Crypto Currency

blockchain

Blockchain without bitcoin? It's a debate as old as the cryptocurrency itself (which, to be honest, isn't that old). Given that bitcoin is not just a digital bearer instrument/token but is a network, a distributed ledger, a protocol, the question of separating blockchain from bitcoin isn't a moot one. Especially when you think of it analogously to voice over IP, but for financial services.

So what is the financial services industry doing with this "money over IP"? Clearly many large business players are paying attention and trying to get ahead of disruption, by asking themselves exactly what their bitcoin/blockchain strategy is. Adam Ludwin shares what's happening here from his perspective as founder of Chain, an enterprise blockchain platform that partners with financial institutions to help them apply the technology to their markets.

In this episode of the a16z Podcast, Ludwin covers what it's like merging the cultures of finance and tech; what's driving the recent bitcoin prices; why he believes in blockchain beyond bitcoin; whether there can be such a thing as private or permissioned blockchains; definitions of newer concepts like 'colored coins' and 'sidechains'; and more. Oh and what are the most interesting native apps, too.

---

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: Blockchain vs/and Bitcoin

An in-depth look at Cryptocurrency & Blockchain, what they are, how they differ from existing methods, and what the advocates and critics have to say about them.

Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r3zMWE9ur4

Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net
Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583992725237264/
Support the Channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IsaacArthur
Visit the sub-reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/
Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakub_grygier

Further Reading:
Original Paper on bitcoin:
Satoshi Nakamoto, "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System"
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Charles Stross Blog Entry "Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire"
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/12/why-i-want-bitcoin-to-die-in-a.html

Daneil Jeffries rebuttal, "Why Charles Stross Doesn’t Know a Thing about Bitcoin":
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/charles-stross-doesnt-know-thing-bitcoin-1389147532

Abrahim Ladha’s “Hypothetical Problems concerning the Theory of Relativity on Cryptographic Currency Implementations”:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.04265

Paul Krugman's paper "Theory of Interstellar Trade":
https://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/interstellar.pdf

Music by:
Dexter Britain
"Seeing the Future"
Kai Engel
"Snowfall"
Koalips
"Kvazar"
Raphae
"Eor Ir Itum"
Chris Zabriskie
“Mario Bava sleeps in a little later than he expected to”
Kevin MacLeod
“Spacial Winds”
Brandon Liew
"Into the Storm"

Cryptocurrency

Most of us have probably heard of bitcoin and ethereum -- but did you know there were 15 new cryptocurrencies launched this past month alone? How then do we know which protocols to invest in -- not just as a developer or user, but as an investor? Because, let's face it, open source software and services need resources not just to survive but thrive.

General partner Chris Dixon talks about this dynamic between open vs closed in this episode of the a16z Podcast in conversation with Sonal Chokshi and with Olaf Carlson-Wee, founder of (a16z investment) Polychain, a new kind of hedge fund that invests directly in cryptocurrencies at the protocol layer. But what does that actually mean? Instead of investing in the companies that are building on top of these protocols, Polychain invests in the protocols themselves -- in much the same way that you could have invested in domain names instead of early internet companies like Amazon in the early days (which most people actually didn't have access to do). Imagine if you could have bought equity in Linux!

As people create application-specific tokens for these protocols (also known as “app coins”) to crowdfund and share equity in these networks, it's actually "bringing capitalism into open source" -- and could even one day lead to less centralized platforms and a web owned by users. It's also creating a whole new asset class... but whatever you do, do NOT try this at home!

---

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: Cryptocurrencies, App Coins, and Investing in Protocols

Extreme libertarians built blockchain to decentralize government and corporate power. It could consolidate their control instead.

Read text edition here: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/blockchain-of-command/528543/

Cryptocurrency Might be a Path to Authoritarianism -  The Atlantic - Ian Bogost

Blockchain

CoinBundle Conversations brings this informative interview with  Zhen Cao, Partner at JLAB Foundation Fund. She gives us a first look at JLAB and It’s full circle functions in finance and touches on how she learned how to make smart investments before entering blockchain. Cao’s advice and detailed insight into her personal investment portfolio makes this a conversation you don’t want to miss!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make sure you check out our Podcast on iTunes and Spotify! 
We will be posting MORE content on there!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/coinbundle-podcast/id1437929993?mt=2

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ae65PqWxmU0EdPGqWNboG?si=jBLn1LjvRLyWZRYVWo_VGw

Zhen Cao Tells Us How She Chose To Make Smart Investments Before Entering Blockchain

Before becoming the CEO of Block.io, Atif Nazir talks about building the #2 application on Facebook and his major success after challenges being a Bitcoin “believer” before the crypto-craze. Among speaking on society's  acceptance of technological advancements, Nazir shares advice on taking the complexity out of crypto and simplifying it as an entrepreneur to reach success.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make sure you check out our Podcast on iTunes and Spotify! 
We will be posting MORE content on there!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/coinbundle-podcast/id1437929993?mt=2

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ae65PqWxmU0EdPGqWNboG?si=jBLn1LjvRLyWZRYVWo_VGw

We Sit Down With Early BlockChain Entrepreneur and Founder of the #2 Facebook Application

Pre-save the full album here: ffm.to/6mz1jrn
This one is inspired by the trailer of Cyberpunk 2077 (Spoiler by @hyper)

Extra Terra
• www.facebook.com/extraterramusic
• www.instagram.com/extraterramusic
• www.youtube.com/extraterratv
• twitter.com/ExtraTerraMusic

BUY / STREAM

CoinBundle is on a mission to help everyone learn and participate in cryptocurrencies and Web 3.0. We’re excited to launch CoinBundle Conversations, where our CEO Saad Rizvi sits down with the leading blockchain, cryptocurrency, and venture capital experts and entrepreneurs to discuss their journey into crypto and the important aspects of investing. These conversations will increase awareness, open minds, and bring clarity to this exciting new space.

In these interviews, notable leading voices in the space explain cryptocurrency and the technology behind it. In these in-depth episodes, you can expect to learn about blockchain, exchanges, decentralization, entrepreneurship, marketplaces, and much more.