Joseph Lubin: ConsenSys – The Distributed Incubator which Jumpstarted the Ethereum Ecosystem

We’re joined by Joseph Lubin, Founder and CEO of ConsenSys. Joseph founded ConsenSys as an Ethereum development studio on the heels of the Ethereum crowd sale in 2014. The company has since grown to a distributed organization of over 1,000 people. Over 50 companies and projects have emerged from ConsenSys, including Metamask, uPort, Gnosis, and GitCoin, to name only a few. Today, the company continues to invest in growing the Ethereum ecosystem by funding projects, and through consulting services for companies and institutions.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Joseph’s background working as a technologist in the financial industry
• How he discovered Bitcoin in 2011
• What lead Joseph to meet Vitalik Buterin and the founding Ethereum team
• How he founded ConsenSys and the company’s vision
• The company’s impressive growth and output
• The recent round of layoffs at ConsenSys
• How he thinks blockchain can change the world for the better
• His advice to companies feeling the pressure of the current bear market
• Joseph visiton for the future of ConsenSys and Ethereum

Episode links:

• ConsenSys website
• The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust (The New Yorker)
• The Uncanny Mind That Built Ethereum (WIRED)
• ConsenSys Monthly Report — November 2018
• A Prehistory of the Ethereum Protocol
• Joseph Lubin on Twitter

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This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/269