"Vitalik Buterin is unique in his robust, technical, and perspicacious approach to good intentions. He is one of the principal 'good guys' in the epochal, if uncertain, emergence of a world-to-come in which digital networks become as useful as they ought to be. This book is nerdy on the surface, but read with an open mind it is dramatic. It¡¯s about the quest to figure out how the world can be better. There is no greater game and nothing more suspenseful or more filled with love."
¡ªJaron Lanier, computer scientist and author of You Are Not a Gadget
"Over the last decade, Buterin has become arguably the core public intellectual on the nonfinancial side of crypto. His new book, ¡°Proof of Stake,¡± is a collection of long, thoughtful essays that taken together lay out a vision of crypto as a truly transformative technology ¡ª one with the potential to revolutionize everything from city governance to voting systems to online identity."
¡ªEzra Klein, New York Times podcast "Ezra Klein Show"
"Vitalik Buterin is one of the most influential creators of our generation primarily thanks to Ethereum, of course, but also because of his written work, which until now, has come in the form of white papers, blog posts, and tweets. But here we have the privilege of reading Vitalik's first book! Like most of his work, it is sure to become a must-read in the cryptocurrency space, as it dives into the heart of Ethereum¡ªits consensus mechanism¡ªwhich will be key to understanding the heart of the internet itself as web3 grows."
¡ªCamila Russo, author of The Infinite Machine, founder of The Defiant
"Vitalik Buterin is one of the most important thinkers in crypto. His creation, Ethereum, has been the platform that launched nearly all of the big crypto trends of the last several years. He is also one of the field¡¯s clearest communicators, which is why this compendium of his writing is a crucial contribution to development of a new technology that will impact all of our lives."
¡ªLaura Shin, host of the Unchained podcast and author of The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze
¡°Vitalik Buterin is not only a great innovator, he is also a great and important thinker. The essays collected in this book prove that, and so many of them have more real substance than entire books by many other people.¡±
¡ªTyler Cowen, Professor of economics, George Mason University
"I¡¯ve never been more excited about the potential of the Internet, and that¡¯s largely thanks to Vitalik Buterin."
¡ªAlexis Ohanian(co-founder, Reddit), TIME
"[Vitalik] Buterin is an extremely thorough and complex thinker: He¡¯s trying to solve both problems that exist today and those that might exist in 20 years, with regards to privacy, housing, city planning, voting systems, and much more. And he¡¯s still only 28, and growing into his role as a public figure. To me, it seems highly likely that this story only marks the start¡ªas opposed to the peak¡ªof his influence on the w...orld."
¡ªAndrew R. Chow on his March 2022 TIME cover profile of Vitalik Buterin
"Vitalik Buterin, creator of the fast-growing new cryptocurrency network Ethereum, wants to use his technology to disrupt, well, everything."
¡ªFortune
"[Vitalik Buterin's] vision has become a rallying cry. . . a technological crusade for increased access, transparency, and accountability. . . . A new economy in which anyone can participate on their own terms." ¡ªWired
¡°I saw him on the commuter train and he was wearing mismatched Hello Kitty socks. . . . And this is the person building the infrastructure that is challenging the power structures of the most important financial institutions out there.¡± ¡ªWired
"An indispensable voice of authority with a great talent for untangling and explaining the technicalities of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies." ¡ªWired
Chapter Page
Introduction 9
Part 1 Premining 15
Markets, Institutions, and Currencies-A New Method of Social Incentivization 17
Ethereum: A Next-Generation Cryptocurrency and Decentralized Application Platform 25
Self-Enforcing Contracts and Factum Law 41
On Silos 51
Superrationality and DAOs 63
The Value of Blockchain Technology 75
Part 2 Proof of Work 93
Why Cryptoeconomics and X-Risk Researchers Should Listen to Each Other More 97
A Proof-of-Stake Design Philosophy 103
The Meaning of Decentralization 111
Notes on Blockchain Governance 123
On Collusion 143
On Free Speech 161
Control as Liability 171
Christmas Special 177
Part 3 Proof of Stake 187
Credible Neutrality as a Guiding Principle 189
Coordination, Good and Bad 201
Prediction Markets: Tales from the Election 213
The Most Important Scarce Resource Is Legitimacy 235
Against Overuse of the Gini Coefficient 253
Moving Beyond Coin-Voting Governance 265
Trust M...odels 289
Crypto Cities 295
Soulbound 313
Appendix 323
Ethereum Whitepaper: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform 325
Glossary 379