Original Title: "The Strongest Encryption Declaration in History: No License, Declaring War on Traditional Financial Rules"

Source: TechFlow by DeepTech

When Token2049 in Asia is hotly held, the West is also conveying its insights and thoughts to the Web3 industry.

On September 14th, at the world's largest DeFi event Permissionless II co-hosted by Blockwork and Bankless, Erik Voorhees, the founder of ShapeShift and a senior industry OG, delivered an extremely exciting speech.

In this speech, Erik delves into the future of finance, the comparison between code and human law, and the power and potential of decentralized finance. With his profound thinking and rich industry experience, he firmly supports open and permissionless finance and deeply criticizes current financial regulations and traditional financial systems.

It's more of a challenge declaration of open finance to traditional financial system than a speech.

For anyone interested in the future of Web3, DeFi, or finance, this is a profound insight worth reading, and it has also been rated as the best cryptocurrency speech by industry insiders.

Shenzhen Stock Exchange has compiled and organized the speech.

Speech Full Text

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I am Erik Voorhees, a freedom enthusiast and the founder of ShapeShift. Some call me a cryptocurrency pioneer, while my girlfriend likes to refer to me as an old man in the world of cryptocurrency. At times, I am seen as a hunter, targeting those who overuse acronyms and the chubby, curly-haired scammers who donate heavily in Washington (Note: sarcastically referring to certain financial professionals who play with concepts).

Someone asked me to talk about:

Why are we participating in this event? Why are we in this industry? Why are we in the current state of the industry today?

It is my honor to have this opportunity. But first, I would like to get to know you, my audience. (Note: starting interactive session with the audience.)

If you are here for free coffee, please raise your hand. Hmm... someone is lying.

If you're here for Lambo, please raise your hand. Unfortunately, you may not get it this year, but please persevere (possibly some kind of on-site souvenir).

If you came here because of your love for banks, please raise your hand. No one raised their hand.

If you are here to have World Coin scan your eyeballs, please raise your hand.

If you are here to celebrate KYC or other large-scale surveillance of innocent people, please raise your hand.

Okay, if you're here to resist, please raise your hand. Okay, some people raised their hands. I came here to resist. It's definitely peaceful, but also revolutionary. As I was preparing this speech, I realized that the theme would match the name of the event.

Permissionless. I like this name. It is one of the words that best captures the essence of our industry.

It is radical, rebellious, and non-compliant. It is American. As a veteran in the cryptocurrency industry, let me remind you that it all started with the invention of Bitcoin about 15 years ago.

Why is that moment important? Why was it important then? Why is Bitcoin interesting? It's interesting because it's permissionless. Bitcoin invented permissionless currency, and a few years later, with the invention of smart contracts on Ethereum, we have all the tools we need to build a completely permissionless financial system.

This attribute is revolutionary and is the essence of cryptocurrency more than any other attribute. This attribute is given to all good projects in the field, and if something is not permissionless, we should at least consider it as a stepping stone towards that goal.

However, why is it so novel and difficult to achieve without permission? In the currency field before the emergence of cryptocurrency, all fund flows required someone's permission. You may say that cash does not require permission, but it is not the case if you want to send it across any distance. Try carrying $10,000 through customs and you will quickly be reminded that it is not possible. No, cash is not even permissionless, despite its many advantages, it is disappearing from society.

So what we should be grateful for is that a form of digital currency that does not require permission has been invented, because it has come at a very timely moment. Why is all of this important? Consider that almost all economic activity requires money. In a world where most people struggle to put food on the table, the economic sphere is actually the arbitrator of life and death for billions of people. Most people do not have the luxury of pursuing their passions. They work, they toil, they transact because they need to live. Therefore, money is crucial to our human existence. As such, we should care about its quality, we should care about its nature, and we should care about who controls it.

Permission is often subtle, but it is everywhere. Every time you use a card to pay, you are granted permission. It may seem like permission is just about whether or not you have enough money. But in reality, there is another, more hidden layer of approval happening.

