Yahya: Blockchains invert tech history by giving software power over hardware
Ali Yahya · Crypto Experts Explain Stablecoins & the Future Financial System w/ Ali Yahya & Arianna Simpson · Jul 9, 2025 · at 34:44
Ali Yahya, General Partner at a16z Crypto, explains the architectural breakthrough of blockchain computers over traditional computing hardware.
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“It's a kind of technology that inverts the power relationship between the software and the hardware. Whereas historically, the hardware has always had power over the software because whomever controls the hardware can turn off the software or change it in some way. Whereas in crypto with blockchains, the hardware is It's a commodity. These are people who run like the mining miners, for example, or validators in the blockchain context don't have any power over the software that runs on top. And that's what makes a blockchain unique.”
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