crypto coin tech

Bitcoin

blockstack

Chris Clark discusses the blockchain's potential to disrupt the financial industry, from contracts to mortgages to government taxation.

Blockchain and decentralization hold big implications for society

Conrad Barski on the bitcoin and blockchain landscape and how the technology will evolve over the next 10 years.

For more on the interview, visit O'Reilly Radar: oreil.ly/15A9cCp

Bitcoin's road to democratization lies in decentralization

Support the show, consider donating: 3JE6C12CPukvgaFXqjTd2ZSkrv23Evr45T (http://bit.ly/1gmt1Tw)

Close to two years after the initial whitepaper, the revolutionary Ethereum network has finally launched. The decentralized smart contract platform is, without a doubt, the most exciting cryptocurrency project since Bitcoin. The versatile platform with its turing-complete scripting language aspires to power the distributed applications of the future.

Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin joined us for the second time to discuss the Frontier Launch, future plans for scalability, governance and the road ahead for the organization and the protocol.

Topics covered included:
- Ethereum's frontier launch and the upcoming development stages
- The plans for how to create a scalable blockchain architecture
- The thinking around transitioning to proof-of-stake
- The state and new board of the Ethereum Foundation
- How Ethereum's development will be funded in the longer term
- His thoughts on the governance of Ethereum and Bitcoin
- When private blockchains make sense and if Ethereum
- What mistakes were made during the development of Ethereum

Review us on iTunes and WIN a Free T-Shirt!

Each week we will be giving away an Epicenter Bitcoin t-shirt to one lucky listener! All you need to do is leave us a review on iTunes. Then send us an email at show@epicenterbitcoin.com with the review text so we can identify you and we’ll draw one winner per week who will get a t-shirt.

Sponsors: 

- Ledger Nano: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EB09 at http://ledgerwallet.com (valid until 09/30/15)

Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/091
YouTube: https://youtu.be/3uvbIyzsCLY


Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sébastien Couture.
 
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EB91 – Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum Frontier Launch, Scalability And The Road Ahead

Support the show, consider donating: 3DD22464EcibJksVGJh5CGR767SNpmmioZ (http://bit.ly/1IpY86t)

In a long-overdue episode, we finally had the chance to dive into one of the most known but poorly understood cryptocurrency/blockchain project: Ripple. Reviled by many in the Bitcoin space, we put aside any prejudices and sat down for a fascinating conversation with Ripple Labs CTO Stefan Thomas.

We talked about his early days in the Bitcoin space, how Ripple came about, what the Ripple network looks like today and how its consensus protocol works.

Topics covered included:
- Stefan Thomas' early experiences in the Bitcoin space
- How Ripple was created
- The problem Ripple is trying to solve
- How the Ripple consensus algorithm works
- Whether Ripple is decentralized or not
- What the correspondent banking system is and how Ripple wants to disrupt it
- The recent FinCen fine and what it means for Ripple

Links mentioned in this episode: 

- Ripple http://bit.ly/1hgMTaV
- Ripple Labs http://bit.ly/1Msvnfe
- Ripple Labs Fined $700,000 by FinCen http://bit.ly/1WwHyMx
- Richard Gendal Brown:  The Deep Insight at Ripple's Cores http://bit.ly/1UMG7YC
- Peter Todd Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm Review http://bit.ly/1hgN0U0
- Ripple Consensus Protocol Whitepaper http://bit.ly/1HQ4202

Review us on iTunes and WIN a Free T-Shirt!

Each week we will be giving away an Epicenter Bitcoin t-shirt to one lucky listener! All you need to do is leave us a review on iTunes. Then send us an email at show@epicenterbitcoin.com with the review text so we can identify you and we’ll draw one winner per week who will get a t-shirt.

Sponsors: 

- Shapeshift: Buy and sell alt coins instantly at http://ShapeShift.io

Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/092
YouTube: https://youtu.be/KMydq_m9f_4


Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sébastien Couture.
 
- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenterbtc

EB92 – Stefan Thomas: Understanding Ripple

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As the debate about forks, the blocksize and decision making in Bitcoin continues, we are joined by Adam Back. Adam is best known for his invention hash-cash which became one of the fundamental building blocks of Bitcoin. He is also the inventor of the sidechains concept and founder and president of Blockstream, the single biggest employer of Bitcoin core developers.

With Adam we talked about the different blocksize proposals and how a decentralized cryptocurrency should be governed in general. He is an influential conservative voice in the current debate and has been warning that a rapid increase of the blocksize could undermine the decentralization of Bitcoin.

Topics covered included:
- Adam's concerns with Bitcoin XT and the approach by Gavin Andresen and Mike Hearn
- Why Adam favors a slower blocksize increase to preserve decentralization
- How Bitcoin will function as a settlement network in the medium-term with the bulk of transactions going through the Lightning Network or sidechains
- Why forks are in Bitcoin are different from forks in other open source projects
- The upcoming Scaling Bitcoin workshop in Montreal

Links mentioned in this episode:

- Scaling Bitcoin Montreal Event http://bit.ly/1Qk6Qt2
- Blockstream http://bit.ly/1KAn8zf
- Gavin Andresen's BIP 101 http://bit.ly/1WZZlw5
- Jeff Garzik's BIP 100 http://bit.ly/1iakV0M
- Adam Back's blocksize proposal http://bit.ly/1K18XwC
- List of different blocksize proposals http://bit.ly/1LTs4fI

Sponsors:

- Vaultoro: Trade gold to Bitcoin instantly and securely starting at just 1mg at http://vaultoro.com

Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/095
YouTube: http://youtu.be/wYHyR2E5Pic


Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sébastien Couture.

- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
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EB95 – Adam Back: Why Bitcoin Needs A Measured Approach To Scaling

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A brilliant fact about crypto-economic blockchains is that they enable the construction of naming systems that transcend limits imposed by Zooko's triangle. Traditional naming systems such as human names, Domain Name System (DNS) and Facebook profile names are subject to Zooko's triangle and cannot be secure, human memorable and decentralised at once. For instance human names such as Meher Roy are human-memorable and decentralised but not secure (nothing prevents hundreds of people being called Meher Roy). Domain Names like https://epicenterbitcoin.com are secure and human-memorable but require a central authority to hand out names.

OneName leverages Bitcoin to build a Global Identification system called blockchain ID. Blockchain IDs for users can be associated with real world identity data such as social media profiles, government issued papers etc. In this episode we converse with Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali, co-founders and leaders of OneName, Blockstore and BlockStack. They explain the rationale and vision behind their push for a Global Decentralised Identification and Verification system.

Topics covered include:

- Zooko's triangle and how Bitcoin breaks the triangle
- The general idea behind blockchain ID, how it works and its component transactions
- Why OneName migrated their blockchain ID system from the Namecoin to the Bitcoin blockchain
- Technical design of Blockstore and how it enables decentralised storage and association of large datasets to blockchain IDs
- Vision and use cases for Decentralised Identity, authentication and identity verification.
- The notion of Probabilistic Identity

Links mentioned in this episode: 

- Intentional Naming System: http://bit.ly/1MxxtXP
- Zooko's triangle: http://bit.ly/1khi2wg
- Why Onename is Migrating to the Bitcoin Blockchain: http://bit.ly/1Lw8Zy5
- Blockchain ID: http://bit.ly/1Nj9OgC
- Organization of Schemas: http://bit.ly/1y6szdQ
- Blockstack: http://bit.ly/1LiRfsf
- BlockStore: http://bit.ly/1Mxxx9V

Sponsors: 

- Ledger Nano: Smart card security for your Bitcoins - Get 10% off your first order when you use the code EB09 at http://ledgerwallet.com (valid until 09/30/15)
- Hide.me: Protect your privacy and personal data with a free VPN account at Hide.me/epicenter

Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/101
YouTube: https://youtu.be/pKIlRMEJyc4


Epicenter Bitcoin is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sébastien Couture.
 
- Visit our website: http://epicenterbitcoin.com
- Subscribe to our newsletter: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/newsletter
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/epicenterbtc

EB101 – Ryan Shea & Muneeb Ali: Bringing Decentralization to Identity with Blockchain ID and Onename

Ryan Shea and Muneeb Ali, the cofounders of Blockstack, on how their tools enable users to control their own data, why the internet should have universal usernames but no company should control that, and why Blockstack’s storage system still allows users to choose centralized options &nbsp;like Google Drive and Dropbox. They also talk about how other blockchain systems are thinking about scaling wrong, why they launched a developer fund, and why a developer would choose Blockstack over Ethereum. Show notes:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/09/05/blockstack-on-how-to-take-control-from-google-facebook-and-amazon/ BlockStack: https://blockstack.org/

Blockstack On Getting Independence From Google, Facebook And Amazon

Zachary Fallon, a former SEC staffer and author of the Reg A JOBS Act crowdfunding rules and a principal at Blakemore Fallon, discusses Blockstack's filing for a token offering under Reg A+, what that means for the security status of the tokens and what types of investors the company can raise from. We also talk about several of the particulars of the Blockstack filing, such as the time-lock on the tokens, the ability to raise money in bitcoin and ether, and the cap on the dollar amount of tokens any single investor can purchase. Zach also covers how much they must have worked with the SEC until this point, how long it might take the SEC to offer a response and what the filing means for token offerings going forward. Thank you to our sponsor! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unconfirmed Episode Links Zach Fallon: https://twitter.com/ZacharyFallon &nbsp; Blakemore Fallon: https://blakemorefallon.com Blockstack: https://blockstack.org Stackstoken: https://www.stackstoken.com App mining for Stacks: https://app.co/mining Blockstack's Reg A+ filing:  https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1719379/000110465919020748/a18-15736_1partiiandiii.htm Wired story on the filing:  https://www.wired.com/story/startup-sell-you-crypto-tokens-with-sec-backing/

Blockstack's Reg A+ Filing and the Future of Token Offerings - Ep.069

Epicenter is a podcast about the technologies, projects & people driving decentralization and the global blockchain revolution.

Epicenter is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain, Sebastien Couture and Meher Roy. Every week, we find the most interesting people in the industry for in-depth discussions about their projects, ideas and stories.