Blockchain Technology with Melanie Swan (future salon)

The blockchain, Bitcoin's solution to the "double spending problem", is actually a solution to a more general outstanding problem in computer science called the Byzantine General's problem, that could be useful for many things besides money. Melanie Swan will be giving a talk on this underlying technology. She is currently with Singularity University and the Institute For Blockchain Studies and is visiting from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Abstract:

The blockchain concept may be one of the most transformative ideas to impact the world since the Internet. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are merely one application of the blockchain concept. The blockchain is a public transaction ledger built in a network structure based on cryptographic principles so there does not need to be a centralized intermediary. Any kind of asset may be encoded into the blockchain and transacted, validated, or preserved in a much more efficient manner than at present including ideas, health data, financial assets, automobiles, and government documents. Venture Capitalists are calling the blockchain the next big investment wave.

Background Resources:

SATOSHI'S REVOLUTION: How The Creator Of Bitcoin May Have Stumbled Onto Something Much, Much Bigger
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-the-blockchain-2014-4

The Future of Bitcoin and Math-Based Digital Currencies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg1JnbIS60g