Bitcoin is not an original concept, as many people would like to think. In fact, Bitcoin is the result of quite a few iterations of similar ideas from the past.
Continue reading “The ideas before Bitcoin”The ideas before Bitcoin
Tag: bitcoin
What’s happened to Bitcoin?
Over the past ~1.5 years I’ve been blogging on and off about Bitcoin and other related topics. One of the most most popular pieces of content on my blog have been the post about fungibility, dating back to the spring of 2017. A lot has happened since then in the Wild West of crypto. So here’s a brief run-down.
Bitcoin mining for green energy
Criticising Bitcoin’s energy consumption is easy, because it’s obvious. It’s the easy way out of a complicated topic that has much wider implications than initially obvious. This blog post is a long-form reply to a recent Twitter thread.
It’s gonna get worse, before it gets better
I’m very positive about the future of Bitcoin and digital assets and the good that it can bring to this world. But it’s not gonna be a straight line to mass-adoption. It’ll take a while for the good in people to cut through greed, inequality and evil powers. Continue reading “It’s gonna get worse, before it gets better”
Bitcoin is not money
It’s sometimes hard to frame conversations around cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether. That’s largely down to the fact that no one can truly express what these things are, and what they mean to humans and our society. These are entirely new organisms that lack precedence. But finding the right definitions are going to be important because it will ultimately decide if and/or how governments will regulate these things. Is Bitcoin money? Is Bitcoin a network or a protocol? Is Bitcoin a community? It’s none of the above and all of them at the same time. Continue reading “Bitcoin is not money”
Securing your digital home – part 3: keys and other secrets
In part 2 of this series we walked through the thought process around your digital ID. Once that’s established, you need to protect the keys and other secrets attached to this identity, such as passwords and cryptographic keys. In this blog post I will write about my own personal approach to this with some recommendations. Continue reading “Securing your digital home – part 3: keys and other secrets”
Fungibility – why Bitcoin or Ether aren’t the most democratic currencies yet
Fungible currency is, or must be, a cornerstone of a democratic and free society. In this blog I will explore what a fungible currency is and why Bitcoin and Ether currently are lacking in this respect. Continue reading “Fungibility – why Bitcoin or Ether aren’t the most democratic currencies yet”
What’s the cost of using blockchains?
In the past few weeks I’ve written about that blockchains are a kind of distributed ledger, and how they can be useful. But in these posts I left with a few unanswered questions that I’ll try to answer here.
So far everything about blockchains seem wonderful. Blockchains will allow software, people and organisations to transact with each other in more transparent and democratic ways where authenticity can be verified in a decentralised manner. If more software was built like this we would no longer need to pay with freedom, privacy and surveillance. But what do we have to pay with instead? There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Continue reading “What’s the cost of using blockchains?”