Josh Stark I Atoms, Institutions, Blockchains I Ethereum Foundation I Pragma Denver 2024

Wed, Oct 2, 2024, 12:00 AM

In this thought-provoking keynote at Pragma Denver 2024, Josh Stark of the Ethereum Foundation explores a bold philosophical framework for understanding blockchains, not just as decentralized technologies—but as a new source of social infrastructure alongside atoms and institutions. By introducing the concept of "hardness"—a unifying property that allows us to build trust and reliability into civilization—Josh connects the dots between Bitcoin, Ethereum, legal systems, and even gold. Learn why blockchains are both trustless and trustworthy, what they share with courts and rocks, and why this new mental model is crucial to unlocking their potential for global coordination, finance, and beyond. 00:00 Welcome & intro from Pragma Denver 00:56 Josh Stark’s role at Ethereum Foundation 02:03 Explaining crypto’s big picture is hard 03:06 Blockchains must be legible, not just reliable 04:18 Claude Shannon and the invention of “information” 06:26 Realizing information as a universal concept 07:31 The contradiction of trustless vs trustworthy 08:35 Comparing blockchains and institutions 10:10 What do rocks, blockchains, and courts share? 11:18 Introducing “hardness” as a unifying framework 12:23 Atoms, institutions, blockchains as building materials 13:28 Hardness helps explain the purpose of blockchains 14:00 Defining “hardness” and “casts” 15:27 Casts: reliable future states secured by hardness 16:54 Why casts need hardness to be trustworthy 18:24 Hardness from atoms, institutions, and blockchains 18:56 Comparing the strengths of each source 19:25 Atom-based hardness: strengths and limits 21:24 When casts break and need to be remade 22:24 Institutional hardness and its wide applications 23:54 Strengths and flaws of institutional power 24:53 Blockchain hardness: a new digital primitive 25:23 Why blockchains are trustless yet trustworthy 26:22 Competing vs novel uses of blockchain hardness 27:22 A broader mission beyond finance 28:35 Smart contracts as tools to change the rules 29:07 Final thoughts: “Only what can change can continue” _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *Pragma Denver* Pragma Denver 2024 took place at The Arch in Denver on February 28, 2024, and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Denver playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4lJw0vruQ4prh8iMDUk89i&si=ayJ64Sgcqew1fdFk ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Ever since we first introduced our new event series, Pragma, in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Josh Stark* X: https://x.com/0xstark ✅ *Follow Ethereum Foundation* X: https://x.com/ethereum ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _