👋 Note: Originally published in August 2017 on Coindesk and Medium. A few months ago Parker Thompson, a well known Silicon Valley VC, tweeted that “the concept of crypto-economics is stupid. It’s economics. Inventing your own word is just an excuse to ignore well-understood concepts.” The term “cryptoeconomics” causes a lot of confusion. People are often unclear on what it is supposed to mean. The word itself can be misleading, as it suggests that there is a parallel “crypto” version of the ...

👋 Note: Originally published in August 2017 on Coindesk and Medium. A few months ago Parker Thompson, a well known Silicon Valley VC, tweeted that “the concept of crypto-economics is stupid. It’s economics. Inventing your own word is just an excuse to ignore well-understood concepts.” The term “cryptoeconomics” causes a lot of confusion. People are often unclear on what it is supposed to mean. The word itself can be misleading, as it suggests that there is a parallel “crypto” version of the ...

👋 Note: Originally published on Dec 4, 2015 (link). This was part 4 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. You’re a little early for work that day and decide to walk to the far Starbucks instead of going to the close Starbucks. The close Starbucks is one of those ones they cram into a rough corner of an office building, halfway between the fire exit and a fern. The far Starbucks is glass and wood and gleaming like a Starbucks should. You arrive and wait in line to buy...

👋 Note: Originally published on Dec 4, 2015 (link). This was part 4 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. You’re a little early for work that day and decide to walk to the far Starbucks instead of going to the close Starbucks. The close Starbucks is one of those ones they cram into a rough corner of an office building, halfway between the fire exit and a fern. The far Starbucks is glass and wood and gleaming like a Starbucks should. You arrive and wait in line to buy...

👋 Note: Originally published on Dec 2, 2015 (link). This was part 3 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. In the first post I wrote that blockchain technology will make it cheap and easy to transfer money. In the second post we took a brief look at what that world might look like. But blockchains won’t only be used for money. The same technology that makes it possible to cheaply and easily exchange digital currency is being adapted for other types of value, like shar...

👋 Note: Originally published on Dec 2, 2015 (link). This was part 3 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. In the first post I wrote that blockchain technology will make it cheap and easy to transfer money. In the second post we took a brief look at what that world might look like. But blockchains won’t only be used for money. The same technology that makes it possible to cheaply and easily exchange digital currency is being adapted for other types of value, like shar...

👋 Note: Originally published on Nov 7, 2015 (link). This was part 2 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. You wake up to a slow pulse on your phone. Your PO account has received its monthly payment. You lazily wake the screen and thumb approval to the standard division: - 45% (0.00005600 BTC) to mobile wallet [x1f8K…nb7] - 50% (0.00006220 BTC) to savings [ICICI x1f9H…m4e] - 4.8% (0.00000597 BTC) to MSF_KL [x14hY…8e9] - 0.2% maintenance of PO Account [0] That’s just y...

👋 Note: Originally published on Nov 7, 2015 (link). This was part 2 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. You wake up to a slow pulse on your phone. Your PO account has received its monthly payment. You lazily wake the screen and thumb approval to the standard division: - 45% (0.00005600 BTC) to mobile wallet [x1f8K…nb7] - 50% (0.00006220 BTC) to savings [ICICI x1f9H…m4e] - 4.8% (0.00000597 BTC) to MSF_KL [x14hY…8e9] - 0.2% maintenance of PO Account [0] That’s just y...

👋 Note: Originally published on March 8, 2016 (link). This was part 7 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. Imagine thousands of computers all over the world connected by the internet. Some are home PCs, some are laptops, some are servers sitting deep underground. But each of them runs the same computer program, which connects all of these computers into a network of equals. This program sets out rules for how the computers should work together. How to talk to each o...

👋 Note: Originally published on March 8, 2016 (link). This was part 7 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. Imagine thousands of computers all over the world connected by the internet. Some are home PCs, some are laptops, some are servers sitting deep underground. But each of them runs the same computer program, which connects all of these computers into a network of equals. This program sets out rules for how the computers should work together. How to talk to each o...

👋 Note: Originally published on Feb 22, 2016 (link). This was part 5 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. In the third post, we explored how blockchains can serve as a platform for what I called “value technologies” — things that act like currencies, shares, or rewards points. In this post, we take this idea further. Many people now believe that blockchains will let us build things more complex and more interesting than the simple value technologies discussed above....

👋 Note: Originally published on Feb 22, 2016 (link). This was part 5 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. In the third post, we explored how blockchains can serve as a platform for what I called “value technologies” — things that act like currencies, shares, or rewards points. In this post, we take this idea further. Many people now believe that blockchains will let us build things more complex and more interesting than the simple value technologies discussed above....

