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backus's profile
John Backus
John Backus
John Backus
@backus

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John Backus

@backus

Seeking alternative compression. Hopefully wrong on average. Shameless. Started @getcognito and @bloom

San Francisco, CA
Joined August 2012

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    1. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen Apr 30

      What are the deepest questions & ideas people are exploring around crypto? Not get-rich-quick, but rather ideas that may be really transformative. Explanation and links welcome!

      23 replies 10 retweets 79 likes
      Show this thread
    2. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen Apr 30

      Here's one I heard from a friend: ICOs are interesting because for the first time they really incentivize the creation of new open protocols. SMTP, HTTP, SSL etc all arguably at least as valuable as Google/FB, but no value capture, so people didn't work so much on new protocols.

      6 replies 14 retweets 78 likes
      Show this thread
      John Backus‏ @backus Apr 30
      Replying to @michael_nielsen

      John Backus Retweeted John Backus

      ICOs incentivize people to build things where private keys are mandatory. If *anyone* can build an easy to use product that puts private keys in the hands of end users, massive potential is unlocked for identity, privacy, security, and of course finance.https://twitter.com/backus/status/987063369730408448 …

      John Backus added,

      John Backus @backus
      Tying biometrics and mobile devices to crypto people can actually use is super valuable. The blockchain craze is a trojan horse for realizing this. 🔑 Passwords → Signatures 🚪 Login with FB → Global login via managed keychain ☑️ Verified by Twitter → Verified by public key
      10:14 PM - 30 Apr 2018
      • 1 Retweet
      • 8 Likes
      • Yuri Schimke Bill Seitz Paul Olczak Val Bercovici 🇻 Pmarca's Likes Marc Andreessen KΞVIN G michael_nielsen
      1 reply 1 retweet 8 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen Apr 30
          Replying to @backus

          Can you characterize where private keys are mandatory? Seems like almost anything where people instinctively want control over some aspect of access.

          1 reply 1 retweet 4 likes
        3. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 30
          Replying to @michael_nielsen

          Well, if you do a token sale and you don't build a decentralized product then the SEC will probably sue you and the ecosystem will call you a scam (rightfully so). People talk about it as a fund raising mechanism but it is actually a promise about how your product works.

          2 replies 1 retweet 5 likes
        4. michael_nielsen‏ @michael_nielsen Apr 30
          Replying to @backus

          What are a few of the most stimulating things you've read about crypto?

          1 reply 1 retweet 4 likes
        5. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 30
          Replying to @michael_nielsen

          Diving deep in the cypherpunk archives. Ex: ideas for darknet markets came from cypherpunks. Fundamentally, darknet markets are Tor for anonymous routing, PGP encryption, PGP for identity, cryptocurrency for payment. All just clever uses of private keys. Tons of stuff like that

          1 reply 1 retweet 8 likes
        6. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 30
          Replying to @backus @michael_nielsen

          I remember being very excited after reading @VitalikButerin's post on Futarchy in 2014. Lots of things in crypto are hard CS, economics, human behavior, game theory, governance, etc. This post really stimulated all of those if I remember correctly.https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/08/21/introduction-futarchy/ …

          0 replies 2 retweets 5 likes
        7. End of conversation

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