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

The road to mainstream adoption of blockchain technologies is a long one. Although the user experience of wallets has greatly improved since the dark days of command-line only interfaces, decentralized applications continue to struggle with onboarding non-technical users.

Jarrad Hope and Carl Bennetts, join us to discuss Status, a mobile Ethereum client which aims to turn the standard wallet experience on its head. At its core, Status is a mobile instant messenger client that leverages the Whisper protocol for secure peer-to-peer communication. Through its familiar messaging interface and elegant design, users can chat and send Ether directly in the app. As the first implementation of Ethereum’s Light Client Protocol, users may also use decentralized applications such as uPort, Gnosis and Aragon on their mobile phones. Built as an open source project, Status’ developer platform also allows developers to easily port their Dapps to the app.

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This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/181

Anyone who has ever started a company knows just how tedious that process that can be. Whether it’s establishing a shareholder’s agreement, defining the company’s constitutional structure, raising funds, or transferring shares, corporate governance procedures remain largely paper-based, requiring validation from multiple stakeholders, and their lawyers. Blockchain technologies, and specifically smart contracts, provide the rails upon which these processes can be digitized and streamlined, reducing operational costs, eliminating errors and automating menial tasks.

Manu Thanabalan, CTO of Otonomos, joins us to discuss how his company is leveraging smart contracts to accelerate incorporation and automate corporate governance. Otonomos provides the tools and services which allow for anyone to start a company in any of the jurisdictions they support. Using their platform, founders are able to define board members and issue shares, while captables are kept up-to-date in real-time. Day-to-day governance mechanisms and standard procedures such as voting and share transfers are automated through a smart contact, which complies with local jurisdictional regulation.

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This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/180

Years into the great Bitcoin scaling debate no solution is in reach. Neither bigger blocks nor Segregated Witness have anywhere near consensus support. With the conflict escalating, a Bitcoin fork has become a real possibility.

Electrum Developer Thomas Voegtlin joined us to discuss the state of the Bitcoin scaling debate. We discussed Bitcoin Unlimited, ASICBoost, SegWit activation without miner support and how a Bitcoin fork could play out. Possible outcomes include that Bitcoin Unlimited gains a majority of hashing power and starts mining bigger blocks. In the event of a fork, a proof-of-work change could be done to defend the minority chain from miner attacks. And lately a proposal was brought forward to activate SegWit without the support of the hashing power.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• ASICBoost and its potential role in the conflict
• How a Bitcoin fork could happen
• How to split coins in case of a fork
• How UASF could be used to activate SegWit without miner support
• Requirements for UASF to be safe
• How Electrum would handle a fork

Episode links:

• Electrum Bitcoin Wallet
• ASICBoost – Hacker Noon
• Bitcoin's New Controversy: The AsicBoost Allegations Explained - CoinDesk
• Timo Hanke on ASICBoost and SegWit Non-Activation
• From AsicBoost to UASF: Greg Maxwell on Bitcoin's Path Forward - CoinDesk
• [bitcoin-dev] Thomas Voegtlin: Soft Fork Threshold Signaling Proposal
• UASF Working Group
• [bitcoin-dev] Greg Maxwell: I do not support the BIP 148 UASF
• Thomas Voegtlin: Electrum, SPV Wallets And Bitcoin Aliases — Epicenter

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/179