An Interview With Manu Alzuru: On Self-Issued Identity, EthBarcelona, and Lovepunk

Somewhere between the dreamy Zuzalu and the buzzing ETH summer events in Prague, Barcelona, and Paris, I stumbled upon the opportunity to chat with Manu Alzuru. A beautiful kaleidoscope of identities, Manu stands as a humanist, engineer, nomad, and passionate enthusiast for blockchain, web3, governance, DAOs, co-ops, and NFTs. Guided both by data and optimism, Manu is the force behind projects such as DoinGud, EthBarcelona, Own.fund, MetaCartel, and Api3 DAO. As a self-proclaimed lovepunk, he is known in the entire web3 community for his “gud” vibes. During our conversation, Manu revealed his exploration into the intriguing world of decentralized identity and discussed the upcoming, highly-anticipated EthBarcelona. This is how it went.

Manu, what are you working on these days?

So many things! My main focus right now is EthBarcelona. From production to curation and even sponsor outreach, I'm involved in all aspects. Then, there’s DoingGud. It’s my labor of love, and I’ve been working to keep it afloat during the present market conditions, which, as you know, have been far from ideal—especially for NFTs. It's challenging, but we are resilient, always working to find ways to keep pushing forward.

At the same time, we’re developing a protocol that’s going to enable us to self-issue identities. 

Imagine a world where you have the power to define who you are without external entities like companies or governments dictating it for you. As an individual, you can confidently declare, "This is me!" You can explore your passions, interests, and more, and others can vouch for you and your reputation. That way, your reputation is not some arbitrary number given by a company or organization. It's a genuine testament to your unique identity, built on your own terms.

That’s exciting! How does the vouching work?

Sure, let's think of it like this: I believe in my mum; I know she's wonderful and always introduces me to people who could potentially enhance my work. If she suggests meeting someone, I'd likely take her advice. But, suppose she recommends someone who doesn't quite measure up, my trust in her may go down a bit. And, if it happens again, my faith in her recommendations could decrease even further.

This concept of trust management is all about us having control over our networks and the things that matter to us. It's different from a company assigning a social score or implementing a rigid system like China's social credit system or the "Nosedive" episode from Black Mirror. Our approach is more nuanced and contextual. For example, if I see you as a reputable journalist and you vouch for other journalists, I would trust your judgment. Trust builds upon trust, creating a robust network of connections.

We brought this concept to life during Zuzalu. We came together with Adrian Guerrera and other Blockravers who started working on this vouching protocol to help us coordinate events and real-life experiences.

Really? Is event organization what gave you this idea in the first place?

Yes, it’s quite a funny story, actually… It all started back at Devcon V, in Osaka, in 2019. All places would close early, so around 1 am, I would get a lot of texts: “Manu! What’s the plan? Where can we go?” and I was like, “Hmm, I might as well create a group!” And so, Blockravers was born. I'd direct people to a location, and we'd coordinate within the group, typically 20-30 people. Soon, it began to spread worldwide, and we started organizing parties. Companies noticed and invited Blockravers to be part of their events, offering us free tickets. We became the curators of gud vibes. :)

This continued during Devcon in Colombia (with some epic dance battles!). At EthDenver, we even decided to rent a party house. The house was open every day, with people coming and going, but there was a catch—to enter, you had to be vouched for by someone else. We realized the need for this system because public spaces have limited space and resources. So, we initiated this vouching system, fostering a sense of accountability and respect for our shared spaces.

Then, one day, someone graffitied a wall at one of our parties. The person who had vouched for the offender stepped forward, apologized, and promised to take responsibility. Obviously, we had our rules—if someone causes damage, harasses others, or behaves in a racist or homophobic manner, they would be expelled from the group. The person who vouched for them would also receive a yellow card—two yellow cards, they’d be out, too.

The same applied to Zuzalu. We rented a house where people could come and go, but they had to be vouched for first. We even developed an application initially using Venezuelan Bolivares' serial numbers as unique identifiers for self-issued identities. After handing out over 153 Venezuelan banknotes, other Zuzalu residents wanted to participate, too, so we decided to let anyone with a banknote register and build up their trust. The serial numbers, along with a photo, became a way of saying, "This is me," enabling us to really build out this network of trust! 

As we continued experimenting with the system, we added a new rule: To attend the next party, you needed at least three vouches. So yeah, all our work with identity, reputation, and vouching systems began with parties! But it certainly doesn’t end there—the concept can be extended to Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), governance, verification, and more. I can see it fitting well with any community, too, when it comes to token distribution. We could issue rewards to actual humans, people who genuinely engage with us, or those who've been part of the Blockravers journey. They are the ones who bring the vibes, help out, and contribute to this vibrant community!

Love it! What makes you so passionate about solving identity problems?

Well, it hit me just a few weeks ago. As it stands today, identities are handed down to us. It's the nation-states, companies, universities, or certain influential individuals that stamp their approval on our identity. Consider Facebook; they grant you an "ID" in the form of a Facebook username. Even in the web3 realm, platforms like Worldcoin scan your retina to issue you an identity. In essence, these entities become monarchs in their own right. If they decide they don't like you, they kick you out of the kingdom. This isn't a human-first approach; it's company-first.

Don’t you find this fundamentally flawed? In my view, individuals should be the ones to declare their own identity, with others attesting to it. It should be you who determines who joins your network, who you trust, and who gets access to various facets of your identity. You might decide, "I trust this person, so they can access my Instagram, my Signal, or my phone number." But it should be you who has the control. 

