The Crypto Conversation

Hedera Hashgraph is an enterprise-grade distributed ledger platform. After years of development, Hedera came out of stealth mode and launched the public beta of its mainnet in September. The Hedera team describes the Hashgraph as a 3rd generation public ledger (they refer to Bitcoin as 1st generation and Ethereum as 2nd generation). Hedera claims the Hashgraph can process up to 10,000 transactions per second, an order of magnitude faster than current blockchains. Rather than use a blockchain platform, the Hedera Hashgraph is based on a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph). This form of DLT doesn't rely on a proof-of-work or proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Instead, Hedera network participants act as nodes that validate each other's transactions which leads to faster consensus. However, the hashgraph is not decentralized. Instead, it has a governing council with members including corporate heavyweights such as IBM and Boeing. Mance Harmon co-founder and CEO of Hedera Hashgraph talks about his early years at the Missile Defense Agency where he met Leemon Baird, the inventor of the Hashgraph algorithm. The two tech entrepreneurs say they've solved blockchain's scalability problem. Have they? Let's try and find out... Key takeaway: Hedera is no threat to Bitcoin. But when compared to platform blockchains like Ethereum, Hedera appears to offer a compelling feature set and faster transaction times. Why you should listen: Mance explains why he thinks Hedera is a generation ahead of current blockchains, why the team has been consciously controversial, and why existing within legal and regulatory frameworks is a feature, not a bug. Supporting Links Hedera.com Hedera Hashgraph - Time for Some Fud by Eric Wall Counter Fud by Hedera's Paul Madsen Counter Counter Fud by Eric Wall Fair Access v. Fair Ordering, & Transactions Per Second Examined & Explained Twitter.com/hashgraph Twitter.com/ManceHarmon

The Bitcoin price has risen 300% in 2019 but the long-suffering altcoin markets have not been able to keep pace. Earlier this month, while BTC was in a range, we started to see some altcoin moves. ETH, Stellar and Dodge all made gains in USD and BTC terms. Is there an alt window opening? What are the chances of a Q4 alt season? When is the point of maximum opportunity and minimum risk for altcoins? Can Bitcoin lead a market-wide recovery? Or is there simply more pain to come? Altcoin trader, crypto market researcher, author, and analyst Nik Patel provides his assessment of the crypto markets and where we are in the wider altcoin market cycle. Key takeaway Trading altcoins is extremely risky but it can be profitable. Due to the varied trading experience and diverse nature of global market participants, the altcoin markets are a hyper volatile expression of pure human emotion. Why you should listen Learn why Nik is short term bearish on BTC and why he thinks an alt season may be on the cards for Q4 2019. Nik discusses his website, his research process, the book he published in 2018, An Altcoin Trader's Handbook, and he reflects on the importance of security and what he learned after a significant portfolio loss due to a hack. Supporting links altcointradershandbook.com An Altcoin Trader's Handbook (on Amazon) A-Notsofast-security-primer Jameson Lopp's privacy-protection-proposal turtlebc.com/tools/bull_percentage/btc twitter.com/cointradernik twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ

Bitcoin is the best performing asset on the planet across the last ten years. Modern Portfolio Theory suggests that by allocating 5% of an investment portfolio to Bitcoin, investors could generate outsized returns without taking on high levels of risk. Jack Tatar, an investor, advisor, and author talks about crypto assets as an investment class and reflects on the impact of the book he co-authored - Crypto Assets, the Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond. Key Takeaway: Modern Portfolio Theory suggests that an investment portfolio should allocate 5% towards high-risk, high-return assets such as Bitcoin. Investors can reduce overall risk while maximizing return by holding a diversified portfolio of non-correlated assets. Why you should listen: Learn why Jack thinks Bitcoin hits $20,000 in 2020 and the likely impact of the Bitcoin halving. Plus Jack talks about the altcoin market, his favorite sci-fi novels and the two portfolios he tracks for his Forbes crypto asset newsletter subscribers. Links Forbes.com/newsletters/forbescryptoassetadvisor Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory The Sirens of Titan What's the Deal With Bitcoin? twitter.com/JackTatar twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ

While the SEC drags its feet, the EU is embracing blockchain and the emerging Security Token Offering model. Monique Bachner, a Luxembourg based company law and corporate governance expert discusses the different regulatory approaches of the EU and the U.S. Key Takeaway: Blockchain friendly EU directives are creating a positive regulatory framework for Security Token Offerings. Why you should listen: Learn why Luxembourg is a hub for blockchain, tech and AI. Plus, just because tokenization will soon make it possible to trade a digital sword for a fraction of a Ferrari, it doesn't mean you should. eublockchainforum.eu thinkblocktank.org twitter.com/moniquebachner twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ

Despite a compelling 'world computer' narrative, Ethereum has failed to deliver market-ready applications at scale. With its future no longer a foregone conclusion, Aditya Das discusses his new report that assesses the Istanbul hard fork and Ethereum 2.0. Can the roadmap deliver on the blockchain's early promise? bravenewcoin.com/ethereum-at-the-crossroads twitter.com/bravenewcoin twitter.com/Dascryptoforyou twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ

Ed Felten, a founder at Offchain Labs and Professor of Computer Science at Princeton who served as Deputy Chief Technology Officer to President Obama, joins Andy for a fascinating, wide-ranging discussion on the potential of smart contracts, Bitcoin's exponential growth curve, the tensions between technology and public policy, and why blockchain voting is a non-starter. https://offchainlabs.com https://twitter.com/OffchainLabs https://twitter.com/EdFelten https://twitter.com/bravenewcoin https://twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ

NEM Ventures director Dave Hodgson speaks to NEM's investments in Vimba and IoDLT and how its Catapult upgrade will accelerate the coming wave of interoperable blockchains. Also covered is the emerging Security Token Offering model - and Dave explains the differences between ICOs, STOs and IEOs, before another round of crypto hot takes. https://nem.io/ https://nemventures.io/https://vimba.co/ https://iodlt.com/ https://twitter.com/NemVentures https://twitter.com/bravenewcoin https://twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ https://verifiedtokenframework.com/

Blockstack's Brittany Laughlin joins Andy to explore Blockstack's historic SEC approval and why it's a game-changer for crypto investors around the world. Plus, why Donald Trump's tweets and Facebook's Libra are good for crypto — and another round of crypto hot-takes. https://blockstack.org/ http://www.lattice.vc/ https://medium.com/s/story/why-decentralization-matters-5e3f79f7638e https://twitter.com/br_ttany https://twitter.com/AndyPickeringNZ https://twitter.com/bravenewcoin

Josh Olszewicz reveals the secrets behind successful crypto trading — and explains why most who attempt it end up losing their shirts. Josh also analyzes June's epic Bitcoin rally - and identifies the crucial technical indicators that signaled the bull run weeks in advance. Josh's Brave New Coin reports Josh's Trading tips & tricks

Researcher Andrew Gillick talks about 2 new investment reports that examine negative interest rates and their effect on the economy, plus Modern Monetary Theory and what it means for Bitcoin. He covers the emergence of central bank digital currencies, why negative interest rates could provide an upwind for new forms of commodity money such as Bitcoin and Litecoin, and the likely impact of the May 2020 Bitcoin halving event. Download the reports here: The end of cash: Investing in digital scarcity as a hedge against negative interest rates The war on fake news: An opportunity for decentralized media