Can a blockchain exist without miners, proof-of-work, or blocks? What are the implications for security, trustlessness, and decentralisation? Not all distributed ledgers are blockchains. What is the influence of alternative energy generation on mining in proof-of-work cryptocurrencies? Should we use alternative algorithms that generate “useful work” in addition to mining cryptocurrencies? The hard promises that Bitcoin provides are valuable and useful in themselves. What is the difference between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake?

Note: These sessions were recorded live using Google Hangouts. The audio and video may be slightly out of sync at some points.

These questions are from the MOOC sessions 7.2 and 8.2, covering the Byzantine Generals’ Problem, which took place on February 26th 2017 and September 15th 2017 respectively. Andreas is a teaching fellow with the University of Nicosia. The first course in their Master of Science in Digital Currency degree, DFIN-511: Introduction to Digital Currencies, is offered for free as an open enrollment MOOC course to anyone interested in learning about the fundamental principles.

If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

RELATED:
Immutability and Proof-of-Work: The Planetary Scale Digital Monument – https://youtu.be/rsLrJp6cLf4
Consensus Algorithms, Blockchain Technology, and Bitcoin – https://youtu.be/fw3WkySh_Ho
Advanced Bitcoin Scripting Part 1: Transactions and Multisig – https://youtu.be/8FeAXjkmDcQ
Advanced Bitcoin Scripting Part 2: SegWit, Consensus, and Trustware – https://youtu.be/pQbeBduVQ4I
What is Consensus: Rules without Rulers – https://youtu.be/2tqo7PX5Pyc
Forkology: A Study of Forks for Newbies – https://youtu.be/rpeceXY1QBM
Bitcoin: Where the Laws of Mathematics Prevail – https://youtu.be/HaJ1hvon0E0
The rules of Bitcoin (part 1) – https://youtu.be/VnQu4uylfOs
The rules of Bitcoin (part 2) – https://youtu.be/vtIp0GP4w1E
Decentralized power, leaderless governance – https://youtu.be/E5VbDlQTPzU
Proof-of-Work (PoW), Proof-of-Stake (PoS), Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) – https://youtu.be/3W_3AQrQEOM
Does the Lightning Network have proof-of-stake elements? – https://youtu.be/GOYP4O4yetQ
Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) and IOTA – https://youtu.be/lfgMnbb5JeM
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic assets – https://youtu.be/KDtfFNZy9xg
Scaling, trust, and trade-offs – https://youtu.be/vCxmHwqyJWU
Why running a node is important – https://youtu.be/oX0Yrv-6jVs
Running nodes and payment channels – https://youtu.be/ndcfBfE_yoY
What happens during a fork? – https://youtu.be/XBk8hBJ1xVo
SegWit adoption – https://youtu.be/KCsTVTRk6I4
Energy consumption – https://youtu.be/2T0OUIW89II
Solar energy and mining in space – https://youtu.be/cusakcpa8AM

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

[NEW] THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

[NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388

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38 COMMENTS

  1. Is it possible that someone with worst setup trying to mine and fortunately in first try the nonce turnout correct therefore created a block. And this big guy with mining rig didn't have chance just because of luck. Is it possible this could happen?

  2. Why is everyone so obsessed with energy usage of bitcoin? If btc energy usage freaks people out then gaming console usage must freak them too. Oh wait it doesn't. Even though on average consoles are used 4hrs a day and uses more electricity than bitcoin does 24hrs a day.

  3. It came to my mind that one of the best places to earn bitcoin on earth is probably the sahel region. Thank you for explaining how the uselessness of bitcoin POW outside of bitcoin is actually an important security feature of bitcoin.

  4. Solar energy: The cost of mining equipment force the investor to mining 24/7. The mining equipment will be obsolete over time so the investor can not just mine some hours around noon. It means that when the mining is installed then the over all energy consuming in ampere and watt will be higher out of sync with the energy production from solar.

    The solar panel can be connected to the grid and the energy can be transported to the placed where the demand is.

  5. Renewable energy is shifting rapidly to being stored in batteries at low peak demand hours. While that shift will be good for expanding the use of renewables, the positive economic case that you present for solar won't exist much longer. So we still very much need to shift to a proof system which does not use large amounts of energy.

  6. Thank you Andreas! There is plenty of energy all around us. We just need the incentive to tap into it and thanks to Bitcoin, now we do. Thirty years from now Africa can grow as dramatically as China–Bitcoin mining and solar panels everywhere! Replacing the corrupt fiat money with real value and fairness is worth the energy consumed!

  7. Love the channel and appreciate it's information, but the answer about energy is wrong in so so many ways! Yes, blockchain and cryptocurrencies have many great potentials and characteristics but saying it subsidizes solar and other renewables is just plain false. How many mining operations turn off thier rigs as soon as the sun goes down, or on cloudy days, or whenever the wind is not blowing?

  8. Could it not be said that miners are a 3rd party? What about miners pooling together and making up 51% or more of the total? Not much different than one entity having 51% or more of the nodes in proof of stake

  9. If you search the word "crypto" as a prefix, it means, "concealed; secret". I'm not sure why I just now realized that. Whomever "coined" the term "cryptocurrency" certainly did not want us to forget it's true purpose. Any coin or token that is not truly private does not deserve to be called a cryptocurrency. 😉

  10. What are some genuinely good business solutions people can implement to add value to the Bitcoin Network? Can you go over different business solutions for different countries?

  11. Love listening to your videos – thanks! imho for bitcoin to become the P2P currency we all need, it would seem that people need to be educated on the names of the units of the fractions of bitcoin like the Satoshi. Yen, franc, pound, dollar, quarter, dime, nickel, penny, etc… are memes that have been around for a long time – some for a very long time – and people need memes to attach a value to, which will take bitcoin to the next level. The units given at https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Units are silly and not easy flowing terms. Maybe we could get a list of suggestions and bring it to the core bitcoin community for consensus approval. Once unit names are established they should be incorporated into all crypto apps so people see "10 millis" or whatever amount they're transacting with to begin getting used to the terms. You have to admit saying these tomatoes are 10 bitcoin-ton or .00040960 bitcoin or even 40,960 Satoshi a pound isn't very catchy. I'm sure the millennials would have lots of creative, catchy terms to use that would resonate with their generation. Having the ability to value, both mentally and verbally, goods in terms of bitcoin will go a long way towards bringing it out of the shadow of being valued in terms of other currencies. Bitcoin needs its own terms of valuation. What do you think?

  12. Andreas, one more thing: once you said "regulation of the protocol itself is not possible at this time" to Australian Senate… that scared me! Were you avoiding them to know that is not possible or is it possible and may happen after all?!?!?

  13. Rewards are not needed, running a Delegated Proof of Stake node cost about nothing, NANO is a good example, there's no rewards but still thousands of representatives and they are happy to do it to get "trust votes" and for the network. Rewards lead to corruption and centralization.

  14. excellent! and what will happen when all 21M Bitcoins have been mined, probably in almost 140 years from now, I think!??? Will the system of PoW be the same? will it be a concern for my grand children?!?! 😀

  15. What is the effect of merged mining with bitcoin? I have seen a few references on reddit about how Elastos, which will begin merge mining with bitcoin in december, will benefit.

  16. Remember that surplus energy can be stored, e.g. by pumping water up into lakes, from where it can be used again at any later time. In Europe it even happened that nuclear energy was used to do that, and then the energy was sold as green, since it came from a lake 🙂

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