In this episode, we’re joined by Marta Belcher, President and Chair of the Filecoin Foundation, to dive deep into the transformative potential of decentralized storage and its role in shaping the future of technology. Marta shares her insights on how Filecoin is enabling decentralized AI, preserving humanity’s most important data, and creating alternatives to big tech.
We explore the incentives and economics behind Filecoin, its critical use cases in journalism and human rights, and how it’s helping to build censorship-resistant systems. Marta also discusses the challenges and opportunities of governance in decentralized systems, the evolving regulatory landscape for crypto in the U.S., and the pivotal role of the market structure bill.
Chapters
00:00: The Decentralized AI Revolution
00:28: Filecoin’s Role in Decentralized AI
01:29: What is Filecoin?
02:14: The Importance of Decentralized Storage
03:29: Incentives and Economics of Filecoin
06:10: Filecoin for Journalism and Human Rights
08:25: Decentralized AI and Filecoin’s Infrastructure
13:10: Governance in Decentralized Systems
22:13: Regulation and Crypto’s Future in the US
29:02: Filecoin’s Growth and Use Cases
37:05: Filecoin’s Long-Term Vision
This week on The Defiant Podcast, we speak with Juan Benet, the founder of Protocol Labs and the inventor of the InterPlanetary File System.
Juan is also the creator of Filecoin, a storage network incentivized by crypto. Both of Juan’s ventures are hugely ambitious as they are in direct competition with the basic rails of the internet, with protocols such as HTTP and data giants like AWS. We begin our conversation with Juan explaining what led him to start IPFS and Filecoin.
Juan points out that all of the layers of the internet that run below the application layer, rely on trust. He believes that the promise of web3 is to be able to upgrade the whole stack with trust-minimized public verifiability primitives.
One of the key innovations of IPFS is in data addressing, which increases the efficiency of data fetching. But there’s more to IPFS than just this, and we talk about some of the other features of IPFS.
Juan says universities would be a good next step to expand the user base of Filecoin since they deal with large amounts of data and run intensive computations. We go on to discuss Filecoin's plans to encourage the adoption of its technology beyond web3 users.
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Railway is the first DeFi wallet to integrate the powerful RAILGUN privacy system built using zero-knowledge cryptography and available on Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon.
Stuart Levi, co-head of the Technology Transaction and Intellectual Property Group at Skadden Arps, and Marta Belcher, general counsel and Head of Policy at Protocol Labs, break down the legal issues surrounding NFTs specifically in the context of Yuga Labs’ recent purchase of CryptoPunks and Meebits IP rights. Show highlights:
the definitions and differences between copyrights, trademarks, and rights of publicity (name, image, likeness)
how NFT projects have evolved in the past 12-18 months and what that means for the rights of NFT holders
why NBA Top Shot’s licensing model is the best model for famous brands entering the NFT space
how the popularity of PFPs and the open-source ethos of crypto has led to confusion regarding the commercial rights of NFT holders
what you are getting when you buy an NFT (hint, it’s not copyright)
the misconceptions surrounding Yuga Labs’ acquisition of Crypto Punks and Meebits
why Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders most likely cannot use the Bored Ape Yacht Club brand or logo
what issues web3 projects face in getting NFT holders to accept terms and conditions
why web3 projects should protect their trademark
what a Creative Commons license is, and how it can be used in the NFT space
what sort of licenses exist in the NFT space
why secondary sales and transfers of NFTs pose such massive problems for copyright and trademark owners
how marketplaces are handling terms and conditions
what NFT projects can do to help the transfer of copyrights and trademarks
Announcing The Cryptopians Book Clubs!
On April 26th, I will be selling NFT tickets to five 90-minute virtual book clubs in which 22 people can discuss "The Cryptopians" with me and with each other — without worrying about spoilers! Two of the book clubs will also feature special guests.
