Surprise AMA 10/06/2019

Introduction

Charles Hoskinson introduces himself and talks about his recent travels.

• Charles Hoskinson is broadcasting live from Warmsley, Colorado.

• He has been traveling to various places such as Wyoming, Boston, Scotland, Bulgaria, Prague and Vancouver for business purposes.

• He attended the DTC Summit in Vancouver.

AMA Session

Charles Hoskinson addresses rumors about delays in the Chordata project and provides updates on Cardano's progress.

Updates on Cardano's Progress

• The project is in good shape and Shelley is shipping this year.

• There are two options when decentralizing a system: immediately decentralize it or create a sandbox that gradually decentralizes. Cardano chose the latter option.

• The incentivized testnet (ITN) is the very first version of it. It allows people to learn how to configure stake pools, set up their business model, build their brand and convince people to delegate to them.

• Blog posts will be released in mid-October specifically about how the snapshot will work, how the ITN will work, what the software will look like and how people can participate.

• Overwhelming participation with almost 100 stake pools running on the ITN.

Updates on Chordata Project

• Rumors about delays in the Chordata project are not true.

• The project is in very good shape and moving fast.

• Releases are coming down that pipeline for both Rust and Haskell side.

Conclusion

Charles Hoskinson concludes by emphasizing that Cardano is looking good with more commits than any other cryptocurrency project on market.

• Credentials qualifications of engineers are clear and quality of software is evidenced by fact that 13-year-old children were able to get stake nodes running on Raspberry Pis.

• The project is not missing deadlines and it's clear to see the quality of software on Github.

Ethereum and Cardano

Charles Hoskinson discusses the history of Ethereum and how it became a not-for-profit organization. He also talks about how some companies, such as ConsenSys and Parity, have spun off from Ethereum to create their own projects. Hoskinson then emphasizes the importance of putting "golden handcuffs" on people to keep them committed to a project.

The History of Ethereum

• Ethereum was originally created as a for-profit organization but later became not-for-profit.

• Seven out of eight founders left Ethereum to create their own companies, including ConsenSys and Parity.

• These companies are now competing with Ethereum.

Importance of Golden Handcuffs

• Hoskinson argues that if people aren't given incentives to stay with a project, they will leave.

• EOS is an example of what can happen when things aren't done right - users suffer the consequences.

Working on Cardano

• Hoskinson has been working on Cardano since 2015.

• There are currently 200 people working at IOHK, with 100 working every day on Cardano.

• Despite personal attacks on the project, Hoskinson is proud of the progress being made and the community's participation in it.

Complexity of Blockchain Projects

Charles Hoskinson discusses how blockchain projects involve millions or billions of users and devices, complex protocols that need to be designed upfront against hackers and attackers, and how they are based on peer-reviewed research. He also compares blockchain projects to the Apollo program.

Complexity of Blockchain Projects

• Blockchain projects involve millions or billions of users and devices.

• Protocols need to be designed upfront to be resistant against hackers and attackers.

• Blockchain projects are based on peer-reviewed research.

Comparison to Apollo Program

• The Apollo program had its own issues, such as astronauts burning to death in a capsule and difficulty controlling the moon rover and lander.

• Blockchain projects involve similar complexity and scale.

Pursuing a Decentralized Future

Charles Hoskinson emphasizes the importance of pursuing a decentralized future for meaningful pursuits that will take decades to achieve. He also talks about how people should take a step back and ask themselves why they're involved in blockchain technology.

Pursuing a Decentralized Future

• Pursuing a decentralized future is a meaningful pursuit that will take decades to achieve.

• The goal is to give billions of people things that they don't have, lifting them out of poverty and making their lives better.

Importance of Reflection

• People should take a step back and ask themselves why they're involved in blockchain technology.

• If it's just for getting rich, there are easier ways to do so.

The Future of the Cardano Foundation

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about the future of the Cardano Foundation and its role in the ecosystem.

