221 – Jonathan Hamel of Academie Bitcoin – The Possibilities of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency consulting and education... Jonathan Hamel, the founder of Académie Bitcoin, a Montreal-based cryptocurrency consulting firm, joins Pavan Bahl, Rob Sanchez, and guest host Brian Laney (VP of Sales at Alert Tech) on location at Valtech’s Innovation Lab during NRF 2018 in New York. Valtech is a global digital agency focused on business transformation. MouthMedia Network is Powered by Sennheiser. In this episode: Hamel reveals how he worked in the mobile payment sector, got interested in cryptocurrency in 2012-13 and into the Bitcoin and blockchain scene in Montreal, and how there is no formal education in cryptocurrency Laney shares a hard luck story, which leads to a larger conversation and understanding on how one is able to transfer value, and the only failsafe protection in cryptocurrency is one private key. The proper ways to save funds, and how wallet technology has evolved The ability to export private keying via pneumonic How crytpocurrency may not actually be a currency, or a transaction for speculation, because it doesn’t have a fixed value so it can’t be traded one-to-one, and therefore is a commodity The potential for custom crypto tokens, unburdening currency to be more manageable and creative, opening up possibilities A great example of blockchain in diamonds, as they can be recut and still have value A supply chain use case Building applications that are censorship resistant, i.e. flight cancellation insurance How blockchain allows automatic processing of policies and payments without trusting a third party Return fraud, and how luxury brands have a counterfeiting problem All the opportunities of the early Internet, and how the Internet allows the small guys to compete with the big guys The Three Musketeers, and Kodak’s recent rebirth returns to an original ethos