David Yerack: Crytocurrencies: The Basics – FESCH.TV

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

In 2008, a white paper appeared by a still-unknown author, presumed to have used a pseudonymous name, outlining the concept of a decentralized digital currency which we now
call cryptocurrency. The author invented Bitcoin, the very first decentralized form of digital cash that had no central governing or controlling body, that operates through a distribution technology known as the “blockchain.” Today there are many different such currencies (“coins”) and the subject has only entered the public consciousness over the
past two years; however, it remains a mystery to most of us. 

What is the Blockchain? What is a token? What does it mean to “mine” the system? Why are there so many apparently different currencies in addition to Bitcoin? How does purchasing something with such a currency work compared to buying something with cash or a credit card? How do transactions using cryptocurrencies work and how do they compare to our current system of cash and credit cards? What is its future? Is it regulated in any country? Professor Yermack will present the key concepts, terminology now widely in use, and operations (cryptocurrency 101). 

David Yermack is the Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation
and Chairman of the Finance Department at New York University’s Stern School of
Business, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1994. In 2014 Prof. Yermack
began teaching a full semester course at NYU on Digital Currency and Blockchains with his
Law School colleague Prof. Geoffrey Miller. The course was the first in the world on this
topic taught at a major university, and it now draws more than 300 students annually.
Professor Yermack was awarded AB (1995), MBA (1991), JD (1991), AM (1993) and PhD
(1994) degrees, all from Harvard University. In addition to his research on blockchains and
digital currencies, Professor Yermack has published some of the most cited papers in the
fields of executive compensation and corporate governance. He has also written papers on
such diverse topics as options in baseball player contracts, incentive compensation for
clergymen, tobacco litigation, fraudulent charitable contributions, CEOs’ mansions, and the
fashion industry. He is a frequent speaker on digital currency and blockchains to academic,
industry, and government audiences.