Introduction to bitcoin

1. Bitcoins
The Practical Side
Judy Katzman
JKatzman@infsoftware.com
NYC Code Camp
Saturday September 13, 2014
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2. Welcome to Bitcoin
● Why is Bitcoin important?
● Create an online bitcoin wallet
● How to obtain bitcoins
● Merchant services
● Introduction to the block chain
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3. Why Bitcoin?
● Brings together global economy
● Transactions times in minutes, not days
● Fundraising - no currency transaction fees
● No minimum deposits required (as compared to checking accounts)
● Governments cannot confiscate savings - Cyprus
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4. What Is A Bitcoin?
New digital currency
No banks
Minimal fees
Not tied to any country No personal information
No credit card processors
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5. Fun Facts About Bitcoins
● Created in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto
● Bitcoin is also the name of the protocol used to create bitcoins.
● Bitcoin is based on an algorithm which is solved approximately every
10 minutes, no matter how many miners and CPU power is used.
The algorithm difficulty increases exponentially over time
● Every 4 years, the number of bitcoins created is halved
● The maximum number of bitcoins is fixed at 21 million, which will be
reached by 2140
● Created by the interaction of cryptography and distributed systems:
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6. What Is A Wallet?
● Place to store bitcoins
● Allows transfer of bitcoin between people and/or businesses
● Two basic options:
○ cell phone
○ on-line
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7. Types of Bitcoin Wallets
● web-wallet - online - trusting a third party to store bitcoins (like a
bank)
● application (phone,computer, tablet, etc...)
● cold storage - This is more like a safety deposit box than a saving
account - not used as often
DO DUE DILIGENCE
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8. Create a Bitcoin Wallet
● https://blockchain.info/
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9. Create a Bitcoin Wallet
● https://blockchain.info/
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10. New Bitcoin Wallet
● https://blockchain.info/
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11. Blockchain.info
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12. Methods of Obtaining Bitcoin
Bitcoin ATM machin
Mining
Old Fashion Way - Earn It
Conversion
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13. What Am I Going To Do With My
Bitcoins
● https://www.bitpremier.com
● http://coinmap.org/
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14. Merchant Services
● Online stores that accept bitcoin as payment
● Local merchants
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15. What is the Blockchain?
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16. Blockchain Sample
Cindy gave Scott .1 BTC and this block was created: https://blockchain.info/address/
1Cdid9KFAaatwczBwBttQcwXYCpvK8h7FK
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17. Blockchain Sample
Scott bought coffee for .015 BTC: https://blockchain.info/address/
1GdK9UzpHBzqzX2A9JFP3Di4weBwqgmoQA
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18. Bitcoin Keys
Cell Phone
Application
Private Key
Blockchain
5aa6c862-bb47-45b7-89ac-49bdd69653f4
key
Bitcoin address can
be calculated from
the private key
private key cannot
be calculated from
blockchain
Keys are mathematically related
The key calculations are often taken care of by the “third party” wallet vendors 18

19. Going Forward?
● New industry
● US Government has declared bitcoin a “commodity”, not currency
● New York is contemplating regulations for exchanges
● Great potential for people who cannot afford banking
● Replacing wire transfers, money orders or money grams
● Other uses for bitcoin protocol
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20. Resources
● blockchain.info
● https://bitcoin.org/en/
● https://bitcoinfoundation.org/
● http://howtobuybitcoins.info/us.html
● http://letstalkbitcoin.com/
● http://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/
● http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/
● http://staging.spectrum.ieee.org/img/06Bitcoin-1338412974774.jpg - How a Bitcoins transaction works
● Mastering Bitcoin -Unlocking Digital Crypt-Currencies by Andreas Antonopoulous
Contact Infoformation:
Judy Katzman
JKatzman@infsoftware.com
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