Bitcoin and blockchain technology made simple Let’s imagine we’re kids again, and we’re sitting in the school playground. We have our Pokemon trading cards out, and we decide to trade two cards roughly equivalent in value. There’s nothing particularly tricky about this exchange. We both agree the trade is fair, and I give you my card and you give me yours. Nice and easy. Being responsible 10-year-olds, we don’t need to ask the teacher to supervise this exchange and make sure the cards are traded correctly. It’s obvious who now…

When I reached out to over 30 CEOs running blockchain startups across the world, I wasn’t expecting anyone to respond. I wanted to ask them a few simple questions: What excites them about the industry right now? What advice do they have for a twentysomething like me who’s just starting out? I’m fascinated by blockchain and eager to earn more. To my surprise, nearly everybody got back to me. These blockchain pioneers were—perhaps not surprisingly—open-minded and willing to share their experiences and ideas. Their responses were refreshingly clear, inspiring, and…

So you can avoid the FUD and hodl your altcoins to the moon No matter your position on crypto, we can all agree that the terminology is intimidating if you’re new to the space. Do you need 2FA on your cold storage wallet so you can hodl your shitcoins, or are the shills giving you FUD? If that sentence scares the hell out of you, then read on. What follows is a lighthearted breakdown of the most common terms used in the crypto space. Altcoin (Alt) Any alternative crypto to Bitcoin. Bagholder…

Earlier this summer, the diamond company deBeers, which sells about 35% of the world’s mined diamonds and is owned by the massive mining company Anglo American, piloted a blockchain network called Tracr. It’s purpose? Track diamonds from the mine to the consumer. It worked so well that they are going to offer access to the system to every diamond mine, middleman, and retailer in the world. Why is this such a big deal if it works? In 2000, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was created in response to so-called blood diamonds, those diamonds whose sale…

Has trying to understand blockchain ever left you dazed and confused? Sick of hearing nonsense like SHA256 algorithms and byzantine fault tolerance? Just want to know what the hell blockchain is and why people keep talking about it? Well you’re in luck. In this article, I’ll explain in plain English what blockchain is, how it works and why it’s so important in less than 1000 words. Let’s get to it. What is blockchain? At its core, a blockchain is not so different from a regular database. It stores information on things that happened in…

The civil war in Syria. The December 2004 tsunami. The 2011 East Africa drought. What do all of these have in common? Each was a crisis that caused the displacement of more than 100,000 people. Each put a massive strain on the resources of their neighboring countries to house them. Each required large-scale donations to NGOs and IGOs for the provision of food, medical care, and other necessities to these populations. In times of war and crisis, one of the biggest challenges is the widespread movement of civilians out of…

The transformation of record-keeping will have consequences we can’t begin to imagine Predictions abound about the myriad ways that blockchain will revolutionize the business world — from currency to transportation to banking to law. The most important effect that blockchain will have, however, is the one that gets the least attention. And the last time such a big change happened in the field, it led to the greatest global commercial, artistic, and intellectual expansion in the history of the world. Double-entry bookkeeping and the birth of accounting The field of accounting owes almost its entire existence to the creation of double-entry bookkeeping. It is believed that the double-entry system…

Since the introduction of Bitcoin, a lot of attention has gravitated towards the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. However, media headlines constantly focus on the price action of cryptocurrencies and miss the bigger picture. The more interesting story to tell centers around the convergence of many macro narratives which has led to blockchains and new digital economies. Excitement around the potential of blockchains and digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, can be summed up by a deceptively simple idea: “Blockchains allow us to create digital jurisdictions that are not defined by geographic borders.” Blockchain-based digital jurisdictions are conceptually…

Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, two cutting-edge technologies, have the potential to change the face of healthcare as we know it by improving the quality and reducing costs through improved efficiencies. How Artificial Intelligence is Evolving Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with artificial intelligence primarily through virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa. Artificial intelligence automates repetitive learning and discovery through data after initially being set up by a human being. As many people also know, you have to be fairly specific when asking Siri and Alexa…

…and how not to miss the bus? If you are anyone like me, you might have had a lot of people talking about blockchain and decentralization in the year 2017, but as we made progress through the year 2018, all of them went silent one by one. The prices kept going down, and so did the voice of several advocates. Relatable? And as the silence grew, you started thinking, blockchain is dead! On top of that, there were frequent announcements from various countries who were taking a negative stance, and there were…