Epicenter - Learn About Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin And Distributed Technologies

Last 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 blockchain technology The current state and incentive problems of crowdsales Three areas of focus in Ethereum: Scalability, Privacy and Governance The search for the next protocol Episode links: Ethereum Foundation Website Ethereum YouTube Channel Insanity and Brilliance at Ethereum's Developer Conference Melonport: Decentralized Asset Management on Ethereum Golem: Worldwide Supercomputer Metama

That blockchains represents a fundamental technological revolution has become widely accepted. What is still more nebulous, but could turn out just as disruptive is how smart contracts while transform the legal system and our understanding of what contracts are and how they work. Legal researcher Lukas Abegg who is currently finishing his PhD on copyright issues around 3d printing and has been researching smart contracts as well joined us to discuss the question whether code is law and what blockchain can learn form 3d printing. Topics covered in this episode: The copyright questions around 3d printing How legal issues around 3d printing are like issues around smart contracts How information theory can help us conceptualize smart contracts The thesis of Lessig’s book ‘Code is Law’ The case for law regulating code Why Alternative Dispute Resolution has big potential for blockchain applications Episode links: Code is Law? Not Quite Yet Lessig's Code Lawrence Lessig Talk 'Thinking Through Law and Code' EB125

We’re joined by Kyle Torpey, a freelance writer, and journalist who writes for a number of publications in the blockchain space including Bitcoin Magazine, Coin Journal, and others. Know for his well-written articles and in-depth reporting on the important topics affecting Bitcoin today, Kyle provides his point of view on the scalability debate and gives an update on the recent and upcoming changes to the bitcoin protocol. Topics covered in this episode: An update on the scalability debate The outcome of the recent Hong Kong scalability workshop and code dev meeting in California The Bitcoin core development process The recent release of Bitcoin Code 0.13.0 The inclusion of Segregated Witness and what it enables Upcoming features in the roadmap Takeaways from the Ethereum hard fork Division in the Bitcoin community The evolution of the Bitcoin ecosystem in the last 2 years Potential mainstream applications for Bitcoin Episode links: The Five Most Useful Properties of Bitcoin When Should Developers Turn to

With academic research on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies still in its infancy, Sarah Meiklejohn’s track record of publications in the area stands out. The UCL computer science professor has explored topics ranging from anonymity in Bitcoin to how a central bank could go about issuing a cryptocurrency. Topics covered in this episode: What techniques can be used to deanonymize Bitcoin users How Bitcoin’s usage evolved over time Whether privacy-enhancing overlays in Bitcoin currently work What a cryptocurrency issued by a central bank could look like The architecture of RSCoin Episode links: Sarah Meiklejohn UCL Website Meiklejohn & Orlandi (2015): Privacy-Enhancing Overlays in Bitcoin Danezis & Meiklejohn (2016): Centrally Banked Cryptocurrencies Meiklejohn et al (2016): A Fistful of Bitcoins EB70 - Michael Gronager: Chainalysis EB83 - David Andolfatto: Fedcoins and Cryptocurrencies Issued by Central Banks This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening opt

In the last 20 years, content publishing platforms have proliferated to an almost insane number. There are countless places where people and companies can post articles, blogs, videos, photos, live content and so on. Despite this diverse offering, little innovation has happened in monetizing content, which still mostly remains ad-based. We’re joined by Ryan X. Charles, Bitcoin Developer and Founder of Yours. Yours would like to address the monetization problem by allowing content producers to earnBitcoin when they create good content. Yours is an in-browser application which implements a Bitcoin wallet and enables micro-transactions through their own implementation of the Lightning Network. Content Creators are paid by Curators who attribute value to the content. Curators are themselves rewarded when content they find valuable goes viral. Topics discussed in this episode: Ryan’s background as the Lead Developer of BitCore, and his experience at BitGo and Reddit What is Yours and what types of applications it

One of the sectors which is ripe for disruption is the real estate industry. In the US for instance, a handful of historic and very powerful players operate what is known as MLS, or Multiple Listing Services, and hold unofficial monopolies on residential and commercial real estate listings. Brokers, who depend on these listing services to sell properties, agree that their incumbent positions have created a situation where fees have continued to rise, while little to no added value has been added for their users. Stephen King and Russel McLernon join us to explain RexMLS, a decentralized Multiple Listing Service built on Ethereum and IPFS. Currently in beta, the DApp would allow brokers to list properties at a very low cost, and be accessible to international markets, something which is lacking in the current model. Topics covered in this episode: The basics of MLS or Multiple Listing Services What is RexMLS and the problems it is trying to address The benefits of a decentralized MLS The different technical c

