It’s Not About a Quick Buck

This isn’t some get-rich-quick post. There will be plenty of those all over the internet now trying to bait you into getting started into the cryptocurrency market. I don’t invest in things I don’t understand, which is why I don’t invest. Or didn’t, anyway. Full disclosure, I did really well at first, and if I’d stuck with my gut, I’d be at 3,300 profits in two weeks, by studying free sources, with a 10K investment.

But the blockchain revolution is about more than just finance. Let’s take a look at what exactly this technology is, and see what you think.

Distributed. Decentralized. Immutable. Transparent. Community. Value. Security. Teamwork. Innovation. Consensus. Justice.

That’s what pops in my head after two weeks. I’m actually proud to say I’m in technology now– and I finally have something to say that might help someone else. HELPING each other is the fundamental law of open source that got this ball rolling in the first place. This was a revolutionary idea born out of a disagreement regarding name— instead of free software, Linus Torvalds gave his consent to the term open source.

Mr. Torvalds is the creator of Linux, an operating system that will run on any old junk PC you have lying around. He posted the source code online for the world to not only see– but copy and use. Today, most of the servers in the world are running on of the 600 different versions programmers have developed on top of it.

The idea stands in stark contrast to anything Bill or Steve would have agreed to at the time, however, Truth will be heard.

The Big 5: What Have we Learned?

Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook. Let’s look at some key points:

• free is a great onboarding tool
• our personal digital data has value
• huge advancements in logistics due to the Amazon disrupt
• Global isn’t such a big word anymore
• Social media can cause a lot of harm; arguably more harm than good
• Facebook can influence the masses through censorship and promotions
• They ALL have an agenda
• It is arguable whether or not they have made the world a better place. Until now.

This is Blockchain not Bitcoin

Bitcoin was an attempt to create an anonymous, digital currency for the world to use. He used blockchain technology to keep his ledger. The Bitcoin blockchain is a proof-of-work model: massive supercomputers compete to see which one can do a math problem the fastest, and the winner is rewarded in Bitcoin. The proof-of-work model makes it difficult for regular individuals to participate as nodes on the chain; they have server farms in Antarctica mining to keep them from overheating.

So, all Bitcoin is blockchain, but not all blockchain is Bitcoin. Etherium is blockchain 2.0, created by 3 men–Vitalik Buterin, who is still there today, Gavin Wood, creator of blockchain 3.0 Polkadot, and Charles Hotchkinson, who created blockchain 3.0 Cardano. Please click on that last one and tell me if you have EVER seen a website as nice as that. And if you think that’s cool, check out his real website– make sure and click on the eye as well as the “i”. It took me three times going there to even figure out what I was looking at. I believe you will be hearing much more of his name in days to come.

Cryptocurrencies: So What?

Right now, the technology world here in America is trying to catch up to something that’s obviously been waiting for us. This isn’t Wall Street. We’re seeing bands of people come together in PUBLIC groups, and either all buy or all sell at the same time. We’ve got bot-driven marketplaces that are able to use algorithms to place your orders at maximum probable margins. What is a cryptocurrency?

As is always the case with v2.0– Etherium was created for an entirely different reason: as a platform technology. The team recognized that Bitcoin is inherently useless, for the most part: you can buy it, sell it, swap it or hold it. Smart contracts changed everything. Etherium was the platform, smart contracts were the Legos. And the world of DeFi was born.

If you are the least bit interested, I strongly encourage you to do your own research. They’ve left everything out there for us to find. We’re just late to the party.

Next Time

Next, we will continue to look at Etherium and blockchain 2.0, as well as get into the details of cryptocurrency best-practices. Don’t forget to Like, Tweet and Share!