The sale will go live on Tuesday, April 26, at 1pm ET/10am PT, and tickets will be $100 each. (The sale will be on Bitski, but the NFTs will not be visible until the sale goes live on the 26th): https://www.bitski.com/@laurashin/created
Here is the schedule:
Monday May 2, at 8pm ET/5pm PT with Laura Shin
Tuesday, May 3, at a time TBD with guests Christoph Jentzsch, Lefteris Karapetsas, and Griff Green
Thursday, May 5, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with Laura Shin
Monday, May 9, at 6pm CET/12pm ET/9am PT with guest Andrey Ternovskiy
Tuesday, May 10, at 9pm CET/3pm ET/12pm PT with Laura Shin
If you'd like to participate, be sure to mark your calendars for the sale time on April 26th. Hope to see you in one of the book clubs!
Thank you to our sponsors!
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021
Beefy Finance: https://beefy.finance
Cross River Bank: https://crossriver.com/crypto
Galaxis: https://galaxis.xyz/
Episode Link:
Marta Belcher
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martabelcher
https://twitter.com/MartaBelcher
Stuart Levi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartlevi/
Content on NFT IP/Legal Issues
Josh Durham on IP rights and NFTs
https://lexdao.substack.com/p/protecting-your-nft-personal-property-rights?s=r
Punk 6529 on CryptoPunks and Yuga Labs
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502595586960367617.html
Decrypt on stolen IP
https://decrypt.co/96637/nfts-have-a-problem-with-copyright-theft
Why IP rights are meaningless
https://twitter.com/nftlawguy/status/1509233036369416192
IP questions from DC Investor
https://twitter.com/iamDCinvestor/status/1509187304027529222
The Copyright NFT bible
https://medium.com/initc3org/copyright-vulnerabilities-in-nfts-317e02d8ae26
What Exactly Do You Get When You Buy an NFT? Three Lawyers Discuss
https://unchainedpodcast.com/what-exactly-do-you-get-when-you-buy-an-nft-three-lawyers-discuss/
Difference between copyright and trademark
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/trademark-vs-copyright
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At Non-Fungible Castle 2021, an NFT exhibition in Prague, four NFT experts discuss the legal implications of NFTs. Guests include Jonathan Victor, product/business development at Protocol Labs; Louis Baudoin, advisor at Monax; Diana Stern, product counsel at Stripe; and Shant Marootian COO at Fractional.art. Show highlights:
what users are receiving with the purchase of an NFT
how the terms of service for different NFT marketplaces change NFT rights
how on-chain storage and off-chain storage affects NFT ownership
what rights do creators need to mint an NFT
what recourse creators have if someone mints their art as an NFT and profits from it
whether NFT marketplaces should respect NFT royalty standards on resales
how NFT marketplaces could make it easier for creators to clarify licensing and royalty standards
whether NFTs should be regulated under existing laws and what gaps in regulation need to be filled
when an NFT should be considered a security
how different jurisdictions may work together to regulate NFTs
why money laundering is a problem for NFTs
how a DAO could go about owning an NFT or IP
what would happen to NFTs and DAOs if Ethereum were to suffer a hard fork again
why DAOs should stay compliant with traditional regulations
how to improve licensing and industry standards for NFTs
whether NFTs should be considered as financial objects
what would happen if a museum fractionalized the Mona Lisa
Thank you to our sponsors!
Avado: ava.do
Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021
Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ
Episode Links:
Non-Fungible Castle 2021
Website: https://www.nfcastle.com/
Conference recordings: https://www.nfcastle.com/conference
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nf_castle
Tweet thread of Laura’s experience at NFCastle 2021:
https://twitter.com/laurashin/status/1449731658928824320
Jonathan Victor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-victor-69a44255
Louis Baudoin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lou-baudoin-5b847a151/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MerkleData
Diana Stern
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianajstern
Shant Marootian
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smarooti/
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This week we’re talking about NFTs — that’s right, non-fungible tokens and we’re joined by Mikeal Rogers, who’s leading all things InterPlanetary Linked Data at Protocol Labs. We go down the NFT rabbit hole on a very technical level and we come out the other side with clarity and a compelling use of NFTs.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
Mikeal Rogers – GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Non-fungible token
NFTs on SNL
NFTs, explained
Palm, A New NFT Ecosystem and Studio for Creators
Filecoin - A decentralized storage network for humanity’s most important information
Heart Shaped Me from Carly Chaikin
NFT.storage
Magic Link
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
The internet, believe it or not, was just the beginning. Yes, it spawned an incredible number of uses (some unexpected), from marketplaces and commerce to publishing and social networks... but that’s all been built with old models of funding and coordination. Now, as we enter a new phase of blockchain-enabled innovation -- decentralized, distributed, crowdfunded -- we’re finally bringing capitalism to open source: Smart people can come together in new ways, to build new things.
