Episode 50 – Ethereum & The Future: Juan Galt

The Episode:

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The Story:

In 2008, an unknown, man, women or team going by the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto” released some code to a cryptography mailing list, informing the small group of nerds that he had created something interesting, and say they should use it if they liked it, giving birth to the world of “cryptocurrency”. What has happened since has created a strange kind of chaos and order, and formed a foundation for a new world. People have used Bitcoin for charity, such as the organisation Bitcoin Not Bombs and Sean’s Outpost. Others have used it for profit or (what some might consider) more questionable means, such as gambling, selling drugs, firearms. Other, more nefarious agents have used it as an excuse to prosecute, destroying the lives of people such as Charlie Shrem and Ross Ulbricht.

Yet the march of progress continues. The pace of technological development is increasing so rapidly, we don’t necessarily even know how the technology is going to be used when it arrives. Bitcoin has been compared by some to the combustion engine, in terms of how it will change the way it will permeate our lives, changing the nature of every transaction it touches. And yet, thousands of clever people are scrambling to devise the next iteration, the next generation of blockchain technology that fully exploits the potential of Satoshi Nakamoto’s gift. One of those new iterations is Ethereum.

The other day The Paradise Paradox had a chance to interview Juan Galt, journalist for Cointelegraph, traveller, and all-round cool guy. What kind of developments will Ethereum allow? Can we make lawyers and escrows obsolete using smart contracts? What threats and benefits do autonomous Internet economic actors present to us?

We ask all these questions and more in this exciting development of … The Paradise Paradox!