We’re joined by Ameen Soleimani, Co-founder and CEO of SpankChan. From his humble beginnings at ConsenSys, he went on to create SpankChain in 2017 at the height of the ICO boom. The project aims to create a better and safer environment for sex workers by removing the intermediaries who take significant commissions on their revenues. SpankChain’s initial product, an adult cam platform, allows users to pay performers in crypto with a native asset over sophisticated payment channels. More recently, Ameen headed a project called Moloch DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization with the goal to fund Ethereum 2.0 development. Moloch has but few simple functions: making proposals, voting on proposals, and exiting. This simple design, heavily inspired on “The DAO” of 2016 has attracted funding from Vitalik Buterin, Joe Lubin and other prominent community members.
Topics covered in this episode:

Ameen’s background as an early ConsenSys employee working on payment channels
Why Ameen decided to found SpankChain and how the project has evolved since its inception
What is Moloch DAO and why he decided to launch it
The mechanism behind Moloch and how it compares to other DAOs
How one becomes a member of Moloch and participates in governance
The simplicity of Moloch DAO and its essential functions
How Moloch DAO scales and its intended lack of a smart contract upgrade mechanism
The attention and funding the project has already received
Proposals already made on Moloch, including YangDAO, and their utility to the ecosystem
Ameen’s views on the broader Ethereum space, his outlook on Eth 2.0 and the future of the project

Episode links:

Moloch DAO
Moloch Ventures · GitHub
Moloch DAO white paper
Moloch Summoning Guide
The State of Ethereum 2.0 report
A Study of Libp2p and ETH2
A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on The DAO
YangDAO
Ameen Soleimani on Twitter
Moloch DAO on Twitter
SpankChain
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This episode is hosted by Sebastien Couture & Friederike Ernst. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/297