Blockchain Keeps Us Connected…
Bitcoin has been in the headlines for quite a few years now… but do we know what the technology behind it actually is? What else could blockchain be good for? For example… helping to create a new form of democracy?
02The Kid Who Talks to the Blockchain
He is only 27 and already a billionaire. More important, though, he gave birth to the technology that showed what blockchain is capable of. Ethereum's creator, Vitalik Buterin, is a fascinating character, and we should expect plenty more serious tech news from him.
03Who Are You, Satoshi Nakamoto?
People drawn to the blockchain have been asking this question for a decade now. Why did the creator of bitcoin vanish, and what did he leave behind before he withdrew? We follow the clues Satoshi Nakamoto left in search of his true face, and of one of the most thrilling stories of the digital age.
04Peter Thiel: The Conservative Visionary
Facebook, SpaceX, Airbnb, LinkedIn, PayPal, Ethereum. The revolution of OpenAI and ChatGPT, the rise of Donald Trump and his ubiquitous (until recently) ally Elon Musk. Is there really one person who ties all these phenomena together? More than that: it is no exaggeration to say that if it weren't for today's hero, hardly any of them would have come true… Peter Thiel has earned the name of a prophet, a guru. The great visionary of the tech age. And yet he holds deeply controversial views that somehow stay out of the big media noise. But that is typical of the German-born entrepreneur. Some see him as the éminence grise of Silicon Valley, others as a sage who can show anyone the road to great success in the technological era. A multibillionaire, he says competition is a deceptive good and monopolies are the solution of the future. He created a large-scale program to help people who choose to abandon their education in order to start their own business, which in turn paves the way for the next generation of tech leaders. All this and much more is Mr. Thiel. It is time he stepped into the spotlight, because he is certainly one of the people who have already changed the lives of each of us. More than that: ever more is expected to depend on him in the turbulent technological times we live in.
05Blockchain Democracy
These days we talk about nothing but artificial intelligence, while another of the big technological trends is developing in the shadows… Is blockchain the next step in the way we organize society? And what does the idea have to do with the ancient oracles? Technology is changing a huge part of our lives. Yet in some areas it stays on the sidelines and never quite catches up. It is clear that when it comes to how we are governed and to democracy, there are problems, and the solutions we know are outdated and inadequate for today. Before long, artificial intelligence will probably enter the paradigm too, as has already been discussed. But in the meantime, shouldn't we try to change things ourselves, as people, with the help of the technologies we already have? This one could make electronic voting, such a contentious subject in our part of the world, completely transparent. And on the other hand, it holds the potential for a far more drastic change: blockchain democracy. A way of making the decisions that concern society in a very unexpected, yet logical way.
06NFTs: Paying Millions for… Nothing
$69,346,250… for a file containing 5,000 images. More than $2 million to buy a tweet… Has the world gone mad, or are we witnessing a fundamentally new technology that lets us buy and sell unique assets?
