Many people think of Bitcoin as the ultimate contender against the power of central banks, most importantly the Federal Reserve System. But that is certainly not the only way that cryptocurrencies and the blockchain can be used and one particularly interesting idea is that central banks could issue their own cryptocurrencies. To discuss how this could be done and what the consequences could be we were joined by David Andolfatto, a Vice President of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Lou...
Jun 15, 2015•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 83
Whether the block size should be increased to 20MB has created more controversy than any other question in Bitcoin’s recent history. For some, it is an urgent and necessary step in Bitcoin’s evolution. Their view is that leaving the block size at 1MB would be irresponsible inaction with potentially catastrophic consequences. Others see increasing the block size as unnecessary and a dangerous first step down a slippery slope towards a more centralized Bitcoin. We were joined by Mike Hearn, along ...
Jun 08, 2015•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 82
From the mysterious creation story, to the early development among a small group of cypherpunks, to the emergence of the Silk Road, the collapse of MtGox, to the entry of a tidal wave of VC money and the Silicon Valley elite, Bitcoin’s short history has been action-packed. It’s no surprise that this could make for a riveting story and NY Times journalist Nathaniel Popper’s book ‘Digital Gold – Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money’ is precisely tha...
Jun 01, 2015•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 81
Since Gavin Andresen’s proposal to increase the Bitcoin block size, how Bitcoin can scale to accommodate higher transaction volumes has been heatedly debated among developers. One of the most promising long-term options to allow near infinite scalability is the Lightning Network. Joseph Poon and , the co-authors of the whitepaper, joined us for a discussion of scalability and how the lightning network could allow massive numbers of off-chain transaction in a trustless way. Topics covered in this...
May 25, 2015•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 80
Started in May 2013, Coinkite has by now almost advanced to senior citizen status in the short-lived Bitcoin startup space. CEO Rodolfo Novak joined us for a discussion about what drove their initial interest in Bitcoin, why they initially focused on providing ‘bank-like’ services and how they’ve transitioned to powering the infrastructure of countless Bitcoin startups with their API. We also discussed multi-sig and the business strategy they pursued that allowed them to be profitable and not re...
May 18, 2015•58 min•Ep. 79
The idea of using the Bitcoin blockchain to represent and track the ownership of off-chain assets is almost as old as Bitcoin itself. One of the startups that is pursuing this vision is Berlin-based Ascribe, which allows creators to register (‘ascribe’), transfer and archive digital art. Ascribe CTO joined us for a fascinating discussion of their ambitious goals to enable a so-far elusive secondary market for digital art, help creators monetize their work and ultimately retrofit an entire owners...
May 11, 2015•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 78
Few question that educating people about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is one of the most important and challenging tasks to achieve mass adoption. And perhaps even fewer disagree that there is no one more gifted at communicating the revolutionary potential of Bitcoin than Andreas M. Antonopoulos. A technologist, entrepreneur, LTB host and author, he has been speaking, writing and educating about Bitcoin for years and become one of the most popular people in the Bitcoin space. He joined us to tal...
May 04, 2015•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 77
Bitcoin’s approach to solving the double spending problem is to make a collusion and attack on the network prohibitively expensive. One of the main factors that will determine Bitcoin’s chance of survival in the long-term is whether the behavior that maximizes the profits of miners contributes to or sabotages the health of the network. The game theory that determines this is complex and our understanding of it still incomplete. But research is increasing and two people who have been at the foref...
Apr 27, 2015•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 76
As the cost of computing continues to plummet, the number of connected devices is increasing dramatically. In the future powerful computing capacity will be in billions of devices ranging from the lightbulb to the car door to new wearables. This new internet of things (IoT) will dramatically change our lives. Paul Brody, a Technology Strategist and the former VP of Mobile and IoT at IBM, joined us for a discussion of where the IoT is going. We discussed their white paper on why a decentralized, ...
Apr 20, 2015•58 min•Ep. 75
The cryptocurrency ecosystem is increasingly divided into different camps. There are those betting and working on the eventual mainstream success of Bitcoin. And there are those who take elements of Bitcoin’s technology and repurpose them to improve existing systems. Hyperledger is one of the projects firmly in the latter camp. They are envisioning a world where innumerable interoperable ledgers are operated by different parties. Hyperledger is their tool for the creation and management of these...
