What the #?!* is Bitcoin? | Jeremy Rubin | TEDxBeaconStreet

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Jeremy Rubin, Technical Director of the MIT Bitcoin Project, is going to explain 'what the bleep' Bitcoin is and why he sees it as one of the most interesting innovations in modern computer science. This eye opening talk from TEDxBeaconStreet won't tell you what to think about cryptocurrency, but will leave you with the tools to parse this new and exciting landscape for yourself.
Hacker and MIT Junior Jeremy Rubin is known for his role in the MIT Bitcoin project, an initiative which offered every MIT undergraduate $100 in Bitcoin this fall and his award-winning project Tidbit, which is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the state of New Jersey.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[@divyadarshipandit3220]

the kid at 4:28 be like "wtf is this shit". His expression is priceless 😅😅😂

[@chrisferrell2663]

I came down to the comments PRAYING I'd get to make the first comment on that but KNOWING damn well I wasn't going to be. Someone should check on him I'll bet his head exploded

[@JoshYates]

lol! nice.

[@jorath9644]

ty ! :D

[@jovertortega6367]

damn i missed the kid and got caught up with that chick behind him. 😅

[@justenkarinmerks-roebroek9281]

This is actually a great way of explaining Bitcoin. Thanks for sharing!

[@JonPeroutka]

4:29 this kid gets it

[@JohnChangMBA]

That moment when you realize that what you're watching is confusing you more than before you started watching..

[@pauladondoce7589]

rocker85675

[@migh1005]

Same. I don't understand the human

[@knight22to]

Waay too technical. The public was completely puzzled until the end.

[@woodybood4443]

This is Jesus' BTC wallet. You know what to do. 1BM1nqQxa2yJt6WPAogxrEftUX9kPuMMii Thanks

[@bitpaint2171]

HFSP

[@apoorvamehta7601]

this is a great ted talk! just the right amount of technical jargon for me to understand the basics of bitcoin :)

[@JAKEWJONES]

This video inspired me to request that youtube rank each video with a "calorie burner" ranking. All I know is I am exhausted after watching this! B R A V O !! Great job Jeremy Rubin!

[@JAKEWJONES]

Yocoin is the best future cryptocurrency for small transactions, and was started in India by peeps from Bitcoin. If you missed the chance to become a millionaire from the Bitcoin boom, this is your chance to make it big with Yocoin. Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to help transform the global currencies away from privately owned, non-government owned, parasitic fraudulent fiat banking systems that most crooked government corporations (like the United States Corporation filed in the state of Delaware) are using, such as the Federal (not federal) Reserve (no reserve) Banking system. Just grab a position now FOR FREE, and watch your business grow. Then when you are comfortable.... invest in a little Yocoin. I myself currently have 12,000 Yocoin. Just message me via my youtube channel or my phone or email listed on my website www.coinraider.com, and I will get you set up for free with a simple NAME, EMAIL AND PHONE NUMBER. You do not have to invest in cryptocurrency to start seeing an income from it.

[@bigubee]

JAKE W JONES I too am a YoCoin holder and glad I listened to my coach buy and tell others about it. Yocoin is right now at .03 per coin vs .08 when I purchased. Time go buy more!

[@charbeltannios546]

Excellent content and presentation...👏👏👏👍👍👍

[@NickPudar]

Well done Jeremy!

[@CRIresearch]

Looking for a 16 minute journey into the heart of Bitcoin, look no further. From zero-knowledge proofs to multi-sig, all made fun. Great to see a couple youngsters in the crowd as well.

[@Brismo7]

James, you're the man!

[@TheSkypeGirls]

This ted is really awesome!

[@nirvanaurantian6834]

What do use use for transactions? US $ are debt instruments. Understand currency and the history behind it.

[@lorenza2589]

Great technical explanation!

