Bitcoin Security + the Future of AI with Jameson Lopp - WBD609

Jameson Lopp is the co-founder & CTO of Casa. In this interview, we discuss why Casa has extended custody support to Ethereum, important security lessons from the Luke Dashir hack, Bitcoin security & inheritance planning, and how AI came of age in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT.

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Last year provided the most brutal examples of why “not your keys, not your coin” should be the first thing anyone new to the ecosystem learns. Dave Portney’s infamous tweet questioning where his Bitcoin was after FTX blew up, showed how generally unaware people are of the risks associated with exchanges, and the importance of custody in relation to ownership.

However, there are also those who quite reasonably need greater protection than that offered by a hardware wallet. There are many examples of people losing access to their Bitcoin held off-exchange. Further, the hacking of Luke Dashir’s security setup shows the risks of bespoke security solutions. This is where Casa comes in - providing multisig custody solutions for Bitcoin holders.

Casa has now extended its service provision to Ethereum. For Bitcoin maximalists this may be viewed as a red line having been crossed. For those who hold Bitcoin and Ethereum, this may provide a practical one-stop shop solution that convinces them to take their holdings (including Bitcoin) off exchanges. There are merits to both sides of the pragmatism versus maximalism argument, which is sure to continue to be debated throughout 2023.

And yet, history may relegate the significance of the collapses in crypto in 2022 behind last year's massive advances in AI technology. ChatGPT, in particular, has the potential to revolutionise the employment market: online customer services, copywriting, journalism, consulting, academia, computer programming… the disruption to white-collar workers could be unprecedented.

Despite being less than 2 months old, ChatGPT has led to a pervading wave of excitement and hysteria. It is a wake-up call of how technology can rapidly interrupt the assumed order within society. The issue is that it will be followed not only by advances in its own capabilities, but other technologies will follow in biotechnology, VR, nanotechnology etc. etc. etc. Are we on the edge of the greatest revolution to impact humans?