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The Blockchain Revolution begins....
Welcome to Week 1 Everyone!
We are going to start this iteration of the book club by going back to a topic, we discussed frequently in past Book Clubs - virtual currency. We touched on it when we read For the Win by Cory Doctorow during the virtual economies hangout and also with Ready Player One. Virtual Currencies used to be limited to any forms of payment that are used in virtual worlds like World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and any other game or virtual environment where players use coins, diamonds and other things to buy goods in game.
Why are we starting with a discussion about bitcoin?
Today, virtual currencies are dominated by Crypto-Currency like Bit Coin and many others that you can find on sites like https://coinmarketcap.com/all/views/all Now, I know that as you hear and learn more about BitCoin you might be asking is it real and does it have value. Well that is a great question that leads us to what is the value, really, of any currency? We'll have you start by watching the video below:
The video makes a key point, that our currency today is not really tied to anything of value like gold, diamonds, or other precious / scarce resources. Instead, the value of a currency is tied to demand (who and how many want it), perception / belief of value (do you believe the currency is worth something and if so how much) and trust (do you trust the country, government, or market to continue to value and maintain the currency and not default on it).
The video does a good job of addressing demand and perception when it comes to Bitcoin. So where does trust come into play? Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies use what is called a trust protocol that is built into the system of how Bitcoin and the like are generated/ created. How/ where did this trust protocol all start?
We could begin by looking at The God Protocol by Nick Szabo mentioned on page 5 of the Blockchain Revolution. It is an interesting look at a twenty year old idea on what would allow us to actually trust transactions that happen over the Internet. As the author writes, these God protocols were adopted in the blockchain, which is the underlying mechanism on how cryptocurrency is created, monitored, and how all transactions are recorded and available for all to see if they have permission.
For this introduction week, to help contextualize blockchain, why don't we start by looking at the most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin to explore the trust protocol and how things work.
Week 1: Bitcoin Readings and Resources
First let's look at the pdf that started bitcoin in 2008, Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto October 31, 2008 https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf (The original 9-page paper authored by the mysterious ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ that launched bitcoin. Yes, Mr Nakamoto is mysterious and like Euclid and Pythagoras we don't know if he is a person or a pseudonym for a group of people.)
What is Bitcoin (< 2 min video): https://youtu.be/Gc2en3nHxA4
How Bitcoin Works in 5 Minutes (video)
Technical version: https://youtu.be/l9jOJk30eQs
Non-technical version: https://youtu.be/t5JGQXCTe3c
Introduction to Blockchain Revolution Hangout Recording
Introduction to Blockchain Revolution Slides
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