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MIT Media Lab Director: How The Bitcoin Blockchain Can Unlock The Internet's Full Potential
CriptoCoinsNews.com [CCN.LA]
By Elliot Maras
3/24/2016
Excerpt:
Brian Forde, MIT Media Lab’s director of digital currency, explained how bitcoin and the blockchain could transform the way the world does business during a podcast interview presented by Inc. Uncensored. A team of Inc. editors, led by Editor James Ledbetter, introduced Forde and asked him to give an overview of bitcoin and the blockchain before posing questions.
Forde explained how the blockchain could replace some repetitive work done by lawyers, insurance companies and bankers, and how the blockchain could bring a new era of digital rights management that could change the music and media industry.
Blockchain: ‘Assets Over IP’
Forde said the best way to think about the blockchain is “assets over IP.” The Internet has been used as an information-sharing platform, but for commerce and transactions, “it’s still not that good.” It’s still easier to go to a store and hand someone a credit card than to enter all the information that a person has to enter onto a website to do an online transaction. “It’s not an easy transaction.”
The online transaction is even harder outside the U.S., Forde noted. In some countries, many people don’t have credit cards. Therefore, they can’t do online commerce. ”There are a lot of people who are not using the Internet to its fullest potential.”
The neat thing about bitcoin, he noted, is “for the first time you can start to make electronic transactions, without needing a bank.”
Asked to explain the difference between bitcoin and blockchain, he said bitcoin is a currency and the blockchain is the ledger that registers the currency. “Blockchain and bitcoin were invented together.”
The Role Of Miners
The topic then moved to mining, which Forde called the aspect that makes the bitcoin blockchain the most secure ledger. “It’s never been hacked.” The blockchain consists of thousands of servers that compete to process all of the bitcoin transactions over a span of 10 minutes. The winning miner gets rewarded 25 bitcoins for doing this work.
A miner would need 51%of the servers to fudge the ledger, Forde noted. Getting a hold of that many servers would make fudging the ledger impractical. “You wouldn’t earn any money by doing it. That also is what prevents anyone acting as a gatekeeper.”
“For the first time, we have this permissionless innovation platform for entrepreneurs.”
............
View the complete article, including image, at:
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/mit-...ull-potential/
CriptoCoinsNews.com [CCN.LA]
By Elliot Maras
3/24/2016
Excerpt:
Brian Forde, MIT Media Lab’s director of digital currency, explained how bitcoin and the blockchain could transform the way the world does business during a podcast interview presented by Inc. Uncensored. A team of Inc. editors, led by Editor James Ledbetter, introduced Forde and asked him to give an overview of bitcoin and the blockchain before posing questions.
Forde explained how the blockchain could replace some repetitive work done by lawyers, insurance companies and bankers, and how the blockchain could bring a new era of digital rights management that could change the music and media industry.
Blockchain: ‘Assets Over IP’
Forde said the best way to think about the blockchain is “assets over IP.” The Internet has been used as an information-sharing platform, but for commerce and transactions, “it’s still not that good.” It’s still easier to go to a store and hand someone a credit card than to enter all the information that a person has to enter onto a website to do an online transaction. “It’s not an easy transaction.”
The online transaction is even harder outside the U.S., Forde noted. In some countries, many people don’t have credit cards. Therefore, they can’t do online commerce. ”There are a lot of people who are not using the Internet to its fullest potential.”
The neat thing about bitcoin, he noted, is “for the first time you can start to make electronic transactions, without needing a bank.”
Asked to explain the difference between bitcoin and blockchain, he said bitcoin is a currency and the blockchain is the ledger that registers the currency. “Blockchain and bitcoin were invented together.”
The Role Of Miners
The topic then moved to mining, which Forde called the aspect that makes the bitcoin blockchain the most secure ledger. “It’s never been hacked.” The blockchain consists of thousands of servers that compete to process all of the bitcoin transactions over a span of 10 minutes. The winning miner gets rewarded 25 bitcoins for doing this work.
A miner would need 51%of the servers to fudge the ledger, Forde noted. Getting a hold of that many servers would make fudging the ledger impractical. “You wouldn’t earn any money by doing it. That also is what prevents anyone acting as a gatekeeper.”
“For the first time, we have this permissionless innovation platform for entrepreneurs.”
............
View the complete article, including image, at:
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/mit-...ull-potential/