Ethereum

[4est_4est_Gump]

Ethereum, the brainchild of wunderkind software developer Vitalik Buterin, who was just 19 when he came up with the idea, is the most buzzed-about project right now in the cryptocurrency community. It has attracted an all-star team of computer scientists and raised $18.4 million in a crowdfunding campaign—the third most successful of all time. And now, according to the official Ethereum blog, it's on the verge of being rolled out to the public.

Ethereum's developers use a rolling ticker tape of bold tag lines to describe what they're creating, including a “Social Operating System for Planet Earth,” and “the Upcoming Decentralization Singularity.”

So what is it?

Ethereum is a programming language the lives on top of a "blockchain"—a concept invented six years ago with the launch of Bitcoin. A blockchain is essentially a database that's jointly maintained on the personal hard drives of its users—sort of like a shared Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. But transactions recorded to a blockchain are time stamped, fully transparent, and protected from tampering by hackers and thieves through an ingenious system that utilizes cryptography and community consensus. Blockchains make it possible, for the first time in history, to participate in a complex marketplace without the need for a mediating third party. The blockchain is what allowed Bitcoin to become the first form of virtual money that can be exchanged without a bank serving as an intermediary. (Read Ron Bailey's recent piece on the blockchain's transformative potential.)

Jim Epstein​

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/19/here-comes-ethereum-an-information-techn

Prepare to say goodbye to paper money.

 

[Ishmael]

Ethereum, the brainchild of wunderkind software developer Vitalik Buterin, who was just 19 when he came up with the idea, is the most buzzed-about project right now in the cryptocurrency community. It has attracted an all-star team of computer scientists and raised $18.4 million in a crowdfunding campaign—the third most successful of all time. And now, according to the official Ethereum blog, it's on the verge of being rolled out to the public.

Ethereum's developers use a rolling ticker tape of bold tag lines to describe what they're creating, including a “Social Operating System for Planet Earth,” and “the Upcoming Decentralization Singularity.”

So what is it?

Ethereum is a programming language the lives on top of a "blockchain"—a concept invented six years ago with the launch of Bitcoin. A blockchain is essentially a database that's jointly maintained on the personal hard drives of its users—sort of like a shared Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. But transactions recorded to a blockchain are time stamped, fully transparent, and protected from tampering by hackers and thieves through an ingenious system that utilizes cryptography and community consensus. Blockchains make it possible, for the first time in history, to participate in a complex marketplace without the need for a mediating third party. The blockchain is what allowed Bitcoin to become the first form of virtual money that can be exchanged without a bank serving as an intermediary. (Read Ron Bailey's recent piece on the blockchain's transformative potential.)

Jim Epstein​

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/19/here-comes-ethereum-an-information-techn

Prepare to say goodbye to paper money.

We shall see how it all works out.

By the way, the concept isn't as new as it is presented. The concept of the spread sheet cell containing a complex program goes back to the Industrial Automation attempts to implement the 'Cell Controller.' Or put another way, an attempt to visualize the current condition of a finite state machine where elements of that machine reside on a completely different computer executing a complex task. Zooming in on that cell within the spreadsheet then exposed another spread sheet reflecting the state of the remote machine that in turn was executing a cell that might be a code sequence that resided on that machine or the state of another remote machine. The obvious downside is the ever increasing levels of complexity that can pile up and the fact that "Ouroboros" type relationships can occur.

Ishmael

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Interesting.

I was reading Mish's blog yesterday or the day before pointing out how many Euro countries are beginning to put severe limitations on the withdrawal of cash. Most governments would salivate at the prospect of total control of the currency to fight tax evasion in all its forms.

 

[Ishmael]

Interesting.

I was reading Mish's blog yesterday or the day before pointing out how many Euro countries are beginning to put severe limitations on the withdrawal of cash. Most governments would salivate at the prospect of total control of the currency to fight tax evasion in all its forms.

You might want to look at the new banking 'rules' adopted by the G-whatever it is now. Certain types of deposits no longer must be honored with cash, they can pay you off with bank stock certificates.

Ishmael

 

[miles]

Interesting.

I was reading Mish's blog yesterday or the day before pointing out how many Euro countries are beginning to put severe limitations on the withdrawal of cash. Most governments would salivate at the prospect of total control of the currency to fight tax evasion in all its forms.

We're going to Italy in the fall. At the rate the Euro is going we might be able to stay twice as long. If those "militant extremists" don't attack them first, that is.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Yeah, it seems that a massive correction in money supply has just about reached its shark-jump moment.

We've prepared the best we can. Either that or EMP...

 

[miles]

Yeah, it seems that a massive correction in money supply has just about reached its shark-jump moment.

It's called "quantitative easing."

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pBLq6BcjnHI/Tyo2_RnGbZI/AAAAAAAAAME/ns3heH40Pv4/s1600/Bailout-Printing-press-cartoon.jpg

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Is that Jack Yellin?