Blockchain Infrastructure Conference Reflections
I’m feeling refreshed and restored after attending last week’s inaugural Blockchain Infrastructure conference. My gratitude to long time and values-aligned friend Dan Hwang for organizing and inviting me to it. The conference took place at the Austrian National Library, which proved to be not only a beautiful but also an intentional and thoughtful venue for the conversations that happened. Crypto Conference History and Perspective The first crypto event I attended was the ENS Community Worksh...
Blockchain Infrastructure Conference Reflections
I’m feeling refreshed and restored after attending last week’s inaugural Blockchain Infrastructure conference. My gratitude to long time and values-aligned friend Dan Hwang for organizing and inviting me to it. The conference took place at the Austrian National Library, which proved to be not only a beautiful but also an intentional and thoughtful venue for the conversations that happened. Crypto Conference History and Perspective The first crypto event I attended was the ENS Community Worksh...
Staking's Free Rider Problem
Every community has givers and takers. Some give. Some take. Some give and take. The takers usually outnumber the givers. Those that balance giving and taking are rare.All Take No GiveValidator communities on staking networks are no exception. Spend a little time in validator chat groups to see this imbalance in action. You’ll see many people asking for help. You’ll see fewer people offering to help. Those you see help are usually the same people, helping again and again. You might expect the...
Staking's Free Rider Problem
Every community has givers and takers. Some give. Some take. Some give and take. The takers usually outnumber the givers. Those that balance giving and taking are rare.All Take No GiveValidator communities on staking networks are no exception. Spend a little time in validator chat groups to see this imbalance in action. You’ll see many people asking for help. You’ll see fewer people offering to help. Those you see help are usually the same people, helping again and again. You might expect the...
A Decentralized Staking Doomsday Scenario
Coinbase announced it was acquiring staking as a service provider Bison Trails earlier this week. The usual congratulations and back patting went around on Twitter. To me, however, this wasn't good news. It represents an acceleration in staking centralization. Staking in these early days is already more centralized than decentralized. A small number of large validator operators control a majority of the stake in most staking networks. Current staking economics compound the problem with r...
A Decentralized Staking Doomsday Scenario
Coinbase announced it was acquiring staking as a service provider Bison Trails earlier this week. The usual congratulations and back patting went around on Twitter. To me, however, this wasn't good news. It represents an acceleration in staking centralization. Staking in these early days is already more centralized than decentralized. A small number of large validator operators control a majority of the stake in most staking networks. Current staking economics compound the problem with r...
Crypto and Blockchain Governance Resources
This is my running list of crypto and blockchain governance resources here. I'll annotate them as well, as I find the time and attention to review them. [Proposal] SourceCred Engagement Incentives by Coopahtropa on the Balancer forum Ten Theses on Decentralized Network Governance by Mario Laul on the Placeholder VC blog. We Need to Re-Think Decentralized Governance by Blake West on The Defiant P.S. - Contact me if you'd like to talk governance strategy for your staking project. I ha...
Crypto and Blockchain Governance Resources
This is my running list of crypto and blockchain governance resources here. I'll annotate them as well, as I find the time and attention to review them. [Proposal] SourceCred Engagement Incentives by Coopahtropa on the Balancer forum Ten Theses on Decentralized Network Governance by Mario Laul on the Placeholder VC blog. We Need to Re-Think Decentralized Governance by Blake West on The Defiant P.S. - Contact me if you'd like to talk governance strategy for your staking project. I ha...
The Rise of the Activist Validator
Intro This is Part 1 of a two part series titled "The Rise of the Activist Validator". Part 1 describes the current situation as I see it. It explains why I see a need for activist validators. Part 2 will describe why I feel the current situation could prevent staking networks from maximizing their longevity and value creation. The Blissful Honeymoon These early staking days are characterized by a blissful harmony. Projects get along with their validators. Validators get along well with the p...
The Rise of the Activist Validator
Intro This is Part 1 of a two part series titled "The Rise of the Activist Validator". Part 1 describes the current situation as I see it. It explains why I see a need for activist validators. Part 2 will describe why I feel the current situation could prevent staking networks from maximizing their longevity and value creation. The Blissful Honeymoon These early staking days are characterized by a blissful harmony. Projects get along with their validators. Validators get along well with the p...
