Public Speaker  |  Author  |  Coder  |  Entrepreneur  |  Commentator Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and well-respected figures in bitcoin.He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin”, published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin and “The Internet of Money”, a book about why bitcoin matters.As an engaging public speaker, teacher and writer,  Andreas makes complex subjects accessible and easy to understand.As an advisor, he helps startups recognize, evaluate, and navigate security and business risks.Andreas was also one of the first to use the phrase “The Internet of Money”, as early as 2013, to describe bitcoin as part of his speaking business.As a bitcoin entrepreneur, Andreas has founded a number of bitcoin businesses and launched several community open-source projects.He is a widely published author of articles and blog posts on bitcoin, is a permanent host on the popular Let’s Talk Bitcoin Podcast, and a frequent speaker at technology and security conferences worldwide.

Andreas offers strategic consulting to a small number of crypto-currency companies that are aligned with his interests.He also offers expert witness testimony as an expert in the security, technical details and use of crypto-currencies, worldwide.Each thumbnail image is linked to the full-size and resolution image.Lead host on Let’s Talk Bitcoin, a syndicated talk show focused on Bitcoin and crypto-currencies Bitcoin 101 - Introduction to the Future of MoneyBitcoin, Lightning, and Streaming MoneyThe Currency Wars and Bitcoin's NeutralityMoney as Free Speech - Zürich 2016Bitcoin is the Real Electronic Cash - Merkle Conference 2016Exponential Innovation - Hackers CongressHard Promises, Soft Promises: Promoting Autonomy instead of AuthorityImmutability and Proof-of-Work - the planetary scale digital monumentThe Re-decentralized Web - LA Meetup Sep 2016Decentralization and the Architecture of PowerBitcoin Programmable Money - Nov 2014Investing in education instead of speculationBitcoin: A new species of money - an evolutionary perspective on currency"Blockchain" or Bitcoin: Understanding the differencesBitcoin: Beyond National Money - Zurich March 2016 - Fintech2016 ConferenceSubscribe to the channel

Many years of government debt buildup in Greece has ultimately resulted, in the last few days, in a political and financial maelstrom.The political maelstrom includes demonstrations in the run up to a referendum on obscure debt-restructuring provisions to be held this Sunday (July 5th).This article focuses on  financial problems and some potential practical steps that can be taken to mitigate them.The imposition of capital controls is a disaster for a modern trade-driven economy, a catastrophe which however digital technology, and in particular the digital currency bitcoin (which given the Greek environment usually must involve direct use of the Bitcoin blockchain), has the potential to mitigate.This article will explore some of the severe practical problems that capital controls are causing Greek individuals and businesses, and suggest some potential bitcoin solutions, many of which could also be applied to other countries with some similar financial problems and controls such as Argentina and Venezuela.

These aren't solutions that can be applied in time to help with the current 6 days of capital controls, but could substantially help some Greeks and some aspects of the Greek economy if some version of these controls is continued for months or years.bitcoin cloud calculatorAt root the Greek financial problem is that the Greek government has spent more, compared to the GDP generated by its economy, than the vast majority of other governments.bitcoin conference nzIt has borrowed copious sums to do so, falling ever deeper into debt.fbi agents bitcoinHere is its payment schedule: And you thought your student loan debt was bad The only place the Greek government has left to go for money to fund its ongoing expenditures and pay these debts is Greek banks.bitcoin biography

Fearing capital controls and "haircuts" (government confiscation of certain fractions of bank deposits), many Greeks in recent months have, quite rationally, started withdrawing money out of their banks and sending it overseas.overclockers forum bitcoinMore trusting Greeks kept their savings in their banks, with the result that, with the imposition of capital controls last Monday, they have been locked out of their savings, and plans for "haircuts" of 30% or more have been reported (If somebody lopped off 30% of your head, you’d have more than a haircut).litecoin top poolWhen capital controls were first rumored and then announced on Sunday, vast lines formed at ATMs as Greeks rushed to rescue what little of their life savings that they could: ATM line, Thessaloniki ATM line, Larissa City On Tuesday, the Greek government defaulted on its scheduled debt payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).is bitcoin wallet anonymous

