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(Continuing from Dialogue 1) Dialogue: Tokens are the key to the next-generation Internet digital economy
About the Author:
Yuan Dao, founder and chairman of 21Vianet Data Center, chairman of Zhongguancun Blockchain Alliance
Meng Yan, Vice President of CSDN, responsible for CSDN content, community and blockchain business.
Tokens and blockchains also need to build technology stacks
Meng: Mr. Yuan Dao, we talked about last time that the token must run on the blockchain, otherwise the credibility will be insufficient. But the reality is that blockchain, as a technical infrastructure, sucks. Cryptokitties the previous week was nothing more than a little game that dragged the entire Ethereum to its death. This kind of infrastructure is used to support the ideal token economy we are looking forward to, is it a bit too unreliable?
Yuan: Indeed. At present, the technical indicators of the blockchain infrastructure are too far from the requirements for running tokens, which has also become the focus of technological innovation in the blockchain industry today. You look at the new white papers of blockchain projects, which one does not make a fuss about transaction performance? We all know that the theoretical maximum transaction speed of Bitcoin is 7 TPS, Ethereum is 25-30 TPS, and today’s white papers, if you are less than 10,000 TPS, you are embarrassed to come out and greet people. In fact, improving the transaction performance on the basic chain is a huge technical challenge, and it is impossible without some unique skills. Therefore, now the Eight Immortals are crossing the sea and showing their magical powers, they are all working on this problem. There is a logic chain implied here, that is, my technology is advanced, so I am fast, and I am fast, so my coins will be valuable in the future.
Of course, because the white paper is now bragging, many people are questioning, is your technology really advanced enough, can it really run so fast? Question the premise of this logical chain.
But from the perspective of running the token, I have to take a step back and question the entire logic chain. If the main value of a token is to organize social collaboration in a new way, shouldn’t the value of a token mainly depend on its ability to mobilize social resources? Shouldn't it mostly depend on its economic system and incentive design? Shouldn't it mainly depend on its rich application and good user experience? Shouldn't it mostly depend on the number of users it has? None of these points must be tied to a particular chain. It should even be said that a truly useful, easy-to-use and valuable token must not be tied to a specific basic chain in the long run. This is similar to the excellent mobile phone applications, such as WeChat, Alipay, and Toutiao, which should never be specific to a certain mobile phone operating system, nor should you develop an operating system because you want to create a WeChat. I want to do a today. Toutiao, I will develop another operating system. If I want to run 20 apps, I have to put 20 mobile phones on my waist. Isn’t this sick? But now many blockchain startup projects still have this logic. I want to issue coins in a certain field, so I have to make a separate chain, and then how can I make this chain advanced, so on and so forth.
Meng: I agree with you. Although there are still many projects in the current currency market that are positioned this way and can still gain some support, I think this chimney-style single-purpose chain is about to become obsolete. Maybe your technology is really unique, maybe you are hundreds or thousands times faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum, but it is too difficult to build a prosperous industrial ecological environment based on this alone. It's like you write a mobile operating system today, claiming to be 100 times more expensive than iOS and Android, do you think you can compete with them? I'm afraid the pattern Tucson is broken.
I see some new token projects that are directly based on Ethereum or other basic chains, and even some tokens are issued on Ethereum and part on Waves, or issued on Ethereum today, and will migrate to EOS in the future It can also be migrated to the upcoming Palliums with cross-chain and cross-platform (Multi platform). In fact, this means that the token is decoupled from the basic blockchain, and this decoupling creates a layered problem between the token and the blockchain.
Yuan: We who are IT and Internet people are most familiar with the concept of layering. What are layers? A layer is an abstraction and isolation of the details below. For example, in an enterprise business system, the operating system and the database are one layer, the middleware is one layer, and the application is one layer; in a web application, the bottom-to-top are the data layer, business logic layer, web layer, and presentation layer. These layers of technologies are stacked to form a technology stack. The technology at the upper layer of the technology stack is completely developed by the abstraction provided by the lower layer. This is arguably the most important thought in the entire IT industry for decades.
Meng : Tokens and blockchain will definitely form a technology stack.
Yuan : Definitely. The question is, what will this stack look like? The appearance of this stack is clear, and we know what you are going to do in this industry.
Chimney, mobile internet and internet hourglass model
Meng : What will the technology stack of token and blockchain look like?
Meta : Two acceptable modes, plus the unacceptable mode we criticized above, for a total of three modes.
