Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, shares his thoughts on the five-year anniversary of Ethereum, challenges with ETH 2.0 and criticisms about DeFi. We discuss:
his thoughts and feelings ahead of Ethereum’s five-year anniversary
how to address the high gas fees on the Ethereum network
whether the complexity of Ethereum 2.0 creates a risk for the security of the network
whether staking will lead to a higher focus on ETH price and issues such as monetary policy
how he looks at the ETH price with its significance for security in Ethereum 2.0
how proof of stake systems can be more democratic
whether staking lends itself to the kind of securitization that looks similar to mortgage-backed securities
his concerns about DeFi
the most optimal way for DeFi projects to distribute their tokens
his thoughts about Bitcoin on Ethereum
inherent risks to Ethereum users connected to China’s Blockchain Service Network (BSN)
his views on DCEP, other CBDCs and Libra
the indictment of Ethereum Foundation staff member Virgil Griffith for allegedly helping North Korea to circumvent sanctions
how he plans to make the Ethereum Foundation more transparent
whether lack of diversity would impact the success of Ethereum in the long term
where he would like to see Ethereum in the next five years
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://www.crypto.com
Tezos: https://tquorum.com/

Episode links:
Vitalik Buterin: https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin
Ethereum: https://ethereum.org/en/
Vitalik’s blog: https://vitalik.ca

Median gas price: https://blockchair.com/ethereum/charts/median-gas-price
Average gas price: https://blockchair.com/ethereum/charts/average-gas-price

Solutions to gas price problem: https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-developers-consider-new-fee-model-as-gas-costs-climb

Reddit AMA with the Ethereum 2.0 Research team, including Vitalik: https://old.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/ho2zpt/ama_we_are_the_efs_eth_20_research_team_pt_4_10/

Paper on how DeFi lending could undermine security in a POS system: https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.00919

Vitalik tweet on yield farming: https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1278337657194655744

Abra settlement with SEC and CFTC: https://www.coindesk.com/sec-cftc-hit-crypto-app-abra-with-300k-in-penalties-over-illegal-swaps

Maya Zehavi’s comments on what this could mean for DeFi: https://twitter.com/mayazi/status/1282696180741414918

China’s BSN using public chains, including Ethereum: https://www.coindesk.com/chinas-blockchain-infrastructure-to-extend-global-reach-with-six-public-chains

Unchained interview about DCEP: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-china-aims-to-replace-cash-with-the-digital-yuan/

Charges against Virgil Griffith: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-arrest-united-states-citizen-assisting-north-korea

More on Virgil Griffith case: https://www.coindesk.com/usa-v-virgil-griffith-what-we-know-and-dont-in-the-bombshell-crypto-sanctions-case

Unchained interview with human rights activist Yeonmi Park on what life is like in North Korea: https://unchainedpodcast.com/yeonmi-park-on-why-doing-business-with-north-korea-is-like-buying-a-ticket-to-a-concentration-camp/

Unchained interview on why North Korea is interested in cryptocurrency: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-north-korea-is-interested-in-cryptocurrency/

Case against Steven Nerayoff: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/two-arrested-extortion-startup-cryptocurrency-company