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 covered in this episode: How Olaf Carlson-Wee became Coinbase’s first employee The inve...
Mar 07, 2017•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 173
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 blocksiz...
Feb 28, 2017•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 172
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 covered 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 interope...
Feb 21, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 171
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 o...
Feb 14, 2017•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 170
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” at...
Feb 08, 2017•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 169
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 ...
Jan 31, 2017•55 min•Ep. 164
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 covered in this episode: How technology changed the abi...
Jan 24, 2017•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 167
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 w...
Jan 17, 2017•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 166
It’s been an eventful year in the blockchain space, for the Epicenter podcast, and its hosts. Brian, Meher and Sebastien look back on 2016 and provide a few personal updates, give their thoughts and insights on how the space evolved, and make predictions on where they feel the industry will go in the next year. Topics covered in this episode: Brian, Meher and Sebastien give a few updates on their personal lives and professional projects The current state of VC funding in the blockchain space The...
Jan 09, 2017•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 165
Ari Juels, a Professor at Cornell Tech (Jacobs Institute) and former Chief Scientist of RSA, joins us to discuss his work two of his blockchain-related research topics: Authenticated Data Feeds for Smart Contracts and criminal smart contracts. One of the shortcomings of decentralized smart contracts is their inability to retrieve information from the outside world. Smart contracts can’t make API calls to websites and data feeds, but rely on oracles to feed real-world information to the chain. Th...
Jan 03, 2017•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 164
Roger Ver is one of the earliest Bitcoin investors and through his tireless evangelizing of the cryptocurrency became known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’. Roger joined us to discuss Bitcoin’s incredible potential to foster liberty. We also discussed how the current stalemate about how to scale Bitcoin is threatening that potential. And, finally, the mining pool operated by his site Bitcoin.com that is supporting the Bitcoin Unlimited client. Topics covered in this episode: How Roger Ver became the first in...
Dec 28, 2016•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 163
Few crypto projects have gotten as much attention and caused as much controversy as Steem. The blockchain-based social media platform launched early this year and managed to gain real user traction building up a vibrant community of contributors. The Steem token quickly entered bubble territory reaching a market cap of almost $400m and losing 90% of its value since. Steem Co-Founder and CEO Ned Scott joined us to discuss the ambition of the project and its short tumultous history. We also discus...
Dec 21, 2016•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 162
In their relatively short lifespan, blockchain technologies have already undergone significant milestones. Bitcoin’s blockchain, often referred to as Blockchain 1.0, features a simple database ledger that records transactions in a chronological order and represents the state of the network to participants. Ethereum, or Blockchain 2.0, introduced the notion of smart contracts. Microsoft’s Bletchley Project introduces a new modular architecture which might mark a new milestone for blockchain techn...
Dec 13, 2016•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 161
As a lead developer of the Apache webserver and founder of the Apache Software Foundation, Brian Behlendorf has played a central role in building internet architecture. Recently, he became Executive Director of the Hyperledger Project that aims to build foundational blockchain technology in an open-source, collaborative way. Topics covered in this episode: Brian’s role in the development of the Apache server and Apache Software Foundation The flaws in how blockchain software is currently being d...
Dec 05, 2016•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 160
Stratumn CEO Richard Caetano and Head of Research Anuj das Gupta joined us to discuss their work to bring security and integrity to processes. We covered the philosophy behind the company and why they use cryptography and other technologies coming out of the crypto space while shunning a classical blockchain design. Topics covered in this episode: How Paris-based startup Stratumn was founded Why Stratumn’s thinking revolves around processes How Proof-of-Process secures the who, what, where, when...
Nov 29, 2016•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 159
System scalability and extensibility of system features are two central problems around which research in the cryptocurrency / blockchain industry has centered. For example, the Blockstream sidechains project foresaw hundreds of blockchains coordinating together to form an ‘Internet of Chains’ delivering extensibility to the Bitcoin system. Recently, Dr. Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and Parity, put forth Polkadot, a technical vision to achieve the similar end-goals using different system a...
Nov 22, 2016•56 min•Ep. 158
String Labs founders Tom Ding and Dominic Williams joined us to discuss their project DFINITY, a next-generation blockchain network. Through leveraging technological advances, DFINITY aims to deliver an infinitely scalable decentralized cloud that will be able to power applications from decentralized search to supply chain applications. We covered DFINITY’s approach to scalability, interoperability, consensus as well as their sophisticated approach to governance: The Blockchain Nervous System. T...
Nov 14, 2016•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 157
As is the case with most luxury goods, the diamond industry is faced with the issues of theft, fraud, and counterfeiting. Illegal activity is present at every level of the supply chain, which collectively costs the industry and its insurers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. In recent years, international treaties and regulation have been put in place in an attempt to combat illegal activity, but criminals are most often a step ahead. Leanne Kemp, CEO of Everledger, joins us to explain h...
Nov 07, 2016•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 156
Attracting over 70 of the world’s biggest financial institutions to its consortium in just over a year, R3 has accomplished a formidable task. Aiming to rethink the fabric of the financial system, they first conducted experiments testing blockchain platforms for their member and last year began developing their own distributed ledger platform: Corda. The effort to build Corda was lead by R3 CTO Richard Brown and the former Bitcoin developer and R3 lead architect Mike Hearn. In a wide-ranging dis...
Oct 31, 2016•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 155
As content becomes more and more abundant and immediately available at our fingertips, our limited attention is a barrier for those whose business it is to attract and harness it. In this context, large (social) media companies understand that attention is a scarce commodity, and, as has been demonstrated, those who control attention wield enormous power over our society. We’re joined by Greg Meredith, CTO of Synereo, to talk about how this new Blockchain platform rebuild the attention economy. ...
Oct 25, 2016•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 154
A topic which is often discussed is the limited use of Ethereum applications without stable cryptocurrencies. Prediction markets are a prime example of this. When one makes a prediction using Ether, he or she is in fact entering into to speculations: one being the outcome of the actual prediction, the other being the price of Ether when the prediction resolves. Projects like Maker DAO try to solve the problem by developing complex systems to ensure that a blockchain token keeps its value in sync...
Oct 17, 2016•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 153
In 2012, a year after discovering Bitcoin in Argentina, Dutch economist Tuur Demeester became one of the first people to advocate investing in Bitcoin to a mainstream audience. Tuur joined us to discuss his thesis for investing in Bitcoin and how it has evolved over time. We also talked about the road ahead and how other cryptocurrencies and Ethereum compare as investment opportunities. Topics covered in this episode: How Tuur discovered Bitcoin in Argentina in 2011 The case for investing in Bit...
Oct 10, 2016•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 152
Before 2013 few people paid attention to Bitcoin and blockchain, yet even back in the 1990s a vibrant group of prioneers pursued the vision of financial cryptography and digital cash. One of these was financial cryptographer and software developer Ian Grigg, who today works as an architecture consultant for R3. Grigg joined us for a discussion of the history of the digital cash, Bitcoin and his work on Ricardian Contracts, which foreshadowed today’s smart contracts. Topics covered in this episod...
Oct 03, 2016•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 151
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 sust...
Sep 26, 2016•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 150
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 bloc...
Sep 19, 2016•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 149
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 o...
Sep 12, 2016•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 148
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 cryp...
Sep 05, 2016•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 147
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 ea...
Aug 29, 2016•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 146
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...
Aug 22, 2016•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 145
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,...
Aug 15, 2016•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 144
