Shows
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEpicenter - 10-Year Anniversary Livestream10 years ago, Adam B Levine, the host of ‘Let’s Talk Bitcoin!’, decided that it was time to encourage other voices to step onto the crypto podcast scene. Among many applicants, Sebastien and Brian were the only 2 Europeans, so Adam suggested that they teamed up in order to record the pilot episode. On December 20th 2013, Sebastien and Brian released ‘Regulation and the Future of Bitcoin’, which marked the beginning of a 10-year (and counting) long journey. The rest is history.On this anniversary episode, our hosts were joined by special guests and friends of Epicenter, to share their favo...2023-12-232h 25
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEpicenter – Looking Back on 10 Years of Crypto. AI Doom & Gloom? SPECIALAs Epicenter hits the 500 episode milestone, our hosts look back on almost 10 years of crypto developments, analysing the good, the bad and the ugly. What projects & narratives have surprised our hosts? Has Bitcoin failed in becoming a reliable store of value? Will ZK proofs provide the much needed solution to AI’s alignment problem? Last but not least, are we still early? Get ready for a fascinating discussion, albeit gloomy for this special occasion.Thank you for being part of this amazing journey! We wouldn’t have made it so far without your continuous support! Looking forward to t...2023-06-161h 21
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesTim Galebach: Uqbar – Smart Contracts on UrbitBuilding a truly decentralised, peer-to-peer network, based on a built-in identity system, limits the ecosystem’s interoperability with the outside world. Onboarding developers and users to Urbit was only the first hurdle. On-ramping crypto was a whole different & daunting task. Uqbar set out to build an execution layer on top of Urbit, enabling smart contracts, which would ultimately settle, via a ZK rollup, on Starknet.We were joined by Tim Galebach, founder of Uqbar, to discuss the different design choices involved, from Hoon programming DevEx to a hybrid ZK-optimistic rollup.Topics covered in this episode:...2023-04-141h 31
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEpicenter Hosts – Is the Ethereum Roadmap the Right Path for Eth Holders?An interesting question that has sparked debate in the Twittersphere and amongst our hosts. Hear as Meher, Friederike and Brian discuss scaling visions currently in the ecosystem, with particular focus on Ethereum Layer 2s and whether or not this is a good path forward for holders of Eth.Topics covered in this episode:Introduction to the hostsMeher's opinions and recent twitter thread on EthereumHow Layer 1s and Layer 2s work togetherSmart contract shardingBitcoin vs EthereumSolanaThe Ethereum roadmap from hereEpisode links: Meher's twitter threadEpicenter - About UsBrian on TwitterFriederike on TwitterSponsors: ...2022-07-291h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEmin Gün Sirer: AvalancheAvalanche is an open, scalable, and secure smart contracts platform. It targets three broad use cases; building application-specific blockchains, building and launching highly scalable decentralized applications (dapps), and building arbitrarily complex digital assets with custom rules, covenants, and riders (smart assets). It prides itself off on being blazingly fast, low cost, and eco-friendly.Emin Gün Sirer is the Founder & CEO of the Avalanche network. He is also a long time friend of the show, and joined us again for the 4th time after a 5 year break to share his journey since then, which led him to c...2021-11-241h 02
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesThe Great Epicenter Host Extravaganza 2021The new year has brought with it a new bull run. This is great news for crypto holders, but at what cost? Will this bring with it a number of negative implications such as regulatory push back and privacy battles? Listen as the five hosts of Epicenter come together for an in-depth chat to share their predictions for the crypto space in 2021.Topics covered in this episode:Each of our hosts share how 2020 went for themIn-depth individual predictions on where things are headed with the current bull marketPublic backlash to the crypto systemRegulatory and tax related...2021-01-121h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesMarek Olszewski & Rene Reinsberg: Celo – Towards Prosperity for EveryoneCelo has a clear mission - to build a financial system that creates the conditions for prosperity, for everyone. The Celo Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the growth and development of the open-source, decentralized Celo Platform. Its aim is to build a flexible network of applications built on a blockchain to facilitate payments and remittances to people’s phone numbers. Guided by the Celo community tenets, the Foundation contributes to education, technical research, environmental health, community engagement, and ecosystem outreach. These activities support and encourage an inclusive financial system that solves real-world problems such as lack of ac...2020-09-011h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAnatoly Yakovenko: Solana - Reaching for the Limits of Blockchain PerformanceThe vision of a world computer on which anyone can deploy smart contracts has captured our imagination since the publication of the Ethereum whitepaper. But while Ethereum demonstrated the viability of the concept, its shortcomings in terms of capacity and throughput prevent it from realizing the vision. Today, throughput has become a major bottleneck for widescale adoption of decentralized technologies.Many projects have set out to deliver where Ethereum 1.0 falls short. Most projects, including Ethereum 2.0, aim to create some kind of sharded network with many interoperable chains. Solana may be the only project that went the other...2019-11-061h 37
Chorus One PodcastIntroducing the Chorus One PodcastThis is the first episode of the Chorus One Podcast. In it, our team (Brian Fabian Crain, Meher Roy,Brendan Dillon, and Felix Lutsch) introduce themselves, Chorus One, the topics we plan to cover in this podcast, and the things we are most excited about in the crypto space today. We talk about topics like staking, decentralized finance, interoperability, network governance, DAOs as new organizational structures, and blockchain education. Have fun listening and subscribe if you want to learn more about projects and protocols working to create a more sustainable and open financial system using blockchain technologies. ...2019-06-2624 min
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesBonus 1/2: “Epicenter Live” and a Chat with Jae Kwon of Cosmos – Interchain Conversations BerlinThis is part one of a two-part bonus series. These sessions were recorded at the first Interchain Conversations conference which took place in Berlin on June 13th and 14th, 2019.
