A common meme in the cryptocurrency space is that it has the potential to help people in countries where only the rich and powerful access to global financial markets. But ten years after the Bitcoin white paper was released, just how many “unbanked” people has cryptocurrency helped? Some see crypto as a tool to empower vulnerable populations in places where hyperinflation and strict capital controls make day-to-day survival a nearly impossible challenge. We’re joined by Jill Carlson. Previously at Chain and Tezos, Jill has been writing about the cryptocurrency industry for several years. In 2016 she published a paper titled “Cryptocurrency and Capital Controls” which observes the use of Bitcoin in Argentina. Recently, she co-founded the Open Money Initiative, a research organization which looks into how people use money in closed economies. Their initial focus is on Venezuela where years of economic downturn and strict currency controls have created a humanitarian crisis which has political repercussions well beyond the country’s borders. Topics covered in this episode: Jill’s beginning working at Goldman Sachs in the Latin America market Her journey from trading bonds to entering crypto space working at Chain A brief history of Venezuela leading up to the current situation What it’s like to experience hyperinflation The Open Money Initiative and the organization’s goals How cryptocurrency and specifically Bitcoin is used in Venezuela The political motivations behind the Open Money Initiative The story behind Venezuela’s Petro currency Jill’s podcast with Meltem Demirors, What Grinds my Gears Episode links: Jill Carlson’s website Open Money Initiative Petronomicon (blog post) Crypto Is Not An Asset Class (blog post) What Grinds my Gears podcast Jill Carlson on Medium Jill Carlson on Twitter Sponsors: Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/288

We were joined by Mark S. Miller, Chief Scientist at Agoric. Mark is a computer scientist who has done ground-breaking work on many topics relevant to blockchain and smart contracts going back decades. We discussed his visionary 1988 Agoric papers, which explored how markets could be applied to the world of software. We also covered how his view of smart contracts, which focused on secure bilateral agreements complements and converges with blockchain. Finally, we covered his new company Agoric and their conceptualization of higher order smart contracts. Topics covered in this episode: Mark's effort to prevent the government from suppressing the discovery of public key cryptography in the 1970s The legendary project Xanadu and its attempt to create censorship-resistant web publishing Mark's Agoric papers and the vision of markets for computation Why AI hasn't changed the shortcomings of central planning The difference between his view of smart contracts and Nick Szabo's Their decade-spanning work on making JavaScript the best language for smart contracts Agoric's work on higher order smart contracting Episode links: The Agoric Papers Computer Security as the Future of Law - YouTube Capability-based Financial Instruments (2000) Distributed Electronic Rights in JavaScript – Google AI Agoric at SF Cryptocurrency Devs - Programming Secure Smart Contracts - YouTube The Duality of Smart Contracts and Electronic Rights by Dean Tribble at Web3 Summit 2018 - YouTube Sponsors: Azure: Deploy enterprise-ready consortium blockchain networks that scale in just a few clicks - http://aka.ms/epicenter Cosmos: Join the most interoperable ecosystem of connected blockchains - http://cosmos.network/epicenter This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sunny Aggarwal. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/286