“A centrally-regulated financial system has led to the status quo. If you’re happy with the status quo, stay there and enjoy. The rest of us are trying something else.”
Erik Voorhees is the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, an instant Bitcoin and altcoin exchange that he developed and managed under a penname until revealing his identity in 2015 via a seed fundraising announcement. However, his origins in the crypto space can be traced back to 2012 when he joined BitInstant LLC, where he eventually served as the head of marketing and communications. Voorhees co-founded the Bitcoin company Coinapult and founded SatoshiDICE. In June 2016, he became a member of the Cryptocurrency Advisory Board at MGT Capital Investments.
Originally from Colorado, Voorhees moved to Washington, where he studied business leadership and political economics at the University of Puget Sound. However, he has since lived in Dubai, New York, New Hampshire and Panama, and he now resides in the crypto-friendly town of Zug, Switzerland. He has been an outspoken libertarian and advocate for Bitcoin, talking openly about his concerns surrounding traditional monetary systems and taxation. He has been known to work with regulators on better understanding the decentralized financial system and improving the future of both TradFi and DeFi. ShapeShift is said to reflect his political and economic beliefs in that it is a free service.
The Web3 space — and the crypto industry, in particular — found itself under the microscope last year. However, in July, Voorhees commented that the bear market was the “least worrisome” compared with bear markets of the past because it was highly influenced by outside factors. “Prior crashes were all bubble blow offs, unrelated to the larger world,” he tweeted.
On that note, ShapeShift also had an active year. In March, the company held an NFT auction supporting female artists involved in the nonfungible token and blockchain industries. The ShapeShift DAO, which formed officially in July 2022, commented that the auction would also go toward supporting the DAO as it continues to grow. In addition to the development of the DAO, ShapeShift made moves to bring itself closer to complete decentralization with its new open-source mobile app. According to the organization, it was made in part to enhance user mobility. At around this time, Voorhees tweeted, “Self-custody. Decentralization. Immutability. Each requires the former. This is the way.”
Before the fall of the FTX exchange and all the chaos that ensued afterward, Voorhees appeared on a podcast alongside Sam Bankman-Fried to discuss how regulations should be implemented in the crypto space. After the fallout, Voorhees continued to voice his opinion on the situation, with comments ranging from how proofs of reserves work in DeFi to the state of centralized exchanges. Voorhees is very active on Twitter, where he frequently shares his views on the state of the industry with his over 600,000 followers.
Voorhees spared no time in being active in the space in the new year. Within the first two weeks of January, he publicly made predictions on the price of Bitcoin, which he forecasted would reach $40,000 by June. He said that the macro environment of the industry, interest rates and the tightening of monetary conditions are all major components affecting how the crypto market will play out for the remainder of the year. Nonetheless, he reiterated that a bear market doesn’t worry him, as the world is “in the middle of a revolution right now.”
Additionally, the ShapeShift DAO started the year by releasing Phase 1 of its 2023 development roadmap. The DAO said its overall objective for the phase is to become a one-stop spot for DeFi users to view their portfolio and DeFi positions while having the opportunity to earn yield and swap. Another significant focus is on integrating Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible chains and Cosmos zones into its app in an effort to attract new users. According to the announcement, Phase 2 will be revealed in March.
