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?