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When it comes to Bitcoin, Tim Swanson is known to many as the man who sees the glass half empty. Whether or not that's true, it's fair to say that Tim has critical opinions about Bitcoin and questions many of the assumptions held by those who wish to see it succeed. A researcher and educator, he is the author of several books including "Great Wall of Numbers: Business Opportunities and Challenges in China" and "Great Chain of Numbers: A Guide to Smart Contracts, Smart Property and Trustless Asset Management". He also blogs about Bitcoin, economics and various other topics at OfNumbers.com. He currently serves as an advisor to Hyperledger and is Head of Business Development at Melotic.

We covered a lot of topics on this episode:

- True cost of Bitcoin transactions

- Bitcoin as a niche technology Vs. Bitcoin maximalism

- Consensus-as-a-service and semi-trusted networks

- Hyperledger, a decentralised ledger platform

- Melotic, a digital asset exchange

- Bitcoin's adoption as a payment system

- Trusted transparency in mining

- Remittances

Links mentioned in this episode:

- Tim's Blog: http://bit.ly/1BsrS1N

- Dave Hudson's Blog: http://bit.ly/1H1cKhS

- Slicing data: what comprises blockchain transactions?: http://bit.ly/15Df2Cy

- OP-ED: The Rise and Rise of Lipservice: Viral Western Union Ad Debunked: http://bit.ly/1ynbnQ4

- A Year After the Non-Apocalypse: Where Are They Now?: http://bit.ly/1thK2Dd

- Architecture of Internet Money: http://bit.ly/1ynbv1Y

- The Marginal Cost of Cryptocurrency: http://bit.ly/1K6kgUW

- Some Crypto Quibbles with Threadneedle Street: http://bit.ly/1EqO00f

- A Note on Cryptocurrency Stabilisation: Seigniorage Shares: http://bit.ly/1yOxnYX

Sponsors:

- ShapeShift: https://shapeshift.io

Show notes: http://epicenterbitcoin.com/podcast/063

YouTube: http://youtu.be/zF2YwOnH-CA

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

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