When new Bitcoins are issued (7, 200 per day, on average) they go to those who are mining for bitcoins. At one point in time, mining to acquire bitcoins was something that was relatively easy to do. That is no longer the case. So now to acquire bitcoins one would normally buy bitcoins at an exchange. What options are available to you will differ based on where you…
In Fall of 2014, Lightspeed Venture Partners invested in Blockchain. Our core investment thesis as we outlined it at the time of investment was as follows: Bitcoin has the opportunity to be a big disruptor in financial services. Wallet companies will occupy a central position in the Bitcoin ecosystem since they own the relationship with the consumer. This is the area…
We promised another article about peer-to-peer trading, but given the events of yesterday, when the Winklevoss Twins had their Bitcoin ETF denied and panic selling ensued, it’s a good time to talk about what to do when the prices drop sharply in a short period of time. Bitcoin was at a high of almost $1300 and within hours had dropped below $1. It appears to have…
Does the South American country s chaotic economy make it fertile ground for radical financial experiments? In the village of El Chaltén in Argentine Patagonia, a small absurdist ritual takes place each day. Every morning, at the deli counter of the general store, its owner Felipe cuts two or three large salamis into dozens of smaller sections. He wraps each one in…
The pace at which Bitcoin ASICs have been developed, for a previously non-existent market, has seen some academic interest. One paper titled Bitcoin and The Age of Bespoke Silicon notes: We examined the Bitcoin hardware movement, which led to the development of customized silicon ASICs without the support of any major company. The users self-organized and self-financed…
Blockchain as a disruptive enabler Blockchain first appeared in our general consciousness as a result of Bitcoin. Whilst the Jury may be out on Bitcoin, Blockchain has made waves by showing a valuable contribution to the financial services industry. So what is it and what of the opportunities to apply Blockchain as a facilitator of disruption in other sectors? Ok…
Supercomputers are pretty amazing. They’re mostly used for research since they specialise in processing, analysing, and doing computations on ridiculous amounts of data at high speeds. Supercomputer simulations have been used to understand earthquakes, model pandemics, predict the weather, and more. Harvard University has its own supercomputing cluster called Odyssey…
Refugees often have their IDs confiscated when they leave their country of origin. Without proof of citizenship, they find themselves in legal limbo. Their problems are compounded by having bank accounts confiscated when they leave their home country. After crossing borders, migrants often lack access to economic and social infrastructures, including the global banking…
What would a diversified portfolio look like with Bitcoin, Gold and Stocks? Compare investment returns since Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin in 2009. Current Bitcoin Price - $1 The Bitcoin 401k and IRA Comparison Calculator bases it calculations on the spot price for the DOW, Gold and Bitcoin for the period selected, as provided by Blockchain.info, Coindesk, Yahoo!…
I do not fully understand how to create a paper wallet backup despite reading several FAQs and forum threads on the subject. MY SETUP: I have a Bitcoin-Qt wallet with Bitcoins in it running on a Windows computer of mine. I have several USB-backups stored elsewhere as well as a strong wallet password configured in Bitcoin-QT. WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE: A lot of numbers…
I m pretty new to the concept of blockchain and use cases so please bear with me if this sounds to vague or elementary. As, I researched more on this, I wanna know how can we use blockchain as a database. Per se, I have product prices database, which contains product price, details and other meta data. The prices of products might change, depending on the product…
Ronaldo Lemos , Director of the Institute for Technology & Society of Rio de Janeiro (ITS Rio) and Gabriel Aleixo , Project lead of the Blockchain Hub at the Institute for Technology & Society of Rio de Janeiro (ITS Rio) There is a lot of hype about the “blockchain” and the private sector. However, what are the implications of that technology to the…
