Reversing Climate Change S3E2: A Brief History of Ethereum and web3—w/ Laura Shin, author of The Cryptopians
As listeners of Nori podcasts, you might know that we use cryptocurrency in the form of Nori tokens which may become a market-driven price for carbon removal. You also might know we issue non-fungible tokens, otherwise known as NFTs, when buyers purchase those removals. But you may not know the history of the blockchain we run on or how the system works. So, where can you go to learn Ethereum 101?
Laura Shin is a crypto journalist and host of the Unchained Podcast. A former senior editor at Forbes, Laura was the first mainstream reporter to cover the blockchain full-time. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Laura joins Ross to discuss her new book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, a history of Ethereum and the ICO mania of 2017.
Laura explains why Ethereum quickly became the second most important cryptocurrency, describing how it was used to raise billions of dollars for decentralized apps and what happened when the DAO to fund slock.it was hacked. Listen in for Laura's insight around why the crypto bubble burst in early 2018, what trends have occurred since then, and why Laura believes that DAOs are the next big thing in crypto.
Key Takeaways
[1:00] How Laura’s book focuses on the story of the ICO craze
[2:02] What it’s like to write about recent history and why Laura was inspired to create a record of what happened in crypto in 2017 and 2018
[6:10] The rigorous fact-checking process Laura went through for The Cryptopians
[8:46] Why Ethereum quickly became the second most important cryptocurrency
[10:44] How the Ethereum blockchain serves as an open design space where developers can build decentralized applications
[18:03] Examples of the fastest and largest fundraising campaigns for apps through ICOs on Ethereum
[18:39] How the DAO to fund slock.it was hacked for $75M
[27:56] The ‘code is law’ debate that occurred in the aftermath of the DAO crisis
[30:00] The cultural differences between the Bitcoin and Ethereum chains
[31:08] What behaviors investors had to learn to participate in the ICO craze and why crypto founders were able to raise billions of dollars for their projects
[35:41] How ICOs compare to VC funding
[36:17] How the 2017 SEC report classifying DAO tokens as securities informed the burst of the crypto bubble in early 2018
[37:59] Why crypto prices dropped early in the pandemic and what’s happened since then
[42:48] Laura’s explanation of decentralized finance or DeFi and non-fungible tokens or NFTs
[52:16] How DAOs work to organize people in a democratic way
[55:02] Why Laura believes DAOs are the next big thing in crypto
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Resources
‘The Inside Story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin’s $460M Disaster’ in WIRED