A newsletter about how decentralized incentive markets will change our world, in particular, Incentive Markets Research and Applications
Hacking Incentives Book Club
In order to have a decentralised database, you need to have security. In order to have security, you need to have incentives. -Vitalik Buterin We think a great deal about incentives, incentive design, and incentive markets. We invite you to share some of our mindshare — and join our incentive hacking reading list.1 — Blockchain Background 1.1 The authoritative Guide to Blockchain DevelopmentThe authoritative guide to blockchain development Cryptocurrencies, ICOs, magic internet money — it’s a...
Hacking Incentives Book Club
In order to have a decentralised database, you need to have security. In order to have security, you need to have incentives. -Vitalik Buterin We think a great deal about incentives, incentive design, and incentive markets. We invite you to share some of our mindshare — and join our incentive hacking reading list.1 — Blockchain Background 1.1 The authoritative Guide to Blockchain DevelopmentThe authoritative guide to blockchain development Cryptocurrencies, ICOs, magic internet money — it’s a...
A Blueprint for Viral Incentives, Part 3/3
Can I see some ID please? (Burning bush. Painting from Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) Blockchain developers aren’t the first humans to face identity verification problems. In the book of Exodus, Moses finds a peculiar bush that is on fire but not engulfed in flames. When it’s revealed that the burning bush is God delivering a message to his people, Moses asks quite reasonably: how will they know it’s really you who sent me, when I tell them?* ***It turns out that not even God is above id...
A Blueprint for Viral Incentives, Part 3/3
Can I see some ID please? (Burning bush. Painting from Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg) Blockchain developers aren’t the first humans to face identity verification problems. In the book of Exodus, Moses finds a peculiar bush that is on fire but not engulfed in flames. When it’s revealed that the burning bush is God delivering a message to his people, Moses asks quite reasonably: how will they know it’s really you who sent me, when I tell them?* ***It turns out that not even God is above id...
A Blueprint for Viral Incentives, Part 2/3
ESL Intel Extreme Masters 2014, San Jose (4 Million Online eSports Viewers) A tribal network has the potential to become a viral network, especially in certain online contexts. That is why the world of blockchain has assigned an aspirational meaning to the word ‘tribalism.’ If you can create or tap into a “tribal” network, then its users (the “tribe”) will keep it alive and growing. If we knew more precisely what tribalism was and how we could re-create it, then we could motivate large groups...
A Blueprint for Viral Incentives, Part 2/3
ESL Intel Extreme Masters 2014, San Jose (4 Million Online eSports Viewers) A tribal network has the potential to become a viral network, especially in certain online contexts. That is why the world of blockchain has assigned an aspirational meaning to the word ‘tribalism.’ If you can create or tap into a “tribal” network, then its users (the “tribe”) will keep it alive and growing. If we knew more precisely what tribalism was and how we could re-create it, then we could motivate large groups...
A Blueprint for Viral Incentives, Part 1/3
**Going viral is the holy grail for most network designers. **Networks that quickly expand and connect scores of members are more likely to achieve their goals. The Ice Bucket Challenge, for example, got 17 million people to either donate or soak themselves in cold water in front of a video camera, raising more than $115 million for ALS. Many doubt that there is a recipe for virality, probably because it can sometimes seem like what goes viral is totally arbitrary. There are, however, a numbe...
A Blueprint for Viral Incentives, Part 1/3
**Going viral is the holy grail for most network designers. **Networks that quickly expand and connect scores of members are more likely to achieve their goals. The Ice Bucket Challenge, for example, got 17 million people to either donate or soak themselves in cold water in front of a video camera, raising more than $115 million for ALS. Many doubt that there is a recipe for virality, probably because it can sometimes seem like what goes viral is totally arbitrary. There are, however, a numbe...
Bridging Our Political Divide With Incentives
**Designing the right incentive system is crucial for optimal system operation, and that this statement applies to domains far and wide. **Today we’ll focus on a system that countless commentators have called a “broken system” — namely American politics. Saying that the U.S. is divided across political lines is by now a cliché. The inauguration of each new president in recent memory brings forth media hyperbole about the chasm between Democrats and Republicans. And no, Trump is not unpreceden...
Bridging Our Political Divide With Incentives
**Designing the right incentive system is crucial for optimal system operation, and that this statement applies to domains far and wide. **Today we’ll focus on a system that countless commentators have called a “broken system” — namely American politics. Saying that the U.S. is divided across political lines is by now a cliché. The inauguration of each new president in recent memory brings forth media hyperbole about the chasm between Democrats and Republicans. And no, Trump is not unpreceden...
