Why Bitcoin is interesting
This morning’s Observer column: When the banking system went into meltdown in 2008, an intriguing glimpse of an alternative future appeared. On 31 October, an unknown cryptographer who went by the name...
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Where there’s bits there’s brass
My Observer review of Nathaniel Popper’s book about Bitcoin, Digital Gold. Two things stand out from Mr Popper’s narrative. The first is confirmation of how long and tortuous is the road from a...
View ArticleSo what’s a cryptocurrency, then?
This is the best, most succinct, answer to this question that I’ve some across so far. It’s by the Stanford economist, Susan Athey, and it goes like this: At its core, the new technology that’s been...
View ArticleHMG wakes up to the potential of blockchain technology
This morning’s Observer column: There are not many occasions when one can give an unqualified thumbs-up to something the government does, but this is one such occasion. Last week, Sir Mark Walport, the...
View ArticleThe real cost of a Bitcoin
This morning’s Observer column: Once upon a time, a very long time ago – 2009 in fact – there was a brief but interesting controversy about the carbon footprint of a Google search. It was kicked off by...
View ArticleThe really significant thing about cryptocurrencies: the blockchain
The Bitcoin boom is leading many people to lose their marbles. It’s also distracting public attention from what really important about cryptocurrencies — the blockchain or public ledger that underpins...
View ArticleFacebook moves into global banking
This morning’s Observer column: We’ve known for ages that somewhere in the bowels of Facebook people were beavering away designing a cryptocurrency. Various names were bandied about, including...
View ArticleFacebook thinks it’s a state. US Congress disagrees
This morning’s Observer column: Now that Wimbledon is over, if you’re looking for something interesting to watch, can I suggest heading over to the video of last week’s interrogation by the US Senate...
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