Posts

Note: initially published on Medium under the pseudonym Creole In the first post I wrote that blockchain technology will make it cheap and easy to transfer money. In the second post we took a brief look at what that world might look like. But blockchains won’t only be used for money. The same technology that makes it possible to cheaply and easily exchange digital currency is being adapted for other types of value, like shares of company stock or rewards points. The focus in the industry right now is in adapting blockchain technology to be suitable for the exchange of financial assets, and a staggering amount of money and energy is being invested into creating those platforms. ...

Note: initially published on Medium under the pseudonym Creole You wake up to a slow pulse on your phone. Your PO account has received its monthly payment. You lazily wake the screen and thumb approval to the standard division: 45% (0.00005600 BTC) to mobile wallet [x1f8K…nb7] 50% (0.00006220 BTC) to savings [ICICI x1f9H…m4e] 4.8% (0.00000597 BTC) to MSF_KL [x14hY…8e9] 0.2% maintenance of PO Account [0] That’s just your stake, of course. The rest goes to your mother in Munnar, and some cousins in Trivandrum. The money comes from a variety of sources, which you know because every few weeks you’re obligated by the wallet to flick through a screen containing details of each. You understand: when the State, ASEAN, or some rich billionaire’s kid gives you and a 100 million other people hard cash, they want you to know who to thank. ...

Note: initially published on Medium under the pseudonym Creole This is the first post of what I am calling Creole. The object is to convince a general audience that blockchain technologies like bitcoin and other “digital currencies” will have a large impact on our world. This isn’t a popular view. Today it is difficult to even explain what bitcoin is, or how a blockchain works. Proponents too-often rely on dense technical explanations, or vague gestures towards far-future use cases. To many this sounds dodgy. If this new technology is so great, why can’t you explain it? ...