Exclusive Interview with AKASHA Founder, Mihai Alisie

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Recently, a project highly expected in the cryptouniverse (and not only), named AKASHA, announced its first alpha version. I had the chance not only to be among the first wave of testers, but also to get in touch with AKASHA founder, Mihai Alisie (yes, we’re both Romanians). Although busy with the launch and trying to squeeze in some time for holidays, Mihai was kind enough to answer a few questions for an exclusive interview.

Without further ado, let’s go:

D.R. What is AKASHA?

M.A. Like all things in the crypto space, AKASHA is an experiment. Through our work we want to see if it is possible to create a free channel of expression that works without servers in a completely decentralized fashion. In order to achieve this we used things like Ethereum smart contracts and IPFS wrapped up in a simple to use dapp at UI/UX level - but significant in the way it works.

The current alpha pre-release covers only the basics of social publishing and by no means reflects the “destination” we have in mind for this project. Rather it provides a humble starting point on top of which we can iterate and improve together with the Community formed around the project.

That being said, in the current stage, AKASHA is only for the curious who don’t mind occasional bugs and understand that through their involvement they can shape what AKASHA will become. It’s also worth mentioning that at this point we are using test tokens as placeholder until a later stage when we start experimenting more seriously with this area.

In other words, if you’re in it for the money then AKASHA is not the dapp for you - yet.

D.R. What makes it different from other similar initiatives on the blockchain?

M.A. I think the starting point and approach to solving the challenge(s). Most blockchain projects start from a token idea followed by theoretical driven research to find and explain the place of the token in the project, with all the efforts culminating in a Whitepaper “How Things Should Work”.

Early on, the main focus is on creating a token economy from a purely theoretical perspective. When that is done, most continue by building everything around the token - and that is not necessary a bad thing - however in the long run they might discover things through live testing that escaped the theoretical modelling stage.

In my opinion, the main problem with this approach is that designing good token ecosystems in general is extremely hard as you have all sort of weird incentives that show up only during live usage with real humans - very often people don’t behave or want what you thought they would in your Whitepaper.

Moreover, these challenges are not limited to humans since in many cases the technology you are counting on when writing the Whitepaper does not behave/work the way you assumed it would. Those are the moments in which you have to stop and remember yourself that all this crypto/blockchain stuff is an experiment in itself and that there are no “right” or “wrong” ways of doing things yet. Failures are almost inevitable at this stage.

I like to think about these failures as charting efforts in uncharted waters. Imagine how many ships had to break and sink in order to draw the line of shores. Now think how many people and ships have been saved since then by the knowledge not to go in a dangerous area or where to go if you want to land.

Now, at AKASHA, we accept the fact that designing good token economies is hard and we are aware that we don’t have all the answers - instead we embark in this adventure from a different starting point, armed with a different mindset.

So if we’d take the token as one of the challenges we have to solve, rather than focusing on guessing “what might work” we want to take an experiment driven approach - including also the Community in the pursuit for the solution(s). We think that in this way we can tap into the collective intelligence and generate new ideas and insights that otherwise would simply not bubble up from a single mind, no matter how brilliant.

On this note, another big differentiator is that we choose to do the dapp first and leave the token crowdsale for later - after we have something fully functional.

To conclude, with AKASHA, instead of starting from the token and working our way back to how everything else fits, we started with building a scaffolding in the form of this alpha pre-release that allows for rapid iteration and experimentation for everything - including the token.

Time will tell which approach is better.

D.R. What is the current status of AKASHA?

M.A. We have recently celebrated the “Quintessence” release which represents the starting point of AKASHA as a full fledged decentralized application working without central points of failure. For us, this is a major accomplishment in itself since it provides the foundations on top of which we will begin to experiment with many interesting areas including identity, reputation and tokens.

We learned a lot in this first release and we’re working towards the 0.3.0 version by addressing the issues encountered in the 0.2.0 and polishing some rough edges. We see this milestone release as a sort of “starting line” towards a fractal of possibilities, each exciting in their own way.

The initial response confirmed so far that this sort of experimentation will most likely provide the answers we are missing towards building an innovative and sustainable model. It won’t happen overnight, it will take genius and hard work to get it right - but I expect every step of it to be enlightening.

It will be a marathon, not a sprint.

D.R. Where do you see AKASHA in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years?

M.A. 1 Year
The token challenge is solved and AKASHA is deployed on the main Ethereum network. We will have a proto-reputation system and a proto-identity system. Various widgets to interact with various other contracts and services on the network will be explored. Chatbots used to “talk to your contracts” directly will be a thing and likely to become the favourite way of interacting with complex smart contracts for many.

Depending on how the infrastructure evolves, possible fully decentralized and functional web/mobile interfaces for AKASHA. Multiple sources of monetization possible (SWARM/IPFS/?) for storing and distributing information in a decentralized fashion.