The Role of the Cardano Foundation

• The foundation is currently in a recruitment mode and looking to hire more board members.

• Its goal is to gradually turn itself into an execution unit for the ecosystem.

• One of its core mandates is to establish a clear governance model for the entire ecosystem by the end of 2020.

Charles Hoskinson's Intention with the Cardano Foundation

• Charles Hoskinson's intention with the foundation has always been to help rebuild it and get it back on track.

• He believes that decentralization and balance of power are crucial for a decentralized future, and no one entity can be so vital that if you remove that entity, the ecosystem dies or is greatly compromised.

Importance of Decentralization in Cryptocurrency

In this section, Charles Hoskinson emphasizes why decentralization is important for cryptocurrency.

Cults of Personality vs. Process Over People

• No one entity can be so vital that if you remove that entity, the ecosystem dies or is greatly compromised.

• It's important to remind everyone that it's a two-way relationship between developers and users. If users don't follow processes or use tools provided by developers, then we're at Ground Zero because no decision will be made unless someone else makes it.

Decentralization as Key Characteristic

• Decentralization is vitally important - frankly, it's the single most important characteristic of cryptocurrency.

The Importance of Proactive Work

Charles Hoskinson discusses the importance of proactively working towards decentralization and understanding what it means. He also mentions the uncertainty surrounding certain political systems and how they may not necessarily improve over time.

Working Towards Decentralization

• It is important to work towards decentralization proactively.

• Each individual must understand what decentralization means and be an active participant in the revolution.

Uncertainty Surrounding Political Systems

• There is no guarantee that political systems, such as the American election system or the European Union, will become higher-quality or more stable and democratic.

• China may not embrace freedom, which could lead to further issues.

Announcement from IOHK

Charles Hoskinson announces a new project that uses Cardinal and involves New Balance. He also discusses how cryptocurrencies can solve problems related to counterfeiting.

New Project Announcement

• On October 14th, IOHK will announce a new project that uses Cardinal.

• The project involves New Balance.

• IOHK had to do some things and play around for a bit to get some things working for this project.

Cryptocurrencies Solving Counterfeiting Problems

• Counterfeiting is a $1.13 trillion market.

• Cryptocurrencies are perfect devices for solving counterfeiting problems.

• They can introduce new business models, such as good secondary markets for luxury goods.

Difference Between Casper, Norah, and Ouroboros

Charles Hoskinson explains the differences between Casper, Norah, and Ouroboros protocols.

Differences Between Protocols

• Finality is not the only difference between Casper, Norah, and Ouroboros protocols.

• Ouroboros has solved all problems and has a 50% Byzantine resistance.

• It operates on a semi-synchronous model.

Charles Hoskinson's Journey

Charles Hoskinson discusses how he got into the field of building revolutionary financial systems and how it has been meaningful for him.

How He Got Into the Field

• Charles Hoskinson got into the field by accident.

• He did a free course that people loved, which led to opportunities to pursue something in this field.

Meaningful Experiences

• Building revolutionary financial systems has been profitable and meaningful for Charles Hoskinson.

• He has been able to travel to 52 countries, meet heads of state, and gain global empathy.

Understanding Microsoft and the Emergence of New Fictions

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses how Microsoft is an abstraction and a concept that we collectively coordinate around. He explains how fictions guide society and change as technology advances, leading to new narratives.

The Concept of Microsoft

• Microsoft is an abstraction and a concept that we collectively coordinate around.

• It's not something physical that can be touched or seen like a cabinet.

• We choose to believe in it in exchange for the emergent benefits it provides.

Changing Fictions

• As technology changes and society's focus shifts, different fictions are needed to get to the next level.

• In the past, everything was constructed to mitigate war, famine, and disease.

• Today, there are still problems such as malaria and Ebola but they tend to be more localized.

The World Today

• The world is becoming a better place according to Steven Pinker's "Enlightenment Now" which uses data-driven approach from 1900 to 2000.

