# DeCom - Building the Infrastructure for Decentralized Commerce

- Channel: [ETHBerlin](https://streameth.org/ethberlin)
- Date: 2025-06-20
- Duration: 22:31
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/6855542d90bd41297be9107c

## Description

The cypherpunk dream wasn't just permissionless finance—it was freedom to conduct peer-to-peer commerce without gatekeepers. Silk Road offered the first glimpse of this world before its collapse shut down that vision along with the marketplace. Meanwhile, Web2 platforms built trillion-dollar empires by intermediating commerce, extracting 20-30% while controlling who can participate. My research fellowship at the Ethereum Foundation examines why blockchain has revolutionized finance but failed to disrupt commerce.