Epicenter – Podcast on Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

Support the show, consider donating: 1TonpBUGNCtBJm82a8K5hwiym5zVaQPDq (http://bit.ly/2mu3ptS) Writing his college thesis on Bitcoin in 2012 and becoming Coinbase's first employee in 2013, Olaf Carlson-Wee has been at the forefront of cryptocurrency for many years. Recently, he left Coinbase to start Polychain Capital, a hedge fund focused solely on investing in cryptocurrencies and protocol tokens. Olaf joined us to discuss his journey in the industry and the investment thesis behing Polychain. Topics discussed in this episode: - How Olaf Carlson-Wee became Coinbase's first employee - The investment thesis behind Polychain Capital - Why protocol tokens represent a huge investment opportunity - The current state of tokensales - Why the blockchain crowdfunding campaigns will start resembling VC deal structure - His view on the state of the Bitcoin network and community Links mentioned in this episode: - Polychain Capital: http://polychain.capital - Beyond Bitcoin: The future of cryptocurrencies - The Signal: https://blog.mixpanel.com/2016/07/27/blockchain-technology-olaf-carlson-wee/ - Bitcoin Will Never Be a Currency—It's Something Way Weirder | WIRED: https://www.wired.com/2017/01/bitcoin-will-never-currency-something-way-weirder/ - The Golden Age Of Open Protocols – AVC: http://avc.com/2016/07/the-golden-age-of-open-protocols/ - Blockchain Tokens and the dawn of the Decentralized Business Model: https://blog.coinbase.com/app-coins-and-the-dawn-of-the-decentralized-business-model-8b8c951e734f#.rl4mv6p98 - Fat Protocols | Union Square Ventures: http://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols - a16z and USV invest $10m in new digital asset hedge fund: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/12/09/andreessen-horowitz-and-union-square-ventures-invest-10-million-in-new-digital-assets-hedge-fund/#2e6f5ce95e97 - The future is a decentralized internet | TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/08/the-future-is-a-decentralized-internet/ Sponsors: - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

Dr. Peter Rizun joined us to discuss why a fee market in Bitcoin would exist even without a blocksize limit and his argument for Bitcoin Unlimited.

Support the show, consider donating: 16LVjxWGTbQuTV7Nxmpa1gCSfidbPpa71S (http://bit.ly/2me3j6i) With 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 discussed in this episode: - Bitcoin seen through the eyes of a physicist - The dynamics that determine transaction fees in Bitcoin - How orphaning risks drive the fee market economics - The relationship between the block reward and the fee market - Why the blocksize limit will eventually fall - Why Peter supports Bitcoin Unlimited - The state of discussion between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Unlimited Links mentioned in this episode: - Dr. Peter Rizun's talk at Scaling Bitcoin Montreal 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad0Pjj_ms2k - Dr. Peter Rizun: "A Transaction Fee Market Exists Without a Block Size Limit"": https://www.bitcoinunlimited.info/resources/feemarket.pdf - XT Nodes - Bitcoin Hashrate Distribution: http://xtnodes.com/ - Bitco.in Forum: https://bitco.in/forum/ - Ledger - Peer-Reviewed Journal on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: http://ledgerjournal.org/ojs/index.php/ledger Sponsors: - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io - Ledger: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EPICENTER - http://ledgerwallet.com This episode is also available on : - Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/172 - YouTube: http://youtu.be/2eaMVWUXW8U - Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-172 Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

Ethereum 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.

Support the show, consider donating: 15yyqx1JhiNqFJ8WFSKF2oA9tKBV9Jycqc (http://bit.ly/2lypYwU) Ethereum 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 discussed 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 Links mentioned in this episode: - Ethereum Foundation: https://ethereum.org/ - Ethereum R&D Roundup Valentine's Day: https://ethereum.org/2017/02/14/ethereum-rnd-roundup-valentines-day-edition/ - December Development Roundup: https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/12/31/december-roundup/ - R3 Chain Interoperability Paper: http://www.r3cev.com/blog/2017/1/23/chain-interoperability - Epicenter 58: Ethereum, Proof-of-Stake and Future of Bitcoin: https://epicenter.tv/episode/058/ - Epicenter 91: Frontier Launch and Scalability: https://epicenter.tv/episode/091/ Sponsors: - MerkleWeek: Blockchain Training, Keynotes & Hackathon in Paris from March 9th to 12th - Get 30% off with promo code EPICENTER - http://www.merkleweek.com/ - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io This episode is also available on : - Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/171 - YouTube: http://youtu.be/3p8CGBgLTZQ - Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-171 Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

We're joined by Jae Kwon, CEO and Founder of Tendermint, the team which will soon launch the Cosmos Network. Cosmos aims to build the internet of blockchains: A global network of blockchains, connected through hubs that allow trustless token transfer. Jae joined us to discuss the Cosmos vision, the underlying Tendermint consensus algorithm and upcoming fundraiser.