2 Years
At infrastructure level, we’ll see the Ethereum Casper PoS protocol implemented which brings under 4 second block times for full nodes and a way for all users to virtually mine with their ETH/token X. In theory, this will increase the sources of monetization for users by introducing an easy way to mine “with your laptop”.

Casper will be felt tremendously at UI/UX level as well and likely open a window towards mainstream acceptance. The potential synergy with other projects will be fantastic since AKASHA can talk with all the other smart contracts on the network - so renting a car or paying for an uber-like service on Ethereum with your AKASHA ID is not far fetched.

Continuous experimentation on various layers found in the social fabric will likely reveal services and features we cannot even imagine at this point. Things like Internet of Things and easy to create/deploy template smart contracts will become normal and deeply entangled in the Web 3.0 experience.

5 Years
This one seems impossible to predict since the foundations on top of which we are building AKASHA are evolving as well - and very fast. Just think about blockchains for a bit and how many things changed in 5 years since Bitcoin introduced this new concept.

We went from Namecoin to Ethereum and many others in between. All I can say for sure when we have all these variables is that we will remain flexible and go with the flow, adapting as the implementations and possibilities opened by blockchains evolve.

D.R. What are the biggest challenges for AKASHA right now?

M.A. At this point, I think the young state of the infrastructure is the main challenge but I am confident that things will get better. For example IPFS.js would make possible AKASHA via normal web browsers without an IPFS node installed on users machine, while the light client could solve the problem of blockchain syncing.

These are big impediments in face of mass adoption and ease of use, but the good news is that both the Ethereum and IPFS teams are making progress.

D.R. What is the fundamental problem that AKASHA wants to solve?

M.A. The first problem we set to solve is Internet censorship. This is what led us to crafting a transparent and decentralized social fabric where freedom of expression is a right, not a feature. Still a long way to go until we can consider this “solved” but the early results are very promising.

D.R. How do you see the evolution of social media on blockchain, from a technological point of view?

M.A. It all depends on the landscape of the Web and the problems Internet users will face in the near future. If something big happens and iron fist censorship becomes an even bigger problem than now, people will be forced to look at alternatives.

The blockchain alternatives that have relied on the token to be their main differentiator but have created traditional web apps for serving the UI/UX could have the same problems. If those servers and/or centralized blockchain nodes fail, for whatever reason, the people will be unable to communicate with one another.

I suppose in the end it all depends on how you use the blockchain - if it is mainly a database used for tracking user value transfers or as the “brain” running your application.

In any case, if a blockchain project relies on a centralised node/server to deliver the blockchain data to users it can be at best described as a hybrid application, not as a decentralized application. And if push comes to shove, I think the pure decentralized applications are the only ones who stand a real chance in an oppressive Internet environment.

It will be Napster vs BitTorrent all over again.

D.R. How do you see the evolution of social media on blockchain, from a cultural point of view?

M.A. I think we will find ourselves living through and participate in what will later be described as a Crypto Renaissance or a Digital Enlightenment.

The cultural evolution will be one of the most interesting aspects since we will likely start to see an emancipation surrounding digital human rights and the value of one’s data. It is hard to imagine the full implications, but if enough people start caring about something history teaches us that it all culminates in a change.

Examples include things like slavery, discrimination based on color, discrimination based on sex and so on. When enough people decided that something is wrong, they have protested, rallied or voted to change that particular thing.

This time, however, I think the protest will be more invisible and probably will take the shape of people stopping from using web services that have been repeatedly reported for spying and manipulating them. These people will stand up and say “You know what?! I had enough!”.

With each user making this choice, the dream of having a web in service of humanity becomes more real. The apps and services you’re using will be both your protest and your vote this time.

When enough people make that mental paradigm shift, the change will naturally follow. People from around the world will agree that basic online human rights - such as privacy and freedom of expression should be respected.

Then it will become “normal” for example to have privacy and freedom of expression online, unlike today.

D.R. Anything else you would like to add?

M.A. I think it’s important to have multiple experiments in the area of social media/crypto in general and I believe we should all root for each and every one of them. The issues at hand are too important for humanity as a whole to get caught in a crab mentality.

I hope we will see more collaboration in the future between projects in this space as we are all working, in our own way, on a problem that is bigger than us. Freedom of expression, access to information, creative perpetuity and privacy are very important issues we have to solve if we are to have a future as a thriving information-based society.

No one has all the pieces of the puzzle at this point - but anyone could have an important piece of the puzzle that put next to the rest can reveal the bigger picture.

After all, what harm can come from sharing knowledge and being nice to each other while we work towards building a web in service of humanity?

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In light of complete transparency, this interview has been published in identical form on AKASHA as well.

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I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.

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