• However, globalization has created social friction because old fictions no longer apply.

• This has led to conflicts such as Brexit, Trumpism, China-Hong Kong issue.

Blockchain as a Storytelling Device

• Blockchain comes with a philosophy about property, identity, money autonomy and global assets transparency.

• It's not just about money or tokens; ultimately it's about storytelling - telling a new story that gives us tools for managing globalization processes.

Challenges of Technology

• Working with technology means working with systems that don't care about you; they have no empathy for you.

• Rules are immutable and can't be changed.

• Humans are remarkably good at confirmation bias, self-delusion, and lying to ourselves.

The Rewards and Challenges of Changing the World

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about how working towards changing the world can be both rewarding and challenging. He discusses how dealing with politics of personal destruction can be difficult but necessary to achieve success.

The Best of Days

• Working towards changing the world is tremendously rewarding.

• It's a magical experience that provides tools for managing globalization processes.

The Worst of Days

• Dealing with politics of personal destruction can be challenging.

• Some people wake up every day wanting to hurt you or think you're a monster because they disagree with you.

Taking Hits

• To change the world, one must suck it up and take the hits that come along with it.

Haskell vs Rust Update

In this section, Charles Hoskinson provides an update on the progress of Haskell vs Rust in terms of getting things to market.

Haskell Progress Update

• There has been no progress on the Haskell Cardano side yet.

• A major update to the Haskell codebase will likely come prior to end-of-year.

• Shelley era will begin for Haskell side early next year.

Network Team Focus on Documentation

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about how he instructed the network team to focus on documentation instead of writing code. He mentions that they ended up creating a hundred-page document and that good things are moving forward.

Network Team Focuses on Documentation

• Hoskinson instructed the network team to stop writing code and focus on documentation for a few weeks.

• The team created a hundred-page document as a result.

• Good things are moving forward despite the difficulty in writing such documentation.

Training Girls in Ethiopia

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses training girls in Ethiopia and signing a pilot agreement with the Ministry of Innovation of Technology. He also talks about starting a feasibility study and concluding it by June 2020.

Training Girls in Ethiopia

• IOHK trained young girls in Ethiopia.

• A pilot agreement was signed with the Ministry of Innovation of Technology.

• A feasibility study is currently being conducted.

• The pilot will conclude by June 2020.

Creating Currency for Millions of People

• If everything aligns economically, IOHK will work with the government to set up a PPP and create an RFP to build a coalition to construct a full currency for millions of people in Addis Ababa.

• If successful, this will bring millions of users into the Cardano ecosystem.

Money Doesn't Guarantee Success

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about how money doesn't guarantee success. He uses examples like Microsoft competing against Google and Apple, as well as how Bitcoin started with just one person on their laptop.

Money Doesn't Guarantee Success

• Rusty asks Hoskinson if IOHK's approach can compete with EOS, which has a near-infinite war chest worth billions of dollars.

• Hoskinson responds by saying that money doesn't magically make you win and gives examples like Microsoft competing against Google and Apple.

• He also mentions that the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was started by one person on their laptop without any money raised for it.

• Money doesn't buy success; you need people, philosophy, a good business strategy, a great way of executing, and the right incentives for people to participate.

The Power of the Treasury System

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about how the Treasury system overcomes problems associated with raising funds. He also discusses how integrity is crucial in building successful projects.

The Power of the Treasury System

• With the Treasury model, IOHK can raise any amount of money needed as long as there is social consensus.

• A great corporate example is Tesla printing stock to raise billions of dollars.

• You don't need money to win; you need people, philosophy, a good business strategy, a great way of executing things and the right incentives for people to participate.

Integrity Is Crucial

• You can replicate anything except integrity.

• If you start from the beginning with no integrity and broken processes where it's all about money instead of actually achieving something, you can't fix that.

• Bitcoin still reigns supreme because it had integrity from the beginning.

