introduction to bitcoin & blockchain @ darefest16
TRANSCRIPT
@SDWOUTERS
& blockchainbitcoin
#Darefest16
@sdwouters
Bitcoin & Blockchain since 2013
Digital Transformation Consultant at Duval Union Consulting
Sam Wouters
‣ We are a digital consulting company.
‣ Founded in 2009 as DearMedia.
‣ We work for large European clients.
‣ We have a strong vision on the impact of digital and act accordingly.
‣ We are advisors, writers, coaches and entrepreneurs.
One of many DISRUPTIVE PLAYERS
“bitcoin is digital money”
Who has heard of Bitcoin before today?
Positive image? Negative image?
Who fundamentally
understands Bitcoin?
Media that predicted The Death of Bitcoin
bitcoinobituaries.com
Deaths by publication:
DailyPaulCNNCity A.M.ChronBroken Librarian BTC Feed Business InsiderBloombergAbout.com Acton BizNews.comArduino TronicapenwarrAOL
Financial TimesFester’s DenDavid Seaman FortuneForbesFool.com FusionGizmodo Australia IEX International Business Times Javamazon Moneygeek
MyBroadBandMother Jones News.com.au NewStatesman NY Mag OUI Share
The New York TimesThe KernelThe Calculating InvestorStreet InsiderSputnik NewsPYMNTS.com Reuters Robert Nielsen Salon Seeking Alpha
The Underground EconomistThe Telegraph The Washington Post The Weekly StandardUSA Today Valley News VICE News Wired YahooWall Street Daily
"Don't forget that the millions of people all over the world who are now part of the Bitcoin network were once very strong skeptics. This includes people with decades of experience in network security and cryptography." ~Andreas Antonopoulos
@SDWOUTERS
A Quick Introduction To Bitcoin & Blockchain
Invented in 2008: a system to eliminate the need for “trusted” third parties
bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
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The first thing bought with 10.000 Bitcoins in 2010
@SDWOUTERS
Bitcoin’s best days must be over!
Is worth over €5 Million today at €500 per BTC
So much value, all for shady digital money?
Banks don’t believe Bitcoin can work, but they are investing in its technology, the Blockchain
What’s the difference?
Bitcoin is a way to digitally transfer ownership
without a middleman
The blockchain is a database that records
ownership through time
A 5 minute explanation won’t make you understand why they matter
WHAT can we do with them?
HOW do they work?
WHY do Bitcoin & Blockchain
exist?
WHY do Bitcoin & Blockchain
exist?
Why do digital money transfers take days?
Imagine you want to BUILD A BUSINESS
9% FEE?
@SDWOUTERS
Financial innovation is held back by rules and regulations
@SDWOUTERSBut this is innovation!
Say that to the 40% unbanked adults worldwide…
And to the people who pay 5-25% money transfer fees $175 Billion profit per year for Western Union & co!
If you want to send money you have to
WAIT PAY
@SDWOUTERS
Yet we can do THIS?
@SDWOUTERS
Bitcoin is about more than global payments
We have more debt than can EVER be repaid
Currencies are not backed by anything
Leading to unprecedented money printing
The money in your bank loses value
Inflation Interest>
Soon you’ll be PAYING banks so they can do risky investments with your money
If finance is so messed up why don’t we fix it?
Rules are decided behind closed doors
Governments are not in charge in the financial world
Governments
Corporates
Banks
National central banks
International central banks
Central bank of central banks
Regulation
Resulting in "cosy" relationships between financial businesses and regulators
Banks won’t stop messing around
Resulting in "cosy" relationships between financial businesses and regulators.
We are fighting a never ending flood
HOW do they work?
WHY do Bitcoin & Blockchain
exist?
Fundamentally different
Transactions Security
Transactions Security
Money is sent directly between two parties
The blockchain is a global “bookkeeping” system
It records who owns what, and when
Transactions are synchronised through the network
Every ~10 minutes, they are permanently
recorded in a new block in the blockchain
…
How do we SAFELY Record
the transactions so nobody can change them?
