Encoding the Status ‘Genesis Block’

(A block that exists on the Ethereum Mainnet, where the Status Network Smart Contract is first deployed)

I first got into Ethereum because it promises a paradigm shift, not only in the way we build our software, but also in the way we socially organise, and the way we can scale our human civilisations. For the first time we can create real trustless, permissionless and decentralized systems with fair access. We can do this free from authority and gatekeepers. This is made possible with crypto-economics, peer-to-peer technologies and the Ethereum public blockchain.

To compromise on these values means failure.

What is Status?

When you look at Status at face value, you probably see an Ethereum client, and depending on your mindset, maybe that’s all you see. But behind that lives a visual expression of the values of Ethereum, along with an idea of making Ethereum suitable for mass adoption while maintaining decentralisation. To put an end to selling ourselves short in convenience vs privacy. To reclaiming our sovereignty and the right on our own data. To take a hard stance on decentralisation and to rebuild systems from first principles with economic incentives in mind. To put you in control of your own life.

But where do these ideas live?

They live within us. These ideas live in you and me, they exist within the Network we form.

Within our context, the Blockchain, Networks can be considered a graph of complex socioeconomic interactions over time, encoded as transactions- they are a representation of communication itself, embedded within a socially immutable system.

How these interactions take place are governed by rule sets, protocols that shape the communication between entities — and thus generate value in the form of new economic models.

More than just a community, Addresses (People & Machines) gather around an idea or purpose, typically being involved they see something within it.

These kinds of Networks are all around us, within us, in fact the largest tech stocks are walled networks. The names Facebook, Uber, Airbnb come to mind. These networks have owners, and you are their product. Such is the curse of centralisation. And you are left producing value for someone else.

Towards a User-Owned Network

What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if we could have these Networks own themselves?

With the Status Network, self-ownership is the idea we will explore and execute upon. We believe this permissionless participatory role will have a profound impact on the way we organize as humans, towards shared common goal and beliefs.

We want this idea to impact as many people as we can, and edge us towards applications, systems and infrastructure that aren’t controlled by a self-interested corporations, but rather the users of these systems.

We intend to encode this Network into Ethereum itself, like markings on a tree. A Genesis block on the Ethereum mainnet.

The Status Genesis block will inscribe the pioneers of the Status Network, and in turn give all future Network participants the opportunity to have direct stake in the direction of the Status Network, and help to participate in improving and growing the Network that we’re building together.

Earlier I had posed the question, What is Status? Well, Status is more than an application, it’s a user-owned Network. Our Network a medium, a substrate, in which these ideas will execute on and manifest in our reality, and currently it lives solely, in humans.

The value that lies within this Network isn’t money, but in thought and actions of the wonderful people of the Ethereum community, those who have shaped not only Status but who I am as well. They are the ones who truly believe in trustless, permissionless and decentralized systems, and what gives web3 meaning. They’ve done so with lengthy discussions, feedback and critiques, contributing to our development and the development of Ethereum, and even by doing community outreach — all these actions have value. But quantifying it is hard, so we intend to do this with our own subjectivity, and establish a web-of-trust. We’ll do this by allocating community members Status Genesis Tokens (‘SGT’), an ERC20 token on Ethereum’s Mainnet, which will be redeemable for Status Network Tokens (‘SNT’ — also an ERC20 token) when the Network is fully launched.

Are there other functions of this Network?

Yes, there will be, and we’ll be submitting our proposals to the Network this coming week.

Join the Movement

If you believe in the vision for Status, and that the ways we access the Ethereum network must be decentralized, come join us in building the future together, and be a part of this exciting journey.