Apr 06, 2015•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 73
When one is busy driving a technological and societal revolution forward, complying with complicated regulatory requirements is rarely a top priority. Yet, the reality is that at this stage the often ambigious and rapidly evolving regulatory landscape can have an outsized impact on the fate of cryptocurrency startups and on the adoption/integration into existing systems. Epicenter Bitcoin Regulatory Correspondent and founder of COINsult Siân Jones joined us for an update on the state of Bitcoin ...
Mar 30, 2015•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 72
Creating a new token and selling it to fund the development of software has become a preferred way of fundraising for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs. It’s a tempting tool, allowing startups to avoid traditional investors, build a community and allow anyone anywhere to own a stake in the project. For participants, there is the promise of big financial upside and being part of novel undertakings. Lisa Cheng, whose consulting firm Vanbex has accompanied many crowdsales, joined us for a discussion of ...
Mar 23, 2015•1 hr•Ep. 71
When spinning up a few hundred data-gathering Bitcoin nodes prevented some breadwallet users from transmitting bitcoin transaction, a minor panic quickly erupted about the Bitcoin compliance startup Chainalysis and their supposed sybil attack on the Bitcoin network. Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager joined us for a discussion of what happened and what role transaction monitoring will play in the future. We dove deep into the tension between the desires for user privacy and the requirements to ach...
Mar 17, 2015•1 hr•Ep. 70
Powering an estimated 5-10% of all Bitcoin transactions, Electrum is one of the leaders of the Bitcoin wallet space. The open-source walled was started in 2011 and played a key role in the development of the light-weight SPV wallets. Developer Thomas Voegtlin joined us for a discussion of Electrum, their recent 2.0 release and the rapidly evolving Bitcoin wallet space in general. Topics covered in this episode: The evolution of Bitcoin wallets and what motivated him to start Electrum Electrum 2....
Mar 09, 2015•58 min•Ep. 69
Is Bitcoin secure from attacks that could destroy the currency? To a large part, this is determined by how expensive it is to carry out an attack and by the potential profits the attacker could generate. Ideally, an attack is so expensive to carry out that no profit-driven attacker would engage in it. But in this episode, Brian argues that the cost of attacking Bitcoin will likely decrease in the future and the ability to short Bitcoin and thus benefit from an attack will increase dramatically. ...
Mar 02, 2015•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 68
What Bitcoin did for money, OpenBazaar is trying to achieve for commerce. Born as a fork of the Dark Market project, OpenBazaar aims to facilitate online trade by removing unneeded middlemen. Built as an open source protocol, users simply install the application on their computer to gain access to marketplaces available on the network. From the app, they may also place items or services for sale by creating “Ricardian contracts”, which get propagated to the network and made accessible to everyon...
Feb 23, 2015•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 67
Levin Keller is known to many in Berlin as the man who warned everyone about the dark scenario where buying Bitcoins in Europe would be subject to VAT. As with the VAT issue, Levin was also concerned with the complexity of filing tax returns. For merchants and companies dealing in Bitcoin, keeping track of gains and losses makes proper accounting a messy ordeal. His startup, Coyno, hopes to solve that by providing standalone, read-only bookkeeping for your existing wallets. Coyno allows you to i...
Feb 16, 2015•1 hr•Ep. 66
Backbone to the financial system? Powering decentralized technology? The first true world currency? There is probably who hasn’t dreamt of a world ten years from now when Bitcoin would be all those things. The promise of cryptocurrencies are enormous, but will Bitcoin really emerge as the winner? And how can we reconcile this grand vision for Bitcoin with an ecosystem where projects launch new coins and blockchains every day? The one project that rekindles those Bitcoin dreams and paints a poten...
Feb 09, 2015•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 65
Adam B. Levine, the “Spiritual Grandfather” of Epicenter Bitcoin and Editor-in-Chief of Let’s Talk Bitcoin, joins us to share is “crazy” passion for information and cryptocurrency. Never shy when it comes to talking about complicated subjects, Adam divulges his ideas about the next iteration of the experimental Let’s Talk Bitcoin Network and his newly launched standalone token vending machine, SwapBot. Adam also opens up about his role as the Chief Visionary Officer of CoinPowers and why it ulti...
Feb 02, 2015•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 64
When it comes to Bitcoin, Tim Swanson is known to many as the man who sees the glass half empty. Whether or not that’s true, it’s fair to say that Tim has critical opinions about Bitcoin and questions many of the assumptions held by those who wish to see it succeed. A researcher and educator, he is the author of several books including “Great Wall of Numbers: Business Opportunities and Challenges in China” and “Great Chain of Numbers: A Guide to Smart Contracts, Smart Property and Trustless Asse...
