I had a chat with Marcus Patel from publish0x about the future of decentralized technology.
“She understands that where blockchain brings in transparency and openness, Zero-Knowledge technologies are ever more important. With the world only beginning to scratch the surface, different applications of ZK within both Web3 and Web2 will become evident. Marlene is visibly excited to be a part of a journey that will continue to evolve and offer better privacy and security.”
We discussed the meaning of community in Web3 and whether it’s always community first or whether Web3 stands for – IMHO – mainly decentralized infrastructure. Check out the video below for my “controversial” statement.
I got invited by DAO Planet to speak at Dcentral Miami about the Past, Present and Future of DAOs.
Why do we need DAOs in the first place?
You can just incorporate a company, have shareholder agreements and voting rights. No Need for a DAO.
The true innovation of DAOs goes beyond everything being on chain, it goes back to one of the early memes of the 1990s Internet:
“Online nobody knows that you’re a dog.” 🐕
DAOs are meritorcracies and enable a pseudonomous economy. It doesn’t matter who you are and where you come from, instead your skills are front & center.
I joined an livestream with Ignacio Palomera from Bondex to talk about the role of web3 in the data economy. We discuss how decentralized technologies are enabling people to own their data with full transparency, control, and fair revenue sharing.
The holidays are around the corner, so time to prep some answers for noisy relatives.
The other day I was interviewed by a university researcher about crypto culture. One of her questions was about our *why*. Why do we build these immutable, permissionless technologies?
Before I answer, a little side quest:
Crypto is not FTX. Crypto is not Celsius. Is crypto Luna?
Confession time, I didn’t know what Luna was before it went into shambles, just that I didn’t trust 20% APY on fiat. I’m not an American citizen, so I couldn’t use Celsius, and I don’t trade much on CEXes, so no need for FTX.
I also don’t find any of these three projects or companies particularly interesting. They don’t have anything to do with my personal *why crypto*.
On to the *why*. For me, crypto is (1) prepping financial, communication & governance infrastructure and (2) experimenting with new forms of finance, communication & governance.
There’s no killer app in crypto (yet). At first sight, there’s no apparent need for any of the stuff we’re building, especially not for those residing in stable, developed nations. But maybe there will be one day, and perhaps while we’re running all these game theoretical experiments on the future of finance, communication & governance, we will discover something new.
What could that be?
—> more transparent systems within existing governments where budgets & their spending can all be inspected on-chain. The same goes for companies & NGOs.
—> new governments in the cloud, think network states, or think country X is being physically invaded by country Y, but decides to continue its existence in cyberspace
For this, we need more than just immutable ledgers to do the accounting work; we also need decentralized storage, communication & governance systems. Something that cannot be shut off, neither by the good guys nor by the bad guys. For me, that’s web3.
I’ve no idea where the idea on web3 took the wrong turn, and it became jpgs and VR mini-games. And I don’t know when people started thinking that crypto is equal to gambling on centralized exchanges, but all of this has very little to do with my personal *why*.
The internet is broken. While Web 2.0 is rampant with surveillance capitalism, the next phase of the internet will have decentralisation at its core. How would Web3, with blockchain as its backbone, be different? Could it lead to a more cooperative web? What is the future of the internet? Here’s my talk for Goethe Institut Jakarta, the Center for Digital Society and Engage Media.
I had the pleasure to give a talk on data ownership via crypto at DAO Planet NYC and following that, moderate a panel with Rob Solomon, one of the Dimo co-founders and the Xeni founder Sachine Nardode.
Onboard a cruise ship in the middle of an ice skating arena I moderated this panel on Global Blockchain Regulations with the Governor of the Bahamas Don C. Cornsish and Ksi Malta‘s Dr. Josef Cachia and Dennis Mark Gauci presented by Coinsbank Blockchain Cruises.
During the Tech Crunch Blockchain Sessions in Zug, Switzerland I moderated this 15 minute panel discussion with Richard Muirhead, Partner at Fabric VC, the Streamr founder Henri Pihkala and Antti Saarnio, CEO of Zippie. We chat about the ways in which consumers will own and monetise their own data in the near future through their cell phone, car, and life’s other essential gadgets.
Marlene Ronstedt 