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Blockchain technology is about to transform every trust-based interaction of our lives, from financial services to identity, from health care to our Internet of Things devices. In this podcast, host Laura Shin talks with industry pioneers across tech, financial services, health care, government and other sectors about how the blockchain and cryptocurrency will open up new opportunities for incumbents, startups and everyday people to interact more efficiently, directly and globally.

Oct 30, 2018

For this episode on the eve of the Bitcoin white paper's 10-year anniversary, Nathaniel Popper and Paul Vigna, reporters who cover Bitcoin and crypto for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, respectively, and who have written books about it, discuss wide-ranging questions regarding the first cryptocurrency. We explore why it succeeded where previous digital currencies failed, what role the financial crisis and Satoshi's disappearance played in its success and how it compares to the development of the internet. We also look at the "blockchain, not Bitcoin" debate, the scaling debate and the merits of on-chain governance, and how scandals involving centralized services such as the Equifax hack and the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica breach will affect its development. Finally, we discuss its potential as a global reserve currency, potential abuse of crypto assets by bad state actors, and whether and how regulators can regulate decentralized technologies. Plus, Paul and Nathaniel give their thoughts on the next 10 years.

Thank you to our sponsors!

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Episode links:

Bitcoin white paper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Nathaniel Popper: https://twitter.com/nathanielpopper

https://www.nytimes.com/by/nathaniel-popper?8qa

Digital Gold: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062572066/digital-gold/

Paul Vigna: https://twitter.com/paulvigna

https://www.wsj.com/news/author/7296

Age of Cryptocurrency: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250081551

The Truth Machine: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250114570

Edward Bernays' Propaganda: http://www.igpub.com/propaganda/

CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz's speech discussing how they would prosecute illegal prediction markets: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaquintenz16