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

A brilliant fact about crypto-economic blockchains is that they enable the construction of naming systems that transcend limits imposed by Zooko’s triangle. Traditional naming systems such as human names, Domain Name System (DNS) and Facebook profile names are subject to Zooko’s triangle and cannot be secure, human memorable and decentralised at once. For instance human names such as Meher Roy are human-memorable and decentralised but not secure (nothing prevents hundreds of people being called Meher Roy). Domain Names like are secure and human-memorable but require a central authority to hand out names. OneName leverages Bitcoin to build a Global Identification system called blockchain ID. Blockchain IDs for users can be associated with real world identity data such as social media profiles, government issued papers etc. In this episode we converse with Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali, co-founders and leaders of OneName, Blockstore and BlockStack. They explain the rationale and vision behind their push for a Global Decentralised Identification and Verification system. Topics covered in this episode: Zooko’s triangle and how Bitcoin breaks the triangle The general idea behind blockchain ID, how it works and its component transactions Why OneName migrated their blockchain ID system from the Namecoin to the Bitcoin blockchain Technical design of Blockstore and how it enables decentralised storage and association of large datasets to blockchain IDs Vision and use cases for Decentralised Identity, authentication and identity verification. The notion of Probabilistic Identity Episode links: Intentional Naming System Zooko's triangle Why Onename is Migrating to the Bitcoin Blockchain Blockchain ID Organization of Schemas Blockstack BlockStore This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/101

We’ve made it to episode 100! Our guest for our celebratory episode is Juan Benet, inventor of the Inter-Planetary File System and founder of Protocol Labs. IPFS is a distributed file system that seeks to connect all computing devices with the same system of files. The possibilities for IPFS could range from distributed cloud hosting to websites without central servers to even replacing HTTP. It’s a project as audacious as any we’ve had on the podcast and Juan did an outstanding job explaining the technology and vision. Topics covered in this episode: Why HTTP is broken and how IPFS could complement and ultimately replace it The different technologies IPFS is based on including DHT, Git, Bittorrent and SFS How IPFS could enable the ‘permanent web’ by distributing file storage Content-addressing and how hosting works on IPFS Mutable content and the Interplanetary Naming System (IPNS) Filecoin and incentivizing hosting on IPFS Why IPFS is a great fit for smart contracts How he wants to build and monetize core internet protocols with his company Protocol Labs Episode links: IPFS website IPFS whitepaper (PDF) Replication on IPFS Neocities blog post Filecoin Protocol Labs This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/100

One of the key innovations of Bitcoin is the ability to easily implement payment channels. A number of use cases have been discussed or demonstrated, among which is the idea of pay-per-use. This is particularly useful when charging for things like WiFi or streaming video by the second. With this in mind, one could imagine a line of communication between two peers, where data flows in one direction and payments flow in the other. This is the idea behind Streamium, a free and open-source service which allows content creators to stream live video directly to viewers, and get paid instantly. We’re joined by Manuel Aráoz and , the two brilliant software engineers from Argentina who created Streamium. They have worked together on numerous Bitcoin projects these past few years, including ProofOfExistence.com, Faradam, Decentraland, RelayStore, and actively contributed to the BitCore javascript library. Topics covered in this episode: The current state of Bitcoin in Argentina The general idea behind Streamium, how it works and its technical components How payment channels are implemented in Streamium and its various use cases The Faradam project The prospect of alternative content funding models made possible by Bitcoin micropayments Proof-of-existence and what innovations blockchain technologies brings to data notarization The Decentraland project and the vision for a blockchain-based virtual reality Episode links: Streamium Faradam Decentraland Proof of Existence The Mental Accounting Barrier to Micropayments by Nick Szabo Manuel Aráoz's About.me profile Esteban Ordano's personal website This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/099

Robin Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, discusses his invention of prediction markets and futarchy. Topics include the potential of prediction markets for better decision making, the history of prediction markets, the challenges faced by futarchy, and how Bitcoin is facing similar adoption challenges.

Prediction markets are considered one of the most promising applications of blockchain technology. Although the concept and some early implementations have existed for years, decentralized prediction markets present a number of advantages to their centralized counterparts. joins us to discuss Truthcoin, a “Peer-to-Peer Oracle Protocol which absorbs accurate data into a blockchain so that Bitcoin-users can speculate in Prediction Markets”. We dive deep to explore the advantages of decentralized prediction markets, their various real-world applications, and their potential to revolutionize the creation and propagation of knowledge in our society. On this episode, we are thrilled to introduce a new co-host on Epicenter Bitcoin, Meher Roy. He has a biochemical engineering background and previously worked as an adviser to HyperLedger. Since discovering Bitcoin, he spends most of his free time understanding blockchain technology and its potential impact on our lives. We’re confident that Meher will bring a high level of understanding and critical thinking to the topics we cover, and we’re certain our listeners will be as happy as we are to have him on the show. Topics covered in this episode: What are prediction markets and why they are useful The mechanics of prediction markets The potential for prediction markets to provide useful aggregation to today’s abundant information The parallels between crowd intelligence and artificial intelligence The different components of Truthcoin and the state of the project How Truthcoin differs from other decentralized prediction markets Episode links: Truthcoin Website This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/097