From 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 vision and activities of IOHK Scorex: A Modular Blockchain Framework Conflicts of vision that lead to Charles’ departure as original CEO of Ethereum in 2014 Why the hard fork broken Ethereum’s social contract Why ETC should differentiate and find its own path The role governance could play in ETC’s future Episode links: IOHK Scorex IOHK - Input Output Hong Kong Website Charles Hoskinson: Hoskus Parv

Prediction markets are fascinating financial instruments which have proven to be accurate at making predictions on things like the outcome of elections, geopolitical events and sporting events. But in our heavily regulated financial world, they are the subject of much controversy. In 2013 for instance, a well-known US prediction market, Intrade, was forced to shut down following a civil suit filed by the CFTC. While some people consider prediction markets to be a useful tool for society, others consider them to be a form of gambling, which is one of the reasons why they have been met with such resistance in certain countries. A purely decentralized prediction market would operate outside the scope of the regulated financial world and be resistant to censorship and outside intervention. We’re joined by Joey Krug, Co-Founder and Core Developer at Augur, a decentralized prediction market built on Ethreum. The project, which was initially meant to be a Bitcoin sidechain, has ported to Ethereum and is currently in

Blockchain smart contracts are self-executing contracts composed of computer code. These programs, which are executed by the entirety of the network, enforce the rules described within the code. Effectively, in this realm, code is law. And as we’ve seen recently, altering the outcome of that code after it has been deloyed, should we later realize that it was flawed or did not produce an intended result, can be messy. In addition, there are instances where human intervention can be necessary or even desirable. Take a mortgage agreement for example. Should a smart contract be entrusted with the responsibility of making a decision when the borrower can no longer make his payments? In cases such as this, subjective human intervention is be necessary. Scot Farrell and Claire Warren, lawyers at the global law firm King & Wood Mallesons, think that humans should not be automated out of every process. While code is logical and predictable, it cannot act reasonably or take into account certain unforeseen events. T

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 and futarchy would help govern a DAO democracy Episode links: Ralph Merkle DAO Democracy Paper [PDF] Ralph Merkle's Homepage Ralph Merkle's Wikipedia page EB98 - Robin Hanson: Futarchy, Prediction Markets Tim Urban: Why Cryonics Makes Sense Alcor - Life Extension Foundation This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/141

Exchanges are often criticized as a central point of failure of the cryptocurrency space. This isn’t without justification as, in recent years, we have seen a number of exchanges get hacked, robbed, or embezzled by their founders, which is far from insignificant. One proposed alternative are decentralized exchanges that would allow people make peer-to-peer trades using sophisticated smart contracts. However, there remains the fundamental challenge of interfacing with the legacy banking system. Manfred Karrer joins us for a lengthy discussion on Bitsquare, a decentralized cryptocyrrency exchange which supports most fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. Built to be a decentralized equivalent of LocalBitcoins, the Bitsquare client, which connects to the peer-to-peer network, uses Tor by default, which makes it almost completely anonymous. There are also a number of safeguards in place to eliminate the potential for fraud and theft, as well as an arbitration system to resolve disputes between traders. Topics cove

Few 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: How the DAO heist happened and what we should learn from it The Bitcoin prediction market Fairlay From Fairlay to Gnosis: Building a prediction market on Ethereum The Gnosis architecture Gnosis’ planned crowdsale and DAO Gnosis business model and what will determine the value of the tokens The difference between Gnosis and Augur Episode links: Gnosis Website Gnosis Forum Fairlay 7 Reasons to Make a Pr

Security researcher and RSK co-founder Sergio Lerner joined us to discuss RSK (also Rootstock), the project to launch a turing-complete smart contract sidechain to Bitcoin. We talked about how he got into the industry, spending countless days analyzing Bitcoin for vulnerabilities and finding a few along the way. And, of course, RSK, the ambitious project to strenghten the Bitcoin ecosystem through adding smart contract capabilities. Topics covered in this episode: How Sergio initially got involved in the Bitcoin space His early work on turing-complete cryptocurrencies going back to 2012 Why financial inclusion is the most important problem to solve Merged mining and RSK’s security model How RSK compares to Ethereum RSK’s business model Episode links: Rootstock (RSK) website Drivechain BIP Proposal This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/138