Learning Haskell

In this section, Charles Hoskinson recommends a book for learning Haskell and suggests three different sources to learn from.

How to Learn Haskell

• To learn Haskell, read Graham Hutton's "Programming in Haskell".

• If it's too hard, read "Learn You a Haskell for Great Good" or "The Haskell Book".

• These are three different sources that can help you learn Haskell.

Shelly Changing the World

In this section, Charles Hoskinson explains how Shelly will change the world by creating a global scale financial system that is more decentralized than Bitcoin and uses less power.

How Shelly Will Change the World

• Shelly will prove that a global scale financial system can support millions of users while being 250 times more decentralized than Bitcoin.

• The system will use mechanisms to become even more decentralized over time.

• It will run on about 10 kilowatts of power, which is equivalent to the power used by a large hall.

Mistakes Made in Building Cryptocurrency

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about mistakes made in building cryptocurrency and what he would have done differently if he had to do it all over again.

Mistakes Made in Building Cryptocurrency

• They didn't take building a cryptocurrency seriously enough during the Pioneer era.

• They overemphasized building the science division and formal methods approach instead of having a strong product focus and development focus.

• They tried half measures like putting strong project management on top but it didn't work as intended.

• If they had to do everything all over again when they launched Byron era, they would have launched Icarus as the first major product with a very tight control over the user experience.

• They would have had a great user experience with all of the people in the Cardano ecosystem.

Doing Things Differently

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about what they would have done differently if they had to do it all over again.

Doing Things Differently

• They would have focused on a browser client to start with and really made the user experience great.

• They wouldn't have tried to innovate too much in the beginning and then would have iterated much more agilely.

• If they had to do it all over again, they probably would have done it Scala or F sharp instead of Haskell.

Agile Development and Formal Methods

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses the challenges of implementing agile development in formal methods. He explains that scientists are used to longer self-reflective time tables, which makes it difficult to accelerate feedback for an entrepreneurial product culture.

Challenges of Agile Development in Formal Methods

• Scientists are used to longer self-reflective time tables.

• Accelerating feedback for an entrepreneurial product culture is challenging.

• The approach to formal methods may need a slightly more coupled or tighter approach or have a prototyping phase before going directly into formal methods.

• The team is still tinkering and tooling with the process.

Benefits of Formal Methods

• Documents created through formal methods provide a lingua franca for external firms to understand what Cardano wants to do and where they want to go.

• Icarus was built using proof-of-concept methodology, which allowed it to be productized by EMURGO within two months.

Lessons Learned and Product Focus

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about the importance of learning from past mistakes and focusing on productization. He expresses regret over the relationship with the Cardano Foundation and how their lack of execution hurt the ecosystem.

Learning from Past Mistakes

• A retrospective will be conducted at the end of 2020 on lessons learned over five years.

• The team is rapidly releasing products with cutting releases on wallet back-end for Rust multiple times a week.

Importance of Product Focus

• The team is starting to see a real productization of Haskell code.

• Faster execution on certain things, especially with the release of Goguen and Shelley, would have been nice to build applications.

• There are thousands of people who want to build on Cardano's system, but it's annoying that they haven't gotten to a state where that can be done in a reasonable way yet.

Balancing Work and Personal Life

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about the challenges of balancing work and personal life.

Challenges of Being a CEO

• If the infrastructure works against them, people will move on to something else.

• Charles missed important family events due to his busy schedule as a CEO.

Cardinal Contract and Quantum Computers

• The contract for building Cardinal is not available for public viewing.

• Quantum computers are not a threat to Cardano.

Approving Identity in the Network

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses how identity is treated in the Cardano network.

Decentralized Identifiers (DID)

• DID standard is used to treat identity as an object.

• Additional information can be added through an "added document."

Trusted Attestation

• A product for identity verification is being built for Georgia.

• The color-based identity product being constructed is blockchain agnostic.