Support the show, consider donating: 19AG8qZ2a3hDaSvmgRjjDiKkWQBkSg5UKM (http://bit.ly/2jHyAwM) One of the key issues with blockchain networks is the lack of interoperability. In the early days of Bitcoin, blockchain interoperability was far from people's minds. However, as new networks continued to emerge and gain traction, the ability to move assets freely from one blockchain to another has become a critical feature. We're joined by Jae Kwon, CEO and Founder of Tendermint, the team which is launching the Cosmos Network. Cosmos aims to build the internet of blockchains: A global network of blockchains, connected through hubs that allow trustless token transfer. Jae joined us to discuss the Cosmos vision, the underlying Tendermint consensus algorithm and upcoming fundraiser. Topics discussed in this episode: - What Cosmos is and the problems it hopes to solve - How Tendermint and Ethereum relate to Cosmos - How Cosmos differs from other attemps to solve blockchain interoperability - Cosmos' consensus algorithm, BFT-PoS - The role of Hubs and Zones in the Cosmos Network - Cosmos' native asset, Atom, and its role in creating liquidity for inter-blockchain exchange - How validator nodes will be chosen - Governance in the Cosmos Network - Applications for Cosmos - The Atom fundraiser and Cosmos' product roadmap Links mentioned in this episode: - Cosmos: Internet of Blockchains: https://cosmos.network - Tendermint: https://tendermint.com/ - Epicenter 113: Tendermint - Private Modularized Blockchains: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/113 - Cosmos Whitepaper: https://cosmos.network/whitepaper Sponsors: - MerkleWeek: Blockchain Training, Keynotes & Hackathon in Paris from March 9th to 12th - Get 30% off with promo code EPICENTER - http://www.merkleweek.com/ - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io This episode is also available on : - Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/170 - YouTube: http://youtu.be/t885QSY0sNQ - Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-170 Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

We're pleased to be joined by Professor Silvio Micali, a computer scientist at MIT, who is known for his work in many of the technologies blockchains rely on today. Prof. Micali describes the concept of Algorand, an alternative approach to proof of work which offers high security guarantees while allowing the network to scale with demand. Relying only on a trivial amount of computation to validate transactions, Algorand also reduces the probability of network forks to near-zero. It uses novel mechanisms to select validators for blocks and enabling them to come to consensus on them.

Support the show, consider donating: 1L19WwToTupNCiay9w4Zdg7uMwuU2isKDL (http://bit.ly/2jHyAwM) There is no doubt that proof of work, introduced in the Bitcoin white paper, has stood the test of time as a robust and resilient Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus mechanism. However, many issues may prevent Nakamoto Consensus from securely scaling over the long term. The risk of validator centralization, network forking, block scarcity and high energy costs required to mine a block have all been extensively debated with no realistic long-term solutions to date. A new paper titled "Algorand" attempts to addresses these problems. We're pleased to be joined by Professor Silvio Micali, a computer scientist at MIT, who is known for his work in many of the technologies blockchains rely on today. As one of the co-inventors of zero-knowledge proofs, he has been decorated with a number of prizes and awards, including the Turing Award, which he received in 2012 for his work in cryptography. Prof. Micali describes the concept of Algorand, an alternative approach to proof of work which offers high security guarantees while allowing the network to scale with demand. Relying only on a trivial amount of computation to validate transactions, Algorand also reduces the probability of network forks to near-zero. It uses novel mechanisms to select validators for blocks and enabling them to come to consensus on them. Topics discussed in this episode: - Professor Micali's fascinating career in the fields of computer science and cryptography - The technical limitations of proof of work - The ideal properties for a truly decentralized, secure and scalable cryptocurrency - Algorand's new approach to Byzantine consensus - Algorand's strong adversarial model - How validators are randomly selected by the network - How validators are chosen and how they arrive at consensus - How Algorand guarantees a low probability of network forks - How Algorand addresses the issue of scaling and block size - Algorand's roadmap and future plans Links mentioned in this episode: - Algorand White Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1607.01341v7.pdf - Algorand talk by Silvo Micali on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xauku8XWoSE - Silvio Micali - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Micali Sponsors: - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io This episode is also available on : - Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/169 - YouTube: http://youtu.be/a40Xt7GnPvs - Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-169 Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

We're joined by Rick Dudley, an opinionated and passionate blockchain developer who is actively involved in multiple projects. He works as a DevOps at Monax, works closely with Vlad Zamfir on implementing Casper in Ethereum, is a leading member of the Coala organization and is Founder and CEO of the startup Vulcanize. Rick gives us insider insights on Ethereum and on how the project may evolve, in particular, once Casper is implemented and when more robust, strongly typed language VMs are made available to the protocol.

