Control as Liability

The three fundamental pillars of this argument are,

1. Blockchains are differentiated from traditional finance through their strong property rights – the inalienable right to store and transmit value.


2. Centralization provides a means by which powerful entities can influence the outcomes of blockchains.


3. The value stored in a property rights system is direc

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So the real argument for crypto, and more broadly decentralization, is not that centralized systems are broken. Or that the current business models of the internet are not working. Because, in fact, they are for most consumers and many tens of thousands of creators. It’s that they are so functional that only a radical redistribution of control and ... See more

Concentrated ownership can lead to concentrated governance power. If venture capitalists control crypto networks they are likely to shift from minimal to maximal rent extraction over time, thereby undermining cooperative principles and ecosystem interests.

Some claim web3 is about ownership, but it is more appropriate to say that web3 is about wealth. Very little in the web3 advocacy space addresses how it will match Web 1.0 and 2.0’s successes in terms of discoverability and sharing. It offers little by way of guarantee that it will protect its users' digital rights, in some cases making them much w... See more

Decentralized protocols would make very interesting base layers and I’m particularly excited about web3 in the context of identity. Does crypto solve the problem of suboptimal defaults? Well, that’s a different question and I’m honestly not sure. Just because you have decentralized base layers doesn’t mean you won’t see centralization, aggregation ... See more

In web3, the promise is that a user can retain ownership and control over their data. The dominant narrative goes: “The gatekeepers of web2 have taken your data and used it against you! Now it’s time to fight back!” Such argument from web3 enthusiasts is met with A LOT of resistance as data effectively becomes a currency that can be leveraged by a ... See more