by Dick Lucas and the Boys
On Hyde and California in San Francisco we talk SF culture, the short fuse in the court of public opinion, and how “being gay isn’t all roses and penises.”
Watch on YouTube, subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, or wherever podcasts are available. Support the show on Patreon. Follow on Instagram and Twitter for pictures of the guests and show updates.
Produced by Chris Derr and James Newhouse. Music by Chris Hoogewerff.
Nearly a decade ago when it was difficult for small sites to handle large amounts of traffic, especially from DDoS attacks, I remember stumbling on Cloudflare‘s first promotional video. At the time it seemed like magic. No hardware or software configuration needed, and you could ensure your site would stay up using Cloudflare’s infrastructure. Today, they are valued at over three billion dollars and are gearing up for an IPO.
I’ve talked about Cloudflare for some time now and championed their free to use privacy first DNS service and their suite of products and experimentation that are making the internet a better place. But for a company that powers nearly 10 percent of all internet requests you would be hard pressed to find them mentioned next to the cloud services giants of the world like Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and Google- that is about to change. With reports Cloudflare is going to IPO at over a 3 billion dollar valuation, it’s prediction time:
Microsoft capitalized on software, Google on the internet, Apple on mobile, and Cloudflare will capitalize on cloud services. Unlike the other cloud services providers in the space who have added cloud services to their offerings, Cloudflare has been doing it from the beginning- it’s in their DNA. I’m always bullish on companies that are built to take advantage of a specific booming sector from the beginning- avoiding the pitfalls that come with trying to reorient their business to handle it. Let’s see what happens.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, recently made public statements (shown below) voicing his support for Bitcoin while showing his lack of support for other cryptocurrencies. Given Jack is CEO of two publicly traded companies with a combined value of over $50b, it is no small thing for the cryptocurrency space that he is making these statements. I think he is a very intelligent and thoughtful person and I encourage you to listen to him on The Ringer with Bill Simmons or Joe Rogan. It is a great look inside the mind of someone who controls one of the most important public platforms. However, I think he is wrong to think that Bitcoin is the end all be all. Bitcoin as the one and only winner in the space is much more likely if all cryptocurrency amounts to is an internet based currency. But cryptocurrency is more than that and we are increasingly seeing that reality with projects like MakerDAO and Augur. Which leads us to my prediction.
Prediction: Before 2030 Square or Twitter will have integration with a cryptocurrency besides Bitcoin. This could be, but is not limited to, the ability to transact with a cryptocurrency besides Bitcoin in Square’s Cash App or Square’s POS terminal. Currently the only cryptocurrency integration in Square’s products is the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin in Cash App. Or in the case of Twitter it may become possible to easily send cryptocurrency directly to another account. In fact, let’s make that another prediction.
Prediction: Before 2030 Twitter will allow users to transact in at least one cryptocurrency. This could be, but is not limited to, tipping accounts or crowdfunding.
I like falsifiable predictions because it forces one to take a stand rather than hide behind vagueness or platitudes. Not only does it make it easy to track how accurate your worldview is over time allowing you to learn. But it also gives an extremely potent dose to the reader of what your worldview actually is. I wish more journalists, writers, thinkers- hell everyone- did this. Take a stand people, no gradient.
That’s 4 for 15 thus far shooter, for a batting average of .250.
In Android P, the UI to indicate battery saver mode will be replaced with something less garish.
Google will leave the low end Android device market to other manufacturers.
In 2019 Google built Android devices will be the most prevalent in developed nations.
Google will release the Pixel phone through all major US carriers in 2018.
Google will release an Android Wear watch in 2018.
The one year adoption rate for Android Oreo will be 9% (+/- 2.5%).
Google will release a Pixel device with Google designed silicon in 2019.
Google will release the first Pixel phone in 2017.
Was riffing with some brothers on Tesla and some predictions came out of it. We’ll check back on this in one in a few years.
Pat Daly: Before 2025 Tesla will be bought, likely out of bankruptcy or extreme financial duress, for less than their current market price of $53 billion.
“A lot of their growth that’s priced in is predicated on their ability to deliver an affordable, mass market, fully electric vehicle and they haven’t been able to do that.”
