Bitcoin, Payment Security, and Consumer Protection

A lecture by Andreas M. Antonopoulos on bitcoin's security as a payment mechanism, compared to credit cards.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:40 I heard that Australia is considering taxing bitcoin
3:09 Very few people in general really understand Bitcoin
4:32 While we conceive of money as this universal thing, we experience it in many different aspects or settings
5:46 Fragmented networks
10:40 Then there is Bitcoin, a single network that can transmit anything from microtransactions to giga transactions
12:32 We don't know where this network is going, but we do know that it has opened possibility for creating hundreds to thousands of applications
that we could have never envisioned before
15:56 My experience with credit cards here has been rather revealing
21:10 Bitcoin transactions
24:14 The most important thing that Bitcoin does, in this context, is provide consumer protection
27:08 If you create competition in the banking industry, that would be good for consumers
28:09 Bitcoin centers
29:45 I am very excited to be in this space.
31:58The future of bitcoin in the contractual space i.e. smart contracts. Using more complicated scripts (time-locked, multi-signature, multi-party). Internet of Things and smart property. The authentication system in unlocking cars. Transferring ownership.
38:52 Bitcoin the currency, Bitcoin the technology, Bitcoin the network. The technology doesn't work without a viable "currency." It takes a certain momentum of adoption. Money is a language we use to express value. Conditions to investing in bitcoin. Investing in skills, education, services.
44:50 Centralized services stripping away privacy. Stop re-centralizing our decentralized system! Game theory. Greek mythology, creating stories to describe technology.
50:45 Silk Road and Mt Gox. Technological innovation is always accompanied by negativity. Sensationalism leads. I don't know any form of money which can't be used to buy drugs. You can't get stabbed over TCP/IP. Deal with the root causes (healthcare, addiction), don't try to stop the free flow of money. Charitable donations and tipping.
56:07 How I discovered Bitcoin, "nerd money." Every good advocate started as a skeptic. Mainstream adoption. In the Western world, you have to explain the 'why' of Bitcoin; in the developing world, you just need to explain the 'how.'
1:03:17 To regulators: wait and understand before you act. Custodial control. The Bitcoin network cannot be regulated.

This talk was delivered on November 24th 2014 at the Melbourne Tech Center in Melbourne, Australia.