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This is a value for value post: see the explanation in the footer.
Daniel Suarez's vision for crypto is literally out of this world.
Mining
This post is about two books by Daniel Suarez: Delta V and Critical Mass. I read the first one when it came out in 2019 and I was a bit late picking up the second one this summer to read on holiday.
I recommend both books highly, but if you haven't read them, there will be spoilers below!
I don't know what comes next in the book series, but the way in which the crypto based part of the plot is developed in Critical Mass, after hints in Delta-V, displays a level of understanding of the true power of what we're using here on Hive that I've not seen in too many places.
Delta V came out in April 2019 and was followed up this year by Critical Mass in January 2023
Spoilers to come
I'll try to give an overview of both books before I dive into the spoilers. Critical Mass could be read on its own, but its story picks up directly where the first book ends.
Delta-V
The story of the first book is of a seemingly crazy billionaire who manages to send a team of asteroid miners to an asteroid on an eccentric orbit around the sun which brings it close(ish) to Earth every few years.
The idea is to mine resources on that asteroid and return them to the vacinity of the Earth and the Moon, but not (and this is very important) back to the surface of the Earth.
The title "Delta-V" refers to the amount of energy which needs to be imparted to something to move it to where it needs to be in space. Lifting something off the surface of the Earth involves a huge amount of energy because of the gravity well in which Earth sits.
From this we understand that any material which can be mined from an asteroid already is space, and then processed, refined and turned into metals or rocket fuel whilst still in space, is worth fantastically more than similar items on earth, because the goods are already in space.
Critical Mass
In New York Times bestselling author Daniel Suarez's latest space-tech thriller, a group of pioneering astropreneurs must overcome never-before-attempted engineering challenges to rescue colleagues stranded at a distant asteroid—kicking off a new space race in which Earth's climate crisis could well hang in the balance.
This book kicks off with some of the asteroid miners who manage to return using material already in orbit near the moon to mount a rescue bid for some of their friends left behind at the asteroid and jump start an entire economy in space while doing this.
The good stuff is all Spoilers!
Clues from the start
In the very first chapter of Delta-V there is a clue about a future crypto based post-Fiat development which barely gets a further mention. There is a fairly long exposition about the nature of money which wouldn't be out of place in The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous.
The professor goes on to explain to James Tighe (who becomes one of the asteroid miners) that money is really just debt, backed by nothing on Earth.
I guess when I first read this book, which was also before I was hugely involved with Hive or Bitcoin, I probably flew through this chapter without thinking.
But this set the scene for something which becomes vital in the second book
The end of the first book
The first book ends with three of the miners (including James Tighe from the first chapter) having made an amazing return from the asteroid in a ridiculous solid cobalt-steel spacecraft which they built from material they themselves mined from the asteroid.
I say ridiculous because the dimensions and materials of this craft mean it would be nearly impossible to lift such a craft off the face of the Earth. But if the material is already IN space, it makes perfect sense. In fact they need a very strong craft because their only way to slow down is to dive into the atmosphere of Earth and use aerobraking to slow down.
Everything is just floating in space
Once home, however, these three want to rescue the two they left in orbit at the asteroid. But they have nothing but the knowledge of tons of resources which were sent on long, slow transits to the vicinity of the moon. That material, if used correctly, will be enough to build a rescue ship.
But that material, because it is already off the surface of the Earth is absolutely priceless and greatly desired by the rival super powers and space billionaires on Earth. All of whom lay claim to these resources.
Cislunar Commodity Exchange
Throughout Critical Mass, we are introduced to the Cislunar Commodity Exchange (CCE) which the main character (the asteroid mining former cave diver) is determined to ignore until he is forced to learn about it. He is introduced to it via a play to earn game.
But what Daniel Suarez lays out is a wonderful combination of a base token, a governance system and smart contracts representing real resources, services and energy all beyond the surface of Earth.
Governance distinct from base token
Suarez gets something so absolutely right: you can't mix the governance with the base token.
“There are a number of reasons to separate the capital layer from the governance layer, perhaps most importantly because it helps contain hostile takeover attempts and slowly integrates new stakeholders into the decision-making body of the CCE. The rule of law and trust necessary for business in frontier territory like deep space is best supported when actors cannot leave with a significant portion of their available capital, in the sense that one cannot sell governance tokens or the ability to go into a negative lūna balance as an EST member to someone else.”
Decentralized in space
The book also mentions how the hardware that actually runs the blockchain (which is clearly a proof of stake based system) is scattered across thousands of small satellites in orbits around the moon and Legrange points between the Earth and the Moon.
Real NFTs
Another critical detail is how the CCE system allows for the minting of NFTs to represent real physical resources. The value of those resources is not just what they are, but where they are in relation to the gravity wells of Earth, the Moon and the rest of the solar system. 1,000 tons of water on Earth is largely worthless. The same 1,000 tons in orbit around a space station on the far side of the Moon is worth a fortune. NFTs can capture this.
Services rendered in space can also be represented this way along with shares in off-world corporations.
Oracles and reputation
If there is a detail missing (which is totally understandable) it's a gap in the oracle problem: who gets to check if 1,000 tons of water declared to be in orbit a the L2 point behind the moon really are there? I believe this is hinted as being part of the reputation system built into the governance layer. Regardless, this is a work of entertaining fiction, rather than a text book. Only an extreme crypto-geek would notice this.
Way beyond Bitcoin
Clearly Suarez has thought this through way beyond the Bitcoin maximalist view and I love the direction he's taken this. Instead of trying to shoe horn in on the broken Earthly fiat system, he's put forward an absolutely rock solid version of how we use the technologies we already have to do something absolutely new.
And Hive
Does Daniel Suarez know about Hive? I don't know. Does he know about the Steem/Hive hostile takeover and hard fork? Again I don't know.
And what is coming in the third book? There are hints throughout the second book that the CCE economy will come under attack, and physically there are attacks but nothing specifically against the crypto based elements or governance.
I don't know what comes next, but the way in which the crypto based CCE is developed in Critical Mass, after the hints in Delta-V, displays a level of understanding of the true power of what we're using here on Hive that I've not seen in too many places.
This interview with the author touches on the crypto related elements I'm talking about, but because Leo Laporte is generally very negative on the entire crypto industry, the ideas are not pursued peroperly.
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