The first pattern is the chimney pattern I just criticized. Each industry and each type of application is a chain, each has its own way, and each has its own shout, and it is difficult to communicate with each other. This is an unhealthy business format and unsustainable.
The second model is the Apple/Android model, that is, a few oligarchic basic chains are evenly matched, each chain forms a prosperous ecology, and the token is a part of this chain. If you make a token and don’t want to be tied to a chain, then you need to do a set for each chain, whether your token or DApp, to form a cross-chain. This is very similar to the situation where iOS and Android coexist on the mobile Internet.
The third mode is the Internet mode. You must know that the Internet protocol standard is not designed by any company, nor is it the result of a successful business battle. The Internet protocol is an unofficial organization such as the IETF, which is discussed from the bottom up with a very democratic and orderly mechanism. As long as you follow this standard, you can become a member of the Internet protocol stack. In particular, there is a thin waist in the protocol stack of the Internet, that is to say, there are many protocols below, and there are many protocols above, but at the Internet layer, there is only one protocol, which is the IP protocol. This is the thin waist in the entire Internet protocol stack, which is why the Internet protocol stack is called the "hourglass model".
The Hourglass Model of the Internet Protocol
If the blockchain technology stack eventually grows into an Internet model, then a cross-chain communication layer needs to be added between the blockchain and the token. And this cross-chain communication layer is the "slim waist" in the hourglass model of the blockchain. That is to say, this cross-chain communication layer must be compatible with multiple basic chains and support various token applications. It is not easy to do this, but it is very important for the entire blockchain industry.
Meng : The chimney model is definitely not a long-term solution. In the future, the apple model and the hourglass model will definitely be decided. Which do you prefer?
Yuan : As an Internet veteran, I certainly prefer the hourglass model, because its inclusiveness, diversity, and collaborative spirit are unmatched by other models. The blockchain was born out of the cypherpunk movement. The pursuit of freedom and the dedication to decentralization are all part of this technical philosophy. If the blockchain industry follows the Apple model and forms an oligopoly, it would be ironic.
Of course, in the field of the basic chain, only two or three main systems will be left in the end, such as Windows, MacOS and Linux on the PC, Windows, Linux on the server side, and iOS and Android on the mobile side. We repeat this story at every stage of the development of the entire IT industry. No matter how popular the infrastructure-level platforms are at the beginning, they will eventually converge to two or three platforms. The reason is very simple. For platforms at this level, the entire industry is neither willing to see a dominant player, nor can they afford the burden of supporting multiple platforms at the same time. You think, today when we develop mobile applications, we have to develop two versions for iOS and Android, raise two teams, two sets of people, and have to coordinate between them, which is already overwhelming for many enterprises. If there are a lot of platforms underneath, how can you live? Therefore, at the basic chain level, I think it will eventually be attributed to two or three platforms.
Meng : But now there are a lot of projects targeting the foundation chain.
Yuan : Most will die, very tragically, but there is no escape. This will happen in the next few years. The competition at this level is not just technical warfare, but also ecological warfare, resource warfare, legal warfare, propaganda stations, capital warfare, in a word, all-out warfare.
Meng : But many basic chains have invested a lot of money, and they will not easily admit defeat. They think that I have money, so I can make up for my shortcomings, and I can fight.
Yuan : I agree with this. If you have money, you can really make up for the shortcomings and fight to the end. The question is, how much money do they have? After raising tens of millions, one or two hundred million, you feel that you are rich? In fact, for ecological construction, if you invest one billion yuan, you may hear an echo, which is not enough. With such a big thing as the blockchain, and such an important platform as the basic chain, there will be people who will fight with tens of billions or hundreds of billions.
Meng : I understand. You think there can only be a few basic chains, but you don’t want this oligarchic situation to eventually lead the entire blockchain industry to the Apple model. So what should we do?
