We are joined by Humayun Sheikh and Toby Simpson, founders of the Fetch.ai project. Humayun Sheikh is well known as the first investor in DeepMind, one of the leading AI companies in the world. This ambitious project seeks to create a self-learning blockchain network that fosters economic activity/combinations between off-chain AI agents. The fetch blockchain network will allow an AI agent, such as a delivery robot, to autonomously discover economic partners that would find its services and data valuable. Towards this goal, Fetch.ai claims to have found solutions to designing a useful proof of work system and building a scalable block chain. Topics covered in this episode: Humayun and Toby’s background at Deep Mind Toby’s background in the videogames industry building virtual worlds The vision behind the Fetch.ai project On solutions to useful PoW, salability and the complexity of the project Timelines and what to expect from Fetch Episode links: Fetch.ai white paper Fetch.ai video Documentary from DeepMind on AlphaGo Mike Hearn autonomous agents and Bitcoin talk This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/233

With the advent of mature quantum technologies, many of the critical cryptographic protocols which secure the Internet, financial transactions and even military secrets may become susceptible to new attack vectors. For instance, while it may take a computer millions of years to decipher a public key’s corresponding private key, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer might achieve this in a reasonable amount of time. With this reality looming over us, many in the blockchain space worry that someone with access to a quantum computer might one day have the ability to steal their hard-earned crypto. We’re joined by Ajay Prakash and Gavin Brennen, founders of the Qubit Protocol, a decentralized blockchain-enabled governance protocol that is meant to select and fund the best startups in the quantum world. As a co-author of the recent paper “Quantum attacks on Bitcoin, and how to protect against them,” Gavin walks us through the primary threats that quantum computing poses on Bitcoin. Among the major vulnerabilities are hashing functions and Elliptic Curve algorithms used for digital signatures, both fundamental components of Bitcoin, as well as many other blockchain protocols. Topics covered in this episode: What are quantum technologies and how they differ from the existing paradigm The areas and industries which are to benefit most from quantum computing A refresher on hashing algorithms as one-way functions What a quantum attack on Bitcoin mining might look like How Elliptic Curve digital signature algorithms work and how public and private keys are generated The three types of attacks a quantum computer could perform digital signatures The expected timelines for these attacks to be viable The potential countermeasures which could circumvent quantum attacks on Bitcoin The Qubit Protocol as a DAO to fund quantum technology startups and the challenges of investing in the quantum space The project’s roadmap and upcoming ICO Episode links: Qubit Protocol Quantum attacks on Bitcoin, and how to protect against them Quantum Computers Pose Imminent Threat to Bitcoin Security - MIT Technology Review" Shor's algorithm - Wikipedia Elliptic-curve cryptography - Wikipedia This episode is hosted by Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/231