The first part of this episode is “Epicenter Live,” a live podcast recorded on stage at the event. It features hosts Meher Roy, Sunny Aggarwal, Brian Fabian Crain, and Sebastien Couture. In this conversation, we discuss the topic of blockchain interoperability. We look at how different projects address interoperability and seek to form a picture of how these projects might interact in a multi-blockchain future. We also discuss how...2019-06-211h 35
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesGavin Wood: Substrate, Polkadot and the Case for On-Chain GovernanceFrom one of the main Ethereum clients, to Polkadot to Substrate; Parity has become exceptional at developing successful open-source blockchain projects. Their latest effort Substrate provides a framework to easily create custom blockchains. Building on cutting-edge technologies like Web Assembly, Substrate also offers automated on-chain upgrades.
We were joined by Gavin Wood, who was previously co-founder and CTO of Ethereum and founded Parity. We talked about the early Ethereum days, how Parity got started, Substrate, Polkadot and his views on on-chain governance.
Topics covered in this episode:
The genesis story of Ethereum
Why Gavin...2018-10-311h 36
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesArthur Breitman & Kathleen Breitman: Tezos – The Long Road Towards A Digital CommonwealthThe Tezos whitepaper, published in 2014, anticipated several areas that would become major issues for blockchain networks. Especially around governance and smart contract security, Tezos proposed original solutions. The project later went on to raise $232m in the biggest token sale at the time. Recently, the Tezos network launched as the first of a wave of innovative next-generation blockchain networks.
We were joined by Tezos co-founders Arthur and Kathleen Breitman to discuss the history of the project, how the network functions today and how it could develop going forward.
Topics covered in this episode:
What...2018-10-051h 29
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesRalph Merkle: Revolutionizing Democracy Using DAOs (rebroadcast)Legendary scientist and cryptography pioneer Ralph Merkle joined us to discuss his recent paper on DAOs. Merkle examined how the voting mechanisms in today’s democracies are flawed and how a decentralized, transparent DAO making decisions using prediction markets could create more efficient democratic systems.
Topics covered in this episode:
Merkle proofs, Merkle Roots and his early forays into cryptography
Blockchains as living organisms
Why DAOs will be subject to a Darwinian evolutionary process
Why voting is flawed and we need new governance methods to save democracy
The concept of a DAO democracy
How prediction markets an...2018-09-121h 16
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesChangpeng Zhao: The Meteoric Rise of Crypto Exchange BinanceThe rise of Binance is one of the most astonishing stories in the blockchain space. Within less than a year of its launch, Binance has become the most popular crypto exchange trading over $2bn per day. In the past quarter, Binance made profits of $200m, likely the fastest company ever to reach this success.
Binance Founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”) joined us to discuss why he started Binance and the extraordinary organization they built. We discussed the role of the Binance token, how their strong commitment to values helped build a loyal community, and how he sees...2018-05-161h 21
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesHumayun Sheikh & Toby Simpson: Fetch.ai – an intelligent learning blockchain networkWe are joined by Humayun Sheikh and Toby Simpson, founders of the Fetch.ai project. Humayun Sheikh is well known as the first investor in DeepMind, one of the leading AI companies in the world. This ambitious project seeks to create a self-learning blockchain network that fosters economic activity/combinations between off-chain AI agents. The fetch blockchain network will allow an AI agent, such as a delivery robot, to autonomously discover economic partners that would find its services and data valuable. Towards this goal, Fetch.ai claims to have found solutions to designing a useful proof of work system...2018-05-021h 05
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesKarl Floersch: Plasma Cash and the Ethereum RoadmapEthereum Foundation researcher Karl Floersch joined us to discuss the main projects to upgrade Ethereum: Casper, Sharding and Plasma. Karl has been playing a key role in creating a new and simpler specification for Ethereum sidechains called Plasma Cash. We discussed the evolution of the Plasma project and what Ethereum’s evolution in the coming years could look like.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Karl originally became involved in Ethereum
The role of Casper, Sharding and Plasma in the Ethereum roadmap
The problems with the original Plasma concept
How Plasma Cash provides a simple scalability so...2018-04-241h 11
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesKyle Samani & Tushar Jain: Multicoin – Emerging Frameworks for Cryptoasset InvestingThat decentralized networks represent a massive investment opportunity is no longer a controversial view. In the last year alone, over 200 funds dedicated to investing in cryptoassets have been created.
