Welcome back, Pilgrim. Here’s what’s happened in town since you’ve been away…
Welcome back to the Reformer Newsletter, where we can take a dive into various projects and activities from around Web3 and across the Christian community. You have joined this network to contribute to our collective mission of building for Christ’s Kingdom, and we will use this newsletter as a platform to enable that.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
(Romans 3:21-25)
By His sacrifice on the Cross, Christ redeemed the world. That radical concept that we can individually be made righteous through our faith is critical, as is the notion that this faith can redeem collectively families, communities, and nations.
Let us explore examples of how Christ is redeeming the institutions that underpin our society, and let us seek opportunities to build systems in the still-nascent web3 space formed on a foundation of righteousness-by-faith.
Around Web3
Crypto Leaks claims regarding Ava Labs and the Ava Labs response: This entire episode is still unfolding, and Wisdom would dictate we hold judgement until all facts are uncovered. However, this does bring two pillars of society into a questionable light— our legal system and our institutions of media and journalism. The TL:DR version of this story goes as follows:
A lawyer claims to be very closely connected with the developer of the Avalanche blockchain, Ava Labs.
This lawyer claims to engage in shady practices to attack and bring down potential competitors to Ava Labs through litigation.
Someone working with the website Crypto Leaks caught this lawyer (who is not an employee Ava Labs) on camera making these claims. During that hidden camera interview, there was no one from Ava Labs present.
After this piece was published, the head of Ava Labs, Emin Gun Sirer, released a statement which denied the lawyer’s claims as unfounded and calls out Crypto Leaks for releasing a hit piece.
Reading these articles can show us how our systems for litigation and legal recourse can serve to undermine innovation and fair competition. Likewise, if the claims made by Crypto Leaks are unfounded, how does that show the failings of journalism? Regardless of the truth, the author clearly breaks the tradition of unbiased and detached reporting when in the article they title this an “evil conspiracy” and imply the lawyer has some degree of psychopathy. What are the projects and initiatives in the crypto space that seek to correct these failings of litigation and journalism?
Ethereum Merge to address a technical problem with new financial incentives: The date for the Ethereum Merge is set for September, and at this point the Ethereum blockchain will switch from a proof-of-work consensus to a proof-of-stake. In layman’s terms, this means that ETH transactions will no longer be verified based on “miners” solving complex algorithms, but instead they will be confirmed by “validators” who lock their own ETH (at which point they cannot access it) for the ability to perform this validation. Bankless has released a bearish case and a bullish response for the Ethereum price outlook, and as with any major update in the crypto world, look for a hard fork which will stick to the “old-school ETH”. Regardless of how ETH price responds, we are witnessing the Ethereum foundation redesign their entire financial model in order to break tech industry stagnation while addressing crypto’s energy consumption. Let’s see what happens!
Hyperstructures might be the new model for online institutions: A Zora cofounder writes persuasively on the potential to think more long-term and engineer generational web3 protocols that will be unstoppable, free, valuable, expansive, permissionless, positive sum, and credibly neutral. He argues that only through embodying these principles at the protocol level will these hyperstructures be able to provide public goods in a sustainable way. Imagine indestructible protocols providing access to Scripture, Christian community and open communication and you can already see the possibilities for institutional preservation and creation.
Worried about censorship or just online product decay? Web3 fixes this: Here’s instructions on how to launch your own Discord-like network on Urbit, contained in a Twitter thread. While most of us don’t and might never need this never of technical control, the fact that it now exists is comforting and fascinating. Similar to the advent of the printing press, this proliferation of creative tools should provide leverage to a growing profusion of unauthorized builders to make new institutions on a mass scale. Interesting times ahead.
Around the Kingdom
The Necessity and Futility of Building the Modern University: Our institutions of higher education were largely founded upon Biblical principles to train young people to live healthier and more Godly lives. How far they have fallen…
Today young people at universities are indoctrinated, sheltered from opportunities to grow, and taught that disagreement is to be answered with aggression and hate. They are neither taught to be better people, nor are they being prepared for a future career, which is exactly what many of them (…and unwilling taxpayers) are paying for. Luckily, there are organizations who are looking to recover what has been lost.
St. Johns College in Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM maintains a unique curriculum based on the classics and humanities.
University of Austin, Texas (UATX) is a new school which brings together professors and academics who have lost faith in traditional institutions of higher education.
Hillsdale College in Michigan has recently worked to reorient towards its founding principles of developing young minds through learning, character, faith, and freedom.
Are there other examples of schools who are seeking reform and redemption in this environment? I also recommend checking out this podcast from the Acton Institute on the future of the university.
Reformers Essay Series
The Reformers community is a network of Christ followers who believe there is an opportunity to spread Gospel Truth by using the next generation of digital tools we have available, commonly referred to as “web3” or “crypto” tools. In this space of innovation, there are many diverse actors striving for different goals and creating varied narratives. One prevalent narrative is “Bitcoin fixes this” or “crypto fixes that.”
Is inflation and national debt a looming catastrophe? Bitcoin fixes that.
Is the tech world controlled by a few monolithic super-corporations? Crypto fixes that.
Are online spaces devolving into hatred and vitriol? That’s right… it fixes that, too.
It is great to see people trying to fix these all-too-real problems. It is unfortunate to see them going about it the wrong way. These creations made by the hands of men cannot save us any more than a golden calf could deliver Israel from the Pharaoh. To rely on them is both idolatrous and lazy.
We know that these problems can be washed away through Gospel Truth- faith, hope, and love. We overcome lazy and passive reliance when we recognize that Christ fixes this. We the Church are the Body of Christ, so we are called to action to use the systems around us to spread the Gospel, bless our neighbors, and build for the Kingdom.
Check out the article Christ Fixes the Concentration of Power in the Reformer Essay Series on Mirror. If you like it, please support by subscribing or collecting a copy of the article as an NFT for 0.01 ETH.
The Call
The Reformers is a community of Christ followers who want to continuously explore new tools which can extend the reach of His Kingdom. If you want to lean in and support that mission, check out a Reformers NFT, become a patron of the community, get news and updates to start building with us, and help us run this race with endurance.