Gavin Wood: Zuckerberg's Libra has fundamental problems, or is included in historical footnotes

Note: The author Gavin Wood is the co-founder of Ethereum, Polkadot, and Parity Technology. He is also the founder of the Web3 Foundation. He believes that the new "FAANG" Big Five will no longer be a company like Facebook, not even Libra Such consortia are distributed algorithmic protocols that make decisions and exercise power in an autonomous and transparent process among decentralized user groups.

(Photo: Mark Zuckerberg, source wikimedia.org)

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"Less trust, more truth" is the motto of Web 3, which is a concept I proposed shortly after co-founding the Ethereum project. It refers to a new peer-to-peer, Decentralized Internet.

Web 3.0 can be described as a technical response to a political issue: it seeks to correct the balance of society between "trust" and "truth." Although "trust" is often seen as positive, in this case it is simply a necessary evil that forces us to leave our affairs to a third party.

Relying too much on trust makes us vulnerable, but too little trust makes us unnecessarily isolated from opportunity. Technology allows us to better understand the world, thus moving the pointer to the "truth" (when information can be verified with a password, no third party arbitration is required). However, the network effect involved (more people using this service will make it more attractive to others) is a powerful integration force, which tends to focus the force on a single platform, currency or product on. As a result, abuse of trust becomes more accessible and more powerful.

Twenty years ago, Microsoft's network effect was so strong that few people could break its ecosystem and abused the trust that this hegemony brought.

Google, a new upstart company that claims "Don't be evil," implicitly mentions the mistake it is about to make. Linux and the wider open source software movement have brought transparency and freedom, and since then, it has replaced most of the platforms that Microsoft once dominated.

The wheels are spinning, and Google's early motto has been repelled by Web 3.0's "Can't be evil", which now shines on billboards in the Gulf. One thing seems clear: Just as the antidote to software abuse is open source (that is, the software used can be checked, modified, and repaired without permission), antidote for platforms such as Facebook will echo this freedom. The new FAANG (abbreviation of the five largest US companies) will no longer be a company such as Facebook, or even a consortium such as Libra, but a distributed algorithm protocol that will make decisions in an autonomous and transparent process in a distributed user group and Exercise power.

In this case, Libra seems to be a step in the right direction, but in the coming tide, Libra shows a serious misjudgment. Libra is a technical verification of the blockchain and peer-to-peer network. However, unless it allows users to use, innovate, and integrate in a completely license-free manner (currently it has not been implemented), it will be loaded into history. footnote. Your identity must have nothing to do with your ability to use the system, unlike what a gatekeeper like Facebook or your local bank requires. If an agreement is license-free, no one (even Mark Zuckerberg) can discriminate against you or your use.

As long as Libra maintains the licensing model, the large companies behind it will maintain strong control over the trading objects and content on the digital asset network. They can decide to stop sending money to your friends just because they think there is something wrong with your transaction history or your motivation is offensive. This is incomparable with the license-free and anti-censorship Web 3.0 protocol, which is not much better than our current central bank service.

And platforms built for openness will be superior to Libra and its similar platforms for closed management and control, simply because they are developing faster and changing more thoroughly. A platform designed to bring freedom to users, developers, and entrepreneurs will attract the next generation of disruptive energy, which cannot be achieved by a platform designed to protect hegemonic benefits. Once the Web 3.0 platform gains a foothold, a large number of untrusted stablecoins will make these legacy, trust-constrained solutions obsolete.

We're not sure if Libra will follow the mantra of "less trust, more truth," but given Facebook's history and its business, I don't think it is the change the world needs.

PS: The Ethereum Parity client code base and maintenance will be converted to a DAO model. This new model can provide a basis for cross-organizational collaboration. To support this result, Parity Technology plans to transfer the Parity code base to a developer And organization of the DAO. Also, "Parity Ethereum" will exist as a new, decentralized project and will be renamed "OpenEthereum".

In the next few weeks, Parity Technology will also discuss DAO with key stakeholders, including the Ethereum Foundation, ETC Labs, Gnosis, POA Network, and more.

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