps are the biggest targets, and for good reason—they're what people use everyday.
When I think of why we don’t have mainstream crypto app in these categories, I believe it’s because approaches have all been a flavor of simply, "___ but onchain" (i.e, that’s the only reason for the app) that is usually a worse UX, or a flavor of "popular web2 brand cashing in on crypto hype" (think Starbucks x Polygon loyal rewards) that is short-lived. The apps that will win will be the ones where crypto is used to offer people a better experience than they would have had without it.
A team I believe that is best positioned to use crypto to enable this is @Azuki, so much so that I’ve chosen to join them to help shape their vision. If you don’t know, Azuki has entered the anime production and distribution space, and have launched an anime mini-series (first episode is already almost at 1M views!), and it really is just the starting form. Alongside @animecoin, the larger vision is to change the way anime fans are able to interact with and experience their favorite shows. Even if you’re not a fan of anime, adoption like this really does work to push web3 forward. (I’m excited to build this vision with @2pmflow @jojochuu @hoshiboyzen @locationtba @heyskylark @0xTraderJo @metag33 @0xseraph @elaineazuki14 and more!)
In reflecting on the past, and planning for the future, there are couple things I can’t help but mention:
• Working with @sebastienladuca and @luketchang has been an experience of a lifetime. Everyone familiar with either of them knows how talented they are, and I can validate that sentiment firsthand
• A long-awaited thank you note, to Vitalik, the whole team at Bain (one of the best leads you could ask for), our connects at Polychain, Hack, Robot, Bankless, and all of our angels—your inputs and support have been invaluable. Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported Nocturne’s mission in its lifetime.
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Super excited about @panieldark joining our engineering team. VERY talented engineer 🔥 So happy to see our eng team grow
7 Jun 2024
This week we announced @nocturne_xyz was winding down. It’s disappointing—we felt it showed great promise for privacy, and we know many shared this sentiment.
I went into this endeavor with the understanding that real privacy adoption would require people to not have to make sacrifices or change behavior to get it (it should be as easy opt-in as Venmo private pay), but the reality is that, significant infra hurdles have to first be overcome here. Until then, to have their privacy, the payer either suffers hundreds in fees (for the computation—ZK is quite expensive), or must bridge and experience fragmented liquidity anonymity set. If you wonder why the "infra must come before apps" meme continues to persist in crypto, it’s for reasons like this.
That being said, there are emerging areas today where crypto infra can be an enabler for hit consumer apps, not the bottleneck; a detail, not the feature. Given the sheer size of the industries, social, gaming, and entertainment apps are the biggest targets, and for good reason—they're what people use everyday.
When I think of why we don’t have mainstream crypto app in these categories, I believe it’s because approaches have all been a flavor of simply, "___ but onchain" (i.e, that’s the only reason for the app) that is usually a worse UX, or a flavor of "popular web2 brand cashing in on crypto hype" (think Starbucks x Polygon loyal rewards) that is short-lived. The apps that will win will be the ones where crypto is used to offer people a better experience than they would have had without it.
A team I believe that is best positioned to use crypto to enable this is @Azuki, so much so that I’ve chosen to join them to help shape their vision. If you don’t know, Azuki has entered the anime production and distribution space, and have launched an anime mini-series (first episode is already almost at 1M views!), and it really is just the starting form. Alongside @animecoin, the larger vision is to change the way anime fans are able to interact with and experience their favorite shows. Even if you’re not a fan of anime, adoption like this really does work to push web3 forward. (I’m excited to build this vision with @2pmflow @jojochuu @hoshiboyzen @locationtba @heyskylark @0xTraderJo @metag33 @0xseraph @elaineazuki14 and more!)
In reflecting on the past, and planning for the future, there are couple things I can’t help but mention:
• Working with @sebastienladuca and @luketchang has been an experience of a lifetime. Everyone familiar with either of them knows how talented they are, and I can validate that sentiment firsthand
• A long-awaited thank you note, to Vitalik, the whole team at Bain (one of the best leads you could ask for), our connects at Polychain, Hack, Robot, Bankless, and all of our angels—your inputs and support have been invaluable. Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported Nocturne’s mission in its lifetime.
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DK retweeted
5 Jun 2024
Some tough personal news. After shutting down the privacy protocol we built for @nocturne_xyz, @sebastienladuca and I decided to wind down the company and step away from crypto for now. Wanted to reflect/share thoughts below.
I got into crypto in 2020, inspired by a new/open financial system. Over the last 3 years, I was fortunate enough to be able to help build/launch Celo’s bridge, spin out Nomad and lead its backend engineering effort, and later start Nocturne to work on financial privacy. Celo’s bridge facilitated hundreds of millions in volume, Nomad ~$1B, and Nocturne several million before shutdown.
Sebastien and I thought we’d work in crypto for a long time, but after the regulatory situation worsened for privacy and we shut down, we had time to reconsider. Though we still believe in crypto, we decided that stepping away from the space would yield the most personal growth long-term.
I’m grateful for the things I learned along the way. A few of the lessons I took away:
• Product problems are fundamentally different from structural ones (you can fix bugs and beat competitors but you can’t easily change things like regulatory outcomes—know what levers you can actually pull)
• Strong owners make a huge difference (the folks who build the original product often own their verticals, hire new folks, and drive new work well into the future)
• Avoid reactivity (reactivity causes people to rush into situations without communicating or prematurely react to things that aren’t final like deals or product reception—minimize the emotional swings and be cautiously optimistic)
Though exciting, the past few years have definitely been challenging. You realize that life isn’t that linear and the range of hurdles you can face are wide and fairly unpredictable. No advice, class, or even most jobs can prepare you for these challenges. That said, I’m grateful for the journey. I met a lot of people, built/launched several new systems from scratch, and learned how to better lead. I’ll have more shots in the future and look forward to it.
Recently, I’ve had time to hack on various projects for fun, like reimplementing GPT-2 from scratch and building a desktop client for ChatGPT. I’m moving back to the Bay and would love to chat with more folks doing interesting work. I’m also looking to join a more mid-stage company with strong leadership sometime this coming year. For folks in the Bay, happy to chat!
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Azuki presents Enter The Garden
Episode 1: The Waiting Man
youtu.be/tPmOgw2MM9Y
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DK retweeted
26 Feb 2024
For web2 apps you simply input your card info and transact. Why doesn’t this UX exist in web3?
New user dropoff at the account funding step is problematic. @hatwifsnoopy @sebastienladuca and I hacked on a basic way to transact from a wallet via card for any action 🧵
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DK retweeted
6 Feb 2024
made some fun graphics for @SuccinctLabs' exciting announcement today!
6 Feb 2024
1/ We're excited to introduce Succinct Network: a decentralized prover network so that anyone can build apps secured by programmable truth, not trust.
The proof supply chain of today is broken and has not kept up with the pace of ZK innovation. It's time to change that.
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DK retweeted
17 Jan 2024
0/ We are delighted to release the 5th annual @ElectricCapital Developer Report
We analyzed a record 485 million code commits across 818k repositories—20x more code than our first report from 2019!
356 people across the community contributed to making this report.
Long, data-filled thread below! 👇
Read it here:
developerreport.com/develope…
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DK retweeted
7 Dec 2023
New lore drop means new design work 🫘 a little tag team with @ChiruLabs newest designer @celerydotfish :)
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DK retweeted
17 Nov 2023
Now tracking @nocturne_xyz on @ethereum
Nocturne is a protocol enabling private accounts on Ethereum
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