It is often said that technology is neutral. It’s certainly commonplace for Bitcoin to be thought of as such. In reality, technologies may be characterized as an embodiment of human intention, and therefore, cannot be considered as culturally or politically neutral. At least, this is the opinion of our guest, . A research scientist at MIT Media Lab and CEO of ID3, a nonprofit which aims to deploy a new generation of trusted digital institutions, John has spent the last seven decades researching the interaction between technology and society. He joins us for a fascinating discussion on the flaws of our institutions in present day society and how we can leverage technology to build a new social ecosystem. Topics covered in this episode: The political values of Bitcoin The idea of cooperative currencies The current state of identity and data ownership, and how it may be improved The governance of decentralized technologies How cybernetics and self-organizing systems may be applied to governance The Open Mustard Seed framework Episode links: ID3 Institute for Data-Driven Design From Bitcoin to Burning Man and Beyond From Bitcoin to Burning Man and Beyond (Amazon) Open Mustard Seed Talk by John Clippinger: Bitcoin and Beyond This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/096

As the debate about forks, the blocksize and decision making in Bitcoin continues, we are joined by Adam Back. Adam is best known for his invention hash-cash which became one of the fundamental building blocks of Bitcoin. He is also the inventor of the sidechains concept and founder and president of Blockstream, the single biggest employer of Bitcoin core developers. With Adam we talked about the different blocksize proposals and how a decentralized cryptocurrency should be governed in general. He is an influential conservative voice in the current debate and has been warning that a rapid increase of the blocksize could undermine the decentralization of Bitcoin. Topics covered in this episode: Adam’s concerns with Bitcoin XT and the approach by Gavin Andresen and Mike Hearn Why Adam favors a slower blocksize increase to preserve decentralization How Bitcoin will function as a settlement network in the medium-term with the bulk of transactions going through the Lightning Network or sidechains Why forks are in Bitcoin are different from forks in other open source projects The upcoming Scaling Bitcoin workshop in Montreal Episode links: Scaling Bitcoin Montreal Event Blockstream Gavin Andresen's BIP 101 Jeff Garzik's BIP 100 Adam Back's blocksize proposal List of different blocksize proposals This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/095

As the debate about the blocksize continues to roar through the Bitcoin community, Gavin Andresen joins us to take a step back and ask the big questions: How should these decisions be made in the first place? What does the governance of Bitcoin look like now and what do we want it to look like in the future? In a challenging time for Bitcoin, it’s a critical discussion to have with the Chief Scientist of the Bitcoin Foundation and successor of Satoshi. We cover everything from the current blocksize debate to the nature of forks to how decisions will be made in Bitcoin XT. Topics covered in this episode: MIT Digital Currency Initiative The way Gavin thinks about Bitcoin How were decisions made throughout Bitcoin’s history What the Nakamoto/market consensus is Forking the software vs a fork of the blockchain Who should make decisions in Bitcoin and how the interest of different stakeholders should be reconciled Why the desirable state is to move towards many different implementations How decisions will be made for the Bitcoin XT code base Episode links: Eli Durado: How should Bitcoin be governed? Arvind Narayanan: Bitcoin faces a crossroads, needs an effective decision-making process Matt Asay: Why you should fork your next open-source project Robles & Gonzalez-Barahona, A comprehensive study of software forks Chinese Mining Pools Call for Consensus; Refuse Switch to Bitcoin XT Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies - Chapter 7: Community, Politics, and Regulation BIP 100 Proposal This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/094

Ever since the financial system collapsed in 2007, the call for alternatives has grown louder. Bitcoin itself can be seen as such an alternative. Simon Dixon’s search for a way to put capitalism on a sounder financial footing began before Bitcoin with a focus on equity crowdfunding. Since then he has built Bank to the Future into an innovative crowdfunding business that takes an aggressive contrarian stance. He has also launched an investment fund focused on cryptocurrencies together with Max Keiser called Bitcoin Capital. He joined us for a fascinating discussion about the flaws of the banking system, Bitcoin and the search for alternatives. Note: Our sponsor Vaultoro is raising an equity crowdfunding round on Bank to the Future. Read about the details and invest here: Topics covered in this episode: Why capitalism is built on a broken banking system The problems Bitcoin solves The flawed ways banks approach blockchain technology How Bank to the Future is a contrarian bet on the financial system Bitcoin Capital, the fund he started with Max Keiser How Bitcoin Capital and BnkToTheFuture work together Episode links: Bitcoin Capital Tranche 2 'Bank to the Future' Book on Amazon Bitcoin Capital on the Keiser Report Simon Dixon TEDx Talk Money Creation in the Modern Economy Naked Capitalism This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/093

In a long-overdue episode, we finally had the chance to dive into one of the most known but poorly understood cryptocurrency/blockchain project: Ripple. Reviled by many in the Bitcoin space, we put aside any prejudices and sat down for a fascinating conversation with Ripple Labs CTO Stefan Thomas. We talked about his early days in the Bitcoin space, how Ripple came about, what the Ripple network looks like today and how its consensus protocol works. Topics covered in this episode: ‘ early experiences in the Bitcoin space How Ripple was created The problem Ripple is trying to solve How the Ripple consensus algorithm works Whether Ripple is decentralized or not What the correspondent banking system is and how Ripple wants to disrupt it The recent FinCen fine and what it means for Ripple Episode links: Ripple Ripple Labs Ripple Labs Fined $700,000 by FinCen Richard Gendal Brown: The Deep Insight at Ripple's Cores Peter Todd Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm Review Ripple Consensus Protocol Whitepaper This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/092