Ethereum And The Future Economy

Who Is This Dude?

Ryan Goeken
Twitter: @pixelsnbits
Age: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
Occupation: Something to do with computers.
Qualifications:
-

Owns a computer
Achieved a C+ on a Bitcoin course on Coursera
Enjoys considering the future
Coming to Terms with being Libertarian Socialist (Probably)

Buckminster Fullers Challenge:

To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest
possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological
offense or the disadvantage of anyone.

First, the Blockchain

Blockchain Basic Overview

List of Transactions, compounded over time

Verified cryptographically by computing resources
on a decentralized network of nodes

Popularized by Bitcoin as public ledger of currency transactions

Simple Visual Analogy: Stacking Lego bricks

* https://stats.ethdev.com/

What is Ethereum?

Overview of Ethereum

Critiques

Assumes Ethereum is de facto platform

Planetary Scale

Has Potential, Currently Only Few Thousand Peers*

Ethereum is the application backbone, still uses existing Internet infrastructure

User connections to the Internet backbone are provisioned by profit-driven

corporations, i.e. Comcast, AT&T (Internet Service Providers)

* https://stats.ethdev.com/

Potential Applications

Avoid Censorship
No Central Authority
Transparent Governance (Corporate or Political)
Collectively, Democratically dictate the division of labor and product of labor
Example: Workers Self-Directed Enterprises*
Secure Communications
Secure transactions on the Blockchain contain the encrypted content of the
message
Example: Video/Photo, Text, Group Chat

* Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism - Richard Wolff, Marxist Economist

Smart Contracts:
Contracts are traditionally enforced through
laws or courts of arbitration whereas smart
contracts are enforced cryptographically
with consensus on the Blockchain without
the need of a central authority.

Who is Ethereum?

Notable People
Vitalik Buterin

Vinay Gupta

Imogen Heap

Inventor

Strategy Consultant

Evangelist/Producer

Represents a new layer on an

alternative economic model

Bitcoin = legitimacy for alternative

currency

Why Ethereum?

How is it different from Bitcoin?

Ethereum = legitimacy for a new

economic platform

Large following in altcoin

community, Yearly Developer
Conference, DEVCON

Sponsored by Microsoft

Example Use Cases

slock.it

Ujo Music

http://slock.it

http://ujomusic.com

Allows for owners to rent out their own smart

property using Ethereum to make smart
contracts (Bluetooth door lock, Bluetooth bike
lock).

Allows for a content producer to enable quick

transactions to the consumer that can
immediately be sent to all parties involved in
the production, bypassing labels or agencies.

Airbnb-esque rental contracts without

going through escrow or banks.

Imogen Heap released Tiny Human using

the Ethereum platform.

Dream Use Cases

CSA Access

Customer purchases CSA Share from a

local farm
Produce delivered to secure garage
Customer uses iPhone to open Bluetooth
lock
Monsanto is not involved anywhere in the
process

Band Tip Jar

Band plays a show at a venue and has a QR

code at the merch table
All band members paid immediately to
their individual accounts
Band members use the money to buy
beers right after the show
No cash needed to be counted, instant
gratification

Questions?
http://ethereum101.org
https://duckduckgo.com