Final

Ben Weinhart

Prof. Benander

English 1001

1/20/2018

Evaluating a Source

Finding my first source was a fairly easy task. Since I already have background information going into this, I can locate what I want to find pretty easy. Specifically my first source is an article titled, “What is Ethereum Casper Protocol? Crash Course.” In this, the author Ameer Rosic goes through exactly what Ethereum Casper will do to improve Ethereum’s blockchain.

Specifically, what I like about this source is that Rosic first starts off by explaining Ethereum; so that someone who has a little bit of knowledge on the subject can understand what he’s talking about. Or even if you are just open to new ideas, this can be very helpful for my report since I can cite some of this beginner information to help people understand what I am talking about.

Speaking of talking about, what I want to talk about in this research report is what exactly will Ethereum’s Casper protocol update do to the network as a whole. And also what it might do to the markets/exposure of Ethereum, and other various currencies out there. This could give it a lot more exposure and bring cryptocurrency to a security, to perhaps a commodity. Or maybe even replace the stake that gold has currently. I think that this protocol update is fascinating to learn about, and I look forward to learning about it as I partake in my research.

Another thing that I want to talk about in my research report is the stance and position of other cryptocurrencies out there. Of course, you can’t write a research paper about cryptocurrency without talking about the largest one. Bitcoin of course, since it’s very easy to understand and so widely heard. This will lay a foundation for Ethereum to build on and expand the ideas of what the reader could possibly imagine going into this. After speaking on these two, I also want to go into some of the lesser known coins, and the technology behind them. For example, Monero is the ultimate privacy coin, Siacoin is a mass data storage alternative, WaltonChain is providing better management in the retail space. Things like these is what makes Blockchain truly unlike anything we have ever seen before.

Going back to the original source, I think that there are many things that make this source a very credible one to pick. For one, the website it’s on looks very clean with few advertisements, and also goes into other educational content if one were to go to other pages. I do enjoy that the article displays a lot of infographs/graphs as well. This really helps to increase both the credibility of the website, and the understandability of it. Rosic also cites his information very well, making sure that there isn’t anything false or something that someone may doubt the credibility of. Finally, I think that this is a great article because Rosic has written many like this for others, and takes somewhat of an activist role in the community from what I have gathered.

One source that I really don’t think is credible towards my research is one titled, “Ethereum Price Important Price Levels To Watch In November 2017.” Just the title itself strikes me as a bit odd. I get search engine optimization, but this is taking it too far. Coupled with the fact that the article is written by an unknown author, and it’s pretty clear to stay away from this one completely. Looking into the article a bit, I can see that most of it’s just speculation with a few bits of historical knowledge. Nothing really to add to a report except saying that people vastly underestimated the potential of Ethereum.

Rosic, A. (2017, December 28). What is Ethereum Casper Protocol? Crash Course. Blockgeeks, Blockgeeks Retrieved January 20, 2018, from https://blockgeeks.com/guides/ethereum-casper/

Unknown. (2017, October 30). Ethereum Price Important Price Levels To Watch In November 2017. Retrieved from http://ethereumprice.today/price-predictions/ethereum-price-price-levels-november-2017/