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

By Epicenter Media Ltd.Business Investing

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

February 01, 2016 #116 Eli Ben-Sasson: Zero Knowledge Proofs
Zero Knowledge Proofs are methods of providing cryptographic proofs to another party while keeping some information secret. The simple concept of ZKP offer tantalizing possibilities: Banks could prove solvency without revealing depositors. Governments could prove the fairness of an election without compromising privacy. Computer science professor Eli Ben-Sasson joined us to discuss where blockchains and … Continued
1 hr 8 min
January 25, 2016 EB115 – Matan Field: Backfeed And The Social Operating System For Decentralizde Organizations
Support the show, consider donating: 12nTPUunDNLqyxxTMsCGghqND1MUYGgFEk (http://bit.ly/1Ozq0ci)
The idea that in the future tokens will play a crucial role in networks and organizations to incentivize decentralized collaboration and reward contribution is not new. It's the original decentralized autonomous organization idea that has informed many projects that have been on the podcast (Swarm, Ethereum, Factom, Storj, etc). For Matan, the vision originally led to found decentralized ride-sharing application LaZooz. One year ago, he left LaZooz to found Backfeed, which is building the tools that so far have been missing to make mass collaboration without a central party possible.
Topics covered included:
- How he became interested in blockchains and started the ridesharing application LaZooz
- Backfeed's vision for a social operating system for decentralized organizations
- The role of reputation, proof-of-value and tokens in Backfeed
- The applications Backfeed is currently building
- The business of model of Backfeed
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Backfeed website http://bit.ly/1TkgZJw
- Backfeed: An Introduction for Mere Mortals http://bit.ly/1nuzS0B
- Matan Field DevCon Talk about Backfeed http://bit.ly/1UmNogV
Sponsors:
- Ledger Nano: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EPICENTER at http://ledgerwallet.com
- Hide.me: Protect your privacy and personal data with a free VPN account at Hide.me/epicenter
Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/115
YouTube: https://youtu.be/SsCxgez1XBo
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/epicenterbitcoin/eb-115
Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.
- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenterbtc
1 hr 7 min
January 24, 2016Backfeed – The Social Operating System for Decentralized Organizations
The idea that in the future tokens will play a crucial role in networks and organizations to incentivize decentralized collaboration and reward contribution is not new. It’s the original decentralized autonomous organization idea that has informed many projects that have been on the podcast (Swarm, Ethereum, Factom, Storj, etc). For Matan, the vision originally led to found decentralized ride-sharing application LaZooz. One year ago, he left LaZooz to found Backfeed, which is building the tools that so far have been missing to make mass collaboration without a central party possible.
Topics covered in this episode:
How he became interested in blockchains and started the ridesharing application LaZooz
Backfeed’s vision for a social operating system for decentralized organizations
The role of reputation, proof-of-value and tokens in Backfeed
The applications Backfeed is currently building
The business of model of Backfeed
Episode links:
Backfeed website
Backfeed: An Introduction for Mere Mortals
Matan Field DevCon Talk about Backfeed
This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/115
1 hr 7 min
January 18, 2016Vinay Gupta: From Lawyer Capitalism to Programmer Capitalism
Vinay Gupta has been a programmer, 1990s cypherpunk, ‘resilience guru’, Ethereum release coordinator and currently collaborates with Consensys to mainstream smart contract technology. He also invented the Hexayurt, a cheap and resilient architectural structure for disaster-stricken communities.
Recently, Vinay has become a thought leader in the cryptocurrency space. He is famed for his eloquence and ability to distill the crypto-finance technological paradigm into easy big-picture visualisations. Check out this podcast for some unique insights into technology, politics and history.
Topics covered in this episode:
His work on resilience. The connection between resilience and cryptocurrencies
A history of the cypherpunks – who they were, what they believed in and why they failed.
Why smart contracts matter? What is special about them?
The impact cryptocurrencies will have on capitalism