👋 Note: Originally published in April 2016 on Coindesk and Medium. Over the last year, the concept of a “smart contract” has received renewed attention in both the technology industry and in legal and business circles. Recent advancements in a field known as “blockchain technology” have led some to believe that smart contracts could soon offer alternatives to traditional commercial and financial agreements, with dire results for the legal and financial sectors. While this enthusiasm may be p...

👋 Note: Originally published in April 2016 on Coindesk and Medium. Over the last year, the concept of a “smart contract” has received renewed attention in both the technology industry and in legal and business circles. Recent advancements in a field known as “blockchain technology” have led some to believe that smart contracts could soon offer alternatives to traditional commercial and financial agreements, with dire results for the legal and financial sectors. While this enthusiasm may be p...

👋 Note: Originally published on Oct 12, 2015 (link). This was part 1 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. This is the first post of what I am calling Creole. The object is to convince a general audience that blockchain technologies like bitcoin and other “digital currencies” will have a large impact on our world. This isn’t a popular view. Today it is difficult to even explain what bitcoin is, or how a blockchain works. Proponents too-often rely on dense technical e...

👋 Note: Originally published on Oct 12, 2015 (link). This was part 1 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. This is the first post of what I am calling Creole. The object is to convince a general audience that blockchain technologies like bitcoin and other “digital currencies” will have a large impact on our world. This isn’t a popular view. Today it is difficult to even explain what bitcoin is, or how a blockchain works. Proponents too-often rely on dense technical e...

👋 Note: Originally published in June 2016 on Coindesk and Medium. The term “smart contract” has no clear and settled definition. The idea has long been hyped to the public as a central component of next-generation blockchain platforms, and as a key capability for any practical enterprise application. They are defined variously as “autonomous machines”, “contracts between parties stored on a blockchain” or “any computation that takes place on a blockchain”. Many debates about the nature of sm...

👋 Note: Originally published in June 2016 on Coindesk and Medium. The term “smart contract” has no clear and settled definition. The idea has long been hyped to the public as a central component of next-generation blockchain platforms, and as a key capability for any practical enterprise application. They are defined variously as “autonomous machines”, “contracts between parties stored on a blockchain” or “any computation that takes place on a blockchain”. Many debates about the nature of sm...

👋 Note: Originally published August 15, 2016 on Medium. While thinking about the lessons of the DAO hard fork I’ve been reaching for terminology necessary to make a useful distinction, and thought it would be useful to set it out here. The DAO hard fork was controversial. Some believe that forking the network to return stolen funds was a betrayal of the basic principles that animate the ethereum project. Others viewed it as a pragmatic solution that, though it shouldn’t be used often, was ne...

👋 Note: Originally published August 15, 2016 on Medium. While thinking about the lessons of the DAO hard fork I’ve been reaching for terminology necessary to make a useful distinction, and thought it would be useful to set it out here. The DAO hard fork was controversial. Some believe that forking the network to return stolen funds was a betrayal of the basic principles that animate the ethereum project. Others viewed it as a pragmatic solution that, though it shouldn’t be used often, was ne...

On Earth 2 history took a slightly different course. Computers, as we know them, were never invented. There was no analytical engine, no IBM, no Xerox PARC, and no Macintosh. But all that changed on a sunny day in 1972, when Alan Alcorn revealed his invention to the world - a machine he called Pong: a person-to-person electronic tennis system. Pong was a large box about 5 feet tall, containing some silicon & wires, a television screen, and a few buttons & dials. Pong, he explained, was a "vid...

On Earth 2 history took a slightly different course. Computers, as we know them, were never invented. There was no analytical engine, no IBM, no Xerox PARC, and no Macintosh. But all that changed on a sunny day in 1972, when Alan Alcorn revealed his invention to the world - a machine he called Pong: a person-to-person electronic tennis system. Pong was a large box about 5 feet tall, containing some silicon & wires, a television screen, and a few buttons & dials. Pong, he explained, was a "vid...

👋 Note: Originally published on Feb 29, 2016 (link). This was part 6 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. You’re up early for work this morning, in the kitchen making coffee. In the backyard, out the window above the sink, is your landpad & charging station, decorated with the bright bold outlines of its QR address. On the landpad sits the delivery drone, charging quietly. As its batteries fill, small amounts of money are paid into your house’s account every few kil...

👋 Note: Originally published on Feb 29, 2016 (link). This was part 6 of 7 in a series of posts released under the pseudonym Creole. You’re up early for work this morning, in the kitchen making coffee. In the backyard, out the window above the sink, is your landpad & charging station, decorated with the bright bold outlines of its QR address. On the landpad sits the delivery drone, charging quietly. As its batteries fill, small amounts of money are paid into your house’s account every few kil...