But the principles and frameworks to understand this new world are still in its infancy. One fund at the forefront of advancing this understanding has been Multicoin Capital. Their Founders Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain joined us to discuss some of the concepts they use to invest in decentralized networks.
Topics covered in this episode:
Google Glass and the origin story of Multicoin Capital
Why...2018-02-211h 07
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAmir Bandeali & Will Warren: 0x Protocol and the Decentralized Exchange FrontierDecentralized exchanges have been a holy grail in the cryptocurrency space, since at least the MtGox hack. They promise to derisk the act of exchanging cryptocurrency by leaving custody of funds in the hands of the users. And they should be resistant to regulatory pressure, creating a permissionless way to trade cryptocurrencies.
Among decentralized exchange projects, 0x has gained by far the most traction in the short time since launching. Co-founders Will and Amir joined us to discuss the 0x protocol, the emerging 0x economy and the vibrant community they’ve built.
Topics covered in th...2018-02-161h 15
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesMance Harmon: Hashgraph – A Radically Novel Consensus AlgorithmHashgraph is a new consensus algorithm that radically differs from proof-of-work as well as proof-of-stake consensus algorithms. While work on Hashgraph begun in 2012, it’s design is radically different from today’s blockchain architectures. The Hashgraph team claims that it has found an optimal consensus algorithm design that will be impossible to significantly improve upon.
We were joined by Mance Harmon, who is CEO of the Swirlds, the company developing Hashgraph. Our conversation covered the origin story of hashgraph, how it compares to existing consensus algorithms and how Hashgraph works.
Topics covered in this episode:
...2018-01-251h 12
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesChris Burniske & Jack Tatar: Cryptoassets – The Rise of a New Asset ClassOver the past year, cryptoassets have exploded in popularity. From a mere $18bn at the start of 2017, the aggregate market cap of all cryptoassets recently reached $820bn as interest in Bitcoin and its cousins went mainstream. Jack Tatar and Chris Burniske joined us to discuss their new book ‘Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond’. It is one of the first systematic views on cryptoassets from a mainstream investor’s perspective.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Jack and Chris originally became interested in Bitcoin and cryptoassets
Why the term cryptoassets is a good umb...2018-01-171h 23
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAndrew Trask: OpenMined – A Decentralised Artificial Intelligence PlatformA significant part of the modern digital economy, is underpinned by machine learning models that are trained to perform tasks such as facial recognition, content curation, health diagnostics etc. Data to train machine learning models is the essential commodity of this century – a sentiment captured by epithets such as “”Data is the new oil””. Today’s dominant AI paradigm has companies focus their efforts on gathering data from their users in order to train models and monetise usage of the model. This model has many consequences such as loss of privacy for the user, consolidation of data in a handful of l...2018-01-111h 00
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesZoe Adamovicz: Neufund and the Case for Selling Equity on the BlockchainNeufund CEO Zoe Adamovicz joined us to discuss how Neufund is creating a platform to allow companies to sell tokens backed by actual company equity.
Topics covered in this episode:
Neufund’s thesis of the revolutionary implications of token equity
The difference between ICOs and Equity Token Offerings (ETO)
Why from a regulatory perspective ETOs are uncomplicated
How Neufund’s token Neumarks serves to build a community
How the Initial Capital Building Mechanism is bootstrapping the ecosystem
The long-term vision of creating a global stock market
Episode links:
Neufund
Neufund Whitepaper
Neufund Light Paper
Neuf...2017-11-2859 min
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAlex Morcos: Chaincode Labs and Why Bitcoin is Our One Shot at Creating Digital GoldChaincode Labs Founder Alex Morcos joined us to discuss his journey, the role of the company in Bitcoin’s development and the views that drive his work.