元：我觉得如果我们希望整个区块链产业健康发展，不要走向寡头垄断，关键在于两点。第一就是要建立一套协议，一套治理体系。这方面，互联网堪称典范，ICANN 堪称典范。第二是要把跨链通讯这个“细腰”做好，这是整个区块链技术体系的关键，是最具战略意义的环节。我认为中国的区块链产业应该一起在这两件事情上努力。互联网的游戏规则是美国人制定的，虽然我们的很多媒体整天沾沾自喜的报道中国互联网产业如何巨大，中国几个互联网巨头如何厉害，但我们这些了解互联网实际运作模式的人心里很清楚，这个游戏的规则是美国人制定的。区块链时代，中国人不能放弃制定规则的机会。
区块链产业发展的三条路线
孟：但是您的重心还是在通证层和应用层，是吗？
元：是的。我自诩为通证派。
孟：怎么理解？
元：要知道，关于区块链产业应该怎样发展，是存在路线和派别的差异的。我现在能够清楚的看到三条不同的路线。
第一条路线，就是把区块链当成分布式账本，升级版的分布式数据库。走这条路线的人，认为区块链最大的价值在于降低商业摩擦，让本来就是产业里领先的企业，用分布式账本技术（Distributed Ledger Technology，DLT）彼此之间共享关键数据，从而使得商业信任得以传递，大幅度降低商业摩擦。
孟：是的，我之前在 IBM 里接受的区块链理念，就是这样的。我们通常想到的，用区块链管理供应链、防伪鉴真、加快业务流程、提升清算效率，都是这个路子。
元：对的，这条路线最大的特点有两个，第一是通证可有可无，第二是只改革，不革命，不搞产业颠覆。你原来是老大，以后还是老大，而且因为效率提升了，你老大的位置更稳。
孟：但您之前说过，不用通证，就相当于把区块链的功力废掉九成。
元：没错，不跟通证结合的区块链，就是被阉割的区块链，其颠覆性和威力大幅度下降，不过瘾，没意思，只不过是一个升级版的企业数据库技术，你们技术社群自己关起门来讨论就好了，犯不上这么多人来玩。
孟：那第二条路线呢？
元：第二条路线就是源自密码朋克运动的那条路线，强烈的叛逆，强烈的理想主义。
孟：就像搞暗网、搞丝绸之路的那些人，用数字加密货币匿名交易各种东西，即使被不法分子用来买卖毒品、军火，雇凶杀人，也认为这是保护自由必须付出的代价。但是这样的理想主义者、超级自由主义者在中国好像不多。
元：在中国这种人不多。但是这条路线有一个衍生物，就是所谓币圈，在中国超级繁荣。虽然币圈表面上关注的就是数字货币的交易和价格炒作，百分之百的逐利，但是深入本质，你会看到这个圈子其实是建筑在理想主义的基础之上的，他们相信数字通证有着不证自明的价值，我信，故它值钱。他们觉得数字通证不一定要有内在价值，不一定要有应用场景，更不一定要有政府支持，只要市场上能够买卖，就说明它有价值。至于泡沫、炒作、风险、欺诈、传销，在价格不断上升的时候，这些都无所谓。他们发的“币”经常是面向PR的，没有明确的应用场景，更没有强大的业务资源来落地，今天用不起来，将来也没有用起来的计划。如果说第一路线认为通证可有可无，那么第二路线就把通证当成一切，甚至对它的实用性和内在价值都不在乎。
当然，我得承认，第二路线里有很多的实践是正确的，比如发币，比如上交易所，获取流动性溢价，等等。但是这条路线与现行体制和法律之间的对抗姿态，实不可取。
Meng : Interesting. So what about the third route you're talking about?
Yuan : That is of course the tokenization route we talked about. We also discussed this route in detail in our last conversation. To sum up, the route of the Token School is to emphasize the core position of the token in the blockchain innovation, and let the blockchain exert its greatest power - running the token. At the same time, we require the token to have intrinsic value, have a clear application scenario, be able to circulate quickly, and be listed and traded as easily as possible. Because it has been discussed in detail before, I will not repeat the meaning of the token economy here.
I think our third route, that is, the route of the Tokenists, is the right path for the development of the blockchain industry. It can not only gain the support and affirmation of the government and society, but also stimulate the endless innovation and subversion of all walks of life and even the entire society. At the same time, it can completely avoid some of the drawbacks of the currency circle hype. I encourage more and more blockchain entrepreneurs to consider the entrepreneurial innovation route from the perspective of token. It is not necessary to build a chain, and then say how advanced your technology is, how many times faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum, so your coins can be very valuable, this is not a realistic attitude. The focus should be on the token, how to issue a token, how to design its economic system, how to make ordinary users have a more convenient experience, how to connect with the traditional system of the enterprise, and so on. This is the route of our Tokenists, and I believe it is the route that can bring the greatest benefits to China's economic and social development with the least negative impact.
Meng : I think I am also a tokenist.
( To be continued , the third dialogue will discuss "The Future of the Internet Guided by the Token Economy")
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