• A message center will be added to Daedalus 1.7 for pushing messages to users.

• Users can subscribe to state pools and receive messages from them.

• Friends can be added through web trust authentication.

Identity Problem and Multi-Sig

In this section, the speaker discusses the identity problem and multi-sig.

X.509 Support and CA Style System

• A CA style system can be coupled with centralized identifiers and web of trust to get around the downsides of that type of attestation.

Projects for Identity Problem

• Hyperledger Indy and Sovereign are two examples of projects that are looking into solving the identity problem seriously.

Multi-Sig Coordination without Trusted Relay Server

• DIDs in a system make it easy to coordinate multi-sig transactions without a trusted relay server.

• Mutual transactions can be used instead of push transactions, which is particularly useful for things like exchanges.

• A white listing system can be implemented where before becoming a customer, one has to register their DID with the exchange. This helps solve the traveler role issue and potentially gives a path to liquidity for anonymity coins like Zcash.

Test Net Availability on Your ROI

In this section, the speaker talks about test net availability on Your ROI.

Updates to Incentivize Test Net

• Multiple updates will be done to incentivize test net every four to six weeks, including hard forks and resets.

• There will be an announcement as they get closer to the test on how they want to do it if they don't hit them on the first wave.

Focus on Africa

In this section, the speaker discusses why there is a focus on Africa.

Real Money Opportunity in Africa Demographic

• The speaker believes that the real money opportunity lies in Africa because of the demographic that is experiencing 10% GDP growth every year.

• The speaker would rather bet on a demographic that is not happy with their currencies and looking for something new, especially if they are globalized and cellphone-centric.

Hindsight and Ecosystem

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about the hindsight of his project and how it was done in a slow methodical deliberate way. He also talks about the ETC summit and how he enjoyed it.

Hindsight

• The project was done in a slow methodical deliberate way.

• People are totally tolerant of recklessness but criticize things that have checks and balances.

• The audit report is available on Cornell hub to Auric for those interested.

Ecosystem

• The ETC summit was great, had a lot of fun.

• Vancouver is always a lovely city.

• Hoping to find something there to do.

Criticism and Ownership

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about criticism towards projects and ownership of ADA supply.

Criticism

• There has been a lot of criticism towards projects in 2017 due to recklessness.

• It's extraordinary that people are totally tolerant of that.

Ownership

• IOHK never sold its ADA so all the ADA trading had to come from Japan initially.

• Certain people claim that new ADA was issued but it was never the case.

• Liquidity they sell is still at a huge profit and it's entering global markets every single day.

Voting System

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about voting systems for renewing contracts.

• Community cannot vote to renew HK contract if cardinal governance system is not yet active.

• Keep losing money writing code until that's done.

• Financial incentive for Charles Hoskins sent to do his job.

Losing Money

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about losing money in the current state of affairs and how it's not sustainable.

• IOHK loses money in the current state of affairs.

• It's not sustainable so they have to do the job right.

• They feel the pressure more than anybody else does and are just gonna keep working till it gets done.

Incentives

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about incentives for delivering projects.

• Ventures like Yoos feel no existential pressure because they simply have billions of dollars at their disposal.

• There is no incentive to produce or deliver when you have that kind of capital to deploy.

• Strong incentives are needed to get things done.

Atala Product and Documentation

Charles Hoskinson explains why there is no documentation, code on Github or product presentation on Atala.

Atala is a Private Product

• Atala is an IOHK product built using IOHK funds.

• There is no obligation to the Cardano community to reveal anything about Atala.

• It's a different product entirely from Cardano and there's no reason to have that discussion at the moment.

Future Plans for Atala

• IOHK will probably spin out Atala into an independent company that does enterprise blockchain contracting for the cryptocurrency space, governments, and large corporations.

• The team is still in the pilot and capabilities phase of development.

• They are learning as they go and will open up the project at some point under an Apache or MIT license.

