Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder of Polychain Capital and an early Coinbase employee, dives into the thrilling realm of blockchain computing. He discusses the shift from primitive protocols to pragmatic product launches, highlighting key trends like improving developer productivity and the significance of proof-of-stake networks. Their chat touches on the promises of decentralized finance, the evolution of governance models, and the exciting potential of NFTs in gaming. Prepare for insights that could reshape the financial landscape!
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Blockchain Computing Platforms
Bitcoin is a computing platform with a deliberately limited processor for security.
Ethereum expands this processor but uses Solidity, a new and eccentric language.
In a followup to one of our most popular podcast episodes which originally aired in April 2017 (https://a16z.com/2017/04/03/cryptocurrencies-protocols-appcoins/), a16z Crypto Fund General Partner Chris Dixon returns to talk with Olaf Carlson-Wee of Polychain Capital in a free-wheeling conversation about the seven major trends they see happening in blockchain computing now as we shift from basic protocol design to pragmatic product launches:
Improving developer productivity
Scaling out versus scaling up
On-chain governance
Proof of Stake Networks, and especially their resilience to attacks
2017: year of of fund raising, 2019: year of launches
Autonomous and re-mixable code
Killer apps: distributed finance and beyond
This conversation was originally recorded for our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/a16zvideos
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