INT 06/24/2020

Opens with a preview clip on how blockchain is redefining the relationship people have with government, demanding higher transparency and accountability.

Kryptonite's host introduces Charles Hoskinson, co-founder and CEO of IOHK, and previews the agenda plus the Cardano Virtual Summit 2020 and Swipe wallet app.

Recaps the 2015 contract to build the Ethereum of Japan and how it evolved into the first true third generation cryptocurrency built on scalability, interoperability and sustainability.

Details IOHK's research driven methodology of first principles thinking, peer review and formal methods, resulting in over 60 papers and a million lines of code across 30 to 40 repositories.

Traces the Shelley upgrade path from the Incentivized Testnet's 1200 stake pools and 19000 nodes to the Shelley hard fork planned for July 29 with the first community made blocks on August 18.

Cites community growth of roughly 100000 people across Reddit and Telegram along with hundreds of thousands of Daedalus and Yoroi wallet downloads.

Answers whether Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano map to first, second and third generation blockchains, starting with proving that a community run decentralized ledger could even work.

Explains how Ethereum brought programmable transactions much like JavaScript arriving in web browsers, but argues the model does not scale and lacks built in interoperability or a treasury for sustainable funding.

Raises the governance dilemma of who decides protocol tradeoffs like quantum resistance, warning against core developers turning into self appointed philosopher kings.

Argues each blockchain generation gets exponentially harder technically and socially, crediting academia as a decentralized brain behind over 60 papers and tens of thousands of citations.

A Simpsons anecdote about Mr Burns walking through elaborate security tunnels only to find a rickety screen door, illustrating how systems that look secure can still hide simple flaws.

Recalls that early on it was unclear whether proof of stake could even work, given how the proof of work crowd treated their consensus method almost as a religion.

Credits Aggelos Kiayias, Nikos Leonardos and Juan Garay's GKL paper with the first rigorous formal security definition of a proof of stake ledger, launching a five year research effort.

Opening a research lab at Oxford with Elias Koutsoupias to work out stable incentives, stake pools and delegation, producing some of the most cited papers in cryptocurrency research.

Claims Ouroboros replicates Bitcoin level security while staying stable at about ten kilowatts of power with a thousand stake pools, adding hooks for oracles, DEXes and MPC circuits.

Cardano was built for off chain compatibility so Java, Node or C++ servers can talk natively to Plutus smart contracts, shaping a rigorous first principles contract language.

Compares blockchain research gaining academic legitimacy to Adi Shamir validating Bitcoin research, framing IOHK's papers as foundational work meant to outlast the company.

Fields a devil's advocate question on whether proof of stake is really different from proof of work, and whether Ethereum should move to proof of stake for Ethereum 2.0.

Cites data showing fewer than ten mining operations control over 51 percent of Bitcoin's hash power, arguing exchange liquidity for staking tokens is more egalitarian than costly, often patented ASICs.

Introduces proof of merit and multi token proof of stake designs, contrasting Bitcoin's ever rising energy use with proof of stake's built in incentive toward efficiency.

The Goldfinger attack, where mercenary miners on two similarly priced proof of work chains are incentivized to short sell the market and 51 percent attack one chain for profit.

Contrasts proof of work's incentive to keep building disposable, more powerful ASICs and generating electronic waste with proof of stake's push toward lower energy use, while still praising proof of work's elegance and floating useful proof of work research.

Explains why Cardano chose Haskell and functional programming, noting an Ethereum client written in Scala needed only 12000 to 13000 lines of code versus roughly 120000 for Bitcoin's C++ client.

Credits formal methods tools like QuickCheck and a mathematically trained talent pool, exemplified by chief architect Duncan Coutts's Oxford computer science PhD, for producing secure, well understood code.

Compares trusting an amateur developer with your money to trusting a butcher instead of a surgeon, explaining why IOHK had to hire the creators of Haskell and firms like Well-Typed.

Details rolling their own cryptography, including VRFs, modified elliptic curve work and ED25519 for HD wallets, and running Haskell training courses in Barbados and Ethiopia to build developer talent.

Asked which emerging technology excites him most, referencing a recent Messari interview that touched on multi party computation and quantum computing.

Satoshi's goal of inclusive accountability, where anyone can verify the ledger, and why petabyte scale blockchains break that promise since nobody could run a full node.

Points to zero knowledge proofs and SNARKs, citing projects like Coda Protocol and Halo, as the key research path to prove a coin was never double spent without downloading the entire ledger.

Contrasts trust based systems like EOS and Hyperledger Fabric with Cardano's commitment to decentralization, calling a stable governance system the hardest problem humanity has never solved.

Reflects that he is currently in a mathematician mode with clear answers, saving harder governance work for later decades, and explains decision latency with a child craving cake, contrasting short term choices like printing money or war with their long term costs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Answers a question on ADA's future utility, describing it as a governance token, metering token, asset issuance mechanism and consensus regulator that functions almost like a central bank.

Distinguishes Shelley's decentralization focus from the coming Goguen era's focus on use and utility, citing partners like BeefChain and an Ethiopian fertilizer voucher pilot.

Compares today's early DApps and DeFi experiments to the pre broadband internet of the 1990s, arguing real applications will arrive once infrastructure matures, much like Amazon's earliest Cadabra website.

Dismisses fears about losing first mover advantage, pointing to Microsoft losing mobile and browser dominance despite once holding 90 percent share, arguing better paradigms eventually win out.

Explains why these systems need a token as a coordination and incentive mechanism, and describes crypto assets as being like stem cells that can function as commodities, securities or currencies depending on use.

Contrasts token holders having equal access to a system's success with passive shareholders betting on management, noting bad actors can visibly devalue a decentralized system's reputation.

Recounts community pressure to shut down the Incentivized Testnet, explaining he cannot since it is fully peer to peer across 1200 stake pools, debunking the myth of a strongman leader in charge.

Asked for the most meaningful story behind the movement, with a nod to past anecdotes he has shared in Mongolia, Japan, Davos and Africa.

Shares how Cardano has reconnected generations, describing a father and son setting up a stake pool together and people naming children Ada or getting Cardano tattoos.

Draws a historical parallel to postwar settlements like Yalta, Bretton Woods and Napoleon's peace, noting the 21st century's massive social change is unfolding without a great war behind it.

Watching hardened, cynical elderly people rediscover hope through Cardano, quoting the Greek proverb about old men planting trees whose shade they will never sit in, and naming a Bulgarian community member who plants trees for future generations.

Envisions the 21st century becoming the freest, fairest and most transparent century in history if blockchain governance succeeds, with a focus on human development over GDP.

Previews the Cardano Summit on July 2nd and 3rd, with speakers like Vint Cerf, the Haskell committee and Stephen Wolfram, a goal of 10000 attendees, heads of state and secret announcements.

Thanks the stake pool operator community as small businesses for their faith and patience through the long road to launching Shelley.

Closes by directing viewers to follow him on Twitter and check the IOHK blog and YouTube channel for regular weekly updates.