In this brief discussion from a16z Summit November 2017, founder and CEO at Protocol Labs Juan Benet and founder and CEO of Polychain Capital Olaf-Carlson Wee -- both of whom have appeared on the a16z Podcast for more in-depth conversations -- chat with general partner Chris Dixon to summarize the big picture on crypto, going beyond the buzz around ICOs to the golden age of protocols.
–––
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.
Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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with Juan Benet and Chris Dixon
The story of how innovation happens is a long one — from government funding early basic research, to the heyday of corporate R&D like Bell Labs, to startups as experiments before product-market fit. Through all that, we’ve ended up with “unprecedented superpowers” distributed through the internet, and people building on top of it. Yet there’s still a huge lag in going from brilliant ideas in the form of research papers to an application that’s actually working and in people’s hands, observes computer scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur (founder and CEO of Protocol Labs) Juan Benet.
Benet initially designed the peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol IPFS or “InterPlanetary File System” to help build a more robust, distributed, open web. But those ideas were around for a while — they just weren’t implemented in a way that people could easily use. The same was true for early computing revolutions as well… until Apple came along and vertically integrated from research to production, bringing together different groups of people (design, hardware, etc.) to make something amazing that everyone could use, wanted to use.
What if open source, online networks — enabled by blockchain and cryptocurrencies — could do something similar? [Full disclosure: we’re investors in the ‘Filecoin SAFT’ security mentioned in this podcast, but are not otherwise affiliated with Protocol Labs or Filecoin.] This episode of the a16z Podcast, hosted by general partner Chris Dixon, explores all of the above and more with Benet, going beyond the buzz around just “ICOs”. What’s the big picture?
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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On Friday, June 2, 2017 – GitHub announced the details of their Open Source Survey – an open data set on the open source community for researchers and the curious. Frannie Zlotnick, Nadia Eghbal, and Mikeal Rogers joined the show to talk through the backstory and key insights of this open data project which sheds light on the broader open source community’s attitudes, experiences, and backgrounds of those who use, build, and maintain open source software.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
Nadia Eghbal – GitHub, X
Frannie Zlotnick – GitHub
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Mikeal Rogers – GitHub, X
Show Notes:
opensourcesurvey.org
github/open-source-survey
GitHub Blog: Announcing an open data set on the open source community
Spotlight #10: How China Does Node with Shiya Luo at Node.js Interactive 2016
Oh, and here’s that Wired article Mikeal mentioned
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Juan Benet joined the show to talk about IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol to make the web faster, safer, and more open — addressed by content and identities. We talked about what it is, how it works, how it can be used, and how it just might save the future of the web.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
Juan Benet – Website, GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
IPFS is a new peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol.
IPFS Alpha Demo - YouTube
Ralph Merkle’s Home Page
EverythingStays - Immutable & Distributed NodeJS Modules With IPFS
Self-certifying File System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Conflict-free replicated data type - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OpenBazaar
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Mikeal Rogers joined the show to talk about io.js, a friendly fork of Node.js with an open governance model. We discussed why the io.js fork exists, why they choose open governance, the roadmap and future of io.js, supporting ES6, burnout while working in open source, and the steps you can take to get involved with the future of io.js and Node.js.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
Mikeal Rogers – GitHub, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Mikeal Rogers on Github
io.js - JavaScript I/O
io.js - ES6 on io.js
iojs/roadmap
indutny (Fedor Indutny)
Before the Drama | hueniverse
Node Forward
Node Conf
nodeschool.io
Oakland.js
Node Conf One-Shot
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!