Foundational KnowledgeA blockchain wallet is software written to store your private key, public key, and blockchain address. It is the interface that allows you to interact with a blockchain network (and in some cases, more than one!). Web3 wallets also enable:Sending tokens from your walletViewing tokens that are “held” by the walletInspecting the metadata of tokens sent to youBut how does a Web3 wallet work? And why is it that when you go on Twitter, your feed is filled with repeated advice...

Foundational KnowledgeA blockchain wallet is software written to store your private key, public key, and blockchain address. It is the interface that allows you to interact with a blockchain network (and in some cases, more than one!). Web3 wallets also enable:Sending tokens from your walletViewing tokens that are “held” by the walletInspecting the metadata of tokens sent to youBut how does a Web3 wallet work? And why is it that when you go on Twitter, your feed is filled with repeated advice...

ProblemIn my last post, I discussed how protocols design systems to discourage participants from manipulating the network and how important this is in the absence of a centralized institution. What is to prevent a network validator with a copy of a ledger from sending false information to other nodes?Bitcoin’s SolutionBitcoin solved this Peer-to-Peer (P2P) issue. The network was designed to prevent anonymous actors from corrupting the network. Bitcoin leveraged code to facilitate trust. PoW p...

ProblemIn my last post, I discussed how protocols design systems to discourage participants from manipulating the network and how important this is in the absence of a centralized institution. What is to prevent a network validator with a copy of a ledger from sending false information to other nodes?Bitcoin’s SolutionBitcoin solved this Peer-to-Peer (P2P) issue. The network was designed to prevent anonymous actors from corrupting the network. Bitcoin leveraged code to facilitate trust. PoW p...

IntroductionIn Bitcoin’s whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto coined a term that has since captivated a generation: “chain of blocks.” Nakamoto used this term to describe the mechanism required to create bona fide internet money. At a high level, the concept proposed a set of programming in which all computers in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network held the same ledger. This was a verifiable catalog of transactions with which all copies could be used to validate past transactions, acting as an immutable poi...

IntroductionIn Bitcoin’s whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto coined a term that has since captivated a generation: “chain of blocks.” Nakamoto used this term to describe the mechanism required to create bona fide internet money. At a high level, the concept proposed a set of programming in which all computers in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network held the same ledger. This was a verifiable catalog of transactions with which all copies could be used to validate past transactions, acting as an immutable poi...

Decentralized IdentityMany critics of Web3 claim that there are few, if any, use cases of Web3 that surpass the benefits of a comparable Web2 company. It’s not the fault of critics - few have come close to demonstrating a vision of what the future of networks will look like. Just as it was impossible to see the impact of the Internet in the early 2000s, the same can be said for the impact of blockchain today. The technology is too early. Yet, those who dismiss it publicly (i.e., Steve Ballmer...

Decentralized IdentityMany critics of Web3 claim that there are few, if any, use cases of Web3 that surpass the benefits of a comparable Web2 company. It’s not the fault of critics - few have come close to demonstrating a vision of what the future of networks will look like. Just as it was impossible to see the impact of the Internet in the early 2000s, the same can be said for the impact of blockchain today. The technology is too early. Yet, those who dismiss it publicly (i.e., Steve Ballmer...

This is Part II of a two-part article. In Part I, we analyzed what a smart contract is at a high level and how it will enable the future of P2P internet interactions absent centralized intermediaries. We also analyzed early use cases for smart contracts today ranging from DeFi to tokenizing real-world assets. Part II goes deeper into smart contracts. In this article, we evaluate features of smart contracts, namely immutability, and report a mechanism to work around editing and amending contra...

This is Part II of a two-part article. In Part I, we analyzed what a smart contract is at a high level and how it will enable the future of P2P internet interactions absent centralized intermediaries. We also analyzed early use cases for smart contracts today ranging from DeFi to tokenizing real-world assets. Part II goes deeper into smart contracts. In this article, we evaluate features of smart contracts, namely immutability, and report a mechanism to work around editing and amending contra...

