Blockchain 2025

Without a doubt, exchanges, or banks, such as San Francisco based Coinbase have onboarded more folk to cryptocurrencies than any other. Ease of use. Frictionless transactions. At the same time, hacks, flash crashes, government raids and lawsuits are ongoing issues for centralized crypto exchanges. Bank of America recently admitted to doctoring paperwork on over 16 million market orders from institutional clients, claiming to have immediately executed their orders while actually routing these orders to other firms before executing them. If P2P decentralized exchanges take over, it could change the world as we know it.

We are bullish on file storage using the blockchain. The cloud is just someone else's computer. And you are susceptible to others accessing your data (see Dropbox hack) A blockchain solution would empower decentralized end-users: files are encrypted, distributed, and then distributed in redundancy all around the world. You’re the only person who can access your files. Not even someone hosting your files can get to them, theoretically.   

Religion has always been very top-down, and for good reason. We explore the idea of religion without a central authority. Scripture = Ledger? Matt Liston and Avery Singer made a blockchain-based religion called Zero Ex Omega. Their first totemic object is a narwhal with a doge head, and their place of worship is a chat room. Tying it all together, the Bitcoin world has its own remnants of religious themes and figures.

This is an episode that sounds like a Sci-Fi movie. But it is (eventually) going to happen and that is very exciting! Imagine a world where anyone can become a market maker; profit from information and knowledge you have. We have people who call themselves experts and we really don’t know … prediction markets will have a radical impact on the way we consume media. Journalism, global warming, business, politics .. all will be affected.

What if we could organize property titles to a blockchain? Tokenize real estate all over the world? In Haiti, the disastrous earthquake in 2010 had a destructive effect on the land registry: approximately 16,000 civil servants were killed and an unknown number of title deeds and land registry records were destroyed. To this day, land ownership issues are still unsolved. Very few of us can afford an apartment in San Fran or Hong Kong, but what if we could invest just a few hundred dollars? Fraud and Cybersecurity Vulnerabiliies   Lack of International Standards Lack of Liquidity Lack of Transparency    

In 2017, Global Financial Integrity estimated the global drug industry added up to $652 billion of trade per year, making it the second biggest underground market after the $1.13 trillion of activity in the counterfeit and pirated goods market. When you add in the domestic and household economy of the world’s households, the subsistence economy, the barter economy, the volunteer economy, the “under the table” economy, the criminal economy and a few other smaller players, you get something that adds up to 3/4 of the world’s total economic activity. The formal economy – the territory of professional and paid work, of tax statements and GDP – is only 1/4 of the world’s total economic activity. In short, "black markets" make the world go round. What role will anonymous cryptocurrencies and decentralized marketplaces play in our transition to the information age?

Stuart tells us some stories about Scotland's pride: Buckfast tonic wine, which is prone to causing poor behavior. From there, we tackle: The traditional wine market: the exporter, the importer, the distributor, the store, the customer ... a long supply chain that can be improved to be more efficient How feasible is it to move away from in person purchases to online with wine? Baby boomers and millennials, their impact in the current industry Avoiding fraud with blockchain technology: the corks and their fingerprint The potential to decentralize trust in supply chains and bring measurable benefits and value to the public and private sectors. Projects trying to be the solution: Vechain and “My story” app, for eliminating counterfeit VINX, wine futures for giving to consumers a pull or a discount to buy in

Today we are talking about a complex, important industry: Healthcare. It is especially poor in the United States, so we invited an expert: Ryan Kuriakose of the Open Health Exchange. Ryan and I talk about the challenges of the current ecosystem and examine where blockchain tech may be able to help: Lowering costs Data efficiency and control the Big Pharma industry Help for the underinsured Service providers and the middlemen Regulatory issues Blockchain opportunities in the industry: peer to peer, logistics, empowerment and control of patient data The Open Health Exchange, Ryan's platform Why are prescription drugs so expensive? Why does everyone HAVE to have insurance? In the future, will Peer to Peer healthcare become a dominating force?

Crowdfunding emerged after the 2008 financial crisis in response to the difficulties faced by early-stage enterprises attempting to generate marketing traction and funding. Crowdfunding allows nonprofits, artists, musicians and businesses to form a community of investors and/or fanbase before they launch. Is blockchain the next level? We have a look at ICOs. Can we democratize funding for everything?

Bonus interview: Matt speaks with Jared Tate, founder of DigiByte. Jared is arguably the world's leading expert on blockchain technology. Jared talks about blockchain and it's role for the future: Cybersecurity Insurance International Trade Identity China's "One Belt, One Road" He also has a book coming out with a title that hits close to home: Blockchain 2035

To close out season 1, we will be talking about the original and most popular blockchain use: currency.  Remember, the word "blockchain" came from Satoshi's orginal whitepaper on Bitcoin. Can "digital money" disrupt state-backed currencies like the U.S. Dollar? We look at the impact of cryptocurrency in developing countries and corrupt governments. How is blockchain changing the current industry? Unprecedented speed, low fees, remittance (Intl) payments, and censorship resistance.  

