Critics of blockchain often say that it is nothing more than a database, but today’s guest, Ari Juels, has a different opinion. His technical expertise (he is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell Tech), combined with his ability to understand both sides of a divisive topic like this one, make for a very insightful conversation about Bitcoin, NFTs, and smart contracts. We talk about the reasons for the valid skepticism that surrounds blockchain technology, the various reasons that Ari believes that it is a powerful, useful tool, despite its downfalls, pyramid schemes, decentralized exchanges and more!
Key Points From This Episode:
Links From Today’s Episode:
Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582.
Rational Reminder Website — https://rationalreminder.ca/
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Benjamin on Twitter — https://twitter.com/benjaminwfelix
Cameron on Twitter — https://twitter.com/CameronPassmore
Ari Juels on Twitter — https://twitter.com/AriJuels
Ari Juels — https://www.arijuels.com/
The Ring of Gyges: Using Smart Contracts for Crime — http://www.arijuels.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Gyges.pdf
NFTs for Art and Collectables: Primer and Outlook — https://www.arijuels.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/NFTs__Primer_and_Outlook.pdf
‘Huge mess of theft and fraud:’ artists sound alarm as NFT crime proliferates — https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/jan/29/huge-mess-of-theft-artists-sound-alarm-theft-nfts-proliferates
Incomplete Contracts and Control — https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/hart-lecture.pdf
Chainlink 2.0: Next Steps in the Evolution of Decentralized Oracle Networks — https://research.chain.link/whitepaper-v2.pdf?_ga=2.99068702.124468793.1661870135-1990502175.1661870135
Flash Boys 2.0: Frontrunning, Transaction Reordering, and Consensus Instability in Decentralized Exchanges — https://arxiv.org/pdf/1904.05234.pdf
Themis: Fast, Strong Order-Fairness in Byzantine Consensus — https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/1465.pdf
Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains — https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/Witness%20Testimony_Juels_OI_2022.01.20.pdf
The Seven Grand Challenges — https://www.initc3.org/projects.html