With recent news surrounding The DOA and the Brexit vote causing a stir in the blockchain world and beyond, it seems like a regulatory update is due. So we called up our favorite regulatory affairs specialist Siân Jones to enlighten us on some of the recent developments in Bitcoin and blockchain regulation. Topics covered in this episode: The Brexit and it’s potential impacts on the Blockchain and Fintech space in the UK The Bank of England opening its doors to more than a thousand financial institution and payment service providers Some of the initiatives by the UK government to potentially adopt blockchain technologies The recent European Parliament plenary sitting on virtual currencies and the Distributed Ledger Technology Task Force An update on BitLicense and its impacts a year and a half after being adopted in New York The potential regulatory implications of DAOs Episode links: European Digital Currency & Blockchain Technology Forum Coinsult This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Cou

The 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. Topics covered in this episode: Why stakeholders voting on forks can prevent consensus attacks The mechanics of Tezos’ governance How an upgrade mechanism could allow Tezos to rapidly and radically evolve Why the programming language in which smart contracts are written is crucial for security Why a functional language that allows formal proofs such as OCaml is more suite

For 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 blockchain systems If creating decentralized applications could create liability risks Why courts will impose a legal structure if a formal one doesn’t exist The concept of jurisdiction and how it could affect DAOs Why one should be careful with saying a DAO provides insurance Episode links: How to Sue A DAO Blockchain Jurisdiction Smart Contracts and Smart Lawsuits Blockchain and the First Law of Lawmodynamics Smart Contracts, Performance and Trust DAO Insurance Company, Inc

Raising $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 are and how they became a way to withdraw funds Why the DAO has a bias towards approving proposals How attackers could ‘stalk’ token holders when withdrawing their funds How the DAO can be upgraded Episode links: A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on The DAO Blog Post A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on The DAO Full Paper PDF EB132 – Stephan Tual: Building A Universal Sharing Network On Ethereum And A $150M DAO Understanding the DA

One of the problems often cited when talking about cryptocurrencies is their level of volatility compared to traditional fiat currencies. This makes most cryptocurrencies a poor instrument for storing value, and introduces complexities when making purchases in fiat amounts. Stable cryptocurrencies include mechanisms which allow them to stay pegged to fiat currencies like the US Dollar or Euro. They present a number of advantages, and, in addition to taking the headache out of making purchases, can be used by cryptocurrency traders who need a stable unit of account for hedging their assets. We talk to brothers Pascal and Julien Hamonic, Core Members of the Nu team about the NuBit stable cryptocurrency. Similarly to the mechanisms that keep our body temperature stable, NuBits relies upon the introduction of new coins into circulation when demand increases, and for coins to be taken out of circulation when demand drops. Shareholders (NuShareholder) vote on these measures as the network relies on custodians who b

In this episode we welcome back Stephan Tual, the COO of Slock.It, a German startup working at the intersection of the Internet of Things and the Ethereum blockchain. Slock.It’s small team also wrote the smart contracts that power ‘The DAO’, a decentralized capital management entity that recently raised north of $160 million for investing into Ethereum based projects. ‘The DAO’ has been featured in many mainstream news outlets, such as New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Economist. The interview explores the vision, motivation and challenges behind both ‘The DAO’ and Slock.It. Topics covered in this episode: Stephan’s background and role as CCO at Ethereum Foundation. What is ‘The DAO’ and how it relates to Slock.It. DAOlink and the business opportunity of enabling interactions between DAOs and traditional firms. Opportunities, assumptions and challenges for ‘The DAO’. Vision and products of Slock It – Univeral Sharing Network and the Ethereum computer. Episode links: Slock It Website The DAO The D

One of the foundational problems in payment networks is that they are mostly uninteroperable. This problem exists at all levels, from consumer payment solutions like PayPal, to national and multi-national banks. This complexity is brought on by the proprietary nature of payment networks, and moving value from one to another requires a negotiation between parties on which common payment network to use in a transaction. We saw similar problems in the early days of the Internet, assembled around protocols which allow for data to be routed and move between networks in a standardized way. We’re joined by Stefan Thomas and Evan Schwartz, co-creators of Interledger. This neutral protocol would bring the same level of interoperability we know take for granted around the flow of data, to payments, thus allowing money to move freely across networks. A market maker, who holds accounts in both networks, would receive funds in escrow from a sender, and move funds to an escrow account with the receiver, getting paid by the