In the final episode of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream for 2023, Bitcoin historian Kurt Wuckert Jr. hosted an Ask Me Anything and clip show showcasing some of the best moments of the year. It was a fun review of an eventful year, including some great insights from those at the forefront of innovation on the BSV blockchain.
Connor Murray on homomorphic encryption, Teranode, and malicious attacks
The first clip was from the episode with Connor Murray from the BSV Blockchain Association. In it, he explains that homomorphic encryption is a way to process encrypted data without first having to decrypt it. This could be used for medical records, among other things. For example, Murray would love to have his genome sequenced, but he doesn’t trust companies to have that data in their possession. Homomorphic encryption would allow for analysis to be done on it while maintaining his privacy.
Someone then asked if Teranode would change the base Bitcoin protocol. Murray responds that it depends on what you think of as the base protocol. There are core elements you don’t want to change, such as anything that changes the validity of a transaction. However, changing things, such as how nodes build blocks, doesn’t impact that.
On the topic of malicious attacks, Murray says that they can and do exist. An empty block isn’t necessarily one, but if someone is turbo-mining the chain to deliberately create them, that’s when the line is crossed, and it can be considered an attack.
Steve Bailey talks about RockWallet
The second clip is from the episode with Steve Bailey, COO of RockWallet. He says those looking for an instant settlement and the other services RockWallet provides tend to be super high net worth individuals. The company offers them a bespoke service that allows them to facilitate the sort of higher-level swaps they want.
Bailey says the key to building a great business is to do what you say and build trust. For RockWallet, getting the small things right, such as making it easy for KYC to verify and conduct secure transactions, comes first. He won’t reveal too much of the roadmap, but exciting things are coming.
Kurt Wuckert on the depoliticization of data
The third clip is from Wuckert’s interview with podcaster Craig Mason. It’s an epic monologue on the nature of truth and how we can get to it more easily by ensuring data integrity.
Wuckert says that, before COVID-19, the most contentious issue was climate change. We have a data problem in that nobody trusts each other’s data sets. For example, most data on this topic is collected by the United Nations, universities, and government organizations.
Putting the data on the immutable blockchain, where every change and alteration can be traced, makes the data objective. We can then analyze it and figure out what to do about what we find without spending time questioning the data itself.
Ty Everett on how Bitcoin will become mainstream
This clip is from an interview with Ty Everett from Project Babbage. He hopes Bitcoin will be ubiquitous within five years, and he thinks Bitcoin and artificial intelligence (AI) can definitely work together. He points to Botcrafter.io as an example; he created this site to allow people to interact with and buy/sell personalized AI chatbots for micropayments.
How long before the viral moment happens for Bitcoin? Everett doesn’t necessarily think there will be one. He says it will be implemented slowly until many apps use it. For example, if Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) implemented micropayments in Gmail or AT&T required tiny payments to connect two numbers for the first time, that would move things along quickly.
Everett says Bitcoin is plumbing, and it aligns incentives positively. However, getting it to mass adoption means pitching existing companies with good network effects.
Miles talks about the Champions TCG
The final clip is from the interview with Miles from Champions TCG, previously known as CoOM Battles. He says it uses the BSV blockchain in the background, and they’re trying to avoid any association with the buzzwords in the industry, such as mints, wallets, micropayments, etc.
Like so many others, the Champions TCG team considers Bitcoin as plumbing. Cards are inscribed as 1Sat Ordinals, and the BSV blockchain allows for profit sharing and royalties to be distributed in unique ways. For example, stores that sell packs of cards can continue to receive royalties each time they are resold.
Miles says the best approach to getting people to understand is to show them and let them dig deeper themselves while also being fun. Games like Champions TCG achieve this goal.
To hear Wuckert answer questions on Teranode, the nature of digital currencies, potential BTC forks, and COPA v Wright, tune into the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream episode via this link. Happy Holidays from the CoinGeek team!
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