What I find unsettling is the potential for companies issuing identities to become authoritarian or align with authoritarian regimes. That idea really sends chills down my spine. So, I’m working on a solution where the individual retains control, shaping the landscape of their identity and connecting with others on their own terms.

What are some things we can do with self-issued identity?

The idea is that the more vouches you have, the more trusted you are within the network. This opens up many opportunities, from under-collateralized loans to bartering. If I have a trust network and an apartment in Berlin, and you have a place in Prague, you might propose, “Hey Manu, I have got this friend, good people.” If I trust you, I believe in your good judgment. I could then let your friend stay in my place without hesitation because of your recommendation. This could facilitate value exchange, bypassing the traditional middlemen (typically a government, company, or institution), and it could even lead us to exchange new forms of currency.

Maybe my Berlin apartment is 100m², while your Prague apartment is twice that size. And perhaps Berlin is pricier… But all that’s irrelevant! All I want is to engage in an exchange with you. Price tags fade into the background; this approach allows us, as humans, to navigate and trade more seamlessly with those we trust. 

How could these dynamics play out in, say, DAOs?

I might say, “I have complete faith in Tereza to handle any communications-related matters that might arise in the DAO.” I’ve just delegated trust. This ability means someone else can execute your intentions. Let's say I'm elected as a delegate in a DAO. But, hold on, Manu doesn't know a thing about security. So why should I be voting on it? Perhaps, as the delegate, I can shift power to those I trust for specific tasks or decisions.

If a city is rebuilding its entire plumbing system, would you want every citizen to make decisions about it? Not everyone has the expertise or experience required, so not everything needs to be determined democratically. We need systems that enable us to delegate trust. This concept also applies to political representation.

But without accountability and transparency, we’ll never get there. Voting for a deputy without knowing how they represent you? It's puzzling. But DAOs have changed this landscape. Proposals and interactions are usually public or recorded for future verification. This ensures accountability, which is often lacking in traditional systems.

So, are you looking to implement networks of trust at EthBarcelona as well? 

Absolutely! We’re planning to further experiment with the vouching app for sure. And we’re excited to explore many other exciting initiatives, such as quadratic funding rounds. 

It’s no secret that this year's market conditions are challenging. While our EthBarcelona event last year was a huge success, we acknowledge that there were opportunities to enhance our financial management. Sponsorships have been slower to come in than last year, presenting additional challenges, but we remain determined to keep moving forward.

Last year, we had a clear focus on public goods. This year, we aim to broaden our lens, maintaining our emphasis on public goods but also highlighting the importance of privacy. It will be both a solarpunk and lunarpunk event, you could say.

I haven’t heard of lunarpunk yet. Can you tell us more?

I’m probably biased here, haha. About five years ago, I came across the term “solarpunk” and found it resonated deeply with me, as it emphasized using technology for the greater good of humanity—it’s a very optimistic perspective.

Then, the more mystical lunarpunk narrative emerged. Its critique of solarpunk is that it has been overlooking privacy issues. And that most solarpunks tend to be white, male, and hailing from the US or Europe, meaning that they could enjoy certain privileges that might make privacy less of a concern. It's easy to neglect privacy when one hasn't experienced life under a totalitarian regime or oppression.

That said, the generalized idea that all solarpunks dismiss privacy concerns fails to capture the diversity within the movement. I’m not a big fan of the desire to draw lines and categorize: "This is solar. This is lunar." 

And what’s your personal take on all that?

The creator of lunarpunk, Rachel O'Leary, is actually one of my good friends now. We ended up connecting in Barcelona, shared our perspectives, and ended up realizing we had more common ground than we initially thought. 

Rachel began to recognize that her critique of certain entities, like Gitcoin, was due to the fact that many in these circles haven't experienced oppression. She found there are optimists who are aware of the world's realities and others who are optimists because they choose to be. Seeing it from this lens made me stop calling myself a solarpunk. 

Now, I prefer to call myself a lovepunk. This term has been generating curiosity since I started promoting it recently. I always encourage people to form their own interpretation of it because if we rigidly box something, we’ll face the solarpunk vs. lovepunk problem again.  But, in essence, punks tend to challenge the norm. They reject mainstream values, have a confrontational stance against authority and social conformity, and embrace individuality, self-expression, and non-conventional approaches to music and culture. So, with love, the goal is to make radical love the norm. We need to make embracing love cool.

Lovepunks reject traditional societal norms and expectations surrounding love, romance, and relationships. Instead, we prioritize authenticity, individuality, and mutual respect in our interactions with others.

Thanks for sharing that. Can attendees at EthBarcelona look forward to some lovepunk vibes? What other things do you have in store?

You bet, lots of lovepunk energy! We're passionate about inclusivity and will offer free tickets to students and those who might not have the means to pay for a ticket. Essentially, every ticket sold sponsors someone else to attend the event for free.

But even though we want to be positive, we also want to make sure we’re highlighting the challenges and negatives of web3. It’s really about recognizing the existence of both good and evil in the world and the need for consciousness and awareness. Last year, we were brimming with positivity—then the market took a nosedive, and things went downhill. We need to acknowledge how such developments shape the bigger picture, too.

This year’s EthBarcelona continues to celebrate the ethos that drew many of us to the crypto space—human freedom. Many other events are driven by money and DeFi. But we’re not here to replicate the very system we aim to transform—at least not me!