We take a look at the dating industry: Nick tells us how he met his wife, his own experience with algorithms, and the science of compatibility. Identity on the blockchain could lower dating fraud. Decentralized personal information will enhance security for users. New ways where blockchain can take this industry to another level: Sexual consent, true matches, validating reputation and matchmaking. Ponder App Loly Hicky Luna

On today's episode we'll be talking about the music: recorded music and concerts. 20 years ago, Napster and the MP3 crushed record labels and artist revenue. With Spotify, the revenue model is finally recovering (slightly). Still, iTunes, YouTube, Ticketmaster, and Live Nation control (monopolize?) the music and concert ticket industry. Smart contracts can hold music rights information to ensure that artists, songwriters, producers, and everyone involved in the creation of a musical work get paid out correctly and efficiently. Blockchain tech can help artists fund their projects. We discuss: RecordGram / TuneToken - a better system for royalty transparency for artists. SingularDTV - tokenized ecosystem for artists Viberate - smart contracts in the negotiation between musicians, booking agencies and event organizers Guts Tickets - an app for artists, venues, and fans  

Currently, with centralized ad platforms, there is no way to verify data. Advertisers really don’t know what they’re always paying for. Same goes for the publishers. As the popular media has shown, users have very little control over their personal information.  Facebook Ads and Google AdWords are incredibly powerful platforms.  Can they be disrupted? Decentralized advertising projects: AdEX Brave

On today’s episode we’ll be talking about crypto debit cards. You may be wondering why we chose this industry. Many crypto debit card startups are emerging, and some with their own token and blockchain including TenX and Monaco The ability to spend cryptocurrency via a debit card helps with user adoption. The Comit network is on its way. A revolutionary instant payment processing network attempting to replace Visa and Mastercard. Centralized payment processing networks work fairly well in the United States. Most cards are accepted globally and offer low or predictable merchant processing fees. But it’s a different story in developing countries.

On today’s episode, we’ll be talking about how blockchain technology will be impacting the identity verification industry. Online fraud and identity hacks are a serious problem. Identity theft, fraud cost consumers more than $16 billion in 2016. We revisit the Equifax hack and the downsides of the current industry: companies becoming custodians of our data. Your data can live in a centralized company data system forever, vulnerable to data thieves. High school and college kids; Fake ids may be a thing of the past... Two blockchain projects offering a solution to verify identity cheaper, faster, and MUCH more securely: Persona and Civic Blockchain technology has the opportunity to enhance a broken industry for the better.

Today, we’ll be talking about decentralized publishing platforms vs. centralized publishing platforms and how blockchain technology can improve the future of the publishing industry. Let’s take a look at the current state of centralized publishing, for example YouTube. Essentially, you’re building a house on somebody else’s land. You’re at the mercy of Google, their algorithms, and their rules. Competitors flagging content for removal or “spam” is a serious problem which threatens business-minded content creators reliant on publishing income. Also, with respect to monetization, the centralized platform is the gatekeeper. They determine what the revenue splits are, how and how often publishers will be paid, and what compensation rates will be. Crypto startups trying to solve the current challenges of publishing: STEEMIT, Props, Po.et, Flixxo

Fine art is a 3 trillion dollar industry.  The market can be illiquid and difficult for collectors to not only find pieces they're looking for, but difficult for owners to sell. Art galleries and dealers typically make the market. Galleries and dealers can run up prices for inexperienced buyers and put them at a disadvantage. Forget about museums, the overhead is through the roof and they often have to resort to selling their inventory to finance operating expenses. What if a fan could buy a fractional share of their favorite painting? A crypto company that is trying to solve the current challenges of art: Maecenas

Traditional gambling hasn't changed much over the years. Trust, counterparty risk, inefficiency, regulation and fees continue to plague the gaming industry. We take a look at projects like FunFair and Virtue Poker. Gambling is one industry where decentralization, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrency can be utilized to elevate everything.  

Amazon and eBay are leaders in the online marketplace industry. They have both been around for over 20 years! That is a long, long time in the internet game. Could blockchain tech disrupt centralized online marketplaces and pave the way for decentralized marketplaces to take over? • The history of Amazon and eBay • Current pros/cons of centralized marketplaces • Disrupting physical goods • Disrupting digital goods • The gig economy (Upwork Fiverr) • Coin startups like Particl, Syscoin, and District0x