If youre unfamiliar withthis creature, marmots are kinda like squirrels, but the size of a house-cat.
Preston Byrneis a lawyer and self-professed blockchain nerd.
OnTwitter, youll often find him subverting influencer-centric cryptocurrency discussion with talk of marmots.
If it helps, the groundhog (fromGroundhog Day) is technically a marmot.
Theres also an (imaginary) marmot-associated cryptocurrency, Marmotcoin.
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Byrne explained that Bitcoiners in 2014 were none too pleased with Monax, apermissioned blockchaincompany.
Indeed, Byrne has skin in the game.
Its known for being the first software client for deploying permissioned blockchains compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Referring to Marmotcoin actually became a good way to get people thinking critically about app design.
LP: “Well, fine.
you should probably increase our Marmotcoin holdings.
“PJB: “Um, there’s an issue with that.
“LP: “What.
“PJB: “We need more marmots for that.
It’s backed by marmots in my yard.
“LP: “Fine.
“PJB: “But we need to wait until they’re done hibernating.”
Marmots are totally exchangeable for Marmotcoins
Specifically, Canadas Vancouver Island Marmots are really, really endangered.
Every Marmotcoin, Byrne says, is backed by marmots in his backyard.
[Spagni] is the only person to have satisfied this requirement.
But like JP Morgans cryptocurrencyJPM Coin, this whole thing seems mighty centralized.
Can we truly say Marmotcoin is a cryptocurrency, seeing as it probably doesnt evenneeda blockchain?
Whats the consensus mechanism involved here?
Scientists have been trying to figure out how the marmots maintain consensus for several years now, without success.
Recently, emoji-activists have spread awareness of a range of important topics, likeracial inclusionandgender-related discrimination.
Why not the Vancouver Island Marmot, Canadas most endangered animal?
Well, whilstanyone can submit proposals to theUnicode Consortiumfor new emojis, having them accepted is no easy feat.
Byrne said this was understandable, given that marmots are basically the rodent answer to teddy bears.
Vancouver Island Marmots are cute, friendly, and utterly harmless animals whose existence is threatened by human encroachment.
But one can hope, Byrne mused.
Hard Fork has its own stage atTNW2019, our tech conference in Amsterdam.Check it out.
He’s currently on the finance beat.
