Techquitable

Nathan Schneider (@ntnsndr), professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the Media Economies Design Lab, joined the Decentralization Research Center's podcast to discuss his new paper, “Online Governance Surfaces and Attention Economies,” how attention functions as labor, and what it means to design governance systems that respect people’s time and focus. Times...

Gabriel Shapiro, a crypto lawyer and founder of MetaLeX, joins the Decentralization Research Center’s Connor Spelliscy to discuss market structure legislation, limiting principles for Howey, ancillary assets, and the risks of incentivizing useless tokens. Timestamps: 02:37 - Are there limiting principles for Howey? 06:11 - Prior Senate draft vs. CLARITY Act: ancillary assets explained 09:29 - Why...

Jane Khodarkovsky, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Arktouros, and Nikhil Raghuveera, co-founder and CEO of Predicate, join the Decentralization Research Center’s Tony Douglas to discuss regulation by enforcement, developer liability, privacy tools, AI agents, and how to responsibly build the next generation of financial infrastructure. Timestamps: 01:42 - From public service to...

How does bipartisan education occur in Washington? Where can it be improved? George Leonardo (@CapHillCrypto) of Cap Hill Crypto joins the Techquitable podcast to discuss what he's seeing on the Hill. Timestamps:  00:00 - Introduction and background 01:35 - Why George launched Cap Hill Crypto 03:31 - Educating DC policymakers about decentralization 05:15 - Insights into House-Senate collaborat...

Jonathan Galea (@ImpermanentGain), counsel at Cahill, Gordon, & Reindel LLP, joins Connor Spelliscy (@c_spelliscy) to break down the evolving definition of decentralization under MiCA and the broader EU regulatory framework. They explore what “sufficient decentralization” means in Europe, how regulators like ESMA and national authorities like Denmark’s FSA are approaching DeFi, and what U.S. p...

Miles Jennings of a16z (@milesjennings) and Sarah Brennan of Delphi Ventures (@SH_Brennan) join Connor Spelliscy to discuss the critical control test for decentralization, which has been mentioned in Safe Harbor proposals, including one proposed by Sarah and the Decentralization Research Center. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:28 The latest on legislation discussions in Washington  04:26 Zooming out: I...

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce spoke with us at the Decentralized Tech Summit to share her thoughts on how decentralization should impact securities regulation, her work leading the SEC's Crypto Task Force and exit tests for her proposed Safe Harbor. It was one of her most detailed public conversations focused solely on decentralization. Timestamps: [1:06] How crypto roundtables impact rulemak...

The author of “The Very Brief History of Decentralized Blockchain Governance”, Dr. Abramowicz, joined the Techquitable podcast to discuss how governance over decentralized blockchain communities has evolved over time.  Timestamps: [3:10] - Dr. Abramowicz experience with decentralized governance [6:00] - The history of decentralized adjudication [8:30] - The importance of incentives [11:35] - How d...

The authors of recently published “Blockchain Governance”  joined the Techquitable podcast to discuss how governance over blockchain communities is formed.  It was a pleasure to learn about their research on governance and the importance of decentralization in blockchain communities. Timestamps: [2:40] - Why collaborate to write a book on blockchain governance? [6:15] - Who should read the book? W...

@ahall_research is the Davies Family Professor of Political Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.  Andy has also advised major tech companies — such as Meta — and worked closely with web3 leaders via @a16zcrypto’s research team on governance and democratic systems. It was a pleasure to have Andy on the Techquitable podcast to share his p...

@sheila_warren is the CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, a premier global alliance for advancing the promise of digital assets through research, education and advocacy. In 2023, Sheila was voted one of the most influential women in DC by the Washingtonian and previously founded the World Economic Forum’s blockchain and digital assets team. It was a pleasure to have her join the Techquitable...

Dr. Kelsie Nabben (@kelsiemvn) is an ethnographic researcher specializing in the social impacts of emerging technologies, particularly decentralized digital infrastructure (including blockchains, peer-to-peer protocols, and DAOs) and other algorithmic systems (such as LLMs). She joined the Techquitable podcast to discuss computer aided ethnography, her research on distributed systems, Web 3’s Secu...

Paul Brigner leads the Coinbase Institute and is the founder of the PGP* (Pretty Good Policy) for Crypto group. He joined us on the Techquitable podcast to discuss what he’s hearing in Washington, the importance of decentralization and much more. Timestamps: [3:00] - Paul’s unique background [9:20] - The progression of the internet [11:40] - The current blockchain advocacy community in DC [19:40]...

Kyle Bligen, Director of Financial Policy at the Chamber of Progress joins the Techquitable podcast to discuss what he’s hearing in Washington on legislation affecting blockchain technology, decentralization and much more. Timestamps: [0:30] - Introduction to Kyle [2:50] - What Kyle is hearing on the Hill [7:40] - The current campaign landscape and former President Trump [10:00] - Policy prioritie...

What impact will the future of blockchains have on constitutions and institutions? DRC Executive Director Connor Spelliscy spoke with DRC Fellow Professor Eric Alston on the Techquitable podcast to discuss Eric's career in economics and law, decentralization in digital governance, and much more.  Timestamps: 0:30 - Eric’s journey through economics and institutions 4:13 - Mapping a career path...

Congressman Wiley Nickel (@RepWileyNickel) is currently serving his first term in Congress as the U.S. Representative of the 13th District of North Carolina which includes Wake, Wayne, Johnston and Harnett Counties. Prior to being elected to Congress, Wiley served as a North Carolina State Senator, attorney, small business owner and worked for two White House administrations. This conversation occ...

Nathan Schneider (@ntnsndr), joins the podcast to discuss the need for accountable centralized structures in decentralized participation and the importance of designing governable spaces.  9:12 - Ethics and power dynamics in emerging tech 15:07 - Democracy's decline in the digital domain 20:26 - Technology's illusion of power 21:40 - Decentralization and its varied definitions 24:59 - Bala...

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce shares her perspective on innovation, securities law and blockchain technology, and whether the three can co-exist. Show highlights: 0:00 - Intro 4:57 - How should regulators approach emerging tech? 6:50 - The importance of open collaboration between industry, regulators, and the public. 8:30 - Leveraging social media for a new perspective.  10:47 - Commissioner Peir...

Shrey Jain is a Research Fellow at the Decentralization Research Center and Technical Program Manager at Microsoft and Co-Founder of the  Plural Technology Collaboratory  at Microsoft Research. In this spotlight episode Shrey shares his work on artificial intelligence following his late 2023 publication of Contextual Confidence and Generative AI .

Ari Juels is the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor in the  Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute  at  Cornell Tech  and the Technion and a Computer Science faculty member at  Cornell University . He is a Co-Director of the  Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3) . He is also Chief Scientist at  Chainlink Labs . He is the author of crypto thriller novel  The O...

Chris Giancarlo (@ giancarloMKTS ) is senior counsel and Co-Chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice in the firm’s New York office. Chris served as the thirteenth Chairman of the U.S. CFTC, where he oversaw regulation of the futures, options and swaps derivatives markets. Chris was also a successful entrepreneur, helping GFI Group Inc. grow into a leading trading platform while managing GFI’s s...

Welcome to the Techquitable podcast, your audio guide through the complex landscape of emerging technologies and equitable ownership. Hosted by Connor Spelliscy and Tony Douglas Jr. of the Decentralization Research Center , this podcast will host a diverse array of voices — from researchers and policy makers to forward-thinking entrepreneurs and industry leaders — to keep you informed on the lates...