The cryptocurrency ecosystem is increasingly divided into different camps. There are those betting and working on the eventual mainstream success of Bitcoin. And there are those who take elements of Bitcoin’s technology and repurpose them to improve existing systems. Hyperledger is one of the projects firmly in the latter camp. They are envisioning a world where innumerable interoperable ledgers are operated by different parties. Hyperledger is their tool for the creation and management of these ledgers. CEO Dan O’Prey and CTO joined us for a discussion of the project, underlying technology and their view of where the cryptocurrency ecosystem is going. Topics covered in this episode: Why Hyperledger is trying so solve a fundamentally different problem than Bitcoin How networks consisting of known parties can have massive performance and scalability advantages over anonymous networks Why Hyperledger doesn’t have or need its own currency How Hyperledger can vary the degree of decentralization and security depending on use-case Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) Episode links: Hyperledger Meher Roy’s Internet of Money Whitepaper Practical Bynzantine Fault Tolerance This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/073

Creating a new token and selling it to fund the development of software has become a preferred way of fundraising for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs. It’s a tempting tool, allowing startups to avoid traditional investors, build a community and allow anyone anywhere to own a stake in the project. For participants, there is the promise of big financial upside and being part of novel undertakings. Lisa Cheng, whose consulting firm Vanbex has accompanied many crowdsales, joined us for a discussion of this revolutionary way to fund and monetize open source software. Topics covered in this episode: Why crowdfunding and cryptocurrency are a natural fit A brief history of crowdsales in the cryptocurrency space US securities law and the questionable legality of token sales The value of writing a solid white paper before launching a sale Elements of a successful coin launch The role of companies like Swarm and Koinify in conducting crowdsales Episode links: An Interview with Lisa Cheng Tokenizing the User Experience Token Sales and the US Securities Law David Johnston DApps Whitepaper Vanbex Group This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/071