Tomasz Tunguz - The Rhyming Protocol Wars of 2022
Tomasz TunguzVenture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Rhyming Protocol Wars of 2022
Defi lending protocols, distributed exchange protocols, cross-chain messaging protocols, communication protocols. All of them are in the process of being invented, debated, and adopted. In a roundabout way, this post is about the emergence of web3 protocols. But it’s about how we got here. For 20 years, from 1970 to 1990s, the first Protocol Wars raged over clacking IBM Model M mechanical keyboards. At the time, computers were connected by local networks. Stanford operated a computer network. DARPA and University College London also. But these networks couldn’t talk to each other in a standardized way - paralleling the limited interoperability of blockchains today. How would computers find each other? How would they exchange files or messages or emails? How would they secure data on the wire? In 1974 and 1975, a team at DARPA including Vint Cerf developed a standard called TCP/IP. TCP/IP is a collection of standards that today are ubiquitous: HTTP (web browsing), IMAP and SMTP (for emails), UDP (broadcast video), and many others. After significant testing, the US Department of Defense standardized its networks on TCP/IP in 1981. Berkeley embedded TCP/IP into Unix not long thereafter. In the private sector, IBM, DEC, and Xerox built proprietary protocols to connect business networks. These closed-source competitors duked it out market share for more than 20 years. Not to be outdone, startups vied for business, writing TCP/IP stacks and selling them to big computer makers. The largest of the era, FTP Software, went public as a hugely successful business before being sold for less than cash after Microsoft embedded a TCP/IP stack in Windows 95 for free, marking the end of the era. During these decades, the conference circuit featured architecture debates from protocol preachers sporting spicy t-shirts. Web3 builders are debating their way through this era’s protocol wars, defining the networking stack to connect blockchains. Ethereum wrote a virtual machine, EVM. The EVM has become an early standard for smart contract runtimes. Cosmos has been promoting the Inter Blockchain Connectivity (IBC) standard for messaging. There are point-to-point cross-chain bridges like Wormhole that recall PPP in the TCP/IP array. The next era in web3 will feature a panoply of three-letter acronyms, debates over communications protocols at the most fundamental levels written on modern, clicky mechanical keyboards sporting Cherry Brown switches, and, yes, colorful couture. It wouldn’t be a protocol war otherwise. |
Older messages
Revenue, Revenue Everywhere. Not a Dollar to Count
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Revenue, Revenue Everywhere. Not a Dollar to Count
Four Fundamental Innovations of Web3 that Will Upend Web2 Incumbents
Friday, April 8, 2022
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Four Fundamental Innovations of Web3 that Will
$112m of Market Cap per Engineer
Monday, April 4, 2022
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. $112m of Market Cap per Engineer There are roughly
Startup Self-Repricing as a Recruiting Tool
Friday, March 25, 2022
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. Startup Self-Repricing as a Recruiting Tool Could
The Spicy Future for Data
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist at Redpoint If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Spicy Future for Data What's the price of
You Might Also Like
Nato turns to spacetech
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Plus: Blockchain startups to watch and the man aiming to build the world's largest network of EVs. View in browser Logo - Zoom_flagship (1) Good morning there, While private investors remain unsure
The Capex Conquest in the Cloud
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Capex Conquest in the Cloud Amazon announced their
62 new Shopify apps for you 🌟
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 Week 17 Apr 22, 2024 - Apr 29, 2024 New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 What's New at Shopify? 🌱 Return rules in POS New ⸱ POS ⸱ 3 days ago Market
Linesaver
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
We keep your website up and running, even in times of heavy traffic BetaList BetaList Daily Linesaver We keep your website up and running, even in times of heavy traffic Too much email in your life?
"you been working out?"
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Read time: 1 min, 29 sec a picture of me lasting 1.3 seconds in a cold plunge: Let me get this out of the way: I am not a fitness guru 😆 If you've ever seen me in person, then you've probably
Founder Weekly - Issue 634
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
View this email in your browser Founder Weekly Welcome to issue 634 of Founder Weekly. Let's get straight to the links this week. General Take Two: Eight Hard-Earned Lessons from Repeat Founders on
empaithy and SignalOps
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Your empathetic AI companion for mental wellbeing BetaList BetaList Daily Win a $100 Amazon gift card? Fill out this one-question survey about domain names. Marc empaithy Your empathetic AI companion
More speaker names dropping🎙️
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Check out the new speakers we've added to the list! View this email in your browser. 1200 x 380 (Desktop & Tablet) (3)-2 Hey there, The Sifted Summit speaker list is growing each day — have you
Marybeth Alexander — Knowledgebase Secrets — The Bootstrapped Founder 316
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Marybeth Alexander is the Chief Executive Owl at KnowledgeOwl, a SaaS that focuses on providing the most impactful knowledgebase you could have.
How to be analytical—even if you’re "not a numbers person"
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Analytical skills didn't come easily for me. Luckily, I found my way through. Here are 12 concepts to sharpen your analytical thinking. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