Jan 26, 2015•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 63
Eris Industries spawned when three people got together to come up with a solution to Olivier Janssens’ £100K bounty to replace the Bitcoin Foundation with software. Their proposal, initially called Project Douglas and built on top of Ethereum, was designed to replicate the functions of a trade association on a blockchain. Today, Eris has evolved into a Distributed Application Software Stack, with which developers can rapidly deploy distributed applications that are flexible, legally compliant an...
Jan 19, 2015•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 62
Every quarter, CoinDesk releases its excellent State of Bitcoin Report proving an accurate benchmark of where the Bitcoin ecosystem stands. We were very fortunate to be joined by the man who compiles the State of Bitcoin Report, Garrick Hileman. As an economic historian at the London School of Economics and a frequent contributor to CoinDesk, Garrick is best know as an expert on Bitcoin and other currencies. We would like to pay our respects to the 17 innocent people who lost their lives in the ...
Jan 12, 2015•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 61
That the bitcoin price is highly volatile is no secret. Opinions differ on whether that is just an inevitable roadblock to be passed on the way to world domination or whether it represents a fundamental flaw that will prevent Bitcoin from ever achieving widespread use as a medium-of-exchange. Seasoned hedge fund trader and monetary systems expert Robert Sams, is of the latter view and has been among the leaders in conceptualizing what a stable cryptocurrency should look like. It’s an issue that ...
Jan 05, 2015•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 60
As we wrap up 2014, Brian and Sebastien have a fireside chat and look back on some of the areas of Bitcoin they thought were the most defining. They also look out to 2015 and give their thoughts about what to expect in the coming year. This episode also marks the show’s 1-year anniversary, so celebratory drinks are in order. No guests or scripts for this one, just a candid conversation between the Epicenter Bitcoin founders. This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Sho...
Dec 29, 2014•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 59
At just 20-years young, Vitalik Buterin is one of the most brilliant minds in the cryptocurrency space. Previously, a co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine, he has conceptualized Ethereum, the most radical and ambitious cryptocurrency project since Bitcoin. After raising $18m in a crowdsale, a team of over 30 are working on launching the project by March 2015. In his work on designing a system for the future, he has been grappling with many of the hardest problems in the cryptocurrency space over the p...
Dec 22, 2014•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 58
CoinTelegraph Chief Editor, Allen Scott, and writer, Ian DeMartino join Sebastien (Brian is away) for a conversation about the independent Bitcoin media. Cryptocurrencies enable new business models and monetization opportunities for content producers, which CT is fully utilizing. Allen and Ian explain their innovative system whereby content creators are paid according to the success of their articles, which it determines by measuring the number of shares on social media. CoinTelegraph is an inde...
Dec 16, 2014•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 57
We are joined by Daniel Krawisz, the Director of Research at the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. Daniel co-founded that organization last year with Michael Goldstein and Pierre Rochard to educate the Bitcoin community on the foundational ideas that led to the creation of Bitcoin. The Satoshi Nakomoto Institute is dedicated to shedding light on the ideological history of Bitcoin and keeping its controversial roots from being marginalized. Topics covered in this episode: What it means to be a libertar...
Dec 08, 2014•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 56
SolidX Partners CEO Daniel Gallancy joined us for a discussion of Bitcoin, institutional investors and how his company is working on creating a bridge between the two. While there is no question that interest in cryptocurrencies has risen dramatically – also among the financial elite, there is still a big chasm separating the two worlds. With Daniel we explore how it could be bridged, when it will happen and what the consequences could be. Topics covered in this episode: How SolidX offers instit...
Dec 01, 2014•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 55
Daniel Peled, CEO of Gems, and Tom Kysar, Marketing Lead at Koinify, join us to talk about a project that aims to revolutionize social messaging. As one of the first decentralized social networks built on blockchain technology, Gems hopes to put the ownership of the network back in the hands of its users. While large centralized social networks collect your information and sell it to advertisers, Gems is building on a different model in which users only receive solicited messages and get paid wh...
Nov 24, 2014•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 54
Keeping Bitcoins safe from theft is probably one of the things Bitcoin holders worry the most about. Historically, there have been a number of recommended best practices like paper wallets, BIP 38 wallet cards and cold storage. Although these remain relatively safe ways to store Bitcoins, implementing these solutions can be complicated and difficult to manage for day-to-day transactions. Recently, some companies have begun introducing multi-signature HD wallet services, where 2-out-of-3 signatur...
Nov 17, 2014•1 hr•Ep. 53
