Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (also known as V God, or Torin) recently accepted an exclusive interview with Blocktempo. In the first part of the interview, conducted entirely in Chinese, they discussed the unique aspects of the Ethereum community in Taiwan, as well as how technologies such as ZK and DID can improve modern democratic mechanisms and safeguard freedom of speech. In the second part, conducted in English, they discussed the centralization issues of the AI era, how to regain the spirit of cypherpunks, and the unknown secrets of Ethereum before transitioning to proof-of-stake (PoS).
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, came to Taipei to participate in the TempoX Plurality Salon, a forum on the advancement of democracy and information technology in the Web3 era. This was his first exclusive interview in Chinese with Blocktempo, bringing blessings to the Taiwanese community. During the interview, he discussed the unique aspects of the Ethereum community in Taiwan and continued the discussion on different voting mechanisms and how blockchain can improve modern democratic mechanisms. He used ZK and DID as examples of how blockchain technology and materials can be used to build a more suitable democratic society for humans.
In the interview, Vitalik mentioned that he first came to Taiwan in 2015, invited by Alex Liu of Maicoin to visit his company and the Taiwanese community. He had contact with the Ethereum community here and found that he really liked the fact that many people in Taiwan have a strong desire to learn, not because they were told to learn, but out of their own curiosity and eagerness to understand these topics.
Regarding the understanding of Plurality, Vitalik mentioned that it is a very new concept, so it is normal for people not to understand it yet, as even the inventor himself has not fully explained it clearly. Plurality is still an avant-garde and bleeding-edge concept. He suggested thinking of Plurality as a kind of technology when considering topics such as democracy, open source, open democracy, and open government. Just like technology, there is always a better version that can be discovered, and people can start thinking about what is the best version of democracy for the 21st century.
Vitalik also mentioned an example of Plurality’s implementation in the Ethereum ecosystem called “Gitcoin Grants,” a platform that uses quadratic funding. People can donate Ether or other cryptocurrencies to various public good projects, and a matching formula determines how much matching funding each project receives. He mentioned that Gitcoin Grants is an excellent and already implemented example of the Plurality concept.
When discussing the relationship between Plurality and blockchain technology or decentralized collaboration, Vitalik mentioned that Plurality focuses on two layers: the mechanism itself and the security of the mechanism. He explained that the security aspect includes protecting privacy and preventing attacks such as creating fake accounts. He mentioned that zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) can play a crucial role in protecting privacy and solving security issues.
Overall, the interview covered topics such as the unique aspects of the Ethereum community in Taiwan, the development of the Plurality concept, the use of blockchain technology to improve democratic mechanisms, and the importance of tools such as ZK and DID in advancing the Plurality concept.