Given the Sanctions on Tornado Cash, Is Ethereum Censorship Resistant? - Ep. 390

Episode • Aug 30, 2022 • 1h 24m

Show highlights:

the legal meaning of the OFAC sanctions on Tornado Cash and why it is causing complications
how legislation is built for the fiat world, and how in DeFi and crypto there’s no clarity
how miners have changed their behavior prior to the Merge
whether a proof of work chain or a proof of stake chain would be more censorship resistant
whether laws apply to validators in a PoS chain
the ways in which the government could provide more clarification
the different entities involved in Proof of Stake
the liabilities for each entity in PoS and what secondary liability is
how the task of the bidder can be described as a mathematical optimization problem
whether Lido is exposed to US regulations
how long would it take for a large staker like Coinbase to stop being a validator
how a user-activated soft fork works and the conditions in which a fork could happen
whether social slashing is enforceable considering it is not in the protocol
the likelihood of Ethereum becoming a permissioned system
the role of Flashbots’ relay code and what it means for Ethereum’s censorship resistance
how DeFi’s exposure to US-based institutions can affect the likelihood of the chain complying with sanctions
whether DAI is just wrapped USDC
how MakerDAO is trying to be more independent of USDC
why US-based companies will choose a conservative path, considering the lack of guidance
the importance of educating the regulators
how cash and crypto are the only remaining private payment methods