Class note of Blockchain: Imaginaries, Economics, and Cultures
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Course
118221106Y
Institution
Universiteit Van Amsterdam (UvA)
Class note of Blockchain: Imaginaries, Economics, and Cultures with all lectures note and several important readings note (week 1, week 3, week 4, week 5)
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Lecture 1: the introduction to
blockchain
reading 1:
reading 2:
1. introduction
6 lectures - 2 exams: open book
goals:
basic understanding of blockchain-related phenomena as social and
cultural objects
tools for your own further research and enrichment
critical perspective: NFTs, crypto,… just the subjects
2. agenda for this lecture
what is the context that brought about the blockchain?
how does blockchain works?
what is the relationship of blockchain and bitcoin?
3. content
context of blockchain
blockchain will be the future
the crisis of global financial capitalism
not always exist, just recent (2011/2012)
major economic crisis in 2007: many people had a hard time and
everyone lived with it
Corona pandemic in 2020: everyone have to suffer from
Lecture 1: the introduction to blockchain 1
, why was that and how do people deal with it
the economy works as it is
the conclusion for the financial crisis: banks are said to have
caused the crisis and they must also solve it
people want to get rid of government, so that people can act for
themselves without the other authorities in life
Bitcoin white paper - Satoshi Nakamoto (2009)
blockchain: foundation, system to create bitcoin
it was not first attempt to create an online currency, but bitcoin was
the first to be successful
his project responding to a group of hackers who have an obsession
with privacy
they wanted to have a currency that would allow them to be
anonymous
active only after the publication and the launch of bitcoins: working
with how to deal with bitcoin and its system - genesis block
what is needed in an electronic payment system based on
cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any 2 willing parties to
transact directly with each other without the need a trusted third
party
because the bank is manipulate the economy → remove bank =
potential for privacy and not manipulate economy
crypto: remove trust list, able to transact without security and do
not need to know who is the seller/buyers
how to sell things safety?
the crisis of surveillance capitalism
the blockchain could support the activities and resources necessary to
the common
Peer-to-peer technology: Napster
everyone can share the same MP3 together→ common: everyone
can access freely and do not have to pay for it
Lecture 1: the introduction to blockchain 2
, approach: the commons
architectural: sharing, not central server, democratic structure
⇒ open-source software: the commons of code:
fast, peer-to-peer transaction
public access to data, share things without penalty
Youtube: web 2.0
different approach to intellectual properties
architectural: central server, company controlled based on rules,
centralize structure: they able and have the right to change the
rules, and this is kinda unfair
⇒ server-based
⇒ problem: centralization
⇒ BITCOIN: participates in these discourses. It advertises itself as open-source:
the commons of codes.
solutions: decentralization
technology, economics and politics are centralized → less outside
control and say over them
⇒ so they have a lot of power and you can do little about it.
the internet is not centralized.
decentralized protocols for peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing have been
subsequently implemented, to avoid the need for a central points of
failure (or control), which could be legally prosecuted and shut down
can do through centralization architecture
what is blockchain
nature of digital is the copy - if you cannot copy in the cheap, fast and
convenient way, other things is not work as usual
blockchain: distributed immutable public ledger
singular digital object is able to created
digital money’s challenges: copy
making more money from copy
Lecture 1: the introduction to blockchain 3
, prevent people from constantly copy
distributed:
no central server that hold the blockchain
each node have its own ledger
build a decentralized internet network where all of us would access
documents and content without going through server
no server = no center = no one can take it down and control it
immutable
you cannot undo or change it
if you change: it will loose the stable of digitalize object
create an organization to create decentralized organization:
basically contains mentioned philosophy: cannot be traced,
everyone is the shareholders,… but once it is hacked, we cannot
take the money back
public
receipt and transaction: publicly accessed
some unknown, but some known
computers can check it there’s any updates
paradox:
create anonymous transaction
every transaction is being recorded publicly
trustless validation - proof of work
real innovation to create a viable digital currency
how transaction are validated
bad actors in the space: create system when you don’t have to
trust anyone
this is the space for bad actors
want to transfer → propose, broadcast to network → system set
up extremely math problems that need to solve → computer
Lecture 1: the introduction to blockchain 4
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