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

Governance within any community has been a work in progress for humanity's history. The blockchain ecosystem continues to develop and offer an alternative to today's centralized powers. With this, distributed projects and technologies will need to enact clear governance to ensure viable competition with the streamlined decision-making processes present in today's institutions. The absence of codified governance in Bitcoin may be one of its most significant traits, signaling to the world its predictability due to its inability to change drastically. New projects like Edgeware, however, hope to encode the rules of governance on-chain and ensure a transparent process for stakeholders wishing to participate. Edgeware is a smart contract platform built on Polkadot's Substrate. Focused on developing community-owned governance tools, Edgeware is a distributed project where participants use the tools themselves to vote, delegate, and fund each other to upgrade the network. While initially developed by Commonwealth Labs, Edgeware at launch will be entirely managed by the community, which holds 90% of the tokens and resulting influence.Topics covered in this episode:What attracted Dillon to crypto and why he co-founded Commonwealth LabsMulti-chain governanceHow Edgeware is uniqueBuilding Edgeware on Polkadot’s SubstrateRetrospection from the soft-launch of EdgewareWhat a “lockdrop” is, and why Edgeware had oneThe issues and controversy around the Edgeware launch and lockdropThe zero-day fork of Edgeware, StraightedgeThe future of EdgewareEpisode links: Edgeware HomepageCommonwealth HomepageRelaunch: A Clean Genesis for EdgewareEdgeware White PaperEdgeware blockchain launch gets hijacked by rival fork - DecryptEdgeware Participation StatisticsStraightedgeHey Straightedge - Conspiratus episodeEdgeware on TwitterEdgeware on DiscordEdgeware White PaperSponsors: Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/322

Charlie Shrem became fascinated with Bitcoin in 2011 but grew frustrated with the hassle of buying it from the leading exchange at the time, Mt. Gox. To make the process faster and more convenient, Charlie created BitInstant in 2012. BitInstant quickly grew and by 2013 became responsible for processing a third of all Bitcoin transactions. This was with the help of Roger Ver and the Winklevoss twins, who were his seed investors, and Erik Voorhees, who led their marketing efforts. The success of BitInstant was short-lived. In a time where Bitcoin's primary applications were price speculation and buying things on the Silk Road, Charlie spent time in prison after a lack of customer due-diligence attracted the attention of the law enforcement. Our conversation with Charlie recounts the Bitcoin industry at its beginning, his time in prison, and what he is doing now that he's able to continue his work as a Bitcoin advocate.Topics covered in this episode:Learning of Bitcoin on IRC in 2011The Bitcoin community in the early daysCollaborating with competitors to grow the ecosystemFrustration with Bitcoin infrastructure in 2011Why Charlie decided to create BitInstantMeeting Roger Ver, Erik Voorhees, and the Winklevoss TwinsCharlie’s time in prison and its effect on his personal lifePodcasting and daily life after prisonEpisode links: Untold Stories WebsiteUntold Stories on Apple PodcastsBitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and RedemptionCharlie and Best Selling Author Ben Mezrich Discuss Bitcoin's History60 Minutes Podcast - Sunday, May 19, 2019 with Charlie ShremCrypto.IQCharlie Shrem on TwitterSponsors: Status: A multi-purpose communication tool that combines a peer-to-peer messenger, secure crypto wallet, and web3 browser - https://status.im/Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/321

With global commerce and finance continuing to digitize, the world’s borders are seemingly becoming more fluid, even as physical walls are built. How does this globalization affect the sovereignty of nation-states and their ability to democratically direct their own economic future? In a panel moderated by Epicenter host, Sunny Aggarwal, we explore the interpretation of monetary policy from a global context, discuss the morality of impacting other nations, and the potential for new technologies to offer alternatives in a dollar-dominated world. The conversation includes Jae Kwon, CEO of Tendermint; John P Conley, Professor at Vanderbilt University; Steve Randy Waldman, Author of Interfluidity, and Baek Kim, Senior Associate at Hashed.Topics covered in this episode:A moral perspective on making monetary policy that is beneficial to one nation, and detrimental to anotherWho matters when determining externalities in governmental policiesThe possibility of a fiscal union without a monetary oneUSD stablecoins promoting the notion that the US should control the world’s monetary policyComparing the Libra to the EuroEpisode links: Dani Rodrik's Blog: The inescapable trilemma of the world economyEuro and Rodrik's TrilemmaInterfluidity Blog - Steve Randy WaldmanJohn Conley Macro WTF TalkSteve Randy Waldman Macro WTF TalkJae Kwon | TwitterSteve Randy Waldman | TwitterJohn P Conley | TwitterJohn P. Conley Personal WebsiteSponsors: Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/320

