Dorion Mode - A blog by Robinson Dorion.

March 18, 2023

[Event] The Fundamentals of Bitcoin at Towerlab

Filed under: JWRD — Robinson Dorion @ 21:00

Just under a year ago, Towerbank announced publicly they'd open accounts and facilitate fiat banking services(i) for people who use math and electricity to communicate value, y'know Bitcoin.(ii) At the Blockchain Summit here July last, they announced they would, at some point in the future, accept Bitcoin as collateral for fiat loans. Then, in the autumn, they partnered with Rodrigo Icaza and his Blockchain Space to convert space in their El Dorado branch office into a coworking area, called Towerlab, where they'd be holding regular educational and networking events. Jacob and I were invited to an inauguration event the last week of January at which point I learned, along with others in the audience,(iii) I'd be giving a presentation on the Fundamentals of Bitcoin on March 23rd.

Here, they made a flier :

/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/towerlab-flier-1024px.jpg

Let's breakdown further these aforementioned fundamentals :

  • How do Bitcoins come into existence ?
  • How are Bitcoins stored and transacted ?
  • How are disputes resolved in a decentralized, Peer to Peer, network ?
  • What protocol risks does Bitcoin face ?(iv)
  • Why is Bitcoin the strongest extant system for protecting property rights ?
  • If I want to be the best Bitcoiner I can be, how should I go about it ?

Logistics

  • Time & Date : 6pm on Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
  • Location : Towerbank, Avenida Miguel A. Brostella, El Dorado. Here's a link to g00gle maps.
  • Format : 45 minute presentation followed by Questions, Answers and Networking.
  • Language : English.(v)
  • Cost : free, open to the public, though the space is limited to about 50 people, so RSVP ASAP.
  • RSVP : submit the JWRD Computing Contact Form or use Eventbrite.

I'm looking forward to seeing you there. Salud !

Update : the video recording is now available for download (part 1 and part 2), as well as the presentation slides.

And a pic, minus a few of the camera shy :

/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/the-fundamentals-of-bitcoin-20230323-1-1600px.jpg

  1. Panama has been placed on various colored lists by the bankrupt socialists to the north who control the correspondent banking network because the Isthmian Republic's asset protection laws were written too well and the bankrupt parties don't like the competition. Thus the socialist have done what they always do when they want to level the field so their stupidity might last just a little longer : attack the fungibility of the currency. In a futile attempt to get off the various colored lists, various banks have become quite allergic to business and since Bitcoin is also competition for the lulzy list makers, it's often the case people lose their accounts if the banks get wind they communicate value with math and electricity. Pecunia non olet will win in the end, it always does. [^]
  2. Apparently they're chain agnostic so they also welcome people who identify with "Crypto", "DeFi" and I'm not keeping up with all the new marketing buzzwords these days, I'm sure there are more. [^]
  3. In this case it's better to be volunteered than passed over, I'd say. [^]
  4. That's right, it won't be a rosy tinted glasses presentation. While I'll cover the many strengths, I'll also shine light on the few weaknesses and sharp edges Bitcoiners might run into. I'm not there to push a sale onto anyone --in fact keeping the wrong people away is nearly as important as bringing the right people in. I'm showing up to explain things how I understand them after 9 years* of due diligence and practice and let those with ears hear.
    ___ ___
    * Going on 3 block halvings !!
    Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum captos circumvectamur amore. [^]
  5. If you commit to proper due diligence on Bitcoin and its history, you have to read English because that's what the primary sources wrote in. Bitcoin isn't going to adapt to you, it's an evolutionary pressure to be adapted to. Plus, Panama probably has more English speakers per capita than Miami, so I don't reckon it'll be a problem. [^]

5 Comments »

  1. Updated with links to the video recordings, presentation slides and a pic of the attendees. The video was streamed to instabook, from which some viewers submitted questions at the end.

    We tried making a recording with my Sony DSC-RX100. it recorded the first 1/3 or so, but then shutoff for a yet to be determined reason, it had plenty of battery.

    My delivery can use some further polishing, but from the feedback so far, the content was impactful.

    One contradiction I made was "there's no such thing as random numbers, but only random processes from which random numbers are mined/extracted." The numbers are never random, only the processes from which said numbers can be extracted from are.

    I also said the hardware TRNG I showed is a "pseudorandom generator". The output is NOT psuedorandom, but cryptographic randomness ! (facepalm) Read more about the device here. Apologies.

    Questions/comments from any asynchronous viewers are of course welcome here.

    Further articles to flesh out further some of the ideas discussed are forthcoming.

    Thanks again to Rodrigo Icaza and Towerbank for having me.

    Comment by Robinson Dorion — March 24, 2023 @ 19:08

  2. Apologies if this was part of the live presentation and I just missed it from the video but it might be of interest to point out that there is already an accounting standard for Bitcoin businesses, namely the MPEx standard, produced as early as 2013 and publicly used for instance by Minigame during the whole of its activity, from 2013 to 2021.

    I'm mentioning the above specifically since I understand (from public statements as reported in the press, e.g. by Tim Alper for Cryptonews.com) that Rodrigo Icaza from the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain of Panama would like to see more formalized statements from Bitcoin businesses to help their interfacing/interaction with fiat banks. The above standard specification and its available, public use can serve perhaps as a more concrete starting point for promoting both practice and further discussion on this topic, if desired.

    Comment by Diana Coman — March 26, 2023 @ 16:49

  3. @Diana Coman, ah, you did not miss it in the presentation, it was I who neglected to include it ! Thank you for reminding me and I will be sure to discuss with him either here or in sidebar in case he has questions.

    Comment by Robinson Dorion — March 26, 2023 @ 20:44

  4. [...] Baxter's in 2020 and 2021, Identity Money and Banking in the Internet Age at La Manzana in 2022 and The Fundamentals of Bitcoin at Towerlab last month. [...]

    Pingback by [Event] Why you need passwords and how to make them strong. on Dorion Mode - A blog by Robinson Dorion. — April 29, 2023 @ 17:59

  5. [...] The fundamentals of Bitcoin. [...]

    Pingback by [Junto] Picking the lock of your Silly Con Valley provisioned digital cage and getting started owning your computer is easier than it seems. on Dorion Mode - A blog by Robinson Dorion. — September 9, 2023 @ 17:36

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