Topics covered in this episode:
Alex’s background in high frequency trading as a founder of Hudson River Trading
How Alex first learned about Bitcoin
The vision of Chaincode Labs
Why Bitcoin represents our only chance of creating digital gold
Why Bitcoin’s resistance to change is one of its core features
Why the NYA & SegWit2x approach was misguided
How getting consensus around a hard fork blocksize increase could...2017-11-211h 05
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesPost DevCon3 Roundtable: State of Ethereum, Cosmos Retreat and Parity HackFor the very first time, all three Epicenter hosts found themselves in the same location. After attending Ethereum’s DevCon 3 in Cancun, we were at a Cosmos Retreat and discussed the conference, retreat, state of the Ethereum ecosystem and recent Parity hack.
Topics covered in this episode:
Recap of Ethereum’s DevCon 3 conference
Current state of Ethereum
The most interesting new projects at DevCon
The post-DevCon Cosmos retreat
The internet of blockchain thesis
The case for blockchain’s having sovereignty
The massive loss of funds due to Parity’s flawed multisig contract
The pros and cons of an Et...2017-11-101h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesGalen Wolfe-Pauly: Urbit – A Digital Republic Reinventing the InternetGalen Wolfe-Pauly, CEO of Tlon, the company behind Urbit, joined us to discuss one of the most radical and curious projects to come on the podcast. In development for 15 years already, Urbit aims to unravel the cloud computing paradigm that led to the creation of internet monopolies like Google and Facebook. Instead, in Urbit, each person has a personal server, a kind of digital sovereign entity, where applications are run, which leaves control and data in the hands of users.
Galen joined us to discuss what the philosophy and ideas driving Urbit, how a radically different internet...2017-10-181h 04
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAri Paul: BlockTower Capital and the Cryptocurrency OpportunityFor many years, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were regarded as little more than a nerdy curiosity by the financial world. But with the rise of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the process of cryptocurrencies becoming a recognized asset class has begun.
One person at the forefront of this transformation is Ari Paul. Previously a portfolio manager at the University of Chicago’s $8 billion endowment, he recently left to start the cryptocurrency hedge fund BlockTower Capital. He joined us for an insightful conversation about one of the biggest trends in the industry.
Topics covered in this episode:
Ari’s ba...2017-09-261h 13
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesCiaran O'Leary: BlueYard – The Disruption of Venture CapitalIn the past year, the first killer application of blockchain technology has emerged: venture funding. As blockchain-facilitated crowdfunding is disrupting venture capital at blistering speed, we are joined by Ciaran O’Leary, Founder and General Partner at BlueYard. BlueYard stands at the intersection of this transition. Structured as a traditional VC fund, its thesis focuses fully on the decentralized economy and it invests in tokens too. Ciaran joined us to discusses what blockchain means for VCs and its implications for BlueYard.
Topics covered in this episode:
Ciaran’s journey as a VC
How the VC industry has...2017-09-131h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEyal Hertzog: Bancor and the Rise of User-Generated CurrenciesBancor is a simple, but hard-to-understand protocol that enables price discovery and liquidity even for assets that aren’t actively traded. Co-Founder Eyal Hertzog joined us to explain how the Bancor protocol works and why they think it will play a key role in enabling a massive wave of small, but interconnected user-generated currencies. We dissected the workings of the protocol, its radical implications as well as the takeaways from their record-shattering, but controversial crowdsale.
Topics covered in this episode:
Eyal’s background in early internet startups
The origin story of Bancor
Why asset markets suffer from...2017-08-041h 12
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAviv Zohar & Yonatan Sompolinsky: Of Spectre & Ghosts – Radical Ideas to Scale Blockchain TechHebrew University academics Aviv Zohar and Yonatan Sompolinski joined us to discuss their research at the forefront of blockchain technology. We talked about their early proposals for scaling Bitcoin using the GHOST protocol, which later inspired Ethereum. And then we discussed SPECTRE and a new type of network based on directed acrylic graphs (DAG). DAGs abandon the blockchain data structure to allow constant generation of blocks that later get merged achieving block times of seconds and throughput many orders of magnitudes above current blockchain network.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Aviv Zohar wrote one of...2017-07-191h 09
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesRichard Craib: Numerai – A Revolutionary Hedge Fund Built on Blockchain and AINumerai Founder Richard Craib joined us to discuss his radical project to build a hedge fund with network effects. Numerai manages its portfolio by giving its data in encrypted form to data scientists who compete to create the best predictions and get paid with cryptocurrencies. Numerai expects to radically alter the structure of the hedge fund and asset management industry.
Topics covered in this episode:
How hedge funds work and what trends effect them
Quantitative trading and the role of AI in investing
How Numerai uses crowdsourcing and AI to manage its portfolio
How Numerai lets...2017-07-111h 11
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesPeter Van Valkenburgh: Towards Sound Bitcoin PolicyCoin Center is a non-profit in Washington DC that focuses on research and advocacy issues facing public blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Their aim is to protect users and foster innovation through achieving sound policies and regulations.
