In my words
Selected passages and their sources
Alex Gordon-Brander on programmable money, forest stewardship, contemplative art and artificial minds.
Money as a language
Every currency is a system of symbols, a language that encodes our values and beliefs.
Alex’s account of why the rules of money express a society’s ideas about trust, power and value.
Undated essay by Alex Gordon-Brander, prologue
How money shapes what we take to be real
They're fundamental to the construction of our reality.
Alex is referring to how concepts of money, ownership, value and truth shape the way people organize society.
Interview with Alex published 28 December 2021, closing paragraph
Why programmable money mattered
the idea of a programmable currency — the idea of a world computer and an interoperable financial system — blew me away
Alex describes his reaction to Ethereum in an interview about his work at CoDEX. It predates OpenAlpha.
Davos interview published 8 June 2022, paragraph on the 2015 Ethereum launch
Liquidity and trust in early crypto markets
Crypto markets have two huge problems — liquidity and trust.
Keegan and Gordon-Brander compare how early crypto market designs approached trade execution, liquidity and custody.
Co-authored essay published 2 November 2017 in ConsenSys Media, opening paragraph
Atomic settlement across crypto exchanges
By using our balance sheet to intermediate between members and the marketplace, we will enable trustless atomic swaps
Keegan and Gordon-Brander describe a proposal to aggregate liquidity from separate exchanges and settle trades through atomic swaps.
Co-authored essay published 26 October 2017 in ConsenSys Media, opening paragraph
Why build a platform
I want to replatform the whole industry so other managers can run funds on that same infrastructure.
Alex describes his aim for OpenAlpha’s non-custodial infrastructure. The first strategies are its initial use case.
Section ‘Who gets to use finance?’
Who participates in the value of a forest
It’s a for-profit model but with land trusts and significant profit participation for indigenous and local communities.
Alex describes the Centree forest-finance proposal that preceded his work at Kwaxala. The passage describes a proposed ownership and profit-sharing model.
Recorded 15 November 2021, organizer transcript, first Alex Gordon-Brander segment
What carbon accounting can miss
Carbon is not the same in one context as in another context.
Speaking about Teratree, Alex explains how focusing on carbon alone can miss ecologically important differences.
Panel episode released 10 June 2022, in Alex’s account of working with Standard & Poor’s
What regeneration is for
I want to live in a world where a people can care for their territory and make a living doing it.
Alex explains why he contributes financial design to Kwaxala. The Kwiakah First Nation directs stewardship on its territory.
Section ‘What do we want that freedom for?’
Piano as sacred art
I improvise at the piano in the spirit of making a sand mandala. It’s a form of sacred art for me, a way to bring the richness and beauty of meaning to the surface in everyday life.
Alex describes the contemplative practice behind his improvisations.
Section ‘What makes a world worth living in?’
What artificial minds learn to notice
At Tulku we’re asking whether artificial minds can learn to notice those effects and care about them. We want to find out what that would look like in behavior.
‘Those effects’ are the consequences of decisions for people and living systems. Alex describes a research question.
Section ‘What makes a world worth living in?’