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A bit more about Bitcoin
Welcome Back to Week 2!
You should now be up to at least page 14 in the Bitcoin Revolution. As we mentioned last week, we are going to talk about Bitcoin this week to give you a point of reference that you might need for next week's discussion of the blockchain.
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is simply a new form of currency. It is a representation of value / money and it allows the owner full control on how much (if any) information about the buyer the seller receives. If you want to learn more about the history of currency check out Chris' post in the Metagame Book Club Community.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency or encrypted currency. Encryption is how the buyer's information and the history of the Bitcoin remains private until the bitcoin is sold. Bitcoins can be broken up into pieces. Think Spanish pieces of eight where silver coins were clipped due to the inability to make proper change. So you can have many owners of pieces that together make a bitcoin.
Also review last week's
What is Bitcoin (< 2 min video):
Mommy, where do Bitcoins come from?
Well, it's time we had that talk about where bitcoins are created. The simple answer is math. The creator of Bitcoin, attributed to "Satoshi Nakamoto," wrote a paper titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System: https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper While only 9 pages, the paper lays out the mathematical model on how Bitcoins would be created through "mining" or solving complex math problems.
More information at:
How Bitcoin Works in 5 Minutes (video)
Technical version: https://youtu.be/l9jOJk30eQs
Non-technical version: https://youtu.be/t5JGQXCTe3c
Mining Bitcoin
CNBC Explains: How to Mine Bitcoins on Your Own:
Article: http://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/23/cnbc-explains-how-to-mine-bitcoins-on-your-own.html
Life Inside a Secret Chinese Bitcoin Mine (9 min video): https://youtu.be/K8kua5B5K3I
Bitcoin Could Consume as Much Electricity as Denmark by 2020 (Motherboard): http://motherboard.vice.com/read/bitcoin-could-consume-as-much-electricity-as-denmark-by-2020
Google Hangout Recording of A Bit More About Blockchain
Week 2: Readings and Resources
Blockchain Revolution Pages 1 - 52.
More Readings on Bitcoin (for anyone who wants more on bitcoin)
We Need to Know Who Satoshi Nakamoto Is (The New Yorker): http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/we-need-to-know-who-satoshi-nakamoto-is
Greetings from Bitcoin Island (Bloomberg Markets): http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-09-07/isle-of-man-tax-haven-with-tailless-cats-becomes-bitcoin-hubHow To Use Bitcoin To Shop At Amazon, Home Depot, CVS And More (Forbes): http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/02/17/how-to-use-bitcoin-to-shop-at-amazon-home-depot-cvs-and-more/Legality of Bitcoin by Country
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_countryBitcoin: Questions, Answers, and Analysis of Legal Issues (Congressional Research Service) Bitlegal: http://map.bitlegal.io/ Extended Resources (If you want to really geek out on cryptocurrency)
Wildcat Currency How the Virtual Money Revolution is Transforming the Economy
by Edward Castronova (November 12. 2014)
Week 2: Discussion Questions
1) Do you have any experience with bitcoins, bitcoin wallets, or altcoins?
Have you been seeing bitcoins showing up as a payment option?
If you teach economics, business or civics are you talking about
cryptocurrencies in your classes?
2) Bitcoin wallets were introduced in the Hangout. What do
you think the educational equivalent would look like?
3) Trust and the network-enforced 100-block maturation time for generations exists for bitcoin mining. Doug @douglevin discusses the 100 block time (100 x 10 minutes) during the Hangout. Here's more information from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange. The Mozilla Open Backpack is free but could this type of transaction fee show up on other credentials or badge wallets?
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