1. Introduction to the event

The purpose of the first Cypherpunk Debate is to promote the spread of the Cypherpunk spirit and trigger public discussions on the crypto world. On the one hand, it cultivates new forces that can continue to pay attention to Cypherpunk, and on the other hand, it reflects on the limitations of the Bitcoin and Ethereum communities in the past.

This event, in the form of a debate, blends technology and humanities, hoping to build an interesting and high-quality communication platform.

The debate will be held from July 24 to August 18, 2024. This event is initiated by the PlanckerDAO community. The event has a total of 6 ETH prizes, about 21,000 US dollars, 4 affirmative debaters, 4 negative debaters, 1 ETH for each winner, and 0.5 ETH for each loser. Students from various universities and industry colleagues are now invited to participate in the online debate.

2. Purpose of the event

We are participating in the third wave of cypherpunks.

The earliest cypherpunks started in the 1990s, dedicated to opening up an independent cryptographic space, freeing themselves from the erosion of the state and enterprises, and empowering the disadvantaged. In the first twenty years, cypherpunks promoted the decentralization of freedom of speech and privacy; in the second decade, cypherpunks focused on the issue of monetary freedom for people all over the world.

What are the results of the two waves?

Did they succeed? The first wave gave birth to many common technologies, which became the underlying settings of today's Internet, such as SSL, which anyone who visits all mainstream web pages and apps will encounter, and PGP, an absolutely secure and private email encryption software, which also gave birth to social organizations such as WikiLeaks, exposing documents that governments have concealed from the people; the second wave gave birth to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which helped citizens of countries in South America, Africa and other regions to protect their wealth under incompetent governments and freely transfer property without being oppressed by local economic and political oligarchs. This seems to be successful.

Did they fail? After the first wave, the Internet became a war between platforms. Users' privacy and attention could be spied on and manipulated by platforms at will. Freedom of speech became freedom to be manipulated. Private data was regarded as the data wealth of the platform and was forcibly requisitioned. Only a small group of people implemented the concept and technology of privacy, which did not benefit the world. The blockchain world of the second wave was over-financialized, which gave birth to its transformation into a casino with a different appearance.

What is the origin of the third wave now?

In terms of innovation, the low-hanging fruits have been picked up - free currency, public chain, decentralized finance, privacy communication, DAO... and breakthroughs such as zk, cryptocity, censorship-resistance will take a long time.

In terms of governance, the self-governance ability of the crypto industry is almost disabled. The governance of the crypto industry depends on the supervision of European and American countries, rather than its own "code is law". In the past few years, European and American countries have established a new regulatory order, bringing a continuous influx of emerging entrepreneurs to the crypto industry. In terms of punishing the main culprits, they have led the whole process of bringing FTX's SBF and Luna's DK to justice. In regions without national regulatory assistance, the crypto industry is heading towards market distortion, emphasizing timing and speculation, and the attitude towards new things is to follow and copy, resulting in a weak entrepreneurial ecosystem. We appreciate any role that provides a good order for the crypto space, but why don't we have this ability ourselves?

In terms of liquidity, the liquidity provided by the public in the crypto industry is becoming increasingly sluggish. Today, the passage of the US ETH ETF is inevitable, and its trend is alarming. On the one hand, the real trading volume of centralized exchanges continues to decline, which means that the public participation is getting lower and lower, and the proportion of voice in the crypto space is gradually losing. On the other hand, institutional participants can enter the crypto space in a big way through ETFs and take over the once free currency.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to establish the independence of the crypto space. This background is the dilemma that the third wave of cypherpunks want to get rid of.

But the dilemma does not mean that this space is hopeless. On the contrary, it is the source of power for the third wave.

The third wave aims to integrate the achievements of the first two waves, replace the regulatory functions exercised by the state, provide a spontaneous and sustainable good order for the cryptographic space, promote the paradigm shift from the free society of the country to the free society of the cryptographic world, and conduct social model experiments that expand from privacy and currency to ideas, institutions, physical space, and culture.

This wave has just begun. As far as we can see, there are only about 100+ teams in the world promoting this common cause. Independent thinkers, hackers, researchers, and entrepreneurs are deeply united across five continents. Those who are in it can already feel the vigorous vitality. This is hope, and it is the future that everyone is willing to fight for.

Now, what can we build in the crypto space?

3. Competition process

The official time of this debate competition is from July 24 to August 18, and August 19 to August 30 is the end time for the debate review and the release of various awards.

July 24 to August 1 00:00 (UTC + 8)

This period is the time when the Cypherpunk debate competition is open for registration, and all registration applications are valid during this period.

August 1 00:00 to August 3 23:59 (UTC + 8)

This period is for preliminary screening based on the number of valid applicants. The preliminary screening will be based on the selection suggestions of invited mentors, industry experts, jury members, organizers and key partners. Applicants who pass the preliminary screening will receive a notification email to participate in the open election. Applicants who fail the preliminary screening will not receive a notification email, which is deeply regrettable.

August 4 14:00 - 17:00 (UTC + 8)

Open competition for applicants

For detailed procedures and rules, please see:

https://www.notion.so/planckerdao/Cypherpunk-9245c74a6ff345a4af549d3576daf1d1

August 5 - August 17

Debater preparation training, Q&A and simulation

For details, please see:

https://www.notion.so/planckerdao/Cypherpunk-9245c74a6ff345a4af549d3576daf1d1

August 18, 14:00 - 18:00 (UTC + 8)

Formal debate

For details, process and competition rules, please see:

https://www.notion.so/planckerdao/Cypherpunk-9245c74a6ff345a4af549d3576daf1d1

August 19 to August 30

Collate the debate review content and the distribution of various awards, including debater awards, debate NFT, etc.

4. Event Registration

Event Registration Form Link: https://goo.su/t0fSB

5. Voting Channel

Voting for applicants' initial screening, public election, and formal debate will be conducted on-site in the Telegram group. Only members participating in the event can vote. The voting channel will be closed when the event ends, and it can be delayed for 30 minutes depending on the situation.

The initial screening of applicants and the public election will be conducted in the Plancker Telegram group, and the formal debate will be held in the Uncommons Telegram group.