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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 covered in this episode: The motivation behind Bitsquare The Bitsquare client and user experience A walkthrough of a typical trade The mechanics of the order book The fiat currency transfer mechanism The current and future arbitration process Manfred’s thoughts on DAOs Bitsquare’s product roadmap Episode links: Bitsquare Website Bitsquare Whitepaper Risk Analysis Arbitration System Github Repo This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/140

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 Prediction The Big TheDAO Heist FAQ - Part 1 The Big TheDAO Heist FAQ - Part 2 EB98 - Robin Hanson: Futarchy and Prediction Markets episode This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/139

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 Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/137

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 suited for smart contracts than Ethereum’s solidity The road ahead for Tezos Episode links: Tezos website Tezos position paper [PDF] Tezos whitepaper [PDF] This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/136

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 All of Stephen Palley's LinkedIn Posts EB125 Florian Glatz: Defining a Legal Framework for DAOs EB132 Stephan Tual: A Universal Sharing Network and a $150m DAO This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/135

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 DAO Accounting The DAO website Meher's 'split DAO' reward token attack This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/134

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 bring liquidity into the market in exchange for dividends, and on speculators who “”park”” coins in exchange for potential returns when demand increases again. Topics covered in this episode: What is NuBits and what is the goal it is trying to achieve The different components of Nu (NuBits, NuShares) The economic mechanisms behind the $1.00 USD peg Who are the different participants in the network (NuBits users, NuShareholders, custodians) The important role of custodians in providing liquidity to the network The consensus model used in Nu The initial allocation of NuBits and NuShares The governance mechanisms in Nu Episode links: Nubits NuBits Whitepaper This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/133

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 DAO on Github The DAO Whitepaper Why I’ve Resigned as a Curator of the DAO Is The DAO going to be DOA? This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/132