[@alphacuremother1019]

Not bad learned alot from this one

[@CaudaMiller]

jay, heres another thing. everything you saw is part of aggressive advertisement of those who own it most pushed onto unknowing victims for Btc not to loose value... after initial euforia, value of btc is loosing value... belive me, you missed any opportunity to gain anything from it... even if its value goes up. again, jumping on a train now just makes earliest owners richer

[@mikescott7352]

Cauda Miller Free Bitcoins Here: freebitco.in/?r=583925

[@CaudaMiller]

Mike Scott thx.ill pass

[@Penkills75]

I hope yall millionaires now haha

[@nnmartin94]

I can pause the video and look these concepts up. With that taken into account, this is a GREAT summary by a passionate expert - not so sure about the crowd there however.

[@ArmadusMalaysia]

I'm not being sarcastic. This is a good explanation. Although he's going slightly fast with his slides being too long to read, but it made me understand more how bitcoin works technically. I'm pretty sure it's still a basic summary.

[@talibtalib199]

Oufjcnff

[@trungleung4247]

I don't feel Jeremy captured the mind of the audience at all. There was a lot of awkward analogies and uncomfortable attempts at making jokes.

[@SilentDrex]

Kid got completely lost in 4:28 So by 5:30 he's like, "screw it! it's time to fiddle with that cloth sticking from that seat!"

[@kuwait85]

this was a very technical answer to a simple question

[@Villeartt]

was looking for an explanation of bitcoin. did not find

[@Seth9809]

I understand more or less what it is now.

[@9rocks10]

One of the best explanation in youtube without wasting your minutes.

[@frankholmes5744]

It was informative and insightful on the complexity needed to move money free from theives

[@joephillips3997]

Well, this kind of reminded me of a math class, barely understanding chapter 1 and the class was already in chapter 5. Completely lost!

[@rollingthunder7258]

XAVID YK, Well said, BRAVO!

[@kuljeetjhala7]

amazing test Again

[@Dubidubidoo123]

For those that don't understand you'll need to understand 3 things. 1) general ledger is an accounting term 2) block chain (look into/google it) 3) he literally broke down the connection between financial institutions, encryption, data, ID verification, digital currency, preventing counterfeiting, decentralized control, and condensed it in under 16 minutes... if you think you know what it is and thought it was confusing you really don't know what it is.

[@HolyFlavorAid]

I can't even remember my passwords. *head explodes*

[@mdhopper]

The faces in the crowd are so funny. No one there, (including myself) understands this!

[@uosiu77]

seems to be a good lecture, but it's like 2 times to fast :)

[@robzachary3708]

I tried watching thiS at 5am having not been able to sleep. When I started nodding off I figured the tiredness caught up with me so I'd try to watch it tomorrow, which I didin the afternoon. I fell asleep

[@vinodkumar-xj7ic]

The members of this community. And specially to the founder, MR.Sergey Mavrodi for made this wonderful system and community #MMMGlobal #MMMExtra #Bitcoin #Bitcoins #BTC #‎BitcoinReview #‎BitcoinNews

[@Tonysmithmusic]

This is too technical for a non technical audience, it would be better to show the basic network features and potential for other apps in the future built onto the bitcoin network. I prefer Andreas antonopolous talks on bitcoin.

[@TheSkypeGirls]

Yeah, I hope they will invite Andreas Antonopoulos!

[@ttraderjim]

Dazzled by brilliance or baffled by bullshit. Jeremy's MIT credentials make me think his presentation is brilliant.

[@Josh-ot4ge]

MMM GOOD~~~ 100%!! #MMMGlobal #MMMExtra #Bitcoin #Bitcoins #BTC #‎BitcoinReview #‎BitcoinNews

[@user-xy9cx3od8d]

超级MMM，是一个伟大的平台，在这里普通人可以通过公平的交易改变自己的命运，脱离贫穷、获得财富，这是一个慈善、公平的平台。 #MMMGlobal #MMMExtra #Bitcoin #Bitcoins #BTC #‎BitcoinReview #‎BitcoinNews

[@willievanhetkerkhof286]

易改变自己 with rice please.