Managing crypto-assets can be an anxiety-inducing experience for a lot of people. While it's quite empowering to “be your own bank,” it's also scary for a lot of people who understand the risks associated with self-custody. Although cryptocurrency wallets have made tremendous progress since the days when a full-sync of the blockchain was required, there are still significant hurdles that limit broad adoption. This conversation on the future of wallets at SF Blockchain Week Epicenter conference includes Taylor Monahan of MyCrypto, David Gold of FIO Protocol, Dan Finlay of MetaMask, and Ouriel Ohayon of ZenGo. They discuss design, app store policies, and the evolution necessary to enable more people to send, receive, and manage their tokens confidently. The panel is moderated by Epicenter host Sebastien Couture.Topics covered in this episode:Advancements in the usability of cryptocurrency wallets over the last yearThe importance of mobile-first developmentFrustrations with iOS and Android app storesHow to make developing wallets economically feasibleThe future of walletsSelf-custody vs. custodial walletsRegulation of self-custody walletsWhat to look forward to in the near-termEpisode links: MetaMaskZenGo - Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency WalletFIO Protocol Developer HubMyCryptoTaylor Monahan on TwitterDan Finlay on TwitterOuriel Ohayon on TwitterFIO Protocol on TwitterMetaMask on TwitterMyCrypto.com on TwitterZenGo on TwitterSponsors: Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/Pepo: Meet the people shaping the crypto movement - https://pepo.com/epicenterThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/319

Much of the digital world now operates in the cloud. A handful of companies are responsible for the massive market, and the centralization makes many people worry about censorship, privacy, and network resilience. David Vorick’s passion for distributed file storage had him start Sia in 2014. He’s been working fervently ever since to develop a viable competitor to the centralized solutions that are responsible for much of the content on the internet today. David aim’s to create a more private, resilient, and secure alternative to Amazon Web Services while also outperforming it.Topics covered in this episode:Why David started Sia rather than taking a job in big-techThe Sia launch in 2015Why Sia has prioritized development over marketing in the beginningThe importance of decentralized storage solutionsHow decentralized storage can be cheaper than AWSWhy Sia needs its own blockchain and protocol's tech stackDavid's views on Proof of Work how that lead him to start a mining companyThe circumstances around the Sia blockchain fork of 2018Where David envisions decentralized storage in the next few yearsEpisode links: Sia API DocumentationSia BlogDecentralization & Cutting-Edge Cryptography - Starkware Sessions TalkBusted Setup - MIT Bitcoin Expo 2019 TalkRecovering Payment Channel Midstates Using only The User's Seed - Scaling Bitcoin TalkThe Sia Ethos (Sia Blog)Blockchains of the Sia familyObeliskSiaStatsDavid Vorick on TwitterSia on TwitterSponsors: Pepo: - eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/318

Many people find that the crypto-finance space is quite difficult for non-technical people to understand and interact with the technologies. Some projects and people have made tremendous progress in creating tools and interfaces that allow a broader audience to participate, speculate, and learn.Taylor Monahan started MyEtherWallet as a side project in 2015, only for it to grow into one of the significant pieces of software people used to participate in the 2017 ICO boom. She has since "design-forked" the codebase and created MyCrypto, an open-source tool for generating ether wallets, handling ERC-20 tokens, and interacting with the blockchain with a clean and intuitive design.Topics covered in this episode:Taylor's background, and how she got into cryptocurrencyWhat her experience was with Ethereum so early in the projects lifecycleHow Reddit comments helped guide the feature list in the early days of MyEtherWalletHow the DAO hack got her working full time on MyEtherWalletBuilding a project before “founding a company”Experiencing the ICO boom as the main wallet used to participate in token generation eventsWhere MyCrypto is at todayHow Taylor wants MyCrypto to change the user experience in cryptocurrencyTaylor’s view on centralized exchanges and view of the futureEpisode links:MyCrypto Beta#MyCryptoWinter is back! (Medium)Try The New MyCrypto! (Medium)MyCrypto TwitterMyCrypto GitHubMyCrypto DiscordTaylor Monahan TwitterSponsors:Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/Pepo: -This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/317

We were joined by Luka Mueller, who played a key role in establishing Switzerland as a cryptocurrency center and in laying the legal groundwork for the ICO boom. In 2014, his law firm MME worked with the Ethereum team to set up the Ethereum Foundation and run its public fundraiser. A model that was later copied by countless other projects and led MME to work with many other leading protocols like Cosmos and Tezos. We also discussed his new project Sygnum, a cryptocurrency-focused bank. Nearly every company that works in the cryptocurrency space has had problems with its banking partner. Legal uncertainty, lack of knowledge, or simple unwillingness to work with cryptocurrency companies has made this a frequent nightmare for companies in this emerging sector. With a presence in both Switzerland and Singapore, Sygnum aims to fill a piece of missing infrastructure in the crypto-ecosystem: a bank that is able to receive, hold and transfer protocol tokens while offering a secure fiat gateway to easily transfer from the old world of finance to the new.We also discussed Switzerland’s regulatory environment and why it is able to provide more regulatory clarity.Topics covered in this episode:What life was like for Luka before blockchainHow Luka met Vitalik and went on to set up the Ethereum Foundation and run their fundraiserWhat protocols his law firm, MME, helped launchThe lessons learned over the years, and how he would do it differentlyWhy Switzerland is a great jurisdiction for crypto projectsWhat Luka thinks of asset-backed tokensWhat is Sygum, and why did he decide to start a crypto bankWhat Luke believes will happen when the tech giants release their own currenciesThe difference between Sygnum and similar banksWhat Luka's fears are in the space, and what he is hopeful forEpisode links: MME Law FirmSygnum WebsiteInstitutional Custody: A Portal to the Digital Asset Economy (Sygnum Blog)How Tokenization is Closing the Gap Between Public and Private Markets (Sygnum Blog)Sygnum gets green light to operate in Singapore (SwissInfo)Switzerland’s first crypto bank reports “overwhelming” demand (Decrypt)Sygnum on TwitterSponsors: eToro: Automatically copy every trade of eToro's top crypto traders at the exact price in real-time - https://www.etoro.com/Cosmos: Compete to win 100,000 ATOM by building and running Cosmos Zones - https://cosmos.network/goz/This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/316

