Bitcoin and blockchain 101: Why the future will be decentralized | Big Think

Bitcoin and blockchain 101: Why the future will be decentralized Watch the newest video from Big Think: Learn skills from the world’s top minds at Big Think Edge: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We’ve all heard terms like Bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrency being thrown around in the past few years, but what do they mean? Consider this your crash course. Experts from across the spectrum of money and tech provide a history of commerce dating back tens of thousands of years, explain what blockchain and Bitcoin are and how they work, and offer insights into the differences between centralized and decentralized systems. Because blockchain is incredibly difficult to hack, it has massive implications for elections, banking, shipping, land ownership—any domain where corruption is rampant. While the technology may feel abstract now, programmer Brian Behlendorf compares it to exp