[@JumpNationFilms]

4:30 5:30 why do they blink so much?

[@NTC]

+Àleifr Klingfjordr hahahaha... so hilarious

[@UseHERname93]

+Àleifr Klingfjordr lmaooooooooooooo

[@kyanrowse4150]

The audio is so out of sync. Has anyone else noticed this its like 3 secs out.

[@senior1110]

At last some technical explanation of bitcoin.. Sorry for those who have not taken Comp Sci. Just trust the nerds.

[@callummacroni5593]

senior1110 have you given it a thought to invest on Bitcoin or other crypto currencies?

[@vivekbadami8053]

Great talk, but the camera spends TOO much time scanning the audience. It is very distracting.

[@rajinderkumar5965]

MMM is a global support network, where you can realize their dreams. MMM is a global support network, where you can realize their dreams.

[@speedkiss22]

and save humanity from the banks

[@shradhyar]

most cryptography related videos that I've watched, use the names Alice and Bob as an example

[@MrRojakMe]

solver meaning miner ?

[@ewoknroll]

He completely made everything up. He just heard the word an hour before this when they picked him up from the asylum and took off his straight jacket.

[@DrR1pper]

Isn't bitcoin anonymous so long as you do not publish your (master) public key which if you did, anyone could then use it to track all the money that has moved in and out of your account?

[@ivanverdian1]

What happens if all bitcoin has been mined? Who will be verify the ledger?

[@ericwilsonlive]

Kid's face @4:30

[@MadMaxBLD]

Why are they cutting to the audience so often and for so long? I want to see the guy giving the talk!

[@beenn15]

now i'm more confused. Thanks pal

[@LaLaTheRockstar]

That kid at 4:28 will become a Bitcoin Hecker

[@rollingthunder7258]

the assigned value is individually, is on each person. HOW MUCH "MULA $$$" you dare to invest or deposit, what price value you have including house's, yats, Lamborghini, motorcycles, flees n ticks etc.

[@pooshlaooo]

ha! kids face at 4:28

[@gregorywindrum8669]

so what is it?

[@willievanhetkerkhof286]

its like email that made normal post to expensive. Bitcoin works for almost free. No banks needed.

[@golferchin76]

This is like a programmer explaining c language to common people.

[@migh1005]

Exactly!

[@arielgabizon78]

TED was originally about people sharing their *own* cool ideas. Why do we have a hundred TED talks of other people explaining Satoshi's cool ideas?

[@lesovaj]

Because Satoshi cannot be found. lol

[@nameerfdjf]

I still dont get what bit coin is or how or where to obtain/use/earn/spend ect... someone help! !!

[@ontheblockchain2183]

david freeman The website end of my channel might be helpful: www.ontheblockchain.net

[@josephjj1244]

All this is like talking Greek with a German, it sounds the same but really hard to understand, i recommended to go for telecoin cause it can be understood as the developers made everything simple and easy to understand.

[@kennethslayor8177]

So the initial start up cash for bitcoin came from the bailout of the banks that did not require any conditional use of the money supplied to the banks.

[@agostonberko]

the point is that the power of microcomputing is able to create for us unique serialnumbers in a heartbeat... these numbers won't be able to repeat themselves again in the upcoming 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 years. So, bitcoin is secure, bitcoin is free, banking systems should be obliterate for lifetime. Every unique transaction code is autentificated by other unique identifiers... Bitcoin is the future.

[@t0nno]

4:28 He is just about to pass out from WTF

[@tejendra.patil_]

long live MMM

[@yinyang9109]

Just want to know what happen to the value of Bitcoin if this limited amount of crypto currency by 2040 when half, or worst, most of them got lost and unrecoverable in the block chains through human mismanaging and handling?

[@user-tf3qv1rs2r]

MMM是一个公平的财务互助平台，它让大家实现财务自由为目的，让我们都来加入MMM平台，一起改变世界！#MMMGlobal #MMMExtra #Bitcoin #Bitcoins #BTC #‎BitcoinReview #‎BitcoinNews

[@user-cz4tr6dz7y]

good

[@TracyGreenwood]

I can't stop thinking that he looks like he belongs on The Brady Bunch.