Tim Ferris: Before 2030 Tesla will either be bankrupt or worth $300 billion as an independent company.
“Either it’s going to the moon or it’s finished, there is no middle ground.”
Me: Before 2030 Tesla will be worth $100 billion as an independent company.
– Elon Musk has an air about him, he will always be able to raise money.
– Their vehicles offer an unparalleled experience. Take a test drive, use the app, and tell me another automaker comes even close.
– Tesla is more than just an automaker- their innovations in solar roofing and energy storage will prove to be very successful.
Sawyer Billings: Before 2030 Tesla will be worth $100 billion as an independent company. Automobiles will account for less than 25% of revenue.
Side prediction: By 2025 the minimalist dashboard (i.e. no buttons, knobs or dials) with a single display that operates the entire vehicle will be the norm across all major automakers new vehicles.
Greg Raiz: Before 2030 Tesla will be worth $500 billion as an independent company.
Beginning January 5 Ethereum Classic was the victim of a 51% attack allowing the malicious party to successfully double spend tokens to exploit one exchange. I cover a timeline of the events, some learnings, and end with applicable excerpts from the original Bitcoin white paper.
On January 6, the Ethereum Classic organization contradicted rumors of an attack on ETC:
Several hours later they sent a warning to mining pools and exchanges urging extra precaution:
After the initial warning, in cooperation with SlowMist, they confirmed the attack:
The next day on January 7, Coinbase publicly confirmed the attack as well providing details on the deep chain reorgs of ETC:
The attack is acknowledged by Gate.io, one of the exchanges compromised in the attack. They clearly state they will cover the losses for their users:
Another targeted exchange that had thwarted the attack, acknowledged what had happened as well:
Haseeb Qureshi of MetaStable Capital released an excellent description of 51% attacks. I highly suggest you read it:
Finally, the organization that tipped Ethereum Classic off to the attack, released their final report:
Update: The attacker has returned the funds to Gate.io. You can see the transaction here. We don’t know the motivations for returning the ETC. My guess is either the attacker was afraid of getting caught or they simply wanted to expose vulnerabilities to help prevent double spend attacks in the future.
It was amazing to see a cryptocurrency’s leadership, exchanges, mining pools, and researchers come together to address this issue. Typical security breaches offer little information to the public, but the open nature of blockchain encourages immediate assessments of attacks.
Now, onto the learnings:
A 51% attack is something that every Proof Of Work consensus algorithm is vulnerable to. Including Bitcoin, as Satoshi Nakamoto discussed in the Bitcoin white paper released in 2008.
Satoshi discusses how the incentive structure of Bitcoin encourages those with a majority amount of computing power to act honestly:
If a greedy attacker is able to assemble more CPU power than all the honest nodes, he would have to choose between using it to defraud people by stealing back his payments, or using it to generate new coins. He ought to find it more profitable to play by the rules, such rules that favour him with more new coins than everyone else combined, than to undermine the system and the validity of his own wealth.
Satoshi goes on to explain the limits of a 51% attack:
We consider the scenario of an attacker trying to generate an alternate chain faster than the honest chain. Even if this is accomplished, it does not throw the system open to arbitrary changes, such as creating value out of thin air or taking money that never belonged to the attacker. Nodes are not going to accept an invalid transaction as payment, and honest nodes will never accept a block containing them. An attacker can only try to change one of his own transactions to take back money he recently spent.
51% attacks will always be a reality in any Proof of Work consensus mechanism. The question always will be whether the cost of carrying out an attack is prohibitively expensive and is there enough of an incentive to keep would be attackers honest.
Though the cost prohibition and incentive structure begin to break down when the attacker does not care about the health of a cryptocurrency’s network, the value of the token, and only wishes to harm others who rely on it. As our reliance increases on a given cryptocurrency, an attack like that increasingly makes more and more sense. It’s a brave new world.
In 2018 I made a concerted effort to focus my attention on the slow moving trends behind the constant events of the news cycle. That’s where you stay the most informed. The Economist, Peter Zeihan, and Benedict Evans, among others, helped me with this. Below I cover things that were top of mind for me in 2018, which I think will help you put our world in perspective.
