Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

We’re joined by Greg Meredith and Nash Foster of the RChain Cooperative. A fundamentally new kind of blockchain platform, RChain is rooted in a formal model of concurrent and decentralized computation. Powered by the Rho Virtual Machine, and secured by Casper proof-of-stake, RCain is partitioned, or shareded by default, forming a network of coordinated and parallel blockchains. The project, which is formed as a coop, leverages correct-by-construction software development to produce a concurrent, compositional, and massively scalable blockchain. Topics covered in this episode: How Rchain spun out of the Synereo project The primary objectives RChain seeks to establish The fundamental principles of RChain and RLang The concepts of concurrency and parallelism in simple terms How building concurrent systems implies scalability The unique features of Casper consensus in the context of RChain The importance of namespaces in RChain Why this project was started as a cooperative The current status of the project and roapmap Episode links: RChain Website RChain Rholang SDK (v0.1) Released A Visualization for the Future of Blockchain Consensus Introducing Rholang! at Devcon 2 This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/221

Zeppelin Co-Founder and CTO Manuel Araoz joined us to discuss his journey from building one of the first non-financial Bitcoin applications in 2012 to improving development and security practices for Ethereum smart contracts. We discussed the OpenZeppelin framework, a library of audited smart contracts as well as their new project zeppelin_os. Through on-chain, well-vetted and upgradeable smart contracts zeppelin_os aims to make developing Ethereum applications both easier and more secure. Topics covered in this episode: Manuel’s journey in the blockchain space from proof of existence to BitPay to Streamium to Zeppelin Why Manuel moved away from a pure Bitcoin focus to working on Ethereum Why Zeppelin focuses on smart contract security How smart contract security evolved since the start of Ethereum The OpenZeppelin framework of audited Ethereum contracts Why zeppelin_os and standardized, upgradeable on-chain contracts are the next evolutionary step The core component of zeppelin_os: Kernel, SDK and markeplace The ZEP token and its role in zeppelin_os Episode links: Zeppelin Website OpenZeppelin Framework zeppelin_os zeppelin_os Whitepaper This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/220

Hashgraph 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: Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon’s long history of building companies together What motivated Leemon Baird to start working on Hashgraph in 2012 The existing categories of consensus algorithms and their problems How Hashgraph consensus combines voting and gossip protocols The performance characteristics of Hashgraph How a public Hashgraph network could look like Episode links: Hashgraph Homepage Hashgraph Whitepaper Hashgraph Consensus - Detailed Examples Sybil Attacks in Hashgraph Hidden Forces Podcast Episode on Hashgraph Lemon Baird's Talk on Hashgraph at Harvard Business School This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/219

Over 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 umbrella term for the different kinds of tokens The different categories of cryptoassets: Cryptocurrencies, cryptocommodities and cryptotokens How cryptoassets fit into an overall investment portfolio How to value cryptoassets Whether we are in a cryptoasset bubble and expectations for the future Episode links: Cryptoassets on Amazon Cryptoassets - Book Website Cryptoasset Valuations – Chris Burniske – Medium Why I like the term, “Cryptoassets” – Chris Burniske – Medium The Crypto J-Curve – Chris Burniske – Medium Bitcoins are the best investment in my retirement account - MarketWatch This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/218

A 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 large companies, low access to data for startups and a fundamental impossibility of collecting sensitive data such as markers for depression. Our guest, Andrew Trask, is building OpenMined – a platform that merges cryptographic techniques such as homomorphic encryption and multi-party computation and blockchain technology to create the ability to train ML models with private user data. OpenMined will allow AI companies of the future to develop models, have them trained on user data without compromising user privacy, and incentivise users to train their model. We walk through the OpenMined vision and its potential impact on AI business models and AI safety Topics covered in this episode: Challenges with the current AI paradigm OpenMined’s vision to allow training of AI models with private user data How OpenMined works under the hood Applications enabled by OpenMined Current state and OpenMined hackathon Episode links: OpenMined hackathon OpenMined website This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/217

Blockchain technologies are changing the way we think about data archival and storage. For instance, most database systems can only capture the current state of a data set. This means we must rely on secondary backup systems to ensure historical data can remain accessible, a stark contrast from what the most basic of blockchains provide out of the box. Database systems that offer immutability and historical context for data would be greatly beneficial for companies as it would make internal and external audits much less costly and time-intensive. We’re delighted to bring you an interview with Flip Filipowski and Brian Platz. Flip is a veteran entrepreneur whose career spans 50 years, having worked for and founded some of the world’s largest software companies of the 80’s and 90’s. He is also the CEO of SilkRoad Equity and a Founding Partner of Tally Capital. Brian’s background includes having founded A List Appart in 1994, which is among the oldest and most influential web development blogs, and SilkRoad Technologies. Flip and Brian join us to talk about their new company, Fluree. Their product, FlureeDB, is a scalable graph database which provides the benefits of blockchain technologies, such as immutability, replayability and fault tolerance. Currently, in development, the goal for FlureeDB is to support various consensus rules based on the network configuration: private systems, federated (or consortium) clusters, and fully decentralized public networks. Topics covered in this episode: Flip and Brian’s respective backgrounds and entrepreneurial ventures How blockchain will disrupt most major companies that exist today FlureeDB and the problem it is trying to solve How FlureeDB improves compliance procedures for enterprise How FlureeDB can address some of the challenges ahead with regards to GDPR FlureeDB’s technical infrastructure and elementary components The different consensus modes and scalability properties of FlureeDB Why they chose to structure the company as a Public Benefit Corporation FlureeDB’s development roadmap Episode links: Fluree Website FlureeDB Whitepaper Blockchain, Meet Database This episode is hosted by Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/216

