Crypto Crypto Crypto

The coming global financial crisis (GFC). What will happen in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? Some people are a bit gleeful about the idea of a global financial crisis, that it will "send bitcoin to the moon." Beware what you wish for. Small-scale regional crises could show people why alternative systems (to protect against inflation and currency controls, for refugees to send money home, etc) are better and give them an opportunity to escape. Remember that such events would cause investment to dry up. During the crisis in Greece, people didn't flock to buy gold or bitcoin, because they didn't have any money in the bank! They took out their paychecks as fast as they could and tried to make it until next week. Ugly, sudden, painful crises kill, imprison, and persecute a lot of people. Gradual, non-violent transitions to superior systems are obviously preferred. The way to achieve success is through informed choice, not desperation. You're all here because you chose to be, and that's how we'd like to keep it.

Are smart contracts legally binding? How can tokens represent ownership of external assets? Are those transfers of titles recognised? Where are ether transactions stored when contract code is executed? How are state transitions validated? Will smart contracts work to the extent that people envision? Should we combine smart contracts with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), or is all of this tech still too immature? https://27bbdcj7ucmqdy9aztwsrzkkfi.hop.clickbank.net/

Why does SegWit adoption seem stalled at 10-20% of transactions? Why would they force users to pay high fees? What are the considerations that cryptocurrency businesses (wallets, exchanges, payment processors / merchant providers, etc.) of various sizes are making in these contentious debates?

"Satoshi Nakamoto" is the pseudonym used by the person(s) who created Bitcoin. We do not know who they are, whether they are still alive, whether it was more than one person, whether they were a 'good person' or a 'bad person.' Geometric proofs and Euclid's identity. You know parallel lines don't intersect in a three-dimensional space because when you studied the proofs in school, you started from certain axioms, and if they were violated there was an absurd outcome. The axioms hold true not because Euclid told us they do, but because we have independently verified their truth. Bitcoin works not because Satoshi Nakamoto said so, but because we have independently verified the operations underpinning it and continue to use it ourselves. It does not matter who Satoshi is, any more than it matters who Euclid is.

What is the difference between proof-of-work (PoW), proof-of-stake (PoS), and delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS)?

How do I know that my private key was generated randomly? Could rogue developers of wallet applications access the private keys? Problems with fake wallets. Why is browser hygiene important? How are the private keys of vanity addresses securely generated by pools?

I am confused by terminology in Bitcoin. Please explain the following terms: private / public keys, hash functions, elliptic curve, addresses, and signatures. How can you create an address offline? How does the Bitcoin network "find out" about the address?

Andreas is one of the most trusted and entertaining educators in the bitcoin industry. He's known for his unbiased, honest, easy to understand explanations of complex things - like bitcoin itself. Watch this video to learn what bitcoin is, why it's different from current systems you already know (like banking), and how it might affect all of us in the future. At the end there are some great questions, ones you've probably already asked or will be asking.

What are your thoughts on wealth distribution / concentration in Bitcoin? Addresses are not people! The majority of addresses are used anonymously / pseudo-anonymously, so clustering is very difficult. Exchanges or payment processors may be holding the funds of hundreds of thousands of people in only a few addresses; at the same time, a single person could be controlling thousands of addresses with very small amounts, or a single address may be a multi-sig that is controlled by more than one person.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched bitcoin futures trading on December 18th. Who would short bitcoin? What are the implications of fork coins on futures markets for cryptocurrencies? One of the fundamental things you need for a futures market is a consistent, predictable, publicly audited reference rate (price) to underpin the legal contracts. Exchanges which provide data for that reference rate must follow certain rules.

How can we get more women involved with cryptocurrencies? What are the most inspiring projects that encourage people to think beyond the current system and explore the innovative potential of the technology? Tired of hearing about the latest scammy ICO? Instead, here are some inspiring real-world projects using cryptocurrencies for good!

Can you provide a brief overview of the mining process? Is there human intervention in mining or is it automated? What influenced the centralisation of mining and how will it decentralise again?

In this talk, Andreas follows-up on "Currency Wars" a talk he gave in 2016. A lot has changed but mostly in a worse direction than before. Currencies are at war with each other, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are getting banned, maligned and dismissed even as they enjoy new highs in value. New distractions like Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and corporate currencies (Libra/Diem) are trying to distract further from the simple truth: National currencies are sinking under a deluge of debt and even those at the top are beginning to get worried. Learn how to prepare your evacuation plan and help others too.

Keywords: Is centralization of mining in China a problem? Advancements in hardware for mining, Moore's law, xenophobia

In this talk, Andreas examines the sensationalist debate over "fake news," the rising tide of faith-based nation states declaring bitcoin as "fake money," and alternative mechanisms we can build to fill the void left by retired fact-checking departments & central bank authorities.

Reducing the switching cost between cryptocurrencies with trustless cross-chain swaps. What happens when that decentralized multi-currency micropayment network becomes fully automated and instantaneous?

Expanding on an observation from his last talk, Andreas asks why we talk so much about the cartels in drugs and oil, but rarely about one of the largest cartels in the world: banking. He analyses recent (unacknowledged) history with the 2008 financial crisis, the corrupt revolving door with regulators, how kleptocracy is destroying democracy, and why Bitcoin matters as an exit when voice is no longer an option.

A simple backup of your cryptowallet seed or key might not be enough to keep you out of crypto wallet trouble. This is because different wallets use different "derivation paths". So what is a derivation path? How is it different from a wallet seed? What do you need to know about them to maintain access to your funds?

What is the most decentralized cryptocurrency exchange? What is the most anonymous way to obtain some crypto? In this edition of Down the Rabbit Hole Andreas asks himself this question and discusses the most free, open, available decentralized crypto exchange available today "Earn It".

Andreas M. Antonopoulos presents expert witness testimony to the Canadian Senate Banking and Commerce Committee on October 8th 2014. He is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

What are Bulletproofs? What is a range proof? Why is encrypting amounts important for financial privacy? How does it use non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs to hide amounts without risking inflation?

What other crypto-assets and technologies interest you besides Bitcoin and Ethereum? I'm interested in the cryptocurrencies that are pioneering privacy and anonymity, such as Monero and Zcash. I'm interested in resource-sharing ones as well. It is less likely that they will be eclipsed by Bitcoin and its second layers as long as they maintain that privacy-conscious differentiation. Is Litecoin still "the silver to bitcon's [digital] gold"? Litecoin often follows the core roadmap, but it has filled a niche of rapid development that acts as a testing ground for innovations that may end up in Bitcoin. I think there is room for multiple cryptocurrencies that have less adoption overall but are "apex" in certain categories.

How is Bitcoin software securely developed and delivered? What is Gitian? What happens if your client software is compromised and how is this prevented? How is consensus reached on new upgrades? What are the different consensus groups? How are developers compensated for their work? Are there other compatible Bitcoin clients available besides the Bitcoin Core reference client?

How do you determine the value of a salary in bitcoin? Does bitcoin work better as a medium of exchange or unit of account? Is bitcoin a reserve currency for other cryptocurrencies, as gold was for fiat?

What is Segregated Witness (SegWit)? How do you know you’re using SegWit? SegWit fixes transaction malleability and enables further upgrades towards Bitcoin smart contracts. Can transaction malleability lead to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks? Does SegWit put witness data in a different block? Did SegWit change transaction validation? versus? Are there any security risks of invalid blocks?