This document provides an introduction to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It defines cryptocurrencies as digital currencies that use encryption to securely transfer funds on a distributed ledger without a central authority. The document reviews the history of cryptocurrencies, including early centralized attempts in the late 90s/2000s and the 2009 introduction of Bitcoin as the first decentralized cryptocurrency using blockchain technology. It describes blockchain as an immutable distributed ledger that solves the double spending problem without a trusted third party by recording transactions on linked blocks of data across a network. Examples of other uses of blockchain technology are also given.

1. INTRO TO BLOCKCHAIN AND
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
DAN MAGNUSZEWSKI / @MAGNACHEF

2. WHAT ARE CRYPTO
CURRENCIES?!

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WHAT ARE CRYPTOCURRENCIES?!
▸ A digital currency which uses encryption to secure and
verify the transfer of funds
▸ Distributed ledger
▸ Decentralized and operates independent of a central
entity

4. HISTORY LESSON

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HISTORY OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES
▸ Late 90’s
▸ Bit Gold (not implemented)
▸ E-Gold
▸ WebMoney
▸ Mid-late 2000’s
▸ Liberty Reserve
▸ All were centralized

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HISTORY OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES
▸ 2009 - Bitcoin is released
▸ Satoshi Nakamoto (unknown person or persons)
▸ Fully decentralized
▸ Solves the previously unsolved “double spend” problem
▸ Introduced the Blockchain technology

7. MOVIE TIME!HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=L9JOJK30EQS

8. WALLETS

11. BLOCKCHAIN

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BLOCKCHAIN
▸ An immutable distributed ledger (can’t modify the past)
▸ The use of the blockchain for Bitcoin made it the first digital currency to
solve the double spending problem without requiring a trusted
administrator
▸ Use cases:
▸ Voting
▸ Supply chain or provenance
▸ M2M payments
▸ Distributed file storage

14. ETHEREUM

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FOR MORE INFO
▸ Buffalo Blockchain
▸ http://blockchainbuffalo.com
▸ Full technical breakdown of Bitcoin
▸ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx9zgZCMqXE
▸ Intro to Ethereum
▸ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66SaEDzlmP4
▸ https://ethereum.org