The prospect of providing digital cross-border payments for the world’s unbanked and underbanked population has always been one of the key use cases for Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies can be seen as a way for people in developing countries to participate in the global financial market by allowing easy cross-border payments, cheap remittance transactions, and simplified lending options. We’re pleased to be joined by Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and Founder of BitPesa. BitPesa provides companies in frontier markets with the financial infrastructure to facilitate commerce and payments, where traditional financial markets are known to be fractured and expensive. As an early Bitcoin company founded in 2013, BitPesa is now present in a handful of African countries and provides essential financial services to businesses, allowing them to send and collect payments, and perform quick and affordable Forex trades. Topics covered in this episode: Elizabeth’s journey to Bitcoin and BitPesa BitPesa’s vision and how it compares existing mobile money platforms present in Africa BitPesa’s offering and how it has evolved since the company was founded in 2013 The primary pain points and barriers to doing business in developing African markets Foreign exchange markets in Africa The challenges and opportunities regarding blockchain adoption in African markets The future of Bitcoin as a payment system Episode links: BitPesa Elizabeth Rossiello Describes How BitPesa Slashes International Payment Fees BitPesa Founder Elizabeth Rossiello Keynotes at ConsenSys' Ethereal Summit Elizabeth Rossiello on Twitter This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/215

We’re joined by Christopher Fabian, Co-founder of Unicef’s Innovation Unit. We discuss how the global non-profit institution leverages innovative technology to solve real-world problems in humanitarian work. We explore the different applications of blockchain in the UN and Unicef, as well as the challenges we can anticipate when deploying these technologies in the developing world. Shaun Conway, Founder of Ixo Foundation, also joins the discussion as a startup working Unicef and talks about the value of a global reputation network for humanitarian projects. Topics covered in this episode: Chris’ and Shaun’s respective backgrounds A bit of background on the UN and Unicef Unicef’s Innovation Unit and Venture arm How Unicef evaluates the different technologies in the space (public, permissionned, etc.) The challenges faced when deploying new technologies in the developing world Unicef’s recent experimentation with an Ethereum smart contract Potential applications for blockchain at the UN and Unicef Unicef’s Venture arm and the types of projects in which they invest Ixo Foundation, their collaboration with Unicef and the value of a Proof of Impact blockchain network Episode links: Blockchain at UNICEF Christopher Fabian - Wikipedia UNICEF Ventures: Exploring Smart Contracts ixo foundation ixo foundation – Medium This episode is hosted by Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/214

In the blockchain world, few people are as brave as Tim Swanson when it comes to busting hype. Tim’s unbiased, honest, and sometimes controversial opinions provide a refreshingly realistic view of blockchain adoption and applications of this technology by people and businesses. Cutting through the hype, the over-sold press releases ad the blind optimism of a completely decentralized economy, Tim’s insights provide a sobering look at the state of the blockchain. Topics covered in this episode: Tim’s background and recent departure from R3 The current state of the enterprise blockchain market The state of Bitcoin in the context of the recent price increase Tim’s thoughts on the recent spike in ICO’s The rumors and concerns surrounding Bitfinex and Tether The rise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as an asset class Current problems in Bitcoin: governance and centralization of power Tim’s new project: Post Oak Labs Episode links: Tim's Blog: Great Wall of Numbers Bitcoin Is Now Just A Ticker Symbol and Stopped Being Permissionless Years Ago Who are the administrators of blockchains? Eight Things Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts Probably Won’t Tell You Post Oak Labs This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/213

We were joined by Founder Adam Perlow and Developer Asher Manning of Zen, a public blockchain project focused on building a decentralized financial system. The core premise of Zen is that none of the public blockchain networks are focused on financial asset. Zen is aiming to fill that gap through a Bitcoin-like UTXO architecture that supports multiple asset and smart contracts to enforce complex ownership rules. We talked through their original design choices, their use of formal verification, connection to Bitcoin and vision for a fully decentralized financial system. Topics covered in this episode: Why existing public blockchains are ill-suited for financial instruments Why Zen chose to use a Bitcoin-like UTXO architecture How Zen uses formal verification to allow smart contracts without a virtual machine or needing gas How the Active Contract Set reduces the burden on the miners Walking through creating, trading and settling a call option on Zen How Zen allows payments to be settled in Bitcoin Getting data from the outside world with oracles Zen’s use of Proof-of-Work regulated by on-chain governance Episode links: Zen Protocol - A Financial Engine Zen Protocol - Whitepaper Zen Protocol - Deck Google Campus Presentation - YouTube Zen - Alpha Version Zen Protocol Founders Film - YouTube Oracles and Zen – Zen Protocol Zen’s contract lifecycle – Zen Protocol This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/212