Under capital controls, ATM withdrawals from Greek bank accounts are now limited to 60 euros a day.bitcoin to sterling converterDebit cards can still be used for payments within the country, but the money simply gets transferred from one frozen bank account to another.ethereum price june 2016As a result many businesses no longer accept debit cards, and many more are demanding a substantial premium price (in  at least one business, double) for debit cards (transferred bank balances) versus hard cash.There is a growing shortage of such cash; as a result some stores are paying their suppliers in private "scrip", which can be used by the supplier's workers to purchase goods from the issuing store.(more on this below).Use of credit and debit cards to pay out of the country is banned and effectively blocked, resulting in a near-complete freeze-out of Greeks from Internet commerce.

This restriction, along with the controls resulting in Greeks being excluded from the pan-European money settlement system, means that Greek businesses can't pay for imports.Many shipments into the country have been halted as a result.(The government plan is to create a whitelist of politically approved cases in which such payments for imports will be unblocked).A crucial feature of store-issued scrip is that it literally circulates through a complete closed cycle: store --> supplier --> workers --> store.Such specific cycles are a pattern that is commonly found when currencies are primitive or newly emerging, and every Bitcoin marketer and evangelist should be familiar with them.The kula ring, two specific cycles (counter-circulating cycles of shell money) allowing exchange of seasonal goods in the precolonial South Pacific It doesn’t help much to sell bitcoin to isolated individuals: as a mere store of value its volatility is much greater than most existing currencies; as an investment it only makes sense as a tiny high-risk fraction of one's portfolio.

Bitcoin does have some political-affinity and status value in developed countries; by contrast in many developing countries and in countries under financial crisis such as Greece, there are urgent needs bitcoin potentially can address.In terms of these needs Bitcoin is mainly useful as a way to send money across borders for investment in more stable assets overseas, and to substitute for cash or other substitute currencies in a money-starved environment.To have value as a medium of exchange, bitcoin must be taken up by a community of people who already frequently trade with each other,  and who have a strong need to use it in these trades.It is especially important to market to the links in the cycle that have the strongest negotiating leverage with the others (in the case of Greek the Greek store scrip cycle, the store and its larger suppliers).The link in the cycle with the greatest incentives to switch to bitcoin here are likely the store's suppliers, because they don’t fully trust the store, nor the underlying currency, euro or post-euro, that is the “O” in an IOU, but are participating in the scrip because, sans bitcoin, they have no other choice.

In bitcoin specific cycles create other cost savings.Almost everywhere they economize on the increasingly high KYC/AML (know your customer/anti-money-laundering) costs of going through a fiat-bitcoin exchange.What's more, in a capital controls environment like Greece specific cycles avoid the capital controls that would be imposed on a Greek-based fiat-bitcoin exchange, and avoid the need nearly all Greek customers using out-of-country exchanges would have to futilely try to tap into their frozen bank accounts in order to purchase bitcoin.Bitcoin will not, contrary to some feverish news reporting, help Greeks get money out of their frozen bank accounts.But bitcoin does have great potential to help in less obvious ways: for one thing, as a superior (not vulnerable to trust in an issuing store, and in any currency underlying an IOU) substitute for the emerging store scrips.For another, it could help greatly with the severe cross-border commerce issues that are emerging.Exporters, including freelancers working over the Internet, can bring bitcoin into the country, thereby avoiding earning wages that get deposited to frozen bank accounts (per Greek lore, be wary of a cave with many tracks coming in but few coming out).

Importers can pay for goods with bitcoin while other electronic payment channels (European money settlements, Paypal, and credit & debit cards when paying foreign businesses, etc.)Again specific cycles must be set up: isolated marketing to just exporters or importers will be far less effective than organizing existing supply chains that involve both.There are likely many other, mostly highly non-obvious, niches in which bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, and smart contract platforms could play a quite valuable role in capital-controlled and other financially handicapped countries.Bitcoin is not easy to learn, either conceptually or in setting up businesses and individuals with the software (and preferably also the secure hardware) to accept it.This is especially the case in a capital controls climate where the traditional bitcoin exchanges and retail payment companies, with their consumer-friendly front ends, as they normally operate in developed countries, likely can't effectively operate.