5 Bitcoin, Crypto, and Blockchain

This week we talk about what Bitcoin is, how it works in theory, how it works in practice, and what the criticisms are.The feedback form is at htotw.com/contactLeave us voice message at +1 (208) 996-8667 or htotw.com/speakpipeSupport the show on a monthy basis with Patreon or just once with PayPal, credit or debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay links are at htotw.com/donateSubscribe at htotw.com/subscribeJoin our Discord server at htotw.com/discordCryptoDisclosure - I own 0.00666 BitcoinsWhat is a block chainWhat’s a transactionOn chainOff chainWhy is cryptocurrancy a thing?Decentralized - No one entity owns itUniversal - Not tied to fiat currenciesPrivate - Can’t be tracked and tied to your personal identityHow’s that worked?As of April 3, 2022 the top 10,000 addresses or about 0.03% (0.0277794%) own about 60% (59.16%) meaning the remaining 99.97% own the remaining 40%Until China banned mining in 2021 60-70% of all mining was in ChinaUniversal - Can get around sanctionsPrivate - KYCFees on transactions can easily match Paypal, Stripe, or Credit CardsCriticismsVolatility - It’s gamblingIt’s insecure - By 2017 data breaches resulted in about 1 million bitcoin being stolen from exchangesAn estimated 20% of bitcoin have been lost due to people losing their private keysCrime - Estimated to be about 3%, but transcations still happen between KYC exchanges and Russian black market exchangesClimateSources

- https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/bitcoin-who-owns-it-who-mines-it-whos-breaking-law

- https://bitinfocharts.com/

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin#Design

- https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/09/20/bitcoins-impacts-on-climate-and-the-environment/

- https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56012952 FeedbackAlan via the contact form about Time ZonesThis episode is brought to you by:Henry KDaniellePat Acks from the Humanists of IdahoSoJoBig Easy BlasphemyDarryl GArthur KSamuel CBeatriz ALevi CRichard GBalázsSteve FBrad RAnd by our $1 patrons and those who want no reward. Contact information, show notes, and links to Social Media and the like can be found at https://htotw.com The music in this episode is: Welcome to the Show by Kevin MacLeod

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