Understanding bitcoin, cryptocurrency and especially decentralized blockchain technology is not easy and explaining it can be even harder. That was why I had to start getting creative when I was put to the test by my five-year old friend named Billy, asking me what bitcoin was.
Recently Billy came to a disappointing realisation that his toys aren't really his, that it is in fact his parents who have full control over them. He expressed his understandable concerns and I introduced Billy to a magical place where he could keep his toys safe.
When describing this magical place, instead of spouting out words much too abstruse for a five-year old such as blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency or even technology, I used words and concepts that he understood and resonated with.
Billy is a curious little fellow. He doesn't understand complicated technology or economics yet he will gladly string together a never-ending list of questions about what you say. He's a little self-absorbed like most five year olds but he has a good heart and wants the world to be a better place.
Billy: Francis, I’m so annoyed right now! Mummy and Daddy took away all our toys!! They said they didn’t like how we were swapping our toys for candy from our friends...
Francis: Oh really? Sorry to hear that Billy. Do your parents do that a lot to you and your sister?
Billy: Not really but sometimes they say they are keeping my toys “safe” by placing them on a shelf out of my reach. Then if I want to play with them I have to wait until Daddy gets home and feels like getting them for me. They say the toys are mine but really THEY do what THEY want with them! It’s so annnnoyiiiiing!!
Francis: You’ve got that right Billy, in the end they are the ones who have control over your toys.
Billy: I wish I had a place to keep my toys where only I would decide when to play with them. I wish the world was more fair.
Francis: What if I told you that you could put your toys in a magic train where Mummy and Daddy couldn’t touch them? A safe and secure train which doesn’t stop for anybody but the people who have their toys on it, where you would be the only person who has full control over all of your toys, even Crayzy Godzilla with the dangerously sharp edges Mummy is always complaining about?
Billy: That sounds too good to be true Francis, what is this magical place?
Francis: That sounds like very healthy skepticism Billy!
Billy: What does skeptilism mean Francis?
Francis: Skepticism means that you don’t believe something just because some person tells you it’s true, instead you spend time thinking long and hard about what people tell you to do before doing it. These are going to be very important skills to work on during your magical journey, but more on that later Billy.
Billy: OK so what is this magic train?
Francis: Think of it as a train that doesn’t stop for anybody no matter how powerful they are.
If you learn about the the train and get a secret key to get on it, you can leave your toys in a safe and cold place there. The great thing is that after, no-one else can ever know where your toys are, you are the only one.
It’s just suuuper important that you don’t lose the secret key because if you do your toys are lost forever!
Billy: Wow that’s scary, I will definitely keep my secret key safe!
Francis: Good boy Billy.
Billy: I still don’t really understand how this train works. Who made it? How does it work?
Francis: You know how the purple Knight bus in Harry Potter helps wizards travel but the muggles can’t go on or access it?
Or how Santa Claus drives his reindeer all over the world and no-one can ever see or stop them?
Billy: Sure, I LOVE SANTA!!!
Francis: Great, well Billy, our magic train has powers like Santa’s reindeer. You see, once upon a time a wise man had the idea of creating a new kind of powerful and unheard of magic, one which not only the rich and powerful could get control of, but which anyone could make use of.
This magic is still very new and not very friendly to new users so people who want to use it have to first take time to understand it. But it is getting better and better and has become more and more powerful over the last 8 years because some clever people who are good at maths are working on it very hard.
Almost all people who learn about this magic agree that this it will change the whole world within the next 20-50 years. Other people think this magic is useless, but most of those people don’t spend enough time learning about it.
Also there are very big people who don’t want children to have this magic power.
Billy: But why would anyone want our magic not to work?
Francis: Well Billy, you see our magic does something which no other magic can do yet, it helps all children keep their their toys in a safe & secret place that only they can reach. Right now bigger people like Mummy and Daddy want to keep control over everything you have. They say your things are yours but they can take them away from you whenever they want to. They like having this control over you because people like to have power. This new magic takes the power away from the bigger people and gives it to to the smaller people.
Billy: If this magic is as amazing as you say it is, why isn’t everyone using it already?!
Francis: It’s getting late now Billy but I can answer that question next time. Next time we can talk about the cold places on the train which are the safest places to keep your toys, how important it is to learn about the magic that you’re using, how you and your sister can trade your toys for candy using this train without big people finding out, how the trains get bigger by getting more blocks and how there are actually many magical trains just like the one I told you about!
Feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns, feedback or constructive comments for which you can get rewarded.
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Hey @blockchainttmft, a really nice article and nice explanation, especially for children, or in general people who are not familiar with the technical aspects of the blockchain etc.
Let me bring in some thoughts, almost nobody is talking about in my opinion.
This is not going to be a post agains crypto-currency, as the technology as is, is very fascinating, and makes sense to use nowadays, but I would like to highlight some points.
Value of crypto is actually determined by the community. Almost nobody is talking about the intrinsic value, which gets to zero if the internet or power lines crash. Cryptocoins are totally dependent on energy and the infrastructure of the internet. Without it, it gets useless, which would actually mean, that your toys or what ever you have attached to the blockchain are lost or at least non accessible, til functionality has been restored.