Why cryptocurrencies could be a great tool to explore basic income
Episode links:
Vinay Gupta - Dangerous Old Men: cypherpunk's failure, Ethereum's success
Vinay Gupta - Resilience Guru | London Real
Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps
Vinay Gupta | Computers that just work | State of the Net 2015
Vinay's site re.silience.com
This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/114
1 hr 21 min
January 18, 2016 EB114 – Vinay Gupta: From Lawyer Capitalism To Programmer Capitalism
Support the show, consider donating: 1L94F3FJcSqCqx1F11nXbhRM7f8pj6PDm2 (http://bit.ly/1PzJOw5)
Vinay Gupta has been a programmer, 1990s cypherpunk, 'resilience guru', Ethereum release coordinator and currently collaborates with Consensys to mainstream smart contract technology. He also invented the Hexayurt, a cheap and resilient architectural structure for disaster-stricken communities.
Recently, Vinay has become a thought leader in the cryptocurrency space. He is famed for his eloquence and ability to distill the crypto-finance technological paradigm into easy big-picture visualisations. Check out this podcast for some unique insights into technology, politics and history.
Topics covered included:
- His work on resilience. The connection between resilience and cryptocurrencies
- A history of the cypherpunks - who they were, what they believed in and why they failed.
- Why smart contracts matter? What is special about them?
- The impact cryptocurrencies will have on capitalism
- Why cryptocurrencies could be a great tool to explore basic income
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Vinay Gupta - Dangerous Old Men: cypherpunk's failure, Ethereum's success http://bit.ly/1ZHGlpU
- Vinay Gupta - Resilience Guru | London Real http://bit.ly/1Ss64xT
- Simple Critical Infrastructure Maps http://bit.ly/1n6U3Rw
- Vinay Gupta | Computers that just work | State of the Net 2015 http://bit.ly/1lo7HOV
- Vinay's site re.silience.com http://bit.ly/1QiSA6g
Sponsors:
- Hide.me: Protect your privacy and personal data with a free VPN account at Hide.me/epicenter
Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/114
YouTube: https://youtu.be/hTuGoRdm5wo
Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.
- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenterbtc
1 hr 21 min
January 18, 2016 #114 Vinay Gupta: From Lawyer Capitalism to Programmer Capitalism
Vinay Gupta has been a programmer, 1990s cypherpunk, ‘resilience guru’, Ethereum release coordinator and currently collaborates with Consensys to mainstream smart contract technology. He also invented the Hexayurt, a cheap and resilient architectural structure for disaster-stricken communities. Recently, Vinay has become a thought leader in the cryptocurrency space. He is famed for his eloquence and … Continued
1 hr 20 min
January 11, 2016Dustin Byington, Ethan Buchman & Jae Kwon: Tendermint – Private Modularized Blockchains
As blockchain technologies mature, new protocol specifications are emerging, which take unique approaches to software design and how consensus is achieved. We have talked about Multchain and OpenChain in the past, but Tendermint promises to be a viable solution for many permissioned blockchain use cases. It’s design is modular, meaning that the application layer (smart contract) and the consensus layer are completely independent. This provides added flexibility and allows for business logic to be written in practically any programming language. In addition, its unique approach to consensus, a round-robin Proof-of-Skate algorithm, is much better suited for permissioned blockchain scenarios than Proof-of-Work.
Meher and Sebastien talk to Tendermint co-founders, Jae Kwon, Dustin Byington and Ethan Buchman, about this promising new blockchain protocol and how it is different from other projects we’ve seen so far.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Tendermint came to be and how it has evolved since its creation
Smart contract programming and the Tendermint Socket Protocol (TMSP)
How Tendermint makes use of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
Tendermint’s approach to PoS consensus and its scalability benefits
Use case for permissioned and public blockchains
Future plans and business models
Episode links:
Tendermint
Tendermint for fast settlements
Tendermint vs PBFT
Tendermint specification
This episode is hosted by Meher Roy and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/113
1 hr 19 min
January 11, 2016 EB113 – Jae Kwon, Dustin Byington & Ethan Buchman: Tendermint - Private Modularized Blockchains
Support the show, consider donating: 15zDNoYpwY5MF76vZxGyKJ7ppdSBrNUotP (http://bit.ly/1Pt2zpa)