Support the show, consider donating: 1FVQZcbY2pBDMBwHq2ZkNSeLx9F9Dt1ts2 (http://bit.ly/2k3JMFz) In the last year, blockchain protocols have matured at an exciting pace. Open source projects like Ethereum, the Eris stack and Tendermint are behind much of the experimentation being conducted at leading companies. These protocols would not be where they are today if it wasn't for the hard work of dedicated open source developers. One of those people is Rick Dudley. An opinionated and passionate developer, Rick is involved in multiple projects. He works as a DevOps at Monax, works closely with Vlad Zamfir on implementing Casper in Ethereum, is a leading member of the Coala organization and is Founder and CEO of the startup Vulcanize. Rick gives us insider insights on Ethereum and on how the project may evolve, in particular, once Casper is implemented and when more robust, strongly typed language VMs are made available to the protocol. Topics discussed in this episode: - How Rick got involved with blockchain and Ethereum - His views on the Ethereum's planned transition to Casper - The risks and benefits of moving to Casper - The subtle differences between Casper and Tendermint - The recent break up of the Synereo project - Greg Meredith's work on Rchain and Rholang, and how that relates to Ethereum - Potential synergies between Zcash and Ethereum - Vulcanize and VulcanizeDB Links mentioned in this episode: - Time waits for no one (Medium post): https://medium.com/@AFDudley/time-waits-for-no-one-c77a2ed20380 - Method for portability of information between multiple servers patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7962751B2 - Vulcanize.io: http://vulcanize.io/ - Coalition of Automated Legal Applications: http://coala.global - Epicenter episode with Vlad Zamfir: https://epicenter.tv/episode/105/ - Strong and weak typing - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_and_weak_typing - π-calculus - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0-calculus Sponsors: - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io - Ledger: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EPICENTER - http://ledgerwallet.com This episode is also available on : - Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/168 - YouTube: http://youtu.be/yiAET6izl8I - Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-168 Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

After 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.

Support the show, consider donating: 1EkFpCoWBXi5HHTMW2e6eJp5t7odhbm4cX (http://bit.ly/2iZXeNB) After 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 discussed 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 Peter came to found resonate - Why Stream-to-Own is a better way to compensate artists - Why Resonate chose to build on BigchainDB - The benefits of the cooperative structure for decentralized platforms - The Resonate crowd-owning campaign Links mentioned in this episode: - Resonate Website: https://resonate.is/ - Resonate Crowd-Owning Campaign: https://seedbloom.it/projects/resonate - Resonate - Stream-to-Own: https://resonate.is/stream-to-own/ - Resonate - Building a Blockchain Database: https://resonate.is/building-a-blockchain-database/ - Epicenter 126: Trent McConaghy on BigchainDB: https://epicenter.tv/episode/126/ - COALA IP: https://www.coalaip.org/ Sponsors: - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io This episode is also available on : - Epicenter.tv: https://epicenter.tv/167 - YouTube: http://youtu.be/kXC0KFrTxpg - Souncloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-167 Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.

Years 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 driving its development decisions. Core developer G. Andrew Stone and Bitcoin Unlimited President Andrew Clifford joined us for the episode.

Support the show, consider donating: 1DKpagPqjaR8E9Xa2wpgzW1ZyJHqxtm1Td (http://bit.ly/2jnvBNG) Years 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 driving its development decisions. Core developer G. Andrew Stone and Bitcoin Unlimited President Andrew Clifford joined us for the episode. Topics discussed in this episode: - How Stone and Clifford first got involved in Bitcoin - The history of the blocksize debate and Bitcoin core alternatives - Why the Bitcoin block size should be determined by miners not developers - The natural fee market that would arise controlling the size of Unlimited blocks - How the non-profit organization behind Bitcoin Unlimited works - How a transition to Bitcoin Unlimited could look like Links mentioned in this episode: - Peter Rizun: How Bitcoin Unlimited deals with large blocks: https://medium.com/@peter_r/the-excessive-block-gate-how-a-bitcoin-unlimited-node-deals-with-large-blocks-22a4a5c322d4#.7bd9dt2ig - Bitcoin Unlimited Website: https://www.bitcoinunlimited.info/ - G. Andrew Stone: Examining Effect of Single Transaction Blocks on Network: https://www.bitcoinunlimited.info/resources/1txn.pdf - Peter Rizun: A Transaction Fee Market Exists Without a Block Size: https://www.bitcoinunlimited.info/resources/feemarket.pdf - Bitcoin Unlimited Member Forum: https://bitco.in/forum/forums/bitcoin-unlimited.15/ - Bitcoin Network Hashrate Distribution: http://www.xtnodes.com/ Sponsors: - Ledger: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EPICENTER - http://ledgerwallet.com - Jaxx: Wallets that Unify the Blockchain Experience Across Devices - http://jaxx.io Watch or listen, Epicenter is available wherever you get your podcasts. Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.