Other Life

Urbit, Nockchain, and the Current State of Sovereignty Technology


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In this episode, I review the state of Urbit and my history with this ambitious project to rebuild the internet. I explain why I stepped back, detailing what's happened with the network in the past few years, including the challenges faced by startups attempting to build on the platform and the surprising return of founder Curtis Yarvin. I take an honest look at how my initial timeline expectations were off, and other mistakes I made.

This period taught me a lot about technology, market sentiment, and cognition. I share how the experience has shaped my current thinking, as well as my current work with Zorp, a startup from the Urbit ecosystem now building Nockchain. I discuss the attraction of zero-knowledge proofs and why I've adopted a more patient attitude in my relationship with radical technology projects, now preferring to work behind the scenes if I really believe in something.

This is my first update on what I've been doing with Nockchain over the past year, helping to build their audience.

01:21 Discovering Urbit
02:44 Involvement with Urbit
04:44 Challenges and Reflections
05:38 The Independent Scholar
06:57 Urbit's Market Dynamics
15:31 Urbit Startups and Setbacks
22:49 The Rise and Fall of Urbit
23:38 Orbit's Struggles and My Realizations
24:54 Current State and Future Potential of Urbit
31:42 The Promise of Zero Knowledge Proofs
35:18 Introducing Nock Chain
38:31 Reflections and Lessons Learned
45:05 The Launch of Nock Chain


Other Life
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Other LifeBy Justin Murphy

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