Ethereum is a Marketplace of Algorithms đș
The world used to be a Marketplace of Ideas. Now it is shaped by Californian code. In the future, perhaps we can use Ethereum to create new Veils of Ignorance for everyone.
When I was a teenager, I was pretending to myself that I wanted to get into Cambridge & Oxford University. It forced me to read a few pages of books like On Liberty by John Stuart Mill and A Theory of Justice by John Rawls.
These books were a little stuffy but they did leave me with two choice phrases:
Marketplace of Ideas - The broad idea here is that humans are in constant debate about the way to do things. New political systems, religious doctrines, nation states and economic regimes are just additions to the competitive landscape of human organisation. I just found out that this became a Supreme Court Issue in 1919 with the concept of the âfree trade in ideasâ within âthe competition of the marketâ.
Veil of Ignorance - Imagine if we were all not born and were debating how to divide up the spoils of society. If you did not know if you were going to be wealthy, poor, disabled or under democratic rule.
You donât need to read the book, just watch this 90-second YouTube clip.
(Unsurprisingly, I was rejected from Oxford & Cambridge. đ)
Algoholicsâ Anonymous đ»
Algorithm + Alchoholic = How I felt recovering from my Twitter addiction
My morning routine for the last 5 years has been to wake up, check Twitter, and get a coffee. I would forget to drink water or go to the bathroom.
That is an addictâs schedule.
Twitter changed my life in so many positive ways when I had fewer than 50,000 followers.
It connected me to my best friend, best investment, and the people who would help me get my visa to move to San Francisco.
Twitter started to wreck my mind in so many negative ways when I was not well.
I benefit from and suffer from Bipolar Type 2. Everyone has ups and downs but my ups give me the power to run 4:30 miles and my lows put me in bed for months. Twitter was a huge aggravator for my mind when I was in my up cycles. I tried to share that with people here:
When I finally went cold turkey on the platform, I had physical withdrawal symptoms. That led to me reflecting in the Mirror with this piece on Algoholism & The Metacurse:
When you begin the process of extricating an algorithm from your brain, it will cause you a lot of pain. The feeling of missing out was palpable and terrible.
Now, it is gone.
I am free from Dorseyâs dousings. His algorithmic influece on my mind is gone. Which is ironic, because he has now been fired for not submitting to Ethereum.
Even the founder of Twitter cannot resist the desire to bring ire. He is a victim of his own algorithm. It is truly remarkable to witness.
I predict Jack will be removed from Square for missing stablecoinsâ rise.
Can you feel the Algorhythm? đ„
Algorithm + Rhythm = My portmanteau (fused word) for how they feel
It recently hit me that engage and enrage are very similar words. We are all playing status games inside algorithmic superstructures that are written by Californian engineers who think Soylent is food and Allbirds is fashion.
What are we doing? These melts have absolutely no taste whatsoever.
We have absolutely no insight into how these algorithms are written or debated inside the companies that craft them:
Lust - Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Grindr, The League, Raya
Gluttony - DoorDash, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Postmates
Greed - AmEx, Robinhood, Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm
Sloth - Uber, Lyft, Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO, Google
Wrath - Twitter, Reddit
Envy - YouTube, Instagram
Pride - LinkedIn, Facebook
Each of these algorithms are crafted in private by a set of people we know nothing about. Even the public companies in this list are private about their algorithmsâ designs and designers.
They fatten us, anger us, divide us and hurt us in ways we can all feel. Each algorithm has a different rhythm. Can you feel it?
Ethereum Opens Up Algorithms Forever đ
When you publish code that is verifiable, auditable, and durable, humans can come together
The best thing about writing unstoppable code is that it cannot be stopped by anyone. Ethereum allows you to construct open standards, systems and algorithms that will run forever and never, ever be stopped. That is ridiculously powerful.
The art world cannot stop creators minting NFTs.
The Federal Reserve cannot stop stablecoins.
