A talk about the Bitcoin cryptocurrency I prepared whilst eating breakfast this morning for Barcamp Bournemouth 6. #BCBOMO6

1. Bitcoin
The cryptographic
currency
Dave Hulbert

2. @dave1010

3. Who's heard of Bitcoin?

4. What is Bitcoin?

5. Currency

6. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system
introduced as open source software in 2009 by
developer Satoshi Nakamoto. The digital currency
created and used in the system is also called
bitcoin and is alternatively referred to as a virtual
currency, electronic money, or cryptocurrency.
The bitcoin system is not controlled by a single
entity, like a central bank, which has led the US
Treasury to call bitcoin a decentralized currency.
Because bitcoins can be transferred directly from
one person to another they are sometimes
described as "digital cash". --Wikipedia

7. Why is it interesting?
Why does it matter?

8. Dogecoin
Namecoin
Freicoin
Litecoin
...

9. Market cap $5,000,000,000.00

10. Use it today

12. Future?

13. What is A Bitcoin?

14. Market value
1BTC = $452
1mBTC = $0.452
Lots of markets

15. A market is a place you can trade goods
Buyers and sellers agree on a price
NYSE, LSE, MtGox, Behind the bus station

16. Markets:
●ForEx (USD, GBP, EUR, YEN)
●Gold
●FCOJ (Trading places)
●Virtual currencies in games
●Tesco clubcard points?
●Facebook likes
●Bitcoin!

17. How is Bitcoin different?

18. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system
introduced as open source software in 2009 by
developer Satoshi Nakamoto. The digital currency
created and used in the system is also called
bitcoin and is alternatively referred to as a virtual
currency, electronic money, or cryptocurrency.
The bitcoin system is not controlled by a single
entity, like a central bank, which has led the US
Treasury to call bitcoin a decentralized currency.
Because bitcoins can be transferred directly from
one person to another they are sometimes
described as "digital cash". --Wikipedia

19. Centralized control
● Banks
● Paypal

20. Decentralized control
● Cash
● Gold

21. “Double spending problem”
AKA copy & paste
3 volunteers

22. The blockchain
Ledger
6 confirmations

23. Trusting the blockchain
Proof of work
Mining

24. What is mining?
● SHA-256 Hash (twice)
hello
2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c
1fa7425e73043362938b9824
hello34534563
00000000000b0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e
5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824

25. Mining
● Gold rush
● Maintaining the blockchain
● Rewards built into the Bitcoin protocol
● Fees
● Block reward (25BTC)
● CPU / GPU / FPGA / ASIC
● Mining pools

26. Blockchain
● ~10 mintues (adjusted automatically)
● Public transaction ledger (17GB!)
● Data!
● Other uses:
● prooving ownership
● Timestamps (patents)
● Integrity
● ???

27. Pseudo-anonymity

28. Wallets
● Public address and private key (like SSH)
● Talk to the P2P network (like Bittorrent)

29. Security
● Wallets
● Exchanges
● Regulation

30. Thanks!
Questions?
Exchange?
@dave1010
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