Transactions Security
Problems Solutions
Central point of failure Decentralized network
Expensive to secure Shared security cost
Trust who is in charge Trust a fixed set of rules
Centralized
All organizations
Problems Solutions
Central point of failure Decentralized network
Expensive to secure Shared security cost
Trust who is in charge Trust a fixed set of rules
Decentralized
The Internet & Bitcoin
Centralized
All organizations
The Bitcoin Blockchain is secured by computing power from people and companies all over the world
“So much energy waste!” Bitcoin’s ecological footprint is tiny
In return for their work, the “miners” earn new bitcoins and transaction fees
They verify the transactions and add them to the next block in the Blockchain
The transactions are permanently recorded in a new block, linked to the others in a chain
When you change a transaction the link to that block changes as well
The network will know that your version has been messed with and reject it
You then need to create a longer blockchain than the entire network combined
The network is 20.000 times stronger than the top 500 supercomputers in the world
Who decides what everyone does with their computer?
Problems Solutions
Central point of failure Decentralized network
Expensive to secure Shared security cost
Trust who is in charge Trust a fixed set of rules
Decentralized
The Internet & Bitcoin
It started from the base code, ever since improvements have been proposed by developers around the world
bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
…
github.com/bitcoin/bips
If the vast majority of the network agrees, the code can be changed
But everything can be hacked
right?
Wallets can be hacked if they are not secured, but the Bitcoin protocol can’t be hacked
With over $50M per day in irreversible transactions, it is the biggest target for hackers on the Internet
What does this technical stuff mean for me?
You can send payments without encryption and on any network,
without risk
Send & receive payments anywhere in the world.
Nobody can stop it
Bitcoin is open to any participant
without identification or authentication
No criminal wants to leave permanent evidence
The power is in the hands of the user, we want to protect and use our money
Anyone can develop new applications for Bitcoin, without permission
internetlivestats.com/internet-users/
The same force driving internet innovation for 20 years
Creates huge value for consumers, economic growth, jobs
I don’t really need Bitcoin
Until your life is international
Have you ever…
Transferred money internationally, with a large fee or a terrible exchange rate?
Tried to understand why these transfers take days?
Paid fees or exchange rates at ATM’s or with your card abroad?
Have you ever been to a country where the majority of the population is unbanked?
Have you ever met people who cannot use their debit or credit cards abroad?
Exchanged money on the black market?
Returned home with leftover foreign currency?
Dealt with currency controls?
Or Hyperinflation?
Perhaps you & your country don’t really need it…
But it will help the world a lot if Bitcoin succeeds.
WHAT can we do with them?
HOW do they work?
WHY do Bitcoin & Blockchain
exist?
Sending money
0.00000001 BTC1 BTC
Is it accepted anywhere?
Antwerpen
Gent
Arnhem
Buenos Aires
Amsterdam
Montreal
Money is the tip of the iceberg
Logical Evolution
INTERNET Transfer information
BLOCKCHAIN Transfer ownership
TEXT IMAGES PROGRAMS VIDEOS
MONEY CONTRACTS PATENTS ASSETS
Everledger stores unique info and ownership of (900k) diamonds on the Bitcoin blockchain
everledger.io
“Blockchain could disrupt everything”
@SDWOUTERS
THE BLOCKCHAIN is an inefficient database
3
Censorship resistance
2
Immutability
5
Open Access
Decentralization
4
1
Open Innovation
Banks/governments won’t replicate the Blockchain
But all these banks are investing in blockchains!
Private blockchains are like every company building their own Dropbox service
>The Internet
Both will have their own uses, but the Open Blockchain will create the most value
If Bitcoin is so great, why isn’t everyone using it?
‣ Bitcoin is only 7 years old, it still needs a lot of development.
‣ This has never been tried
before and it is about MONEY, not information.
‣ Bitcoin is like the Internet in the 90s:
‣ People don't get it. ‣ It looks ugly. ‣ We have few use cases. ‣ People don’t see how it will
change the world.
‣ Those who are disrupted by it will do everything to stop it.
‣ Mainstream 10 years later ‣ Mass adoption 20 years later
Some links to help you get started with BitcoinGet a wallet (and make a backup!)
• Coinbase/Circle Pay/Xapo/Mycelium (Android)
• Coinbase/Circle Pay/Xapo/Breadwallet (iOS)
• MultiBit HD (Desktop)
• Coinbase/Circle Pay/Xapo (Web)
• Trezor/Ledger Nano S/KeepKey (Hardware)
Buying bitcoins:
• coinbase.com
• bitstamp.net
• bitonic.nl
• localbitcoins.com
Following the bitcoin price:
• bitcoinwisdom.com
Following Bitcoin related news:
• reddit.com/r/bitcoin
• coindesk.com
Bitcoin payment processing for businesses:
• bitpay.com
• coinbase.com
Bitcoin statistics:
• blockchain.info
Bitcoin white paper & info:
• bitcoin.org
