The biggest innovation since the Internet
Blockchains are going to decentralize everything
AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant sat down with Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin at Disrupt SF. The topic of conversation was cryptocurrencies, Ethereum, and decentralizing everything. Key takeaway: Blockchains are the biggest technological breakthrough since the Internet.
What is a Blockchain?
Vitalik defines a blockchain as: “a decentralized system that contains some kind of shared memory.” It’s a public ledger showing all the transactions of the cryptocurrency. Here’s a visual demonstration.
The fundamental breakthrough that Satoshi Nakomoto solved with this invention is creating trust in a trustless environment — without a middleman. Blockchains provide a merit-based marketplace based on actual contribution to the network. With Bitcoin, it’s miners contributing hash power to confirm transactions, but it could be anything.
“The internet is programmable information. The blockchain is programmable scarcity.” — Balaji S. Srinivasan
Blockchains are the Internet protocols for allocating scarce resources. Today, you can use all the server power you want by paying AWS. In the future, you’ll use a decentralized network for digital storage where people can rent out their spare capacity in exchange for a digital token payment.
Over time, we may even see solar grids, electric grids, self-driving car grids, and other decentralized networks in the real-world that will be controlled and administered by blockchain without human intervention.
“With blockchains we are going to decentralize all the things” — Naval Ravikant
Additional Resources
- Watch Naval’s conversation with Ryan Shea at Blockstack Summit 2017
- Read our definitive guide on How to Get a Job at a Crypto Startup
- Explore Product Hunt’s ultimate list of crypto products and resources
If you’re a top 1% designer or engineer, apply to join A-List and have Crypto startups pitch you. ✌️
