The show this week is a celebration of books and we have some recommendations, from some great people in the Blockchain space, of some of the best books to learn about blockchain and crypto.

Here’s a list of the recommended books and where you can find them:

Crypto Made Easy by Angela Wright https://makecryptoeasy.com/misc-19380818

Blockchain Revolution by Don and Alex Tapscott https://amzn.to/2vd5o8Y

The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous https://amzn.to/2PhrQXP

Blockchain in Practice by Lucas Cervigni https://amzn.to/2vd3tS4

The Internet of money by Andreas Antonopoulos https://amzn.to/2PkxCI1

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore https://amzn.to/2v9fU19

If this is a man by Primo Levi https://amzn.to/2KOoInJ

People over profit by Dale Partridge https://amzn.to/2KPxWjE  

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari https://amzn.to/2GvSs4w

The Power of Blockchain for Healthcare by Peter B. Nichol https://amzn.to/2vcPXha

CRYPTO 101: Johnny's Guide to Cryptocurrency https://amzn.to/2KMBQK5

Authors and the Blockchain

If you would like to connect with any of our guests today here’s a list of the places you can find them:

Alice Hildkova is @alicehlidkova on Twitter

Angela Wright is @happyangela on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelakwright/

Diana Berryman is @BlockSparks on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianaberryman/

Felicity Feinman is @felicityfeinman on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicityfeinman/

John Boatman is @johnboatman_UK on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-boatman-a048b6/

Kyle Graden is @KyleGraden on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylegraden/

You can find Mario Butler-Chatman on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ironmanico/

Matthew Aaron is @Matthew__101 on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-aaron-21212726/

Nathan Worsley is @NathanWorsley_ on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-worsley-7b3489153/

Shawn McBride is @McBrideForBus on Twitter and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rshawnmcbride/

You can find Sukhi Jutla on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sukhijutla/

You can find Vickie Mckennzie on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mckennavickie

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

And from this week you can join our NEW community on Facebook! Be one of the founding members, and join in the conversation.

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913, and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

Jen Greyson is the CEO and founder of CoCo, the airbnb of office space. 

Her career began in corporate America, and found her way to the blockchain world about 2 years ago - finding a huge contrast between the secrecy of the business world and the transparency and collaborativeness of blockchain projects, as well as the speed of change of and development. She also felt an immediate sense of connection and fit, with the community and everything it’s working to accomplish.

Jen’s present project was borne out of a need as a digital nomad and parent, to find accessible and affordable office space on the road. With so many empty desks around the world, and so many people needing temporary spaces to get on and work, they’re bringing the two communities together on the blockchain.  Using blockchain and smart contracts makes so much sense, to create the transparency and accountability needed for both parties and eliminate foreign exchange arbitrage. And soon every travelling worker will be able to find a desk or a meeting room anywhere in the world...

We also discussed the role of women in blockchain, and Jen expressed admiration for the pioneering work of women in the space who are leaning in and opening doors, making space for every skill that the industry needs (far more than technical skills).  Blockchain needs more women, as users and problem solvers and business people… So that we can develop solutions which meet real needs in society “if women aren’t part of the conversation, they can’t be part of the change”. Women are part of so many decisions and processes in society, and blockchain is going to impact on many of these areas of life, we must ensure we’re part of the dialogue. Women care about who else will be impacted, and we’ll move heaven and earth to create change for people.  

We talk about the ‘marmite’ nature of the space – to which nobody ever seems to be indifferent. And the way crypto years run differently to normal time!  But there’s a warm welcome guaranteed for everyone, so come on in!

Keep in touch with Jen and her work at CoCo:

https://twitter.com/JenGreyson

https://gowithco.co

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jengreyson/

“I'm @jengreyson on every platform, so I'm super easy to find”

M is for Mimblewimble

 A new blockchain protocol, enabling some very specific privacy and scalability properties. Dark art, or the future of privacy? That remains to be seen. Cryptocurrency implementations include Grin and Beam

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

And from this week you can join our NEW community on Facebook! Be one of the founding members, and join in the conversation.

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913, and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

If you have been with us for a little while then you’ll know we talk a lot about some of the challenges and implications of managing your cryptocurrencies and holding them securely. But, it’s important to understand that there are alternatives to direct investment, and there exist a growing range of funds and managed products, which provide other opportunities. You don’t have to buy and hold cryptocurrencies yourself, to be exposed to the growth potential.

To discuss this we’re very pleased to be joined by Veronica Mihai, who is the Founding Partner & Head of Investor Relations at Bloomwater Capital. Her diverse interests and wiggly career path to this role reflect everything we love about the crypto journey, and makes for a great conversation - ranging from women in tech to lifelong learning.

And of course we talk about Bloomwater Capital, and what a hedge fund does - who is allowed to invest in them, how they are regulated. And we also discuss other funds and investment vehicles for digital assets, including derivatives and index funds, and the prospects for crypto-based ETFs. Lots of ways to try and master the volatility of this asset class... But we don’t give any financial advice or recommendations, not on this podcast!

Let us know what you think, about Veronica’s insights and views on this important subject.

