Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

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 is at the very heart of how the cryptocurrency ecosystem will develop. Topics covered in this episode: Why volatility is an obstacle to cryptocurrency adoption The two big problems of creating a stable cryptocurrency His proposal for a stable cryptocurrency: Seignorage Shares How finance professionals perceive Bitcoin Episode links: Seignorage Shares Whitepaper Robert Sams Blog Ethereum Blog Search for a Stable Cryptocurrency XeroClear Twitter This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/060

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. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/059

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 past year. Topics covered in this episode: How Ethereum has evolved since the white paper The problems of Proof-of-Work Why Proof-of-Stake is the future of consensus protocols Why his main focus has been on consensus issues and scalability Why Bitcoin will never be stable enough to price things in The flawed ideology of ‘Bitcoin maximalism’ that prevents people from considering Proof-of-Work alternatives Episode links: Ethereum How to get started: Your first DApp in under one hour Ethereum Proof-of-Concept 7 Proof of Stake: How I Learned to Love Weak Subjectivity Slasher: A Punitive Proof-of-Stake Algorithm This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/058

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 independent news site that specializes in Bitcoin and digital currencies. Freelance writers, who all get paid in Bitcoin, produce the vast majority of their content. CT’s long-term ambition is to grow along with Bitcoin and become a front runner in the cryptocurrency news space. Episode links: Cointelegraph Article Contest This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/057

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 libertarian, crypto-anarchist The perception of Bitcoin and the future of the bitcoin ecosystem The viability of alternative currencies Episode links: The Satoshi Nakamoto Institute Bitcoinist.net Youtube channel This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/056

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 institutional investors exposure to bitcoin using Total Return Swaps The perception of Bitcoin on Wall Street The relationship between VC investments and direct bitcoin purchases If a derivatives market could undermine the security of Bitcoin Episode links: SolidX This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/055

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 when companies advertise to them. Gems is also a cryptocurrency which can be traded between users within its mobile app. The initial crowdsale, organized by Koinify, will run from December 1st to January 5th. Episode links: Gems Koinify Gems Token Sale Details & Update on the Koinify blog This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/054

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 signatures are required to sign transactions. These solutions offer security and usability, with the assurance that Bitcoins will remain safe, and the ability to transact with ease. In fact, the website P2SH.info tracks the adoption of multi-sig, and it has been growing exponentially in recent months. Which brings us to our guest: Arianna Simpson, an Account Specialist at BitGo, a company that provides a simple multi-signature HD wallet solution for individuals and businesses. We talked to Arianna about BitGo and the services they offer, discuss different use cases for multi-sig HD wallets and make projections about the evolution of the wallet space from different angles. Episode links: BitGo Arianna's blog Amount of Bitcoins held in multi-sig addresses This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/053

Today’s episode is all about Factom, an open source project which aims to solve three core problems which apply to all Bitcoin 2.0 applications: Speed, Cost, and Bloat. Rather than writing every transaction to the blockchain, Factom allows decentralized applications to write blocks of transactions to Factom blocks, which themselves get hashed and stored to the bitcoin blockchain. At its core, Factom provides Proof of Existance, which allows for any digital artifact to be reduced to a hash that proves that artifact’s existance at a specific point in time. We are joined by Factom CEO, Paul Snow, and President, Peter Kirby, to explore the different applications of Factom as well as the technical workings of this very interesting and promissing project. Episode links: Factom Factom White Paper This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/052

David A. Johnston is a very active member of the Bitcoin community. Aside from speaking at about every Bitcoin conference there is, David is the Managing Director of the DApps Fund, a board member MSC Protocol Foundation, as well as Co-founder and Executive Director of the BitAngels Network. On this episode we go deep in to decentralized applications, and who better to talk to about DApps than the creator of “Johnston’s Law” which states “Everything that can be decentralized, will be decentralized”. We talked to David about the recent whitepaper he co-wrote titled “The General Theory of Decentralized Applications, DApps” which defines the different types of DApps and a number of best practices with regards to funding, token distribution, business models, etc. We also discussed the DApps Fund, BitAngels Network and the Master Protocol, and his involvement with those projects. Episode links: DApps Whitepaper "Decentralized Applications - the future of Bitcoin and virtual currencies?" - CoinSummit San Francisco 2014 Crowdsale Best Practices Paper DApps Fund BitAngels Network Mastercoin Foundation This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/051