While Bitcoin as the flagship cryptocurrency has done wonders for those who have invested in recent years it’s hard to say whether Bitcoin and crypto are here to stay. What we know right now is it kind of works and we would do ourselves a big favour by learning how it works. TED talks have become a very popular way of exposing people to subjects and cryptocurrency is no exception. Here’s a list of 10 TED talks you can watch to learn about cryptocurrency.
How I Built a Bitcoin Empire
This talk is given by Marco Streng the founder of Genesis mining, one of the largest bitcoin mining organisations in the world. What makes the documentary great is that Streng started this in a college dorm room with a few computers but eventually grew it to a huge facility. Through the retelling of his journey, you can understand a lot of the popular terms better.
How the Blockchain is Changing Money and Business
Many, myself included, believe that the real star of the show is blockchain technology which is the enabling backbone technology that makes cryptocurrency possible. It’s quite a lot to explain blockchain technology and how it works but the TED talk does just that. All explained by a blockchain expert who makes it easy to understand.
How the Blockchain Will Radically Transform the Economy
If you’re going to watch these in the order presented you will now have a grasp of cryptocurrency through Bitcoin and blockchain technology. This next talk ties the two concepts to the big issue of economics. How blockchain and crypto aim to be the solution and may help you understand the other side of the argument.
What the #?!* is Bitcoin?
This TED is awesome because you get to watch Bitcoin being created before your very eyes. Well, sort of. Jeremy Rubin who is Technical Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) explains and demonstrates how the system works. This will help you grasp a lot of terms used in cryptocurrency.
The Future of Money
Is cryptocurrency the future of money? This question is yet unanswered but it certainly is a promising solution. This TED talk will help you understand how digital tokens are expected to replace your notes, coins and EcoCash. The examples in this talk make grasping the concepts super simple.
What is Money? And Could Bitcoin Be the Best One?
This TED talk delves into the reasons why cryptocurrency in the form of Bitcoin could be the best money. It goes into the problems our current version of money is devilled with and explains how crypto can help overcome these issues. You will get a bonus of understanding our current money and what could well be our future money.
Digital Currencies Like Bitcoin Are Coming Very Fast (and It’s a Good Thing)
Zimbabwe is no stranger to inflation and neither is Argentina. Juan Llanos walks us through Argentina’s own inflation and sovereign debt crisis to demonstrate just how much cryptocurrency can change the game. It’s great to see the application, albeit least in theory, to situations like ours.
We’ve Stopped Trusting Institutions and Started Trusting Strangers
Another TED talk that speaks to circumstances that Zimbabweans will really relate to. Due to experience, we have lost trust in institutions and find it easier to trust what can only be described as strangers. It feels like it’s only happening in Zimbabwe but it really is a global shift and understanding this shift has lessons for the world of cryptocurrency going forward.
The Value Revolution: How Blockchain Will Change Money & the World
You may have heard of attempts to create a local cryptocurrency Zimbocash which has not really gone smoothly. This TED talk is given by a person who created a local cryptocurrency for their community and helps explain further and more practically how crypto works. The experience Galia Benartzi shares is invaluable.
Cryptocurrencies — Cool, So What?
This one is special because it is presented by a high schooler who just wanted to understand what cryptocurrency is after hearing about it in school. Elyse Berg also asks the big question that those less enthusiastic about crypto have continued to ask; so what? This TED talk will help you understand that even though crypto throws up some great positives it may not be silver bullet proponents make it out to be.