Banks, financial institutions, governments, and many other parties along the line are all strangers to you, and you will never meet them. They all bless every transaction you make, but you may not notice it because as long as you behave like a citizen, the permission will exist. However, if you need permission to spend money and make transactions, then you need permission to exist.

So why do we accept a world where you can only transact freely with the conditional approval of strangers? This is not freedom. This is slavery. This is certain. The chains may rest lightly on us in most cases, but we should not forget their existence. If they are tolerated, they will become heavier.

Let's admit it, laws and regulations that restrict our affairs only increase and never decrease. Consider the average person 100 years ago and the average person today, who is more economically free? 120 years ago, there wasn't even an income tax. Things were so radical back then that you were actually allowed to keep the money you earned. You could even cross borders without the cute "passport" we call it today. In that state of anarchy, it's amazing how society could exist. However, without any income tax or immigration restrictions, the United States experienced the greatest period of growth the world had ever seen. In a society where labor and capital are unpermissioned, growth tends to be the fastest.

But some people like to plunder. The money you earn and the permission to freely cross borders are gradually being revoked, always under the guise of collective propaganda, such as national interests. Today, all the taxes you bear, half of your money is stolen by the state. But the state is just a group of strangers. So half of your money is stolen by a group of strangers.

What excuses do you tell yourself to deal with this awkward situation? Those who plunder you and tell you it's for your own good are revoking your permission to build your own life. So, what can stop this trend from continuing? What can prevent tomorrow's people from being more enslaved? What power resists the increasing existence of permits?

是我们。 ->

是我们。

You may not realize it, but what we are building is an economic defense against the state's plunder and restrictions in modern society. We say "no" to continued violations that are allowed. The so-called political process and political circus (satirical grass-roots team) are not the ones who save us from this phenomenon, because they are actually the ones who have caused the current situation. Now, as free men and women, redemption is our own responsibility. All actions originate from our minds, our hands, and our decisions. We are doing this without permission.

许可是幼儿园的孩子去上厕所的时候应该得到的，而不是被尊重的男人在他的财务事务中应该得到的。

Translation: Permission is what a child in kindergarten should receive when they need to use the restroom, not something that a respected man should receive in his financial affairs.

Because if I can only trade with you under the grace of the people who look down on me from above, then I would feel like not a man, but a child. But is a child an appropriate metaphor? Children are usually loved by their parents. Do you feel that the CIA loves you in the same way?

Farm animals may be a better metaphor. We allow ourselves to be treated like farm animals. Inside the fence, we eat grass, we produce, we are harvested.

But we can vote. Yes, we can choose who operates the scissors. We can vote on whether we want red or blue to rob us. We endlessly debate which color is better. To give up so much permission, we really respect the leaders. We must aspire to the greatness of these lords. They must be intelligent and noble-minded people. They must inspire and guide us towards goals that cannot be achieved without them. Are these descriptions an accurate description of world leaders? Are they impeccable wise men? Is there any reason to submit to virtuous examples of humanity like Donald Trump or Joe Biden? I look at the political class, those bureaucrats who suckle on the plundered wealth, all their authority is decorated with grandeur, all their arrogance is disguised as confidence, their smiles are as unreal as their absurd ideas. I can't find any reason to submit to the terms they try to limit me with. We don't owe anything to such people. But we owe a lot to humanity. That's why we're here. Cryptocurrency is our rebellion. Cryptocurrency is our rebellion. This is a rebellion against a system that does not deserve its authority. This is our rebellion against coercion and enslavement. This is our rebellion against endless arrogance and moral helplessness. Cryptocurrency is our rebellion against permission. As individuals with freedom and sovereignty, this rebellion is no less than the noble restoration of dignity and grace, serving loyalty to peace and civilization. This is why we are here today. But the fact is, we don't need permission from those petty tyrants who can't build anything. This is the principle on which the United States was founded. National permission is a facade, a scam, only those afflicted with Stockholm syndrome will tolerate it. This is a curtain placed in front of us, only because we have been too weak, too afraid, too helpless, too distracted, and often too comfortable to see behind the curtain.

