Martin Köppelmann, co-founder of Berlin-based Gnosis Chain, has no problem voicing his opinion. In addition to building some of the largest blockchain tools on Ethereum, he is also noted as a thought leader. He is a philosopher and developer with strong opinions on how blockchain technology can evolve without compromising its core spirit.
Like many early blockchain enthusiasts, Keppelman first learned about Bitcoin (BTC) in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. He had become interested in a new political group in Germany, a faction of the Pirate Party that took a unique approach to group decision-making. “It was intended to be a very member-driven party, with a concept of 'liquid democracy' where everyone could vote for everything by default,” Keppelman explained in an interview.
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Keppelmann joined the Pirate Party in 2010 as party members were considering whether to vote in favor of a euro zone rescue package for Greece's struggling economy.
“We need to dig deep into how money works and how central banks work,” Keppelman recalled. “I had never really thought about such things before,” but exploring how money works and what money is is what led him to “discover Bitcoin.”
Koppelman's first blockchain company, Fairley, grew into the largest Bitcoin-based prediction market before selling. “Over the years, I became quite skeptical about Bitcoin in many ways, but certainly at the time I was something of a Bitcoin maximalist,” Keppelman said. Ta. “I quickly concluded that Bitcoin is great because it shows that other forms of money are possible, but that I believe that Bitcoin's specific form is not necessarily what is best for humanity. It’s not a thing.”
Currently, Koppelman is more closely associated with Ethereum. After meeting with Ethereum co-founder Joe Rubin, who now heads ConsenSys, the research and development company that develops the popular MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet, Keppelman became enthused by the potential of programmable smart contracts and decided to invest in Ethereum. Launched Gnosis, an ecosystem betting market.
“The prediction thing was never successful,” Keppelman says. “But the infrastructure thing was ultimately successful.” Gnosis ultimately acquired and integrated his xDAI, another blockchain, with a focus on privacy to scale up Ethereum's capabilities. I created a “side chain”. Safe (a popular multi-signature wallet solution) and CoWSwap ( MEV resistance Exchange Protocol) has been a huge success independently of its parent project.
In addition to becoming a major builder of the Ethereum ecosystem, Keppelman has also emerged as one of its most vocal critics, feeling that it falls short of the ideals for which the network was founded. Frequently criticizes projects, infrastructure, and technology updates.
Koppelman has been one of the most vocal about the issue of censorship, expressing concern that certain elements of Ethereum's infrastructure are being censored, particularly the blocks that make up most of the blocks. bow down to government sanctions In a way that goes against the network's core philosophy.
“For a long time, I was very aligned with the broader Ethereum research community,” Keppelman recalled. “But at least on this topic of censorship and MEV, my opinion was a little different from the direction Ethereum was going. I certainly disagreed here.”
