How Did I get into it?

   @izzydoesizzy

Probably like everybody else... 

I made a bit of money

   @izzydoesizzy

The Story

• 2012 Bitcoin hype
• I wanted to buy some Bitcoin in December 2012 when it was worth $13

• Virtual exchanges felt sketchy. Verification, uncertainty etc.
• So I didn't do it

   @izzydoesizzy

I MISSED THE BOAT

• Dec 2012 => Dec 2013 
• $13 📈 $1300 - FUCK!
• Huge spike
• I missed the boat
• Bitcoin crashed big time and everyone stopped caring

   @izzydoesizzy

FF A Few years

• July 2015 (1.5 years after the spike)
• Bitcoin ATM at a bar
• I put in $60 and forgot about it
• In April 2017 Bitcoin spiked again. Even harder.
• My $60 📈 $400
• Took it and reinvested into Ethereum
• My $400 📈 $800 in 2 weeks

   @izzydoesizzy

In may 2017 I made $2000
From my Ethereum

(This is not an endorsement, it's dumb luck)

   @izzydoesizzy

needless to say... I was like...

   @izzydoesizzy

   @izzydoesizzy

but enough about me...

   @izzydoesizzy

Where are things today?

• In April 2017, the global market cap for cryptocurrencies was worth $30B
• Today, in just a few months, it has surpassed $100B
• (Disclaimer: that's not how much people have put in, that's what it is currently valued at)
• Bitcoin makes up about 44% of that
• Today there are over 700 different currencies
• Every major country in the world now has a digital exchange

   @izzydoesizzy

so....

7 important questiONS

1. WTF IS BITCOIN?!?!
2. What is a wallet?
3. What is "mining"?
4. What factors influence rise and fall of prices?

5. What are the differences between digital currencies?

6. What are smart contracts?

7. What are ICOs and token sales?

   @izzydoesizzy

Question 1

WTF IS BITCOIN?

   @izzydoesizzy

WTF IS BITCOIN?

• First decentralized digital currency
• Created and held electronically
• 21 million total - forever
• Transferred directly (no banks, no fees, worldwide)
• Buy/trade on virtual exchanges
• Keep in a digital wallet

   @izzydoesizzy

QUESTION 2

What is a wallet?

   @izzydoesizzy

WHAT IS A WALLET?

• Allows you to store, send, and receive currency
• 2 kinds of wallets
  • Software Wallet
  • Hosted Wallet (Coinbase etc)
• Be careful, don't fuck up

   @izzydoesizzy

QUESTION 3

WHAT IS "mining"?

   @izzydoesizzy

What is "Mining'?

• Bitcoin is decentralized
• Transactions are recorded on a decentralized public ledger (the blockchain)
• Bitcoin needs this to survive
• Transactions are verified through difficult problems
• They take time to compute to prevent fraud
• In exchange you get rewarded in Bitcoin.

Varying

   @izzydoesizzy

LEVELS

   @izzydoesizzy

OF

   @izzydoesizzy

SERIOUSNESS

   @izzydoesizzy

Mining gets harder

• The Bitcoin network produces a constant amount every 10 mins

• The difficulty of solving the mathematical problems has to increase

• TL;DR = The more miners, the longer it takes

• It would take 51% of the network to create fraud

• You can't erase the past though

QUESTION 4

What influences the rise and fall of prices?

TL;DR

It's about How many people HAVE IT
(Supply & Demand)

Influencing factors

1. Government regulation
2. Media influence
3. Stability (no inherent value)
4. Supply & demand
5. Mainstream acceptance
6. Business dumping
7. Market manipulation

QUESTION 5

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CURRENCIES?

Differences

• "Altcoins"
• 700+ currencies
• What makes them different?
• Lots of clones/variations
• Different models, different distribution methods, different proof-of-work
• More privacy, different programming languages, speed

Top currencies today

Question 6

What are smart contracts?

Ethereum + Contracts

• Where blockchain as a technology gets interesting
• Programatically-enforced contract based on a predetermined set of outcomes
• The rise of decentralized apps

Decentralized Apps 

• dApps
• Self-executing smart contracts
• Imagine an app just like Airbnb that didn't take a 20% cut of your business
• Verify winners, and send out payouts accordingly

QUESTION 7

WHAT ARE ICO'S and TOKEN SALES?

ICO's and TOKEN SALES

• May/June the months of ICOs
• "Initial Coin Offerings"
• An ICO is a fundraising tool that trades future new coins in exchange for cryptocurrencies of immediate, liquid value.
• What is it?
• They were called "Appcoins" for a while
• Now more commonly referred as "Tokens"

HOW TOKENs work

• Example: Cloud Storage
• Pay Dropbox a monthly fee
• With dApps, devs get paid differently
• Developers can sell or give away tokens to people who want to use the app or support its development
• Can finance the development of the project

sCAMS

• Be careful before investing in token sales. 
• The blockchain ledger can't be hacked, but things can happen
• Virtual exchanges aren't necessarily safe (Mt Gox)
• Digital wallets your accounts can be targeted

PLEASE

BE CAREFUL

It's a whole new world out there and there's a lot we don't know.