Immutable Democracy with Bitcoin: Carlos Toriello (Bitcoin Talk on THE Bitcoin Podcast)

"I needed Bitcoin to defend myself against the State. Bitcoin is so powerful that it actually leveled the playing field between myself and the national election authority."

On this Bitcoin Talk episode of THE Bitcoin Podcast, Walker talks with Carlos Toriello (aka Carliño) about Simple Proof (https://SimpleProof.com) and using Bitcoin + OpenTimeStamps to safeguard election integrity, which was exactly what happened in the 2023 national elections in Guatemala, where the government became the first in the world to implement an immutable backup based on Simple Proof (more links and videos below).

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Carlos Toriello aka Carliño
X: https://twitter.com/carlostoriello
https://SimpleProof.com
Immutable Democracy: https://film.simpleproof.com
NOSTR: SimpleProof@nostr.gt
NPUB: npub145lf2q6sgqtkhjzzeza29ss6gz7qq4j6vslaa0dwanvgf58ey3us069hce
http://DigitalWitness.io
NOSTR: DigitalWitness@BitcoinNostr.com
NPUB: npub14advhxua8w78gl2z7q8c4s20htxkzq4cu5mhj34ep0puf7smyqzszrd7qq
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NOSTR: https://primal.net/walker
https://primal.net/p/npub10qrssqjsydd38j8mv7h27dq0ynpns3djgu88mhr7cr2qcqrgyezspkxqj8
X/TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/walkeramerica
https://twitter.com/titcoinpodcast
Website: https://bitcoinpodcast.net/
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SUMMARY
Carliño, a Bitcoin advocate from Guatemala, shares his mission to accelerate Bitcoin adoption in Central America. He believes that Bitcoin is the most powerful tool for the region to overcome poverty and provide an example for other similar regions. Carliño discusses the history of Guatemala and its political process, highlighting the challenges and the need for transparency in elections. He recounts the issues faced during the 2019 election, where the results were unreliable and caused suspicion of fraud. Carliño then explains how he used Bitcoin and the Lightning Network to create a solution that incentivizes volunteers to validate election results and ensure transparency. Carliño used Bitcoin and open timestamps to create a transparent and verifiable election auditing system in Guatemala. By timestamping the election results with open timestamps and storing the hashes on the Bitcoin blockchain, Carliño ensured that the results could be audited and verified by anyone. This system eliminated 99% of the attack surface on the election and forced potential attackers to act on election night. The system allowed citizens to download the raw data, verify the results, and compare them to the official results. It provided a level of transparency and trust in the election process that was previously lacking. The conversation explores the implementation of Bitcoin and blockchain technology in the electoral process, focusing on the case of Guatemala. The guest, Carliño, explains how Bitcoin can be used to protect the integrity of elections by timestamping digital information to the Bitcoin blockchain. This provides an anchor of truth and makes it difficult for attackers to manipulate or tamper with election data. Carliño emphasizes the importance of having a digital element in the voting process to handle the large volume of data and meet the expectations of real-time results. He also highlights the role of paper trails and the ability to differentiate between the official record and fake information.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction and Background
06:00 Central America & Bitcoin
20:19 Guatemala's Political History
32:18 Using Bitcoin to Address Election Result Issues
37:44 The Importance of Transparency and Trust in Democracy
40:14 Using Bitcoin and Open Timestamps to Verify Election Results
57:34 Increasing Transparency and Trust in the Democratic Process
1:04:20 Reducing the Attack Surface for Election Fraud
1:12:01 Empowering Citizens to Independently Audit Election Results
1:19:52 The Importance of Paper Voting and the Risks Involved
1:20:54 The Need for a Digital Element in the Voting Process
1:21:47 Differentiating the Official Record from Fake Information
1:22:52 Demanding Truth and Removing the State's Ability to Lie
1:24:53 The Power of Removing the State's Ability to Change Reality
1:27:08 Verifiability and the Opportunity to Protect Democracy
#bitcoin #bitcoinpodcast #bitcointalk #bitcoinnews #guatemala #elections2024 #democracy #decentralization #blockchain #freedom