Say hello to the decentralized economy -- the blockchain is about to change everything. In this lucid explainer of the complex (and confusing) technology, Bettina Warburg describes how the blockchain will eliminate the need for centralized institutions like banks or governments to facilitate trade, evolving age-old models of commerce and finance into something far more interesting: a distributed, transparent, autonomous system for exchanging value.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

Follow TED news on Twitter: [http://www.twitter.com/tednews](http://www.twitter.com/tednews)

Like TED on Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/TED](https://www.facebook.com/TED)

Subscribe to our channel: [http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksD](http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksD)...