The whole security depends on the private key. If the latter is owned, the coins can be claimed yours. Sure, you should keep your keys save, but what if someone breaks cryptography. Think about quantum computers, which are
being highly developed at the moment.
The whole blockchain transactions etc. are depending on hash-sums. There is this problem with so called hash-collisions, which basically means, that two different values lead to the same hash-sum. As a programmer I haven't gone into this specific part of the whole topic yet, nevertheless I am quite sure if one can produce hash-sums that fit to the chain in a "wrong" way, attack vectors will emerge.
Would love to read some opinions.
Hi @n3bul4 I'm not a programmer so the last point about hash-collisions is beyond my knowledge.
You're right that crypto value is determined by the community and there is a very strong community behind crypto. Internet or power lines crashing means temporary inaccessibility which is no big deal. I mean the chances of there being no internet or power lines for any extended period of time are extremely unlikely other than for periods of time where dictators may do so in small countries.
I've definitely heard the argument about quantum computers potentially being able to break the cryptography. I read up a bit more on it just now:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11224058/How-quantum-computers-will-undermine-cryptography.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11224058/How-quantum-computers-will-undermine-cryptography.html
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Quantum_computing_and_Bitcoin
It appears that if they take down cryptocurrency they will also have been able to take down all the internet in the US. They would also need hundreds of millions of Dollars so it would be far from easy to take down if it were possible.
Bitcoin is also working on quantum resistance and although their attempts at becoming quantum resistant are experimental at this stage, QC is nowhere near able to crack cryptography yet.
Hey there, haven't you heard about the Internet Kill-Switch? Could be a conspiracy theory but, what I wanted to point out is, that I think elites will always try to take control about important things like money in this case. I am afraid, that all this bitcoin topic sounds too good to be true, as I can't imagine, that they won't do anything about trying to keep control.
Don't get me wrong, as I am a fan of crypto-coins, I am just a bit skeptic, but if there is an "Internet Kill-Switch" you could globally shut down at least broad areas of the internet. This would mean even more control, than they have today.
I haven't heard about Bitcoin's quantum resistance so far, but it's kinda obvious, that the guys are thinking about doing something about it. Anyway I am not so trustful regarding that topic, because if you look back f.e. at the whole SSL security and Snowden, he had actually revealed that there were totally unknown new ways of breaking SSL, not known to the public til that time.
Every software can be broken, that's sadly a fact... Money in my pocket may be stolen, but there is no hidden outside threat I am not aware of, endangering my money in the pocket... or lets say the money of a million people in their pockets...
Hard to say...
Thanks for sharing your opinion. I agree nothing is perfect and if blockchain technology were to stay stagnant and not evolve, it would one day likely get hacked by QC. I have a lot of confidence that we will find a way to create a system that is decentralized and that remains as good as unhackable.
We simply have to if we want to get to the next level, i.e. the decentralized revolution.
Yes, I totally agree. Let's hope the best. In general we should try to get to the next level, where we stop fighting each other and concentrate on the good things we can do. That would change a lot....
Also thanks for your well thought out response and criticism. I checked out your blog again and you have some interesting view points, followed!
To be honest I just know about bitcoin and other crypto currencies, about 1 month. And I learned the sale and purchase transactions directly from bitcoin.id, because they support with Rupiah, Indonesian currency. And so far, I have noticed that trade transactions in our country are quite large. The market response is good in our country. With the price of 1 BTC about Rp. 32 million - Rp. 37 millions. Trade transactions can reach hundreds of millions of rupiah per day. Fantastic numbers for trade in Indonesia.
@alhasan Interesting! I lived for over two years in Indonesia, in Malang most of the time but also Bali. Where in Indonesia are you from?
Oh... you have lived in Indonesia for a long time. Do you work or do you want to stay in Malang and Bali?
I come from Bogor-west java. Glad to know you.
i've been to Bogor too, very beautiful! I was working there yes. Now I'm in Thailand which is alright but Indonesians are more friendly :D
This post received a 3.9% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @blockchainttmft! For more information, click here!
Great article, keep up the great work.
This one is the best coversation I ever read. You are so creative finding a way how you actually explaine blockchain concept and cyrptocurrency.
You are right, goverment owns the money you have in your wallet. In fact, damaging it or burning it is a crime. They have control over fiat momey while with the one on blockchain, only you has full control. You can do what you want to do.
Thanks @exx007 I appreciate that feedback a lot!
Have you watched any videos or read any articles which got you really excited about crypto or which you thought were very good explanations about what crypto is?
I have no doubt you can write a book "digital money for dummy". :) Thanks for sharing.
thanks :)
Thanks for the great story! where you get the inspiration @blackchainttmft?
@adreolf Thanks I appreciate it!
I got the inspiration from so many people asking me what the hell crytocoin was :D
Lol I love this. It's a very creative way to write about bitcoin :D
Thanks, it took me a while to think of.
Choo-Choo!
nice post upvoted and followed
Your vote is important to us. For which we thank you. And keep voting @piyushkansal
This is an interesting take on it. I like the analogy Frank :)
Thanks @ashr and thanks again to you for reminding me how important presentation was. :)
nice
Good Post My Friend... Just Upvoted.....
What did you like about it?
Thats so funny - thanks for this :-D