And keep in touch with Veronica:

linkedin.com/in/veronicamihaidas

bloomwater.com

[email protected]

@AleenaVero on Twitter

Crypto Alphabet: L is for the Lightning network

A second layer payment protocol, which sits on top of the cryptocurrency (such as bitcoin) - a direct payment channel which enables faster smaller payments to happen, without each one getting written to the blockchain itself.

It has the potential to revolutionise the way bitcoin and other cryptos work, because it addresses many of the scalability issues the network faces. We really want to find an expert to come and explain it to us in an interview soon, but for now here’s an introduction to the Lightning network, and second layer protocols in general.

_________________

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

And from this week you can join our NEW community on Facebook! Be one of the founding members, and join in the conversation.

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913, and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

We talk a lot about how the blockchain is tamper-evident and censorship resistant. But what does this mean for the data it holds? How will we have to rethink the way we share, disclose and commodify data - whether that’s our personal data, or information about things which affect us? With powerful new regulation in Europe in 2018, including a mandatory ‘right to be forgotten’, these are important issues for every consumer to consider and understand.

And we’re delighted to have with us to discuss this, Roxana Nasoi  -

Roxana is an advocate for Community + Technology, with 10 years experience in online business, data analytics, and marketing. Former Elance & Upwork ambassador (2012-2018). Currently CCO at Aimedis B.V. and co-host at The Cryptolaw Podcast & Nothing at Stake Podcast. Member of the European AI Alliance and core team member at World Ethical Data Forum.

She has worked in blockchain since 2015, and her work with Aimedis involves processing lots of very sensitive medical data - and offering patients a very different relationship to it, in terms of value and control. A completely changed paradigm from the likes of Facebook, where you never truly own your data, never mind decide what to do with it.  A really interesting conversation, spanning everything from blockchain application layer risks to the potential use of deep learning AI to make sense of legally compliant privacy policies. No wonder there are so many interesting career paths and opportunities in blockchain as a result.

Keep up with Roxana’s work here:

Medium: https://medium.com/@roxanasoi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roxanasoi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxananasoi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roxana.nasoi

company website: https://aimedis.com/

Crypto Alphabet: K is for KYC

Just like banks, crypto exchanges need to ‘know their customer’ - that’s you. How does this sit with the idea of anonymous peer-to-peer exchange of value? And how much regulation is the trade-off for adoption and market growth?

Learn all about the mysteries of ‘Know Your Customer’ legislation, in today’s crypto alphabet section.

Today The Crypto Confidence podcast talks to an expert in the principles of peer-to-peer crypto trading, to bring this important concept to life for listeners seeking to better understand the way bitcoin was originally envisaged. Nathan Worsley, CTO of LocalCoinSwap (LCS) details how the LCS exchange is bringing the original vision of Nakamoto to life.

He says,

“Peer-to-peer was the original principle of the Satoshi whitepaper in 2009. There was nothing in there about vast centralised portals holding private keys for third parties and making massive profits.  By creating a platform where traders can connect to one another, we’re being true to the vision of Nakamoto and facilitating direct transactions from one individual to another in an open global network”.

For further information on LocalCoinSwap take a look at their website: https://localcoinswap.com/en/

Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Localcoinswap_

Or join their Telegram group: https://t.me/localcoinswap

Crypto Alphabet:

J is for JOMO; the ‘joy of missing out’

OK, I don’t mind admitting that we struggled a bit with J. It doesn’t even exist in some languages! And whilst we could have hit you with a discussion J-curves, we decided instead to talk about the Joy of Missing Out.

Yes, today we celebrate JOMO - which is the antonym the more frequently used term FOMO, the FEAR of missing out. Because during this crypto winter particularly, missing out really rocks sometimes!

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

We also have a new Telegram group, for all things crypto - come and chat! https://t.me/CryptoConfidencePodcast (if you’re new to Telegram don’t worry, it’s just another messaging app, and very easy to get started with)

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913, and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

I’m flying solo today as I wanted to talk to you today about a concept in digital currency which we bump into a lot, but can require a bit of explanation. That is the idea of tokenisation.  This is a fundamentally disruptive idea (sorry, there’s that word again, but it’s true - the fortunate thing is, the disruption is largely at the institutional stage, with relatively little impact on you as the user)

If you like, tokenisation is the disruption of money

So to appreciate this, we have to first understand exactly what money is.

Money can be understood in many ways, such as a store of wealth and value, and a way of accounting for things. Day to day though, money is our means of exchange - and this makes it very different from other forms of wealth such as property, or jewellery, or other kinds of assets like bullion or stocks. Listen to the podcast to hear more about this.

Crypto Alphabet

I is for ICO

ICO stands for initial coin offering, and this is a way in which new cryptocurrency projects can raise funds to launch their business, by selling their own crypto tokens. It’s a bit similar to the way investors buy shares in a company through an initial public offering, but it’s got some important differences. Not least, the fact that ICO tokens can usually only be bought using bitcoin and ether (although some projects have found innovative ways to offer fiat currency payment gateways).