Trustworthiness of Charles Hoskinson

Charles Hoskinson responds to comments made by Dan Larimer about his trustworthiness.

Competitors with Dan Larimer

• Charles Hoskinson and Dan Larimer have been competitors since 2014.

• They worked together for a few months but have disagreed on many things since then.

Track Record in the Industry

• People keep lying about Charles Hoskinson, such as saying he was fired from Lisk when he left voluntarily.

• He has worked with many people in this space throughout the years.

Charles Hoskinson's Vision for Cardano

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about his commitment to Cardano and how he plans to stay with the project for a long time. He also discusses the accomplishments of Cardano since its inception in 2015.

Commitment to Cardano

• Charles Hoskinson plans to stay with Cardano until well beyond 2020, especially if a contract gets renewed.

• People who say that he will leave immediately are lying.

• Working on a project for a long time is necessary to deliver consistently and achieve success.

Accomplishments of Cardano

• Since 2015, Cardano has written over 40 scientific papers and probably a million lines of code.

• The product is in the top 20 in coin market cap, and other cryptocurrencies would like to switch places with them.

• They have built a global community that loves and supports their work.

• People across the world recognize them as part of "Fight Club".

Future Plans for Cardano

• They have a clear vision and strategy beyond 2020, which includes decentralized SRAM by Q1 2020 and smart contracts shortly after that.

• They take their job seriously because they have moral obligations towards their users.

Conclusion

Charles Hoskinson is committed to staying with Cardano for the long haul. Since its inception in 2015, they have accomplished many things such as writing over 40 scientific papers, building a global community, and creating an innovative product. Their future plans include decentralized SRAM by Q1 2020 and smart contracts shortly after that.

Participation Rates and Token Price

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses the importance of participation rates in the Cardano network. He compares it to Bitcoin's mining system and believes that if people take Cardano seriously, they will support the system.

Importance of Participation Rates

• The success of the Cardano network depends on participation rates.

• Hoskinson believes that there won't be a participation problem as people are already mining cryptocurrencies worth millions of dollars.

• Hoskinson expresses his desire to issue equity in IHK on Cardano someday.

Steve Jobs and Cellular Autonomy

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about Steve Jobs' history with Next Computer and how it took him a long time to find his way. He also mentions Wolfram's obsession with cellular autonomy.

Steve Jobs' History with Next Computer

• It took Steve Jobs a long time to find his way with Next Computer.

• Despite its unstable nature, HK Mike has one of the lowest turnover rates in the industry.

Cellular Autonomy

• Wolfram is obsessed with cellular autonomy.

Multi-party Computation on Dedalus

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about multi-party computation (MPC) on Dedalus and how it requires finding people and connecting them. He also mentions building a relay protocol specifically for MPC.

Multi-party Computation on Dedalus

• People tend to stay at HK Mike despite its unstable nature.

• MPC on Dedalus requires finding people and connecting them.

• Building a relay protocol specifically for MPC is an interesting network question.

Reinstalling Daedalus Client

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about reinstalling the Daedalus client and how it's not complicated. He also mentions that there will be a blog post explaining the process in detail.

Reinstalling Daedalus Client

• Reinstalling the Daedalus client is not complicated.

• There will be a blog post explaining the process in detail.

• The incentivized test net is a reset and requires reinstalling the Daedalus client.

Incentivized Test Net

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about the incentivized test net and how it will tell us a lot about the overall health of Cardano's network. He also mentions that exchanges are starting to offer staking as a service business.

Incentivized Test Net

• The incentivized test net will tell us a lot about the overall health of Cardano's network.

• It gives us time to talk to exchanges because they are starting to offer staking as a service business.

Snapshot and Daedalus Updates

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses the upcoming snapshot for Cardano and provides advice on how to prepare for it. He also talks about the stability of the Daedalus wallet and how it has improved over time.

