:: by day @synapsefi :: by heart @manosunidas :: by luck bitcoin :: relayzero.com :: Dec 31, 2017 10, 9, 8…My Top 10 List for 2018 Luck, patience, obsessive reading, and willingness to ask for help when I did not understand allowed for 2017 to be one of the most amazing year of my life. While it’s easy to dream of being a 2011’er in bitcoin or ask what if I didn’t sell my ether at $20, it was hard to realize that I have been incredibly lucky . While I want to believe that the cryptocurrency community and early adopters likely have disproportionally higher IQ’s than the broader human race, I think a bell curve likely would prove me wrong. Thankfully, the community is full of teachers and forever students. Top 10 Wish [To Do] List In honor of those teachers + students, here is my Top 10 wish list of what I want to learn more about and accomplish in 2018: :: 10 :: Finish “Mastering Bitcoin .“ I know.
I know.
I’ve treated Andreas M. Antonopoulos ’ book more like an encyclopedia to look up answers to my questions as they arise rather than reading it from cover to conclusion. 2018 is the year to make it happen. :: 9 :: Catch up with development on Ethereum Classic. I was an ETC groupie post-fork. I want to learn more about ETC development and who is building on top of ETC. Time to catch up. :: 8 :: Actually hold Crypto-Thanksgiving.
Okay, okay. This one is more about connecting the dots and less about Thanksgiving. I enjoy meeting new people and connecting them with people they should know. Food is a good way to make it happen.
:: 7:: Meet everyone in this picture. Speaking of food…I am always trying to learn more about the early days of bitcoin and hear everyone’s backstory. I am interested in meeting as many of these people as possible and learning about what they are doing today. OG’s :: 6 :: Support more crypto-artists. Thanks to Andreas Brekken I have been introduced to a lot of cryptocurrency-related art.
Our apartment was a shipping container for crypto-related art for the better part of 2017. For me, cryptograffiti ’s piece with repurposed credit cards of Dorian is still one of my favorite. Peter’s work is definitely my favorite art that I’d also put on my wall. That being said, I do love luis buenaventura ’s CryptoPop art. May be one day I’ll have some art worthy of Andreas’ (impending) art gallery.
Repurposed credit cards and adhesive on wood 38.6 cm x 31 cm (15.2 in x 12.2 in) cryptograffiti.com :: 5 :: Play more with P2P platforms.
I have been following @ brianchoffman and Open Bazaar for a hot minute. Played around with Blockstack , as well. I want to dig in more. :: 4 :: Rewatch Bram Cohen ’s talk on Chia’s “Proof of Space” I really want to learn more about Chia and talk to enough people that are smarter to me to form an opinion on Proof of Space [and Time] ( whitepaper ) as an alternative (or complementary) protocol to Proof of Work. Check out the talk here (starts around the 20 minute mark). :: 3 :: Learn not to be afraid of Casper. Or, continue being afraid of Ethereum’s impending Casper upgrade (read: hard fork to implement proof of stake).
I’ll be honest. I love scary movies but this ghost does not feel right.
More reading and time will tell. Here is an article with a few links to read and a decent FAQ , too. :: 2 :: Follow the unenumerated. See basically all of Nick Szabo’s life work on his blog ( Unenumerated ). Szabo is easily my favorite teacher.
He has been living a future world we were all too dense to see for decades. Having invented smart contracts in 1996 ( link ), created Bit gold (a predecessor to bitcoin) in 1998, and basically led every other important development in the space before cryptocurrencies became an “asset class,” Szabo is the beginning and the end of the book on cryptocurrencies. I just need a download button. His blog is the next best option. I was lucky enough to sit almost next to Nick at this Blockstack conference.
We had some interesting conversations on contracts and ambiguity found in law (e.g.
“security” analysis of tokens). This was very great given we both went to law school and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to explain to developers you generally cannot unilaterally push updates to contracts or laws. :: 1 :: Spread the word. Yea, I know.
2017 seemed to be there year everyone finally heard about bitcoin and alternatives to bitcoin, some of which seem to be worth learning more about (see above). However, I think most of the 2017 conversation has focused on price (“To the Moon!”) and the knowledge it took to catch the pump (read: insider). While this can be exciting, it is also short lived and repetitive. In 2018, I want to spread the word. Continue teaching others.
Meet as many people in the space as possible. This includes those fresh off the FIAT boat. Have questions? I’m free-ish. That’s it. What did I miss? Let me know @lwsnbaker. Lawson Baker is general counsel at SynapseFI , board chairman of Manos Unidas International , and founder of Relayzero . Contact me at lawson@relayzero.
com. .
