The Convergence of AI, Content, & Crypto will Change the Internet! | Michael Blau

**Michael Blau** (0:00)
This is maybe a crazy statement, but I think we're gonna go back to a pay-per-use economic model on the internet. Everyone has subscription fatigue. Everyone complains about them. No one wants all these subscriptions. And people actually say all the time, if only I could pay per use, if only I could buy just this one thing, I totally would.

**Tony Edward** (0:22)
This episode is brought to you by iTrust Capital. iTrust Capital allows you to invest in crypto as well as precious metals like gold and silver via an IRA.
And this gives you huge tax advantages. So you can invest in over 90 crypto assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and many more. You also get access to stable coins such as Circles USDC and Ripple RLUSD.
And as it relates to precious metals, you can invest in gold and silver and these are the physical assets. So you're not investing in paper gold and silver. So on this platform, you can redeem the gold and silver if you choose to. And not many platforms offer that. Now, the big advantage to investing via ITrust Capital's IRA is the huge tax advantages. Many of you know you incur capital gains taxes when you sell at a gain. Well, you can minimize the effect of some of that by doing it via an IRA, especially if you have a long-term view on crypto as well as precious metals. And you can buy and sell crypto in precious metals 24-7. It's low cost and no monthly fee. So this is a great option to get exposure to these two great asset classes. And in addition, they have a great custody solution. It's called Premium Custody Account. So it uses institutional-grade crypto custody such as Coinbase Prime, which BlackRock leverages. Itrust also uses Fidelity Digital Assets as well as Fireblocks, and it's a closed-loop system. So if someone hacks into your account, they can't withdraw funds. I believe this is the second safest way to custody your assets right behind self-custody, where you control the private keys. And within the custody account, you can buy and sell 24-7, it's low fees. So this is a great option for custody of your assets. And you can sleep at night knowing that you're getting the institutional grade custodial services. So once again, two great products here from Itrust Capital, the IRA, where you can roll over your existing 401k or IRA to Itrust Capital's version, getting the huge tax advantages and the institutional custody. And folks, if you sign up with my link at itrustcapital.com/go/thinkingcrypto, you could get a hundred dollar funding bonus. I have an account with Itrust Capital. So I encourage you to go check out Itrust Capital, learn about their services and see if it's right for you. Again, you can get a hundred dollar funding bonus by signing up via my link, which is itrustcapital.com/go/thinkingcrypto.
Link will be in the description. Hi, everyone. Welcome into the Thinking Crypto Podcast. Today, we're recording at Station 3 in New York's financial district. And joining me is Michael Blau, who is the founder of Drip, which is creating tools that helps writers get paid when AI agents use their work.
Prior to founding Drip, Michael worked as a deal partner on the A16Z crypto investment team. Michael, great to have you.

**Michael Blau** (3:08)
Thanks for having me. Great to be here.

**Tony Edward** (3:09)
Yeah, Michael, the intersection of content, AI and crypto, things that are dear to my heart. So I'm excited to talk about what Drip is building. Very fascinated by it because I use Substack. Okay, I got to figure out what are you doing here? How can I use that to my advantage?
But let's start with your background, Michael.

**Michael Blau** (3:27)
Definitely, yeah.

**Tony Edward** (3:27)
You have a fascinating background. Tell us about where did you grow up, where you're from, and I worked as a magician with David Blaine.

**Michael Blau** (3:34)
Oh, yeah. So here's my story. So I was actually born in New York, Long Island, when I was around five years old, my family moved to Las Vegas. So I grew up in Las Vegas. I just say I'm from Vegas because that's where my whole life is.
Grew up there and then I went to school at Washington University in St. Louis for undergrad. I studied finance and computer science there. And then after that, I started my crypto career. And so I'm happy to dive into that as well, but that's where I'm from.

**Tony Edward** (4:04)
So where did you meet up with David Blaine and become a magician?

**Michael Blau** (4:07)
Yeah. So my career in middle school and high school was as a magician. That's all I did.