Director of Research Peter Van Valkenburgh joined us to discuss the work of the center and the most pressing regulatory issues facing the industry today.
Topics covered in this episode:
The origins and objectives of Coin Center
How to judge the success of Coin Center
Why Peter is more bullish on permissionless than permissioned blockchains
The...2017-05-091h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAdam B. Levine: Building a Blockchain Podcast NetworkIn the world of Bitcoin podcast, there is one show which definitely stands out as the longest running, Let’s Talk Bitcoin! In its 4-year history, the show has produced over 320 episodes and expanded to become a network of podcasts which includes Epicenter and many others.
We’re joined by Adam B. Levine the founder and host of Let’s Talk Bitcoin! It was thanks to Adam that Sébastien and Brian first connected in 2013, so in many ways, we consider him as the “”spiritual grandfather”” of Epicenter. Adam reflects on his signature show and the network he created in 2...2017-03-281h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesMiguel Vias: XRP’s Future for Cross-Border PaymentsFor a long time the native asset of the Ripple network XRP was the cryptocurrency with the second biggest market cap. But with much of the supply controlled by Ripple, it remained surrounded by controversy. Still, XRP remains an interesting asset to enable cross-border payments in the future. Miguel Vias recently joined Ripple after a long career on Wall Street to develop XRP as a liquid and widely accepted asset.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Miguel Vias went from trading precious metals to XRP
The similarities between precious metals and cryptocurrencies
The role Ripple sees...2017-03-211h 01
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesPeter Rizun: A Bitcoin Fee Market Without A Blocksize LimitWith both the Bitcoin Unlimited and Segregated Witness efforts far from reaching majority support and exploding transaction fees, the debate around how to scale Bitcoin continues on. One of the key arguments against bigger blocks and Bitcoin Unlimited is that a blocksize restriction is needed to create a healthy fee market. Dr Peter Rizun has been researching the economics of transaction fees in Bitcoin extensively and joined us to discuss what dynamics affect fees and why he thinks the blocksize limit will eventually fall.
Topics covered in this episode:
Bitcoin seen through the eyes of a...2017-02-281h 09
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesVitalik Buterin: DAO Lessons, Casper and Blockchain InteroperabilityEthereum Founder Vitalik Buterin joined us once again to discuss the state of Ethereum and the efforts to innovate the protocol. We covered the takeaways from the DAO fork, switching to the proof-of-stake system Casper and how to think about blockchain interoperability.
Topics covered in this episode:
– Lessons from the DAO hack
– The security flaws of Proof-of-Work
– Why Proof-of-Stake will provide more security and scalability
– The state of Casper and transition timeline
– Blockchain interoperability
Episode links:
Ethereum Foundation
Ethereum R&D Roundup Valentine's Day
December Development Roundup
R3 Chain Interoperability Paper
Epicenter 58: Ethereum, Proof-of-Stake and Future...2017-02-211h 07
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesPeter Harris: Democratizing the Music Industry with the Streaming Music Cooperative ResonateAfter the successful Ethereum crowdfunding campaign, musician and web developer Peter Harris saw a path to creating a fair, decentralized music streaming platform. Out of that Resonate was born. Peter joined us to discuss why the dysfunctional structure of the music industry results in a bad deal for musicians and why a decentralized platform supported by blockchain technology and run as a cooperative represents a better way forward.
Topics covered in this episode:
How technology changed the ability of musician’s to make money
Why streaming platforms don’t compensate musicians fairly
The story of how Pete...2017-01-241h 01
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAndrew Clifford & G. Andrew Stone: Bitcoin UnlimitedYears into the controversy around how to scale Bitcoin, there have been many challengers to Bitcoin core’s dominance. After XT, Classic and others have faded, Bitcoin Unlimited has been gaining traction and emerged as plausible new way forward.
Bitcoin Unlimited wants to make the block size a parameter that is set by miners and nodes, but not fixed at a network level. They argue a natural fee market would emerge, allowing Bitcoin to rapidly scale and realizing its promise of electronic cash as well as store of value. The project is also member-driven, with democratic decisions dr...2017-01-171h 04
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesWrapping Up The Year and Looking Ahead at What’s to ComeIt’s been an eventful year in the blockchain space, for the Epicenter podcast, and its hosts. Brian, Meher and Sebastien look back on 2016 and provide a few personal updates, give their thoughts and insights on how the space evolved, and make predictions on where they feel the industry will go in the next year.