The SEC cannot stop token sales.
The CCP cannot stop miners.
The US cannot stop DAOs.
Ethereum bends humanity to its standards. Those standards are created by humans who appear briefly with a mission.
Here are some examples of standards:
đŠ ERC-20 (Ethereum Request for Comment Number 20) - The Token standard has created an entirely new world for finance and governance.
đŒ ERC-721 - The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) standard has opened up the cultural system to a totally new set of creators.
đ ENSÂ (Ethereum Name Service) - The naming protocol of Ethereum is laying the bedrock of an identity layer for every human, pseudonym, application, organisation, company, machine, contract and entity.
There are many dapps that are trying to be unstoppable too. They are effectively algorithms for humans to use as they see fit. Developers can use them without fear of censorship. Here are some that I have helped start so that they could never be stopped:
đŠ Uniswap - The trading venue for Ethereum began in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I helped to incubate and finance the first prototype before the Ethereum Foundation did. It popularised the idea of an Automated Market Maker (AMM) and Uncensorable Listing of tokens.
đ° Curve - I picked the name for this project, helped the team get early users, dealt with 3 security vulnerabilities, and saw the power of Automated Market Making again. It showed the world that stablecoin exchange is going to be the new foreign exchange.
đČ Fei - The mortgage engine of the metaverse was launched in in Little Italy, San Francisco. I helped the founding team come together, raise capital, and launch the system. It is now providing liquidity for Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs). DAO-to-DAO is quickly becoming the new B2B.
đ§ââïž Hashflow - I met the creator of Hashflow in a hot tub in SOMA, San Francisco. We became friends and I told him: âYou know, I think you would make a great protocol creator.â The term Hashflow was coined when I wrote a post about the flow of money inside protocols in 2018. Hashflow & Cashflow: The business models emerging on the interchain.
As these standardsâ and dappsâ influence on the world expands, we will get to see who will bend the knee and who cannot.
Ethereum is a social, political, cultural & financial protocol đ
The protocol is giving birth to global phenomenon of algorithmic experimentation
Political philosophers like Mill and Rawls would be protocol philosophers today. They would see what I see: international politics is being liquified algorithmic politics.
đ Digital Dictatorships
We are currently all serving under a man whoâs favourite book is Enderâs Game and who still likes to play Civilization late into the night to unwind.
Yes, I have been studying this man. He is the dictator of the algorithms.
The team at Meta want to subsume your eye sockets into sweaty goggles to serve you ever more adverts. This will help them buy their pile in Mill Valley and put their entitled little shits through private school. Want to fund that?
đł Digital Democracies
We distribute the physical world among more people over time. Broadly speaking, more people own something than 100 years ago. At the end of last year, I called this accelerating trend Community Capitalism:
I keep seeing this trend everywhere. Putting the power of digital capital and algorithmic governance in the hands of more people is a good thing. In fact, another fused word (portmanteau) just struck me:
Algo(rithm) + Governance = Algovernance
In The Marketplace of Algorithms, this is our dear leader, who supports from the bottom. His name is Vitalik Buterin. He has no power over you. He has power beneath you. He leads by example and continues to build for you. You can love him or hate him, but he is doing his very best.
Algo(rithm) + God = Algod
đ€ł Veil of Governance
Ethereum gives us the opportunity to build new systems that empower those who were previously subjugated. Veils of Ignorance are useless mental tricks played by crusty political philosophers who never shipped anything useful during their short lives. The real work is done in the messy world of governance. It will be done by Protocol Politicians:
gnye = good new yearâs eve đ
What are you going to do in 2022? Are you looking for an adventure?
My mission for 2022 is very clear: Make the best possible wallet for Apple & Ethereum. My heart bleeds six colours for Apple. My heart is filled with love for Ethereum. Getting the largest company on earth to understand this new protocol would be a huge win.
If you want to join the Safari Wallet community on this adventure, go here now: