Presentation discussing Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, and Blockchain. What are they, how they work, and how they will change the world.

1. ENTER THE MATRIX:
THE WORLD OF BITCOIN,
CRYPTOCURRENCY, AND BLOCKCHAIN
BY MAX WHEELOCK

2. WHAT WE’LL DISCUSS
• What it is
• How it began
• How it works
• How it will change the world

3. CREDENTIALS
• Been researching in this space for 7
months
• Been investing for 6 months
• Have made a return of 160% over that
period
• Have introduced into this space and
educated over 50 people

4. WHAT IS IT?
• Bitcoin – a peer-to-peer electronic cash
system
• Deflationary
• Finite amount
• Cryptocurrency – a virtual currency that
uses encryption to prevent “double
spending”
• Blockchain – a decentralized, trustless
ledger (list of transactions), on which only
additions can be made
• The ledger history can never be changed
• All computers on the blockchain have the
ledger

5. WHAT IS IT?
• A system that allows for the digital exchange of tangible
assets

6. HOW IT BEGAN
• Satoshi Nakamoto
• Bitcoin’s anonymous creator
• Believed to be a pseudonym
• Published bitcoin’s white
paper in 2009
• Dive Deeper? Yes/No
• 1990s Cyberpunks
• Digicash, Bitgold and others
• First known experimentation with virtual
currency
• Could not figure out how to make it trustless
• Financial collapse of 2008
• Poor fiscal management by banks, investment
firms, and government
• The world had a need to get away from the
central authority of money

7. BLOCKCHAIN EXPLAINED
• The Yap Tribe
• All tribespeople know and keep track of every
transaction within their village
• They all know who owns what and how much
• Any time a transaction is made all the people in
the tribe are gathered and are told of the
transaction
• Subsequently, they all “update” the database in
their head of who owns what
This giant stone is their
currency

8. HOW IT WORKS

9. HOW IT WORKS
• Hashing – takes input of any
size, performs an operation,
and returns an output of a
fixed size
• Common for password
storage
• This is how the blockchain is
able to securely encrypt
transactions

10. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
• Mining (mining rigs) –
computer processors
connected to the blockchain
that validate transactions by
solving complex
cryptographic hashing
algorithms
• Coins are given as rewards
to the machine/person that
solves the algorithm

11. BASIC PURPOSES
1. Confirms transactions
2. Adds block to blockchain

12. WHAT GIVES IT VALUE?
• It is worth what people will pay for it
• Supply and Demand
• What gives our dollars value?

13. FIAT VS CYRPTOCURRENCY
Fiat (USD, Euro, GBP) Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, IOTA)
• Controlled by banks and governments
• Created by governments
• Inflationary
• Infinite supply
• Can be created at any time
• Open M – F, 9 to 5
• Controlled by the people that use it
• Created by solving math algorithms
(mined)
• Deflationary
• Finite supply
• Set amount released every year
• Open 24/7/365

14. IS IT SAFE?
• Blockchain is unhackable
• Altering the ledger would require 51%
ownership/takeover of the network
• Personal
• Hashing and cryptography hide
password input
• Private keys are 64 characters long
• XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXX
• Danger still lies in 3rd party
exchanges holding your wallet
Typical Database Security = 1
central point for hackers to focus
on
Blockchain Secutiry = millions of
points, hacker would have to
simultaneously hack every
computer

15. HOW IS IT TAXED
• IRS Notice 2014-21
• https://www.irs.gov/irb/2014-16_IRB#NOT-2014-21
• Has yet to make a formal statement on 1031 exchange

16. HOW IT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD
• People are in control of their money
• Electronic trading of tangible assets
• real estate
• vehicles
• Instantly and extremely cheaply send money abroad
• Avg transaction fee (Ethereum) = $1.10
• Avg transaction fee (Western Union) = 9-10%
• Avg transaction fee (Visa) = 3%
• Give access of the global financial market to the nearly 2 billion people who
do not/cannot get bank accounts
• Prevent fraud
• Voting
• Banking

17. IS IT TOO LATE TO INVEST?
• According to a study
by Cambridge
Center for
Alternative Finance
in May 2017
approximately 3
million people own
cryptocurrency

18. QUESTIONS?