The expectation has become widespread that blockchains will end up underpinning major societal infrastructures. The narrative in the blockchain space is that networks are decentralized and trustless and thus regulation should not apply to networks directly. Legal scholar Angela C. Walch has been questioning terms like decentralization and trustlessness and argues that blockchains shift the need for trust rather than remove it. Her controversial ideas include that key developers of open-source project should be treated as fiduciaries and held accountable for the consequences of their work. Angela Walch is a professor of law at St Mary University School of Law and a Research Fellow at the Center for Blockchain at UCL. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and has been doing academic work on legal issues surrounding public blockchains since 2013. Topics covered in this episode: How she became interested in Bitcoin and issues around the narratives of decentralization and trustlessness How her work has been received in the blockchain space The problematic lack of a clear definition of terms like trustless, immutable and decentralized Why blockchains should be looked at as trust-shifting, not trustless The definition and role of fiduciaries in society Why blockchain developers could be considered fiduciaries The practical implications and difficulties of regulating blockchain developers as fiduciaries How the SEC’s stance on blockchains connects with the question of developers being fiduciaries Her personal views on the value and promise of blockchain tech Episode links: Angela Walch Angela C. Walch - St. Mary's Law Angela Walch – Medium In Code(rs) We Trust: Software Developers as Fiduciaries in Public Blockchains The Path of the Blockchain Lexicon (and the Law) Open-Source Operational Risk: Should Public Blockchains Serve as Financial Market Infrastructures? Coin-Operated Capitalism paper Journal of Financial Technology Introducing: The Journal of Financial Technology – Angela Walch – Medium Thank you to our sponsors for their support: Simplify your hiring process & access the best blockchain talent . Get a $1,000 credit on your first hire at toptal.com/epicenter. Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks. More at aka.ms/epicenter. This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/253

The rise of populism and increasing inequality have led to widespread questioning of democracy and capitalism. Glen Weyl, a political economist and Principal Researcher at Microsoft, along with legal scholar Eric Posner, published a book called ‘Radical Markets’. Radical Markets explores how restructuring property rights and voting systems could lead to more efficient markets and a more just society. Glen joined us to discuss the book and why the blockchain space is a fertile testbed to explore these radical new ideas. Topics covered in this episode: Why blockchain is on a trajectory to exacerbate inequality and fail at improving the world Why property should be seen as a monopolistic institution How property rights create inefficient markets The radical idea of transforming property rights via a Common Ownership Self-Assessed Tax (COST) How the one-person-one-vote system contributed to the crisis of democracy How quadratic voting works and leads to fairer outcomes Whether or not buying of votes should be allowed in QV His work with Vitalik and radical markets experiments in blockchain Episode links: Radical Markets Glen Weyl Website Property is Only Another Name for Monopoly (2017) On Radical Markets - Vitalik Buterin Book Review Liberation Through Radical Decentralization – Post by Vitalik & Glen This economist wants to abolish private property using blockchain | Wired Thank you to our sponsors for their support: Simplify your hiring process & access the best blockchain talent . Get a $1,000 credit on your first hire at toptal.com/epicenter. This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/251