Topics covered in this episode:
Brian, Meher and Sebastien give a few updates on their personal lives and professional projects
The current state of VC funding in the blockchain space
The application of blockchain technologies in enterprise and the corporate development cy...2017-01-091h 12
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesBrian Behlendorf: How Hyperledger is Developing Foundational Blockchain TechnologyAs a lead developer of the Apache webserver and founder of the Apache Software Foundation, Brian Behlendorf has played a central role in building internet architecture. Recently, he became Executive Director of the Hyperledger Project that aims to build foundational blockchain technology in an open-source, collaborative way.
Topics covered in this episode:
Brian’s role in the development of the Apache server and Apache Software Foundation
The flaws in how blockchain software is currently being developed
Why blockchain needs a foundation to steer the development of its foundational technology
The key lessons from the Apache Software Fo...2016-12-051h 06
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAnuj Das Gupta & Richard Caetano: How Stratumn Secures ProcessesStratumn CEO Richard Caetano and Head of Research Anuj das Gupta joined us to discuss their work to bring security and integrity to processes. We covered the philosophy behind the company and why they use cryptography and other technologies coming out of the crypto space while shunning a classical blockchain design.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Paris-based startup Stratumn was founded
Why Stratumn’s thinking revolves around processes
How Proof-of-Process secures the who, what, where, when and why of each step of a process
How Stratumn uses Zero Knowledge Proofs to protect privacy
The connection be...2016-11-291h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesMike Hearn & Richard Gendal Brown: Corda – A Distributed Ledger for Financial ServicesAttracting over 70 of the world’s biggest financial institutions to its consortium in just over a year, R3 has accomplished a formidable task. Aiming to rethink the fabric of the financial system, they first conducted experiments testing blockchain platforms for their member and last year began developing their own distributed ledger platform: Corda.
The effort to build Corda was lead by R3 CTO Richard Brown and the former Bitcoin developer and R3 lead architect Mike Hearn. In a wide-ranging discussion, we covered the vision of the project and why it represents a radical departure from existing blockchain pl...2016-10-311h 21
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesIan Grigg: Ricardian Contracts and Digital Assets PrehistoryBefore 2013 few people paid attention to Bitcoin and blockchain, yet even back in the 1990s a vibrant group of prioneers pursued the vision of financial cryptography and digital cash. One of these was financial cryptographer and software developer Ian Grigg, who today works as an architecture consultant for R3.
Grigg joined us for a discussion of the history of the digital cash, Bitcoin and his work on Ricardian Contracts, which foreshadowed today’s smart contracts.
Topics covered in this episode:
The origin story of financial cryptography
DigiCash and the startup scene around it in th...2016-10-041h 27
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesDevcon 2 and the State of EthereumLast week the biggest blockchain-focused developer conference took place in Shanghai, China: Ethereum’s DevCon 2. Epicenter show host Meher Roy was at the conference and brought back his impressions and insights for a comprehensive discussion of the current state of Ethereum projects and the Ethereum community.
Topics covered in this episode:
What Ethereum’s developer conference DevCon 2 was like
The big change in going from concepts to alpha version over the last year
The continued lack of sustainable business models in Ethereum
The lack of interest by Venture Capitalists and the big tech companies in Ethereum and...2016-09-261h 13
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAlex Chepurnoy & Charles Hoskinson: IOHK, Scorex and the Case for Ethereum ClassicFrom BitShares to his central role during the inception of Ethereum Charles Hoskinson has continually influenced key projects in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. After departing the Ethereum project in 2014, he has recently stepped back into the limelight by pledging support and resources to turn the fledgling Ethereum fork ETC into a viable project.
Charles joined us together with Alex Chepurnoy, a developer at his company IOHK. Besides Ethereum Classic, we talked about IOHK and Scorex, IOHK’s modular blockchain framework project that Alex Chepurnoy has been leading.
Topics covered in this episode:
The vi...2016-08-151h 16
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesRalph Merkle: Revolutionizing Democracy Using DAOsLegendary scientist and cryptography pioneer Ralph Merkle joined us to discuss his recent paper on DAOs. Merkle examined how the voting mechanisms in today’s democracies are flawed and how a decentralized, transparent DAO making decisions using prediction markets could create more efficient democratic systems.
Topics covered in this episode:
Merkle proofs, Merkle Roots and his early forays into cryptography
Blockchains as living organisms
Why DAOs will be subject to a Darwinian evolutionary process
Why voting is flawed and we need new governance methods to save democracy
The concept of a DAO democracy
How prediction markets an...2016-07-251h 17
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesMartin Köppelmann: Gnosis – The Ethereum Prediction MarketFew things arouse among free market believers and enthusiasts of decentralization as prediction markets do. By allowing people to bet on any range of outcomes they promise more efficient markets and better information. Few people have worked with as much dedication on making the promise of prediction markets a reality as Martin Köppelmann.