[@idicula1979]

Bitcoin is computer mining to what end? What does Bitcoin labor actually produce?

[@SAL-fs1mr]

The mining process updates the blockchain with the latest transactions and secures the bitcoin network from attacks.

[@bobason456]

Go easy on him. He seems to have enough nonce to know what he is talking about but just generally lacks the ability to convey that information to a public audience.

[@gayatribansal294]

mmm global is a helping community join nowthen us task me #hastags diye h vo linkhna h

[@ralphtouch8962]

.75 speed helps.....some...maybe...guess I'll listen again.

[@onemindonespirit]

This is why you don't watch Ted videos for knowledge.

[@elvancor]

I understand nothing.

[@johnchevalier290]

Way to complicated for average Joe

[@uoyebuttnuocca]

geeky version of tom cruise.

[@Amintoymaker]

After Watch Full video, What is Bitcoin?

[@nuurgedi]

titel should be how to use bitcoin.or the answer was waiting for who is the owner and why is secret

[@phonesolution7641]

mmm is the great in the world

[@timelliott414]

i like to consider myself pretty techincaly savvy and i was lost a couple of mins in

[@yavormarinov5881]

for the not IT audience it will be hard to get :S

[@davidmurphy4779]

Before making decisions on monetary policy FED considers general economic conditions in the country, alternatives of monetary policy, forecasts of the economy ( FOMC 200 Phd economists conduct economic researchs on economic conditions, alternatives of monetary policy etc.). All of these are done in order to make money supply proportional to the total output of the economy. And, this is directly job of economists who studies the BEHAVIOUR humanbeings on decision making. So, how mathematical formulas could predict the behaviour of humans??? Moreover, if there is no any institution controlling the supply of bitcoin, and if it is produced at predermined rate every 10 minutes. How the total supply of bitcoin can be proportional to the total output in the economy???

[@sandustmandy2191]

my IQ is 59 and I can understand him easily unlike other bitcoin explanation videos. can't believe I can now understand more about this abstract currency. this guy from MIT is really good at simplify thing. he is a good entertainer to. I think I should sell all of my golds/silvers that my ancestor gave then buy bitcoin instead. I only need dollars for food and cloth. from the looks of it Bitcoin is future for mankind. it will shake the very foundation of big banks and decentralized. it can even disrupt Hollywood.

[@Seth9809]

Nice meme.

[@Danster82]

The talk was too technical for the audience but good nonetheless.

[@BrainMusicCenter]

I have no idea what is going on here. Every time I try to learn about bitcoin..it's just...phew...way over my head. It seems like one must know computer programming to understand this. Is there any way for the casual person to understand???

[@vito7pt]

Llamarama Dingdong andreas antonopoulos, check this guy. You'll understand. ✌️

[@Steve197201]

Sounds pretty complicated. I think I'll just stick to cash, debit cards, and online banking.

[@world_languages4505]

No.

[@user-cp2hk7wj4r]

马夫罗非常棒，只要你每天能去完成一个小要求就可以获得他的满额奖励，这是一个大家互相帮助的地方，快来加入我们吧！ #MMMGlobal #MMMExtra #Bitcoin #Bitcoins #BTC #‎BitcoinReview #‎BitcoinNews

[@tomatocan2502]

i love the comment people who want to know what bitcoin is but just want a simple analogy and spared the details. to difficult to understand.

[@PrestonNaquin]

Lots of the commenter on this video are too hard on this guy - Be nice you only given a short time on this Earth - Be nice - He is a person just like you, except he has over 250 thousand peoples eyes on him. Your horriable comments against another human are not right. Stop being mean.

[@cryptoking7265]

anyone know about GIG9 is it good ICO lots of hype in the groups!

