Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

Welcome to the discussion thread about this lecture section. Here you can feel free to discuss the topic at hand and ask questions.

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Thus far this course is a great “short course” refresher, having taken the original. I’m enjoying augmenting my old notes (in blue) with the refresher/short-course material (in green). I also like the reduced length of the course. It feels like the review shouldn’t take discouragingly long, and is valuable practice for learning retention.

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Awesome to hear :slight_smile:
What does the map represent? Have you been in all those places?

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ThortSpace is just a learning tool. It’s a utility to create spherical “mind maps” in an effort to provide a more organic framework for complex, inter-related “organically-grown” information. The map of the Earth is optional. But I find it helps me to further associate sub-topics with places. “Africa” for example: BitCoin. Indian Ocean: consensus algorithms. North America: investment research. And so on. Its all entirely arbitrary—except I had to begin with the “intro” at Stockholm. And no. I’m a scholar, not a traveler. I rarely leave the West Coast of the “United” States. Ping me next time you’re in Silicon Valley. I’d be honored to buy you lunch. Living here I don’t have to travel. The world flows through a finite set of points, and my neighborhood is one of them.

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Yes I did just scan through the homework assignments for this course and upload my answers to questions I found that were identical (or nearly) from the last course. All that proves is that I’m the first one who took functionally reusable notes. Imitation is the sincerest form of meeting schedule. And now I can focus on the new material.

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Love your mind maps and love the fact you like to think in a spherical sense. One doesn’t have to be an expert on each element of their environment they just need to understand the connectivity and complexity of the relationships between the elements within the sphere.

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Yes, the concept of a “connection” or an “association” is obviously fundamental to how the brain stores, retrieves, and operates on systems of ideas. That much we get, even if nobody’s quite sure exactly how yet. The sphere is just a piece of paper with all the edges line-wrapped back upon themselves. Its a matter of rendering and note-taking convenience. True systems of ideas are not constrained to surfaces. But the idea of constructing such notes in some sort of VR 3D spacial tool is daunting, and yet to be achieved. So far…<hint hint, wink wink saynomore?> :stuck_out_tongue:

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Creat course material Ivan. Thanks!

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Very good content so far Ivan! Many thanks for your great efforts! I’m a huge fan of GMC from its very beginning! As a note there is a small typo in the “Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies - Discussion” page that I wanted to bring in your attention. It states “Do not histate to use this forum thread”. You may need to correct that into “hesitate” :slight_smile:

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This is really nice !!

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How do you find your way into this map? (to prevent the same data is stored at different places and to lookup things that are allready stored)

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On this sphere? Everything begins in Stockholm. Beyond that I’ve defined a “Journey” with a series of preset views in “Present” mode, each view centering on a different topic, all in class syllabus order. The views in the journey can be flipped through like slides. Doing so will animate the view to each orientation.

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Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and the blockchain is the technology that underpins it. A cryptocurrency refers to a digital coin that runs on a blockchain . … The blockchain behind bitcoin is a public ledger of every transaction that has taken place. It cannot be tampered with or changed retrospectively.

More Information: Cryptocurrency Exchange Platform

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@ivan, @filip

In this section it was mentioned that these days it is relatively simple and quick to program and launch your own coin. Is that referring to coins that are programmed using smart contracts on already existing platforms (such as Ethereum, EOS etc.)? Are the many hundreds, if not thousands, of recently-launched low-cap coins all based on smart contracts hosted on Blockchain 2.0 (or 3.0*) platforms? Is this because it would be pointless these days to launch another Blockchain 1.0 type cryptocurrency with its own separate blockchain, because it would take unnecessarily longer to implement, be unnecessarily costly, and unable to compete with the established players (Bitcoin, Litecoin)?


* Charles Hoskinson refers to Cardano as third generation (addressing blockchain issues of scalability, interoperability and sustainability. Do you also consider the evolution of blockchain technology to now have a third generation?

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Yes, we are referring to coins built on for example Ethereum, which like 90% of all coins are.Don’t quote me on that number though :wink: But it’s a LOT.

I think you are right in your analysis. It takes longer, it’s less secure than Ethereum, it requires more on boarding, new wallets etc etc. So much pain to create a completely new chain.

I know some people refer to these new chains as third generation. I guess that’s one way to look at it. I don’t use that expression personally though. I just look for useful stuff.

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After every session I did my homework and posted it on the forum but it doesn’t check it on the academy as if I didn’t do it. Is there something that I don’t understand ?

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I like the new site and format! Thank you Ivan.

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I agree, I like the new platform a lot!
Beautiful design and much better user experience.
(even on my phone)

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Ivan;
I want to say thank you for this course and to your staff.

I really am looking forward to the future courses and getting certified so i can take advantage
of this breaking technology. In my career i have always been on the cutting edge and or transition from the old to the new.

Looking forward to being a part of this new adventure.

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Excellent course for the initiate. Provides instruction on the concepts of cryptocurrency and the underlying programming ei blockchain which make it possible. This provides almost instant transaction speed and worldwide reach. It certainly bypasses traditional banking and government systems. It is like having a bank account in your pocket or in your mind. Cryptocurrency in its many versions ei BTC, ETH, or altcoins is the currency of the future.

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