cryptography

[ORGANISER] Andreas Antonopoulos! [Applause] [ANDREAS] It is such a huge pleasure to be here today.
This is such a great community. Everyone here welcomed me with such
warmth and open arms, so thank you! Thank you so much for having me here tonight. I would like to talk about a couple important
issues [regarding] regulatory legitimacy. The cryptocurrency space can achieve compliance
with the payment card industry (PCI) standard… and Sarbanes-Oxley’s Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). [We can incorporate] ‘Know-Your-Customer’ (KYC)
and the anti-money laundering (AML) rules, which will allow us to achieve legitimacy with
bankers and [gain] our position on the world stage… as a trusted, legitimate currency. [Laughter] [Applause] Eh, fuck that! [Laughter [Applause] No, I don’t want
to talk about that. Who wants to talk about that? [That stuff] is ridiculous. We don’t need any legitimacy.
We are having fun. We deal with more serious issues. There are a lot of serious people in Wall Street:
dour faced, boring, soulless, parasitic people… wearing suits and ties. Guess what? They stole trillions of dollars and got away
with it. Who needs their legitimacy? [Applause] I want to talk about things that are warm to my heart. Some of you may have heard the talks I have
given recently, about currency as a language. Has anyone here heard some of those talks? Not many people, great. It will all sound brand new
to you, a great opportunity for me to repeat myself. What I care about is charity and the other six billion. There are a billion people in this world who have
access to bank accounts without currency controls, that can transmit money in international markets
and access deep pools of liquid credit for loans. [That is] us, the rich people of the Western world. Then there is the other six billion people worn
all around the world who have limited bank accounts… or no bank accounts at all. People who live on $1 per day if they are lucky. People who have no access to international markets,
no access to international finance, no access to loans. No access to opportunity. I would like to think that I am a really smart guy who
got here because of efforts I made throughout my life, but we all know that is bullshit. I got here through an accident of birth, which put me in a white middle-class society
of the developed nation of Greece. As a child of professional, educated parents,
I was swimming with current all the way. There are hundreds of thousands of people smarter
than me, dying of diphtheria somewhere in the world. I care about what we could do with cryptocurrencies
to bring economic development and inclusion. [I care about] bringing the other six billion [people] into
a world economy without borders, political corruption, and massive theft by parasitic banks. [Applause] And it starts with charity at a very basic level. This community [speaks about] charity more
than any other cryptocurrency community. Thank you so much for leading the way and [being]
an example of what we can do with cryptocurrency, when we think [about] doing good. That is what is amazing about this community. Bitcoin has a lot of charity too. We have achieved some
amazing things in the Bitcoin space [through charity]. About a month and a half ago, Newsweek destroyed
the life of an innocent old man called Dorian Nakamoto, by saying that he was the creator of this currency. I started a fundraiser; within six hours, we raised
more than thirty bitcoin for Dorian, Nakamoto. Now, we have raised almost fifty bitcoin
to help this man put his life together [again]. At the same time, Sean’s Outpost, one of my favourite
major charities, distributed sixty-five thousand meals… for the homeless of Pensacola, Florida in the last year. [They] tapped into Bitcoin and used it to raise
money from people all around the world. If people care, they can now send money anywhere
in the world to support the charity of their choice. [Applause] When there was a typhoon in the Philippines,
Fr33aid raised money and set over $5,000 within a day. [The money went] right on the ground where it mattered,
where it could make a difference in people’s lives… without having to worry about regulations, [slow]
wire transfers, or giving Western Union a 20% cut. All of these charities take [bitcoin as]
a currency and turning it into a force for good. But that is only the beginning. We have the opportunity to subvert and improve
some of the most exploited markets in the world. The first one I care about a lot is
the international remittances market. Every year, poor people in the developed world who
are migrants and have jobs as itinerant workers… [They are mostly] Mexicans here in the United States;
Indians in different places like Dubai, for construction… They send money home to their families abroad.
