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  • What if there is a technological advancement so powerful

  • that it transforms the very basic pillars of our society?

  • A technology which fundamentally influences the way that our economy,

  • governance systems and businesses function,

  • and change our conceptual understanding of trade, ownership and trust?

  • This technology already exists,

  • and it’s called crypto currency.

  • People often think of Bitcoin as only virtual money or a transaction system.

  • But if you look closer, youll see that the monetary aspect,

  • is just the tip of the iceberg.

  • That’s because Bitcoin is a ground-breaking internet technology

  • for which money is merely one of the possible applications.

  • Money exists to facilitate trade.

  • Through the centuries, trade has become incredibly complex.

  • Everyone trades with everyone, worldwide.

  • Trade is recorded in bookkeeping.

  • This information is often isolated and closed to the public.

  • For this reason, we use third parties and middlemen we trust

  • to facilitate and approve our transactions.

  • Think of governments, banks, accountants, notaries,

  • and the paper money in your wallet.

  • We call these 'Trusted Third Parties'.

  • This brings us to the essence of Bitcoin.

  • Bitcoin’s software enables a network of computers

  • to maintain a collective bookkeeping via the internet.

  • This bookkeeping is neither closed nor in control of one party,

  • rather, it is public

  • and available in one digital ledger which is fully distributed across the network.

  • We call this the Blockchain.

  • In the Blockchain, all transactions are logged including information on the date,

  • time, participants and amount of every single transaction.

  • Each node in the network owns a full copy of the Blockchain.

  • On the basis of complicated state-of-the-art mathematical principles,

  • the transactions are verified by the so-called Bitcoin Miners,

  • who maintain the ledger.

  • The mathematical principles also ensure that these nodes

  • automatically and continuously agree

  • about the current state of the ledger and every transaction in it.

  • If anyone attempts to corrupt a transaction, the nodes will not arrive at a consensus

  • and hence will refuse to incorporate the transaction in the Blockchain.

  • So every transaction is public

  • and thousands of nodes unanimously agree that a transaction has occurred

  • on date X at time Y.

  • It’s like there’s a notary present at each transaction.

  • This way, everyone has access to a shared single source of truth.

  • This is why we can always trust the Blockchain.

  • The ledger doesn’t care

  • whether a bitcoin represents a certain amount of euros or dollars,

  • or anything else of value or property for that matter.

  • Users can decide for themselves what a unit of bitcoin represents

  • A bitcoin is divisable in 100 million units.

  • And each unit is both individually identifiable and programmable.

  • This means that users can assign properties to each unit.

  • Users can program a unit to represent a eurocent,

  • or a share in a company,

  • a kilowatt-hour of energy

  • or a digital certificate of ownership.

  • Because of this, Bitcoin is much more than simply money and payments:

  • a Bitcoin can represent many kinds of property.

  • A thousand barrels of oil,

  • award credits,

  • or a vote during elections, for example.

  • Moreover, Bitcoin allows us to make our currency smarter and to automatize our cash and money flows.

  • Imagine a healthcare allowance in dollars or euros

  • that can only be used to pay for healthcare at certified parties.

  • In this case, whether someone actually follows the rules is no longer verified in the bureaucratic process afterwards.

  • You simply program these rules into the money.

  • Ergo: compliancy up front.

  • The unit can even be programmed in such a way

  • that it will automatically return to the provider

  • if the receiver doesn’t use it after a certain amount of time.

  • This way, the provider can ensure that allowances are not hoarded.

  • A company can control its spending in the same way

  • by programming budgets for salaries, machinery, materials, and maintenance so

  • that the respective money is specified

  • and cannot be spent on other things.

  • Automizing such matters leads to a considerable decrease in bureaucracy,

  • which saves accountants, controllers,

  • and the organization in general an incredible amount of time.

  • The programmable, open character of Bitcoin

  • allows us to completely rebuild and innovate

  • our financial sector and our administrative processes.

  • Make them more efficient and transparent

  • and significantly decrease bureaucracy.

  • But there’s more.

  • In an 'internet of things',

  • our economy will be dealing with machines that actively participate in the economic traffic.

  • In fact, they are already here.

  • Think of a vending machine. Or drones delivering packages.

  • These machines are unfamiliar with the concept of trust,

  • but Bitcoin is not.

  • Because of Bitcoin, the drone can be a hundred percent certain

  • that it will deliver the package to the right recipient

  • and know for sure that it has been paid for.

  • And we can program the vending machine in such a way

  • that it will automatically keep track of its supplies, order new supplies

  • from the supplier and pay for them automatically.

  • Of course, you will understand that this is only the beginning.

  • Internet technology is disruptive and breaks the status quo.

  • It opens markets

  • and breaks the positions of middlemen all the time.

  • Bitcoin and crypto currencies have caused a paradigm shift.

  • It’s time to explore this new technology constructively and critically,

  • and openly discuss the potential applications.

What if there is a technological advancement so powerful

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