Circle: TheDAO incident proves Ethereum is still in the 'product testing phase'

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire and co-founder and chairman Sean Neville have been high-profile in the debate over the crisis TheDAO is currently experiencing, the Ethereum-based distributed autonomous organization that lost millions of ether last week. Circle is an early and well-funded blockchain startup for a payment app based on the Bitcoin blockchain. The company has raised $76 million in funding led by Goldman Sachs and Accel, with a valuation of over $200 million.

In the interview, Allaire and Neville said that the ethereum development community is currently taking action to protect the remaining funds from being lost. They called this "fascinating" and this incident proved that all blockchain technologies are still in the early stages of development.

Neville said it’s clear that the current situation is a good example of why he believes that blockchain technology, while capable of automating transactions and exchanges, still relies on human actions and abilities to succeed.

Neville said:

“Encryption and software can replace messengers, but that doesn’t mean there is no trust in humans. We have to trust the changes that software and apps are introducing.”

Sean Neville, co-founder and chairman of Circle

Both founders said they have been following the developments closely and are excited about ethereum’s capabilities, but warned that the incident proves the platform is still in the ‘production beta’ stage.

Allaire also commented that Ethereum may force a larger shift in the legal world, and one of his suggestions is that theDao investors should seek legal compensation for their losses.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire

Allaire said:

Are smart contracts contracts? Will courts uphold them? If a court holds that the terms and conditions in a smart contract code are a legally binding contract, then the code becomes law. This is very important, and we will see legal cases testing these ideas.