Introduction I talk a lot about Bitcoin but a few people I know from outside of the Bitcoin space have asked me why I don’t talk about other uses of “blockchain technology” and other cryptocurrencies. For the former, I already addressed the blockchain case in a previous article. I may write something longer or moreContinue reading “Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin?”
Category Archives: Bitcoin
Understanding Opportunity Cost and Bitcoin
Opportunity Cost In life, you make choices. For nearly every choice you make, there are both positives and negatives to each alternative as well as unknowns that are potential positives or negatives. Consider for example that you are offered a new job in another country. You may choose to take the job, or you mayContinue reading “Understanding Opportunity Cost and Bitcoin”
What is Intrinsic Value?
In November of 2018, I wrote an article titled “Bitcoin: Honest Money”. There, I made several claims and comments about intrinsic value. When I wrote it, I told myself I needed to write more about the concept since I felt I missed out a lot that needed to be said. Several people have pointed outContinue reading “What is Intrinsic Value?”
Interview with a Bitcoiner
Preamble In November of 2019, my employer decided to create an interview with me to be published on the company website. We did this in the form of questions from our Head of Corporate Communications which I then wrote detailed answers for. My answers were heavily edited, chopped up, and reduced in scope along withContinue reading “Interview with a Bitcoiner”
“Virtual Currencies” according to the EBA
In July of 2014, the European Banking Association (EBA) published EBA/Op/2014/08, “EBA opinion on ‘virtual currencies’“. This was intended as a general guideline for the management of systems like Bitcoin and other systems that fall under the general concept of cryptocurrency or virtual currency. The guidelines are not universally adopted but the definition of aContinue reading ““Virtual Currencies” according to the EBA”
A Primer on Money
Money is a Communication Tool It’s often very difficult to explain to people what Bitcoin is. The main reason for this is that the answer is deceptively simple but highlights a larger problem. The answer is that Bitcoin is money and the problem that it highlights is that most people have no idea what moneyContinue reading “A Primer on Money”
The Bitcoin Block Size Debate
What is the Block Size Debate? Bitcoin uses a blockchain. This is a data structure that records blocks of transactions in a special way that – combined with the proof-of-work security mechanism – ensures that it’s essentially impossible to go back and change transactions in the past, enabling scarcity in a digital good without requiringContinue reading “The Bitcoin Block Size Debate”
Your blockchain project will fail because you don’t understand Bitcoin
This article is addressed to you, the business professional that has heard about Blockchain technology and how it will revolutionise every industry, including yours. You want to start a blockchain project in your company so that your competitors don’t do it first and beat you to the punch. You’ve been told by everyone around youContinue reading “Your blockchain project will fail because you don’t understand Bitcoin”
Bitcoin: Honest Money
Bitcoin is honest money. But what do I mean when I say that? The problem stems from the fact that most people don’t actually understand what money is, how it came to exist, or how it is created in our modern world. Therefore before I can even begin to talk about bitcoin, I’m going toContinue reading “Bitcoin: Honest Money”
A Response to CME’s “In-Depth Look at the Economics of Bitcoin”
This was written by request of a colleague as a response to this article published by the CME group in April of 2018 so that he could get a better understanding of my criticisms. It is intended to address the most salient and important points but does skip some detail where it wasn’t necessary forContinue reading “A Response to CME’s “In-Depth Look at the Economics of Bitcoin””
Thoughts on anything and everything 