We need consensus to tackle the looming problems of climate change and economic inequality. Digital tokens and blockchain technology could help us do just that. In this episode, we speak with Andrea Baronchelli, an Associate Professor of Mathematics at City, University of London. We ask him about his research on the token economy and how decentralized digital platforms will shape our future.
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With the development of peer-to-peer networks like blockchain and Holochain, we are witnessing the birth of a new generation of the internet. There are myriad applications of this technology to revolutionize our data management, supply chains, social interactions, and economic systems. But, as with any technology, we have to be intentional in its design and application to avoid unwanted biases and outcomes. Shermin Voshmgir, founder of Token Kitchen and author of Token Economy, is committed to making this technology accessible to users without tech backgrounds, so we can all participate in deciding how it’s used.
Holochain is a distributed digital ledger. Like Blockchain, it allows transactions to be recorded securely without a centralized database. Unlike Blockchain, its design is scalable, without a limitation on the number of transactions that can occur at a time. In this episode, we’re speaking with Arthur Brock, the Chief Architect of Holochain, about how he sees this new technology unlocking our collective intelligence as human beings and leading us to a more egalitarian and sustainable society.
Rachel Cook, founder of Seeds, is the architect of a new economy. The way Rachel sees it, there’s more than enough money in the world to meet every human being’s needs. But in our current monetary system, the flow of that money is carefully controlled by gatekeepers like banks and investors. Using the power of cryptocurrency, Rachel’s opening new pathways for giving, allowing wealth to flow more easily from person to person. Once the barriers blocking access to wealth are broken down, suddenly anything seems possible.
How can we tackle both climate change and income inequality? Stephen DeMeulenaere thinks economic redesign through complimentary currencies could be the answer. Complimentary currencies introduce new paths of exchange that can support community resilience, encourage sustainable behavior, and decentralize wealth. Stephen explains why a diversity of currencies–some as complex as Bitcoin, others as simple as a babysitting circle–is essential for a resilient and equitable future.