After founding the Bitcoin prediction market Fairlay, he turned to Ethereum and started the Ethereum-based prediction market Gnosis. We discussed his views on the DAO heist, differences between Fairlay and Gnosis and their upcoming tokensale.
Topics covered in this episode:
H...2016-07-111h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesArthur Breitman: Tezos – A Self-Amending Crypto-LedgerThe lack of an explicit governance mechanism has created deep problems for Bitcoin. Ethereum, with the DAO-related soft/hard-fork discussions, may face similar challenges ahead. Yet, already in 2014 Arthur Breitman quietly started working on cryptocurrency network Tezos that has an explicit mechanism to let coinholders vote on protocol upgrades.
Our discussion with Breitman centered around how explicit governance could lead to a more secure and evolutionary protocol. We also discussed Tezos’ approach to smart contract that tries to prevent bug-riddled and insecure smart contracts such as the DAO which has thrown Ethereum into a deep crisis.
...2016-06-201h 13
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesStephen Palley: Lawmodynamics – How to Sue a DAOFor many the promise of decentralized applications and DAOs is to be beyond the limitations and rigidity of the existing legal system. There is no question that where DAOs can roam freely, innovation can accelerate. But can the law, courts and regulations be left behind so easily?
Lawyer Stephen Palley joined us to discuss what happens when the new and old worlds collide and how courts will look at what goes on in the land of DAOs and DApps.
Topics covered in this episode:
Whether trust is reduced, removed or just shifted elsewhere in...2016-06-131h 10
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEmin Gün Sirer & Vlad Zamfir: On a Rocky DAORaising $150m+ through its toke sale, ‘The DAO’ has become the most notable decentralized application to date. The ambitious goal of the project is to form an decentralized organizations that efficiently makes investment decisions and generates a return for the token holders.
Computer Science professor Emin Gün Sirer and researcher Vlad Zamfir joined us to discuss the various security issues with the daring project and why they’ve called for a temporary moratorium on funding proposals.
Topics covered in this episode:
How the DAO works
What the role of the curators is
What splits...2016-06-071h 09
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesThe Far Future in Front of UsAs the blockchain field continues evolving rapidly, Sebastien, Meher and Brian take some time to discuss the current environment and the longer term implications of blockchains. We discussed how smart contracts could affect the pace of innovation and the competitiveness of industries. We also talked about the role DAOs will play and what we can take away from the current DAO crowdsale and its connection with Slock.it.
Topics covered in this episode:
How companies running on smart contracts could impact the pace and cost of innovation
A smart contract-based insurance example
Why smart contracts and...2016-05-0357 min
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesJed Mccaleb: Stellar and the Vision of an Open Financial SystemWhen Jed McCaleb discovered Bitcoin, there didn’t even exist an online marketplace to trade the cryptocurrency yet. The experienced founder who had earlier started file sharing site eDonkey, acted fast and started the first Bitcoin exchange MtGox which he later sold to now-infamous Mark Karpeles. Jed later founded the pioneering Ripple project before leaving to start Stellar.
We discussed his journey through the industry and the ambitious plans Stellar has to create an open financial system that will give access to financial services to a much broader spectrum of humanity.
Topics covered in this ep...2016-04-261h 06
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesRune Christensen: Maker DAO Ethereum’s Decentralized Central BankThe challenges Bitcoin’s wild volatility represents for achieving mass adoption have made the necessity for stable cryptocurrencies apparent long ago. With Ethereum applications, the problem is even more apparent as many use cases from predcition markets to insurance are impractical using the even more volatile ether. Maker DAO is an ambitious attempt to solve the problem by building a bank-like system to issue a value-stable currency on Ethereum.
Rune Christensen joined us to discuss the need for Maker and the complex system to guarantee stability.
Topics covered in this episode:
Why money is th...2016-03-291h 19
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesZooko Wilcox-O'Hearn: Zcash – An Open Financial System with PrivacyFor Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn, part of the cypherpunk movement since the early 1990s, the vision of a decentralized financial system that has both openness and privacy has existed since long before Bitcoin. After many failed attempts, Bitcoin proved that that vision could be achievable. But Bitcoin also failed to deliver on the privacy features as blockchain analysis allows tracing movements and deanonymizing many users.
Zooko joined us to discuss his project Zcash, a fully anonymous cryptocurrency that is scheduled to launch in July. Through Zcash’s use of ground-breaking Zero Knowledge Proofs (or zkSNARKs) the blockchain will leak...2016-03-151h 06
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesJeremy Stephen & Winston Moore: Barbados, Bitcoin and Central BankingFor orthodox Bitcoiners central banks are often seen as the incarnation of evil. But , alas, in the case of two Carribean central banking economists the feeling of reprehension wasn’t reciprocated. Winston Moore and Jeremy Stephen were formerly associated with the Central Bank of Barados and fascinated by the potential of cryptocurrencies, they explored the consequences of their central bank holding Bitcoin as part of their international reserves. They joined us for a discussion of central banking, the pecularities of monetary policy in a small island nation and what Bitcoin could bring to the equation.