Snapshot Preparation

• To prepare for the snapshot, users should create a new wallet or transfer their funds to an existing wallet before the snapshot occurs.

• The testnet now uses a different address structure from before, so users should be careful when importing their wallets.

• Exchanges may not support withdrawing test metadata into data, so it is safest to pull ADA out of exchanges before the snapshot occurs.

Daedalus Stability

• The Daedalus wallet has undergone significant upgrades and is now a stable product that works across platforms.

• While some users still report issues with Daedalus, 96% of users are satisfied with its performance.

• Users can submit logs to the helpdesk if they experience issues with Daedalus.

Haskell Client and Future Plans

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses the role of Haskell in building Cardano and how it may be used in future development.

Haskell Client

• The decision to use Haskell for building Cardano was made based on its suitability for creating secure software.

• If Haskell ends up being less relevant in future development, then resources spent on developing it will have been wasted.

Future Plans

• There is still much to learn from using Haskell in building Cardano.

• Charles Hoskinson believes that Haskell is a great approach and remains committed to using it where appropriate.

How to Help the Project

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about how people can help the project and improve the system.

Everyday Use

• Use the system every day.

• Report any problems to the help desks or task force channel.

• Be an active participant in building and writing dabs.

Governance

• Be an active participant in the governance of the system when Voltaire is launched.

Documentation

• The documentation needs improvement, but it's a high priority.

• After the incentivized test net is launched, there will be a sprint specifically focused on improving and cleaning up documentation.

Launching a Cryptocurrency is Hard

In this section, Charles Hoskinson discusses how difficult it is to launch a cryptocurrency and why Facebook has it even harder than most.

Difficulty of Launching a Cryptocurrency

• It's hard to launch a cryptocurrency even if you have good people behind you.

• There have been thousands of ventures that have tried and failed.

• Even legitimate projects need more time and resources than expected.

Facebook's Challenge

• Facebook has it 10 times harder because they're competing with the dollar.

• They also have a gargantuan spotlight on them, making them vulnerable to bad press and government scrutiny.

The Future of POS Systems

In this section, Charles Hoskinson talks about his thoughts on the future of POS systems and how they can be used for cryptocurrency.

Power of Cell Phones

• Cell phone processors are now so powerful that they can power laptops and compete with top-of-the-line Intel processors.

• They consume only 7 watts of power and have an all-day battery life, making them a potential infrastructure for cryptocurrency.

Digitization of the Dollar

• The Fed will digitize the dollar officially within the next five or ten years.

• POS on phone apps will become more common.

The Difficulty of Competition

In this section, the speaker talks about how difficult it is to compete in a highly competitive market and how there are things that one cannot imagine they have to think about.

Competing in a Highly Competitive Market

• It's difficult to compete even with years of preparation and brilliance.

• There are things that you just cannot imagine you have to think about.

Thoughts on Foldable Devices

In this section, the speaker shares his thoughts on foldable devices such as the Microsoft Neo and Samsung phone.

Thoughts on Foldable Devices

• The idea of having two screens is interesting.

• The problem is that it's too thick to be a phone when it's folded.

• When you fold it out to make it a tablet, it's a mini tablet and you can't really do too much with it.

• Foldable phones are not a big deal yet.

Dealing with Haters

In this section, the speaker talks about dealing with people who say negative things about him or his projects.

Dealing with Negative Comments

• People will say horrible things about you no matter what your politics or goals are.

• Steve Jobs was criticized when he retook Apple in 1997 but later became known as the greatest business mind of the 21st and 20th century.

• Haters gonna hate, but instead of paying attention to them, focus on delivering what was promised.

• Follow the Paul Hamels way: tell people what you're going to do, do it, then tell them what you did.

Launching Code Based on Science

In this section, the speaker talks about launching code based on science and the hard work that went into it.

Launching Code Based on Science

• The project is based on Cardinal scalability, interoperability, and sustainability.

• It's going to be based on science with a stack of scientific papers to back it up.