$500 billion [in total] primarily goes to four countries: Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. That $500 billion is a lot more than what we
in the developed world send in terms of financial aid. Approximately $175 billion has been sent
by our governments to the developing world. Guess where that money goes? [Financial aid] from
our government goes to the top of their governments… and then trickles down. Only about 5% actually reaches the people in need
because the rest is taken through corruption. Meanwhile, out of the $500 billion sent through
remittances, $75 billion is collected as fees… by companies like Western Union. They charge anywhere from 5% to more than 25% on the
money that people are sending home to their families. That is $75 billion [taken] out of the pockets of the
poorest people on this planet. We can change that. We can change that right now. Cryptocurrencies enable flows of money from
the developed nations to the developing world, to give back that $75 billion
to the people who need it most. If you take that money [back] and put it in
the pockets of the poorest people in the world, specifically the pockets of women who
run the finances in their communities, [receiving] money from their husbands and family
members abroad, they will convert every single dollar… [into improving] water [access],
sanitation, education, and healthcare. They have an immediate impact that reaches very far in
their own community. That is how we change the world. That is what we can do with cryptocurrencies.
That is what I care about. [Applause] One of the questions I have been thinking about for the
last year is, how do altcoins behave against each other? Whether they are in competition or not.
The underlying question is one of scarcity. A lot of people think other coins compete directly
with bitcoin, and if there are too many coins, that dilutes the value and
digital scarcity created by bitcoin. I think that is a very old fashioned way to look at
currency. We think of currency that way because… Throughout our lives, we have grown up in a world… of national sovereign currencies that
exist in a monopolistic zero-sum game. Winning for my currency and my nation is
a zero-sum game against [another nation’s] currency. All these currencies exhibit a [geo-political] monopoly.
If I live in the United States, I am born into U.S. dollars. I don’t have a choice. I must pay my taxes in U.S. dollars,
and that is the currency I will use [while I’m there]. Well, [some of] that is no longer the case.
[Because of Bitcoin], currency is now a choice. With these digital currencies created by individuals, we
can now choose any currency we want to interact with. In making that choice, we also choose our community
and the currency which best represents our values. [That choice] is more powerful
than any vote in the world. Let’s think about what it means to choose
a currency and how that currency derives value. We need to re-think the word. Currency used to be
defined by the authority of the sovereign who created it. The sovereign who created the currency would
put the force and monopoly of the state behind it… to give it value, and that is what
gave currency value in the old world. In this world, a cryptocurrency with a funny dog [as its
mascot] has value. Why? Because it has value to you. You give it value by using that currency. What happens in ten or fifteen years as
cryptocurrencies become more widespread? How do you look at value in a world
where anybody can create a currency? What does it mean if, someday,
you [travel to] a rural environment in Africa, which is predominantly using two currencies: one has a funny dog, and the other has
an old white woman named Elizabeth. Well, I can tell you something. The people in
that village probably don’t know who Elizabeth is. They will certainly have no clue what the hell
that dog is and why its eyes look like that. [Laughter] What they do know: you could use either
one of these currencies to buy six eggs. That is all that matters. If a currency is useful as a
means of exchange, then that currency has value. You can have a thousand economists write a thousand
PhD papers that tell you exactly why it’s not a currency. But if you can buy six eggs, then it is
a currency and nothing else matters. What is the fundamental difference between currencies
if they have monetary value at the point of purchase? If they can be used to exchange for goods and services
by people in a community who will use that currency? Well, one of the currencies has a predictable,
deterministic, fixed monetary supply. The other currency has an old white lady
on the front. That is the only difference. They sure as hell didn’t pick that currency
and they don’t know why Elizabeth is on it. Maybe she won a popularity contest.
Well, so did the dog. [Laughter] We now live in the world where
currency acquires value through its use. If you can transact internationally with a currency,
the only thing that matters is how many people use it, and how they use that currency. If they use that currency, that gives it value, by definition. How do we survive in that kind of world where value
is determined purely by adoption, not by a sovereign. Not by the regulations that back it,
but by the algorithms that run it. Not by trust in the central authority with the
ability to print as much money as it wants, who hands that money over at 0% interest to
the biggest banks, in trickle-down economics. By algorithms that are predictable,
deterministic, and remove uncertainty. By algorithms that allow us to see
how the currency will develop over time. In that world, adoption is the only thing that matters.
We don’t know how to live in that world. That world hasn’t come yet,
but I think it is coming and coming fast. I think the idea of [only having 180 national] currencies
will seem quaint in a couple of decades. In fact, until recently, I thought we would only have
a couple hundred altcoins, and I changed my mind. Guess what? I am often wrong. But when I get new facts, I form new opinions,
because the old opinions don’t fit the facts anymore. As I saw the explosion of alternative currencies,
which in itself is a somewhat patronizing [term]… As I saw the development of altcoins, I realized
that we will not just have hundreds of currencies. Let’s do a quick poll. How many of you think that,
in a decade, we will have hundreds of coins? Thousands? Tens of thousands?