As the crypto ecosystem continues to grow, wallets and exchanges are quickly evolving to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace. Viktor Radchenko, CEO and founder of Trust Wallet, joins us this week to talk about why he created a noncustodial wallet solution, what makes Trust Wallet unique, and how the acquisition by Binance has allowed his team to focus on a long term vision. Viktor helps us understand what it means to be part of the Binance Ecosystem, and what he believes the future holds for wallets, key storage and custody. Topics covered in this episode:Victor's bio and how he ended up moving from the Ukraine to the USHow hacking games got Victor into cryptocurrencyWhat Trust Wallet is and its' strengths in the wallet landscapeWhat it means for Trust Wallet to be secure, opensource, decentralized, and anonymousWhat Vicktor believes the future holds for wallets and key storageThe Binance acquisition of Trust WalletTrust Wallet's policy for adding new coins and the criteria they look atEpisode links: Trust WalletTrust Wallet BlogCrypto exchange Binance buys Trust Wallet in first acquisition deal (TechCrunch)7 Essential Steps to Keep Your Crypto Wallet Secure (Trust Wallet Blog)Ethereum Name Service is Now Supported (Trust Wallet Blog)Trust Wallet DEX is growing up, Order book and Trading History added (Trust Wallet Blog)Wallet Core documentationWallet Core on GitHubThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/315

Bitmain is one of the most well known, and one of the most polarizing companies in the blockchain space. The largest ASIC manufacturer and operator of several mining pools, Bitmain is the center of many controversies and discussions around centralization in the space. But not only is it the subject of discussion, Bitmain breaks out of the “passive miner” stereotype and is very active in many of the discussions in the community, most notably the Great Scaling Debates. In this episode, we sit down with Nishant Sharma, Head of Community Relations, who is responsible for acting as a bridge between the Bitmain company and the many communities it interacts with through its mining and ASIC operations. We explore the origins of Bitmain and its founders, the economics of ASIC production, its past and current relationships with different communities, and the future of the company.Topics covered in this episode:Nishant's Story in the Bitcoin mining space and how it led to joining BitmainOrigin of Bitmain and its founders, notably Jihan WuDoes Bitmain contribute to centralization in the blockchain spaceHow Bitmain maintains its superiority in the ASIC manufacturing spaceEconomics of ASIC production and manufacturingBalancing business models of ASIC production, operating multiple mining pools, and exploring new verticalsBitmain's role in blockchain debates like the scaling debate, Bitcoin Cash split, and ProgPowEpisode links: Bitmain WebsiteNishant on TwitterBitmain on TwitterFallout: Everyone’s a loser after Bitcoin Cash split – Brave New CoinBitmain WikipediaBTC.com PoolAntpoolLeaked Transcript Details Power Struggle Inside Bitcoin Mining GiantBitmain – CoinDeskDovey Wan on TwitterSponsors: Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg - http://vaultoro.comCosmos: Change the future of finance at the SF Blockchain Week Defi Hackathon – $50,000 prize pool for winning teams - https://epicenter.rocks/sfcosmosThis episode is hosted by Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/314

As the cryptocurrency space has grown, exchanges have become the dominant juggernauts of the industry. One of the earliest and most reputable exchanges is Kraken. From the company's formation in 2011, Kraken has grown to 4m users and almost 1,000 employees.We are joined by Kraken Founder and CEO Jesse Powell. We dove into the history of Kraken, their values and the vision that's driving them.Topics covered in this episode:How selling virtual goods for games led Jesse to discover BitcoinWhy cryptocurrencies will lead to a better financial systemHow Kraken launched and ended up getting strong traction in EuropeThe challenges and changes of the regulatory environmentHis thoughts on DeFi and decentralized exchangesKraken's approach to listing assets on the exchangeHow to create a strong culture in a distributed companyHis vision for Kraken to become a general trading and investment platformEpisode links: KrakenHow to Grow A Decacorn | Crypto Podcast | KrakenHow to Trade Crypto On KrakenKraken on WikipediaKraken Exchange TwitterJesse Powell TwitterSponsors: Cosmos: Change the future of finance at the SF Blockchain Week Defi Hackathon – $50,000 prize pool for winning teams - https://epicenter.rocks/sfcosmosTrail of Bits: Trust the team at the forefront of blockchain security research - https://trailofbits.comThis episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/313