Topics covered in...2016-03-0858 min
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesEli Ben-Sasson: Zero Knowledge ProofsZero Knowledge Proofs are methods of providing cryptographic proofs to another party while keeping some information secret. The simple concept of ZKP offer tantalizing possibilities: Banks could prove solvency without revealing depositors. Governments could prove the fairness of an election without compromising privacy.
Computer science professor Eli Ben-Sasson joined us to discuss where blockchains and cryptocurrencies intersect with Zero Knowledge Proofs and related technologies such as zkSNARKs. It offered a fascinating view into what will surely become a core part of blockchain tech in the future.
Topics covered in this episode:
What are proof...2016-02-011h 08
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesVinay Gupta: From Lawyer Capitalism to Programmer CapitalismVinay Gupta has been a programmer, 1990s cypherpunk, ‘resilience guru’, Ethereum release coordinator and currently collaborates with Consensys to mainstream smart contract technology. He also invented the Hexayurt, a cheap and resilient architectural structure for disaster-stricken communities.
Recently, Vinay has become a thought leader in the cryptocurrency space. He is famed for his eloquence and ability to distill the crypto-finance technological paradigm into easy big-picture visualisations. Check out this podcast for some unique insights into technology, politics and history.
Topics covered in this episode:
His work on resilience. The connection between resilience and cryptocurrencies
A hi...2016-01-181h 20
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesAndrew Miller: The Gas Model and Ethereum’s EconomicsAndrew Miller is a computer science PhD student at the University of Maryland who focuses on cryptocurrency. Having gotten involved in Bitcoin in 2011 and focused on cryptocurrencies early in his research work, he is one of the most prolific researchers in the field.
Our discussion mainly focused on security aspects of Ethereum including their gas model, Proof-of-Work algorithm and plans to switch to Proof-of-Stake.
Topics covered in this episode:
How he got involved in doing research on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
The blossoming of academic interest in the topic
His work on analyzing Ethereum’s ga...2015-12-281h 02
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesThe Big Chain PowwowThe Bitcoin and blockchain industry has been through a lot this year. While the Bitcoin price has experienced relative stability, perhaps indicating slow growth, the space has grown into a rich and diverse ecosystem of startups and open technologies. Through inspiring proof-of-concepts and exciting use cases, blockchain technologies have gained legitimacy as a viable technology to improve transparency, reduce costs and optimise processes, to name a few of it’s benefits.
In this episode, all three Epicenter Bitcoin hosts, Brian, Sebastien and Meher, come together to look back on the events which marked the space this past ye...2015-12-081h 20
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesChristian Decker: Scaling Bitcoin with Duplex Micropayment ChannelsChristian Decker is a PhD student at ETH Zurich, where he is currently finishing up the world’s first PhD thesis entirely about Bitcoin. The computer scientist has been part of the Bitcoin community since 2009 and just recently turned off his last miner after 6.5 years!
We talked about the current scalability debate and what his research indicated what blocksize could reasonably be handled today. We also discussed his proposal for Duplex Micropayment Channels. Like the Lightning Network, Duplex Channels use a network of payment channels to enable cheap, instant and trustless offchain transactions. The proposal, which he is...2015-11-231h 07
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesRobin Hanson: Futarchy – Prediction Markets and the Challenge of Disruptive TechnologyWhen invented the concept of prediction markets almost thirty years ago, he felt he had stumbled on a concept with huge implications. By allowing people to bet on the likelihood of future events, prediction markets promise to allow better forecasts and better decision making.
Research into the area has been vibrant, culminating in Hanson’s concept of Futarchy: A prediction-market based governance system. At the same time, the real-world applications have been few and far.
Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, joined us to discuss his invention, futarchy and the challenges of...2015-09-281h 19
Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed TechnologiesDan O’Prey & Daniel Feichtinger: Hyperledger Decentralized Ledger PlatformThe cryptocurrency ecosystem is increasingly divided into different camps. There are those betting and working on the eventual mainstream success of Bitcoin. And there are those who take elements of Bitcoin’s technology and repurpose them to improve existing systems.
Hyperledger is one of the projects firmly in the latter camp. They are envisioning a world where innumerable interoperable ledgers are operated by different parties. Hyperledger is their tool for the creation and management of these ledgers. CEO Dan O’Prey and CTO joined us for a discussion of the project, underlying technology and their view of wher...2015-04-061h 09