Many people in our industry have already seen behind the curtain. We have seen that Washington is no longer necessary for a good society today, as it was 250 years ago with King George and the British Parliament. Cryptocurrency is a declaration of personal freedom and financial independence. In a just society, cryptocurrency is the freedom of action for men and women to trade, exchange, transact, build, and trade for our own economic interests.

We should be optimistic about the future, because we are living in an era of peaceful revolution, where any two people on earth can trade value without permission. Does that scare you?

Or so it seems. However, arrogance affects everyone. Are we sure we haven't suffered some kind of pain?

As good skeptics, we should first doubt ourselves and our own assumptions.

We should always ask ourselves, are we good or chaotic agents? How do we know?

We are just rebellious teenagers, do we want a world of chaos without permission?

We are just subversive sinners, too immature and naive to see the value of order, and launch fierce attacks on its existence?

How can we so disrespectfully condemn the necessity of compliance, the virtue of permission, and the many glorious wonders of central management? Do we not care about society? If we succeed, will not the bad guys thrive in society and society regress?

These are the strongest accusations against us. However, they can be easily defeated. They are defeated because what we are actually pursuing is not truly getting rid of licenses and rules, but rather a preference for objective and transparent rules, rather than subjective and opaque rules of the status quo. We like to say that code is law, but this is a misnomer. Code is better than law, and we are showing the fundamental difference between human-based law and math-based law to the world.

Compare a redundant audit and formal verification of a smart contract with any embarrassing congressional legislation, which one has more scientific basis and which one is actually better presented in an orderly manner. One is an engineering problem, the other is an election problem. Compare a smart contract where every variable is mathematically defined with the Securities Act of 1933, where a thousand-dollar lawyer argues how similar a cartoon monkey is to a Florida orange grove.

The absurdity of most financial regulations is evident, and we should not tolerate it. But we should all hope for orderly, objective, and transparent markets. To all regulators in the audience, before you send me another subpoena, consider that this is our shared position.

We all want rules. We all want rules to be good.

This is the most important point I want to make today. The traditional financial system is built on human rules, not mathematical rules. Society can do better. Human rules are formed through a political process that everyone acknowledges is prone to error and often corrupt. Human rules rely on highly subjective human language and leave wide room for interpretation. When it comes to enforcing these already vague rules, no one can predict in advance which violations will actually be enforced.

Gary Gensler claims that all tokens are securities. Well, Gary, why hasn't the SEC enforced all tokens then? The most generous explanation is that they lack the resources. Well, that still proves the point that financial regulations are subjective and partially enforced today. If we care about orderly markets, how can we respect it? How can we respect it? Compare this to any smart contract, which we can know how it executes 100% of the time.

Uniswap's Enforcement Division will never lack resources, and its operating rules are objective and transparent. We no longer have to suffer from subjective rules in the financial field. However, instead of getting rid of rules, we should strive for better rules. This is our task, this is our mission, this is our revolution. This is why we are here. Do you want to call us chaotic agents? Do you want to see us as destructive anarchists? We are the only ones who establish and enforce financial rules 100%. Code police are better than real police. We hope that our market has strong and robust rules, and any rules that are easy to break are fragile rules.

There is a law that states that I cannot cross the border without declaring the $10,000 in my pocket. Interesting. I can easily break this law, which is truly an awkward, precisely defined term. The laws of physics, mathematics, and code all have meaning. They are powerful, consistent, and worthy of respect.

Take action. Human law is at most highly fault-tolerant. Perhaps it was once necessary, like we once needed post offices to send letters. However, post offices and the SEC still exist, they are redundant and embarrassing. So I believe their budget will increase next year. Now compare the subjective rules of regulators or rebellious teenagers with the code rules. Compare the Frank Bill of the Department of Defense with the AVE loan contract aimed at achieving an orderly market. The bill is 23 pages long and its disgusting tone has spawned 400 new financial regulations. Which one better represents an advanced civilization? Which one is obviously a product of 20th century technology and which one is a product of the 21st century? Compare the open collaboration of cryptocurrencies with the behind-the-scenes transactions of DC. Which rule-making process is more noble and ethical? We are not chaotic agents, but agents of order. Although some may not approve of the order system we are building, once again, no dinosaur would approve of a small asteroid.