IntroductionWeb3 pundits highlight the graph below and say: “You are still early to Web3!” The problem is that they never justify it beyond user metrics similarities across their respective adoption timelines. Statements like these are reductive: graphs alone fail to explain why being early matters.In 1991, the internet brought about the ability to create tremendous, read-only webpages. The functionality and tools available through the early years of the internet were optimized for those who ...

IntroductionWeb3 pundits highlight the graph below and say: “You are still early to Web3!” The problem is that they never justify it beyond user metrics similarities across their respective adoption timelines. Statements like these are reductive: graphs alone fail to explain why being early matters.In 1991, the internet brought about the ability to create tremendous, read-only webpages. The functionality and tools available through the early years of the internet were optimized for those who ...

DefinitionThere are three components that define a decentralized blockchain: Open-Source, Permissionless, and Public. Open source allows anyone to contribute to a protocol. Permissionless allows anyone to evaluate a ledger and change the state of a blockchain. Public allows anyone to be a user of the blockchain and view the entire history of transactions. These features lead to protocol forks. A fork is when blockchain developers copy the open-source code of an existing blockchain and change ...

DefinitionThere are three components that define a decentralized blockchain: Open-Source, Permissionless, and Public. Open source allows anyone to contribute to a protocol. Permissionless allows anyone to evaluate a ledger and change the state of a blockchain. Public allows anyone to be a user of the blockchain and view the entire history of transactions. These features lead to protocol forks. A fork is when blockchain developers copy the open-source code of an existing blockchain and change ...

Smart Contracts: The How Behind Web3 (Part I of II)Let’s chat about (not so) smart contracts. A key theme we’ve analyzed is that the original internet was optimized for communication between machines as opposed to people. Web3 changes that. Smart contracts are part of the “how” that enables this change: they change how we can transact on the internet without the friction of an intermediary. This is a two-part article. Part one analyzes what a smart contract is and why it matters for enabling ...

Smart Contracts: The How Behind Web3 (Part I of II)Let’s chat about (not so) smart contracts. A key theme we’ve analyzed is that the original internet was optimized for communication between machines as opposed to people. Web3 changes that. Smart contracts are part of the “how” that enables this change: they change how we can transact on the internet without the friction of an intermediary. This is a two-part article. Part one analyzes what a smart contract is and why it matters for enabling ...

Without cryptography, there would be no blockchain, no password management, and no malicious download defense. How we interact with the internet is driven by our interaction with cryptography.FoundationCryptography is the art of writing codes. Broken down further, cryptography is a subfield of cryptology and refers to the encryption of messages. For secure communication, cryptography creates a mechanism for two parties to communicate privately. A message is encrypted when a piece of informati...

Without cryptography, there would be no blockchain, no password management, and no malicious download defense. How we interact with the internet is driven by our interaction with cryptography.FoundationCryptography is the art of writing codes. Broken down further, cryptography is a subfield of cryptology and refers to the encryption of messages. For secure communication, cryptography creates a mechanism for two parties to communicate privately. A message is encrypted when a piece of informati...

Why Now?What can you learn about Web3 as a budding investor in six months if you dedicate your entire time to it? From my experience, not much :) Web3 is cryptic…foundational knowledge in the space is guarded closely by gatekeepers who tend not to engage with anyone who joined Web3 after the 2020 bull market - but, I can see why that would happen. Suppose you didn’t hold crypto before 2020. In that case, you are viewed as someone following the newest, shiniest object at the cost of the true e...

Why Now?What can you learn about Web3 as a budding investor in six months if you dedicate your entire time to it? From my experience, not much :) Web3 is cryptic…foundational knowledge in the space is guarded closely by gatekeepers who tend not to engage with anyone who joined Web3 after the 2020 bull market - but, I can see why that would happen. Suppose you didn’t hold crypto before 2020. In that case, you are viewed as someone following the newest, shiniest object at the cost of the true e...