As blockchain technologies mature, new protocol specifications are emerging, which take unique approaches to software design and how consensus is achieved. We have talked about Multchain and OpenChain in the past, but Tendermint promises to be a viable solution for many permissioned blockchain use cases. It’s design is modular, meaning that the application layer (smart contract) and the consensus layer are completely independent. This provides added flexibility and allows for business logic to be written in practically any programming language. In addition, its unique approach to consensus, a round-robin Proof-of-Skate algorithm, is much better suited for permissioned blockchain scenarios than Proof-of-Work.
Meher and Sebastien talk to Tendermint co-founders, Jae Kwon, Dustin Byington and Ethan Buchman, about this promising new blockchain protocol and how it is different from other projects we’ve seen so far.
Topics covered in this episode include:
- How Tendermint came to be and how it has evolved since its creation
- Smart contract programming and the Tendermint Socket Protocol (TMSP)
- How Tendermint makes use of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
- Tendermint’s approach to PoS consensus and its scalability benefits
- Use case for permissioned and public blockchains
- Future plans and business models
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Tendermint: http://tendermint.com/
- Tendermint for fast settlements: http://tendermint.com/posts/tendermint-for-fast-settlement/
- Tendermint vs PBFT: http://tendermint.com/posts/tendermint-vs-pbft/
- Tendermint specification: https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/wiki
Sponsors:
- Ledger Nano: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EPICENTER at http://ledgerwallet.com
Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/113
YouTube: https://youtu.be/EfFVh1DIKds
Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.
- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenterbtc
1 hr 19 min
January 11, 2016 #113 Dustin Byington, Ethan Buchman & Jae Kwon: Tendermint – Private Modularized Blockchains
As blockchain technologies mature, new protocol specifications are emerging, which take unique approaches to software design and how consensus is achieved. We have talked about Multchain and OpenChain in the past, but Tendermint promises to be a viable solution for many permissioned blockchain use cases. It’s design is modular, meaning that the application layer (smart … Continued
1 hr 18 min
January 06, 2016 EB112 – Casey Kuhlman: Permissioned Blockchain And Disrupting Industrial Application Design
Support the show, consider donating: 1EqgzpehmNYtqMComGDjeEiqn15Wq2rA9Z (http://bit.ly/1MrXWFB)
Permissionable blockchains have gained much attention from enterprise this past year, and specifically, the traditional fiance and FinTech sectors. As new protocols emerge and the technology is matures, it is becoming apparent they are simply a new class of database, one which integrates business logic (smart contracts) and a consensus layer (PoS, PoW, etc).
Casey Kuhlman is the CEO of Eris Industries, a company which specialises in building permissioned blockchain systems for enterprise. Their aim is to deliver the technologies which enable companies to easily build and deploy applications which make use of blockchain and smart contract technologies.
Topics we discussed include:
- Casey’s impressive background as an engineer, Marine soldier, lawyer and startup founder
- Eris Industries and what the company is trying to achieve
- Permissionable blockchains and their usefulness in industrial applications
- Smart contracts, how to explain them and legal status
- How blockchains can be used to revolutionize the way organizations construct business processes
- The idea of Blockchains-as-a-Service
- The various use cases for blockchain technologies
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Eris Industries: https://erisindustries.com/
- 2Gather: https://github.com/eris-ltd/2gather
Sponsors:
- Hide.me: Protect your privacy and personal data with a free VPN account at Hide.me/epicenter
Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/112
YouTube: https://youtu.be/DFASeUsR2dU
Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sébastien Couture & Meher Roy.
- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenterbtc
1 hr 19 min

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

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Epicenter brings you in-depth conversations about the technical, economic and social implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Every week, we interview business leaders, engineers academics and entrepreneurs, and bring you a diverse spectrum of opinions and points of view.