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

- Channel: [ETHGlobal](https://streameth.org/ethglobal)
- Date: 2024-10-09
- Duration: 29:14
- Topics: Josh Stark, Ethereum Foundation, Pragma Denver, blockchain philosophy, social infrastructure, atoms institutions blockchains, digital hardness, decentralized trust, cryptoeconomics, cast definition, smart contracts, Claude Shannon, information theory, Satoshi Nakamoto, Ethereum, Bitcoin, digital primitives, crypto future, programmable trust, infinite games, global coordination, institutions vs blockchains, trustless trust, civilizational design, DeFi, ENS, NFTs
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-zI07mqNdxzA
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI07mqNdxzA

## Description

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”

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🇺🇸 *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. 

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X: https://x.com/0xstark

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X: https://x.com/ethereum

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