Hundreds of thousands? Millions? All right, now we are having a conversation. What does it mean to live in the world with
hundreds of thousands or millions of currencies? The key realization came when I saw a website
that allowed me to build a cryptocurrency… by entering a name and monetary policy from
a drop-down box in a web form, and [clicking] ‘submit.’ You needed to pay about $50 to do that, but I guarantee that by the end of the year,
you will be able to do that for free. Then I realized that everybody will do it.
At a very basic level, currency is a language. Currency is a means of expression. Currency is the language by which
we communicate value to each other. Currency is an emergent artifact of a social species. Let me repeat that: currency is an
emergent artifact of a social species. How do you know that? Observe five year-olds. Go into a primary school, watch how five-year-olds
behave. They don’t have currency, so they invent it. They invent currency as soon as they develop
social bonds within a broad social environment. If you go into a primary school, you will see children
trading cards, Pokémon, Tamagotchi, rubber bands, candy, cafeteria credits, whatever. It is not unlike a prison, in many ways. [Laughter] The only difference is, they don’t
allow them to have cigarettes. Otherwise, that would be the predominant currency. But they do allow them to have doughnuts;
in many schools, that is the predominant currency. Currency emerges in social environments because
it is used by individuals to express value, appreciation, to express popularity and strengthen
social bonds, to create social experiences. That is what currency does.
Trade is a social interaction. Currency is the language that allows us
to have that social interaction. When children are able to create currency,
that means everyone can create currency. There will be a JoeyCoin competing with MariaCoin
in the primary school, in a battle of popularity. Yes, there will be. There will be BieberCoin and
MetallicaCoin. You can see how old I am. [Laughter] Maybe AndreasCoin. I will pre-mine the hell out of it. There will be coins of all types, representing brands,
corporations, your local mall, used as a loyalty card. There will be coins representing bands and silly memes.
I am at a conference for one of those [right now]. It doesn’t matter. All of these coins
may or may not have [some value]. But realize that there is a big difference between
monetary value and [other forms of value]. The vast majority of the tens of thousands of coins
which may exist, will have no monetary value. You can try telling Joey that his coin doesn’t have
[monetary] value; it has value to Joey and his friends. It can be used to express popularity in a social market.
It has value to the followers of [Justin] Bieber. In some cases, it may [be more valuable] than some of
the national currencies out there, if he ever launches it. How do we live in the world where there are hundreds
of thousands of coins, and most of them have no value? We disassociate value from authority. We understand that value does not derive from
who created it, but only from who is using it. We already live in that world in terms of information. We used to [read] published opinion as being
authoritative if it came from a publisher… with a giant printing press and a fancy name,
like the New York Times. Then we [transitioned] to a world where
everyone on the street could publish an opinion. We needed to revise our understanding of
authority, because it no longer fit the facts. Sometimes, people from very esteemed institutions like
the New York Times, such as “journalist” Judith Miller, lie about weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq, [a lie which] kills hundreds of thousands of people. Sometimes, an Egyptian blogger, a nobody, tells the truth
about the regime of Mubarak, because they are there. We live in a world where [value] comes from the content,
not from the authority of the printing press. And now we just did that to currency. Currency gains [value] not because
of who created it, but by who uses it. In a few decades, you might be surprised about
which currency [achieved] monetary value status. It will be a very grey line. I think we will see currencies that suddenly erupt,
capture the imagination of an entire community, and then acquire value. I have some bad news, the other way [this] could go. Some of these currencies will have monetary
value and then fade into nothingness again. A bubbling cauldron full of currencies where some
rise to the surface, and then sink down quickly. Some stay afloat [for the long term].
I think Bitcoin will be one of the powerful ones. I’m not sure about Dogecoin yet,
but it is looking pretty promising. I think it is very interesting how this community
demonstrated to the world what marketing can do, by having a positive and charitable spirit. That is the new world I think we will
live in, within a couple of decades. It will be a very interesting world. That is what I wanted to talk about today, the role of
currency as language and form of societal [expression]. Thank you so much! [Applause]