What is Crypto and Why Invest in it?

some hate it, some love it
3-part course
- Democratized Digital Money
- Money Legos
- Anything as a Service
Each part will demystify some of the layers of crypto
Not quite a currency
More of a hybrid of digital real estate and a franchise
- control the digital machinery of a business operation
- are one of the shareholders who can improve this machinery
- can vote to change its parameters (more investor/user friendly)

Disclaimer

Course is from software developer perspective
- It does get technical
- Won't write code
There is tendency to glaze over the technical concepts
- Bad idea!
- Will fall for scam, pump & dump scheme
  - wild west out there, thousands of people get scammed everyday in crypto
  - don't listen to any youtubers before understanding these fundamentals
- You will be taken advantage of if you glaze over this

Because BTC derives its value the same way as currency, important to understand how currency works
DeFi is based on banking
Concept of banking, loans
- Assyrian/Babylonian traders used grain as collateral
- Bank is Italian word for 'bench'
Internet did not support transactions initially
Convenience of digital money
- PayPal
- Do you "trust" the website
- Problems w/ trusting single source of truth
  - convenience vs securiy
  - same w/ banks

Gold Standard and inflation (Nixon)
2008 Financial Crisis
- gist: poor risk incentives -> sub-prime lending
- gov't stepped in, made unpopular decision
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ddxbxpba9M (good content in 2nd half)
- banking on BTC documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICNBX1vkwMk)
2013 Cyprus bail-in
- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLRMVecEuSY around minute 59)
2020 COVID response (stimulus)
Your money isn't yours
- Bail-Out/Bail-in/Inflation
- Surveillance on transfers
- Decisions are made by the few in power (monarchy)

Assange, Snowden
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
Current financial system doesn't reward efficiency, it rewards bureaucracy and creation of barriers to entry
Your tax dollars are wasted (military, education)
- Funding is based on how much dept. consumes
Government systems are not transparent, no customer support
- USCIS, SSA, USPS
- gross negligence needs to occur for investigation to start (BTC theft by Secret Service agents: Shaun Bridges, Carl Force)
- Ben Lawsky
Lying through data (CPI: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/07/consumerpriceindex.asp)
- basket of goods
- goods replaced in response to "preferences" (beef vs chicken)
- like-kind
- taking credit for technology

What if we add logic to these clock cycles? (smart contracts)

Beyond Bitcoin

Energy use -> Proof of Stake
Transaction speed/cost (Binance, Solana, Harmony)
Privacy (Monero, Secret Network, Tornado Cash)
Helium (IoT internet mesh)
DAO (decentralized autonomous organization)
- a digital equivalent of a country/city-state
- own currency, own banking system, own regulations (smart contracts), own taxes/fees, digital land (NFTs, metaverse)
- could take on cities/countries/corporations legally
95% of crypto will be worthless in 5 years