Safeguarding Ethereum's Soul: Protocol Guild and governing the digital commons

The Blockchain Socialist

In this episode I spoke with Trent Van Epps, who is part of the Ethereum Foundation and a key member of Protocol Guild (PG). PG is a collective of 152 Ethereum core protocol contributors who are curated to receive public good funding from ecosystem sponsors. In turn, this is meant to balance incentives for contributors to work on the Ethereum protocol and prevent high contributor turnover.

During the interview we discuss how Ethereum is actually governed more publicly than people realize, the need for alternatives to venture capital, and how other digital commons like the Linux OS is governed. We also deep dive into how PG works and why their vision for public goods funding is different than others.
If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@[e-mail]) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit and Discord to join the discussion.

Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime.

Support the show

ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.
The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

Capítulos

1. Safeguarding Ethereum's Soul: Protocol Guild and governing the digital commons (00:00:00)

2. Understanding Ethereum's Governance Structures (00:00:09)

3. Ethereum as a Digital Commons (00:14:55)

4. Polycentrism and Funding in Ethereum (00:21:27)

5. Cultural Artifacts and Funding via Protocols (00:36:55)

6. ETFs and Public Goods Funding in Ethereum (00:49:19)

7. Protocol Guild (01:05:27)