[@migh1005]

Can you talk like on earth? 😁

[@shawnburnham1]

2:39

[@vrhope]

thanhs

[@sherrys6460]

This guy’s shirt tells he saves every penny to invest into bitcoin

[@morganrich5959]

I count myself as a successful trader because of the amazing trading strategy of Mr Princewill brown Trading and bitcoin mining

[@climbaron3798]

what a coincidence i trade with him also Mr princewill have been the reason behind my success in trading, i make excess profit

[@bitjark6539]

everyone keeps talking about this same man, please how can i get to him? i guess i am ready to trade now.

[@morganrich5959]

@@bitjark6539 you can clear your doubt and contact him

[@Jabaltaya]

I am half way through the video and I think I know less than before 😂

[@migh1005]

Same

[@ThompterSHunson]

I lost him at the first 3 minutes... and i know what is Bitcoin! lol

[@sisekelodlamini4468]

+animaonathens hey, i want to get started on bitcoin and have been doing research, please help me out?

[@ThompterSHunson]

Sisekelo Dlamini what kind of help you need?

[@sisekelodlamini4468]

+animaonathens I heard about bitcoin exactly 3 days ago. and I am going crazy. the only research I have is videos and different sites.I would like to hear from someone within the system and how and where do I start?

[@monsurharun9067]

+Sisekelo Dlamini Hi, i have managed to accumulate some really good material about Bitcoin as i am doing research into other types of Cryptocurrecny for investment purposes. If you would like to find out more please contact me.

[@TheBull06]

+Monsur Harun can you teach me please i wanna learn to program in this and have a good paying job

[@neurotraveller]

I would have avoided the details of what's under the hood. A better talk would have been big picture how it's going to change the financial system, governments and the planet.

[@maxfindus]

As he said in the introduction, that would have been pretentious. No one knows how it's going to change anything, just like no one in 1995 knew what the internet would bring to the world. At best, you could discuss what changes it is bringing to the world right now, but that's very limiting for bitcoin compared to its potential.

[@TheSkypeGirls]

PlasmaPhysics At least it would give people a clue why they need Bitcoin.

[@febo48]

+neurotraveller He is not selling Bitcoins. HE is explaining how it works. Bitcoin needs infrastructure. Programmers need to understand to build applications. I totally agree, that fro normal people is no need to understand how Bitcoin works. You also dont have any ideas what Western union does, when you send your money to Philippines. Or what pay pal does when you buy something from Australia. When infrastructure will be built, Bitcoin will be real easy thing and most of us will not even realize we use it. :) Right now Bitcoin is great opportunity for all programmers to build infrastructure and earn nice income on it latter.

[@TheBwerts1]

The blank stares...this was painful to watch, but if you have background in Bitcoin, you were nodding in agreement.

[@rollingthunder7258]

South America is getting in the boat, talking about IQ.

[@mainormurillo7254]

Now I am really f..... confused,,,, WFT can some explain this on a simple way ??

[@TonyDQT]

Why is this on ted?

[@shawnburnham1]

5:00

[@daultonbaird6314]

what happens when the IRS goes after it ?

[@febo48]

+Daulton Baird IRS will tax all economy that will be build around it. What will bitcoin block chain do will only make transfer of money/pay cheaper then is now. so less profit for banks. Blockchain is there forever, so you cant hide anything. For IRS Bitcoin is like God.

[@migh1005]

Now you confused anyone...

[@MAHispanos]

I bet this kid now has thousands of dollars for the bitcoin he had around when he recorded this talk. Good for him. It was around 330 USD back then, presently bitcoin is at 4310 USD.

[@callummacroni5593]

Octavio Chavez and have you thought investing or mining on Bitcoin yourself for a try?

[@MAHispanos]

Havent saved up enough money for that yet. Once I do save some, I definitely will.

[@callummacroni5593]

Octavio Chavez like I said, give it a try and if when you are ready to invest, I will be there to assist and guide you on how to go about it.

[@zonghuihue1163]

i wonder how many of them are millionaires today.