We care about society? Yes, of course. We care deeply about society. Many of us are here because we see the widespread economic injustice in the world and we want to help. We live in society. We benefit from it, and we owe it to our efforts to improve it.

But unlike any politician, they don't force others to follow their views at gunpoint. We are here to build peacefully, not to impose on anyone. So don't let the status quo tell you that you don't care about rules or society, because you are building a superior technology for the rules within society.

And they, the politicians, regulators, and looters of Washington DC, should praise your excellent work in the field of order and rule-making. Compared to what we are building, they are agents of chaos. They are the ones who print billions of dollars and then pretend not to know where inflation comes from. For them, claiming moral or intellectual superiority on any economic issue is absurd. They should at least politely step aside. It is certain that we have many enemies. Many find the idea of open, permissionless finance abhorrent because they are accustomed to controlling things they did not build. Now, they can no longer. For the rest of us, for those who do not impose their views on millions of innocent people through force, how optimistic we are, the light of opportunity shines for everyone who discovers this permissionless Prometheus fire. There is so much great creative energy in this room.

Yes, we are experiencing seemingly endless setbacks and struggles. Yes, scammers are everywhere. Yes, we are condemned by the systems we are trying to replace. Some of us are persecuted, and all of us suffer from time to time. Friends, try to see through those struggles. Be grateful for every noble challenge you face in your work, because you are alive and your work is important. Be grateful for the opportunity in front of you. Consider those who work in traditional finance, those cogs in regulatory agencies who go to work every day with dead eyes and weak hearts. Their souls know they are not involved in anything creative or beautiful. They are not involved in anything wild or romantic. But many of you are. So embrace it, cherish it, and build on it. Wild and romantic, these words still define the heart of cryptocurrency. In a bureaucratic, oppressive, and absurd world where society seems to be consuming itself, grinding anyone who dares to stand up as an individual against an ancient machine into powder, the wild and romantic heart of cryptocurrency still beats between blocks, full of tireless ambition.  Look far and wide, and remember that you are neither a slave nor a serf. In America, the common man is noble. So act. Be vibrant, upright, and proud men and women. Be pioneering industrialists and reflect the nobility of that role. Build consciously and see through every kind of low-level interference, especially when it comes with a flag and demands contributions. Any regulator can submit a pull request, and they don't do so for a reason. The traditional internal legal and financial fields have long since been lost to the political circus. So now we enter a new realm, one that is super-legal and permissionless. In this new land, the old places to the west, we only recognize obedience to the sublime power of moral virtue, mathematics, and open, composable, immutable code. In our boldness, we have built something, but we have not imposed it on anyone. We not only invent on clean whiteboards, but also get our hands dirty in real engineering, building the world's first and only transparent, objective financial system for all humanity. We did it without a penny of tax and without permission.

Consider the significance of opposing such development, opposing objective and transparent rule sets, and voluntary associations between adults, and demanding obedience and submission under the barrel of a gun. Examine those who do this, and you will find that the enemies of humanity lie so pitifully. They are no longer ignoring us. They are certainly still mocking us, and they have apparently begun to fight us.

But we will win. Setting aside ethical arguments, because humans are capitalist creatures, capital flows to where it is respected. Like water, it flows to where it can. When the licensed restrictions and suffocation of the legal currency system occur, our open and decentralized alternatives are ready to accept it. True innovation is chaotic, sometimes deviating from beneficial directions, and then returning.

However, capital will flow towards orderly decentralized finance, just like water naturally flows towards the ocean. Both of these will happen naturally and do not require permission. Thank you.

Original article link

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