The need to build and launch an ecosystem on Genesis Day
Imagine if Microsoft released the Xbox and there were no games.
On the day the Ethereum genesis block is created, many of the ecosystem elements (core infrastructure, mining network, user application browser, and applications) will be in place. Granted, there will be an enormous amount of development to be done beyond genesis to turn Ethereum into a sophisticated, decentralized (decentcon) consensus application platform. But on the first day, there will be “launch titles”.
Originally, when the idea behind Ethereum was conceived in November, the intention was for it to be a simple “altcoin” (actually a meta-protocol on top of Primecoin) with a built-in scripting language. However, over time, as we realized the potential of the project, our scope necessarily grew, and our current intention is to release a flagship product called “EtherBrowser:” a browser that can navigate both the old-school Internet and on the decentralized web (Web3.0). From the time of the start of the Ethereum network, the following elements in the EtherBrowser and the ecosystem will be operational:
- a fully functional implementation of the Ethereum blockchain that improves on Bitcoin technology with minute block times and increased security (Ghost Protocol), which decentralized applications (“ÐApps”) can use for anything that requires consensus (for example, coin and token systems, name registries, proof of existence, etc., …)
- a fully functional peer-to-peer protocol, which ÐApps can use to send messages between users. For example, a decentralized messaging ÐApp will use this protocol for the actual sending of messages, but the chain of blocks to register user accounts.
- a slick browser and app store UI for using ÐApps
- network nodes (miners) that process transactions and computations, secure the network through a consensus process, and are compensated for fees and the issuance of new ether
- a standard set of “built-in” utility-level ÐApps: distributed wallet, distributed identification system, distributed reputation system, distributed messaging system, distributed name registry service, distributed catalog of distributed applications, etc., will serve as only some of the low level utilities on the system
- a standard set of integrated tools for both the developer and the end user: blockchain explorer, contract explorer, transaction builder, encrypted messaging tool, signature tool, authentication tool, etc. And a debugger will be available for the hard core.
And soon after the genesis, we expect to see a broad set of third-party distributed applications, for example, distributed storage services, distributed notary services, distributed exchange services, distributed custody and arbitration services, financial contracts, insurance contracts, services of loans, specific reputation systems. , games, entertainment services, etc.,… Each of the ÐApps in the different business verticals will be able to make use of the utility ÐApps of the lower level system, such as identification and reputation systems.
With no operational distributed applications, Ethereum is a hollow shell. To have a broad distributed application offering from day one, nonprofit public good elements must be built alongside commercially driven applications in competitive markets. From this requirement, Ethereum derives its double mandate.
It can be argued that certain elements within an ecosystem should be developed for the common good and not benefit from a profit motive. Certain other elements are best developed in a competitive for-profit context. For example, it makes sense to develop a coherent, large-scale, systematized road system for the public good, using public tax money. But it probably doesn’t make sense to make cars with public tax dollars, since development under the pressures of free market competition forces the design and production of better products and benefits the market as a whole.
Dual Mandate: Non-Profit and For-Profit Collaborative Development
Two core organizations will lead the Ethereum Project under a dual mandate: a for-profit entity based in Zug, Switzerland, and a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada. Both organizations will be built in a way that allows each to remain strong and financially independent to ensure years of ecosystem development and growth.
The Ethereum ecosystem will initially be built by non-profit and for-profit entities in partnership, ideally with broad participation from many other independent entities. The founding leadership will put in place a mechanism that ensures that the fundamental elements of the ecosystem are built and maintained in a way that adheres to the fundamental principles. The funding and independence of the organizations (whether state-registered companies or eventually blockchain-registered companies) guiding the various development paths of the core infrastructure will be guaranteed.
At the same time, human economies are largely based on free market trade (or should be), so the non-profit organization, to some degree, and especially the for-profit entity, will help independent business endeavors in the space to launch and prosper. . This assistance can take a variety of forms, from providing resources and guidance to maintaining support channels and creating joint ventures.
The hybrid organization model
“MOZILLA IS ONE OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS (HYBRID NON-PROFIT AND FOR-PROFIT) AND WHEN I LOOK AROUND ME, I SEE OTHERS. THERE ARE A LOT OF ADVANTAGES TO HOW THESE ORGANIZATIONS WORK, ESPECIALLY THE POTENTIAL TO MOVE MARKETS TOWARDS THE PUBLIC GOOD ON A GLOBAL SCALE.
“…THE MORE I SEARCH, THE MORE CONVINCED I AM THAT ORGANIZATIONS LIKE MOZILLA, WIKIPEDIA, KIVA, MIRO, AND OTHERS, THAT THE MASHUP MISSION, MARKETPLACE, AND WEB CULTURE REPRESENT A NEW PATTERN WORTH UNDERSTANDING.
“MISSION + MARKETPLACE + WEB HYBRIDS MATTER BECAUSE THEY CAN EXERCISE THE POWER NECESSARY TO MOVE MARKETS ON A GLOBAL SCALE, WHILE STILL LOOKING FOR THE LITTLE ONE, TAKING THE BIG VIEW AND REMAINING TRUE TO THEIR MISSION OF PUBLIC BENEFIT. THEY SHOW US HOW ORGANIZATIONS COULD, AND MAYBE SHOULD, WORK IN THE FUTURE.”
- MARK SURMAN, CEO, MOZILLA FOUNDATION
Trolltech/Digia (Qt), WordPress, Red Hat, Google Android and the Open Handset Alliance, The Mozilla Organization, and several others have pioneered the dual mandate approach and have built thriving ecosystems and successful companies. The model that Sun developed in the late 1990s is also instructive.
Sun Microsystems (now Oracle) developed the Java computer language and libraries in-house. Innovative as it was, it probably wouldn’t have gained such a large market share if Sun hadn’t realized that, as a for-profit company, it had no control over a fundamental aspect of software development that it and many of their competitors were expected to use. To address this conflict of interest, Sun used open source Java and developed the Java Community Process to guide the growth of the platform in a nonpartisan manner.
Ethereum is an open source project and will remain open source. And the Ethereum Project, under the auspices of its non-profit foundation, will create a community development process philosophically similar to the Java Community Process. In fact, Ethereum, until now, has been developed under a less formalized community development process.
The Ethereum non-profit entity will specify and guide the development of the Ethereum core infrastructure. It will employ a nonpartisan community development process and develop, conduct, and support research initiatives in the broader cryptocurrency space. The nonprofit organization will have a membership originally comprised of Ethereum founders, soon adding other independent leaders in the emerging space.
The Ethereum for-profit entity will be tasked with developing certain elements of the core infrastructure in collaboration with the non-profit entity and building the Ecosystem with distributed application services and businesses that it develops, funds, or supports itself.
We believe this will be the most effective structure in the short term. That being said, we are DAOists (where DAO stands for Distributed Autonomous Organization). We will look to move as much infrastructure and governance to the blockchain as soon as possible. Our OpenSalary system will likely be the first component to go on the blockchain. Stay tuned for more information on the OpenOrganization and DAOification topics of the two organizations. Our goal, if we do our job correctly, is to put us out of (state registered) business.