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

We also have a new Telegram group, for all things crypto - come and chat! https://t.me/CryptoConfidencePodcast (if you’re new to Telegram don’t worry, it’s just another messaging app, and very easy to get started with)

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913 , and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

- with Chris Wessels from Paybase

So what does happen when you click ‘pay now’? Chris Wessels, the CTO Of Paybase, explained the tremendous difference between a simple shopping cart - where payment goes from shopper to the merchant via a simple gateway - compared with a marketplace scenario involving multiple buyers and sellers.

Paybase is the most flexible payments solution for platform businesses. Online marketplaces, gig/sharing economy platforms and cryptocurrency businesses are all being undeserved by current payment providers. This is due to the rigid and uncompromising approach that exists within payments, which is causing many innovative firms to fail to reach market.

If you would like to get in touch with Paybase you can do so in the following ways:

On their website: https://paybase.io/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/paybase

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paybase/

Paybase also have a survey that you can take part in. take a look here: https://jessyconflon.typeform.com/to/xWccTn 

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

We also have a new Telegram group, for all things crypto - come and chat! https://t.me/CryptoConfidencePodcast (if you’re new to Telegram don’t worry, it’s just another messaging app, and very easy to get started with)

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913 , and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

On the Crypto Confidence Podcast today I’m talking to Felicity Feinman from ArgoMining

So many of our listeners are curious about crypto mining so Felicity joins us to explain more about that, about what ArgoMining are doing and how anyone can get involved.

Follow ArgoMining on their social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and of course you should visit their website if you want to get started in crypto mining.

Crypto Alphabet:

H is for hashing (and hashrate and hash power)

This is a great fit with today’s theme about mining, and because hash is one of those terms you’ll hear bandied around the crypto mining community a lot, specifically cryptographic hash algorithms.

These algorithms are what keeps the bitcoin network and other networks secure, they’re the very building blocks of the cryptocurrency economy. Listen all the way to the end of this podcast to learn more about hashing.

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

We also have a new Telegram group, for all things crypto - come and chat! https://t.me/CryptoConfidencePodcast (if you’re new to Telegram don’t worry, it’s just another messaging app, and very easy to get started with)

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913 , and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

On the Crypto Confidence Podcast today I’m talking to my BlockSparks colleague and PR expert, Helen Moore, about what has been said about Blockchain in the media in 2018.

We chat about the way that crypto and blockchain are portrayed in the media, how sentiment can affect the markets and what the big news stories of the year were.

Follow Helen on Twitter here.

Read more about Google’s most asked question of 2018 “What is Bitcoin?”. Find out about Coinbase adding Paypal to their platform.

Crypto Alphabet:

G is for gas.

Gas is a small amount of ethereum paid to people who use their computers to record transactions and do other software acts, on the ethereum blockchain. It’s the cost of doing business. Remember that cryptocurrencies can’t make more money out of the mere existence of your money, in the way that central banks can - such as by fractional reserve lending. So simply processing and sending transactions always has a tiny cost involved for the miners, which has to be paid somewhere along the line.

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

We also have a new Telegram group, for all things crypto - come and chat! https://t.me/CryptoConfidencePodcast (if you’re new to Telegram don’t worry, it’s just another messaging app, and very easy to get started with)

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913 , and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU

Today we are joined by Melissa Tate from DOVU which is a crypto-rewards platform for travel. Melissa tells us about how their platform and token works, about how the way we get around is changing and how there was a need for a solution to an increasing travel problem.

DOVU collects data to help create better infrastructure to assist cities to make travel easier and more efficient. This will include buses, trains, cars, bikes and more. Earn tokens by sharing data about the kind of travel that you do!

To follow and keep up to date with DOVU take a look their social media which includes:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dovuofficial

Telegram: https://t.me/dovuofficial

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxiQtFv5gIaxIr1hnF1PQOw

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/DOVU/

Their website is: https://dovu.io/

You can sign up for their Beta platform here https://dovu.io/beta/

Crypto Alphabet:

F is for fork

A hard fork is when a single cryptocurrency splits in two. ... So both fork types create a split, but a hard fork is meant to create two blockchain/coins, and a soft fork is meant to result in one.

Let us explain further in our crypto alphabet series...

If you like what you hear, we’ll be sharing new episodes every fortnight. So please subscribe via your podcast app of choice.

Keep in touch with us on Facebook at Crypto Confidence,  and the official BlockSparks page too.  Tweet us with your questions, or email [email protected]

We also have a new Telegram group, for all things crypto - come and chat! https://t.me/CryptoConfidencePodcast (if you’re new to Telegram don’t worry, it’s just another messaging app, and very easy to get started with)

Want to get started buying your first cryptocurrencies? We recommend Local Coin Swap https://localcoinswap.com/#/register/?referral=3846b08d-d382-4ae0-88c8-c48b411cd913 , and Coinbase https://www.coinbase.com/join/59e9e75fa4c3a001f015ee52 - these links help support the show.

And remember: nothing in this podcast or our related social media, nor anything else published by BlockSparks OU at any location, is intended as financial, investment or trading advice. Everything we share represents our personal opinions, for your information, education, and entertainment only. You should not make any decisions based on anything we share with you, not without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with appropriate professional advisors.  CryptoConfidence is all about being smart and informed and making the right choices for YOU