• A lot of code was written and now they're launching the code for people to use.

• They will evaluate whether the code did its job or not.

The Miller Report and National Issues

Charles Hoskinson discusses the Miller report and how it was used to attack Trump. He also talks about how national issues such as healthcare, national debt, and endless wars were not addressed due to the focus on the report.

Impact of the Miller Report

• The Miller report was used to attack Trump for 18 months.

• The report was seen as damning by those on the left and a vindication by those on the right.

Neglect of National Issues

• National issues such as healthcare, national debt, and endless wars were not addressed due to focus on the Miller report.

• Hoskinson believes that attacking people for ratings is no better than any other demagogue or Agent Provocateur in history.

Peer-to-Peer Polar Cast Implementation

Charles Hoskinson talks about peer-to-peer polar cast implementation and its achievements. He also mentions negotiations with the bureau regarding polar cast.

Achievements of Peer-to-Peer Polar Cast Implementation

• The peer-to-peer polar cast implementation was quite achieved.

• There is extensive network documentation on the Haskell side which will be released at some point.

Negotiations with Bureau Regarding Polar Cast

• Hoskinson has been negotiating polar cast to rack up older cast basically to fix some issues that they discovered along the way.

• They are taking ideas from different people like promote Vaswani and Barracuda ideas for accelerating proof of state polar caste for kind of a decentralized pub/sub.

Wyoming Hackathon

Charles Hoskinson talks about the Wyoming hackathon and the people he met there.

People at the Wyoming Hackathon

• High school students were brought down from a small place in the northeast part of the state.

• Trace Mayer, Jesse Powell from Kraken, and Caitlyn Long were also present.

• Hoskinson enjoyed talking to old school people like Trace who was one of his favorite wallets from back in the day.

Wyoming's Cryptocurrency Legislation

In this section, the speaker talks about the cryptocurrency legislation in Wyoming and how it is being regulated.

Cryptocurrency Regulation in Wyoming

• If the law is removed altogether, money transmission will be completely unregulated.

• The legislation had some mistakes last year but they were fixed after receiving feedback from the community.

• The speaker loves Wyoming's attitude towards cryptocurrency and how quickly they are moving forward with it.

Controversies and Class Warfare

In this section, the speaker discusses controversies and class warfare in politics.

Controversies and Ratings

• Neil makes money if there is a controversy. This incentivizes people to repeat controversial behavior.

• The best thing to do is not to engage with controversial behavior.

Class Warfare in Politics

• The Democrats have lost their minds by nominating a crazy person who will lose against Trump.

• It is immoral to have a candidate that says publicly we should have seventy percent tax rates and steal four percent of my money every year regardless if I make money or not.

• America is too smart for class warfare politics.

Wim Hof Arctic Training

In this section, the speaker talks about his upcoming trip to Antarctica with Wim Hof for arctic training.

Ice Endurance Training

• Brian McKenna has been working on a super-secret product that involves ice endurance training.

• Jer Maroney will be joining the speaker on his trip to Antarctica for ice endurance training.

• The group will climb Mount Ayr shirtless and then paramotor from the mountain down to base camp.

Goals in Life

• You have to have goals in life, and this is one of them.

Celebrating Crazy Achievements

In this section, the speaker talks about celebrating crazy achievements.

Celebrating with Whiskey

• If they succeed in their Mount Ayr escapade and don't die, they will celebrate with a bottle of Macallan 30.

Illuminati and Hydra

In this section, Charles talks about the Illuminati and Hydra.

The Illuminati

• Charles talks about the history of the Illuminati, which was started in 1776 as an offshoot of the Jesuits.

• He mentions that when the Illuminati got stamped out, its members went back into the Jesuit Order and reformed other branches.

Hydra

• Charles mentions that they have a product manager for the Hydra team and are working on building a prototype.

• He talks about how they're having fun with email headers related to Hydra, using "Hail Hydra."