WEBVTT 00:00:13.638 --> 00:00:14.806 My name's Tegan Kline. 00:00:14.806 --> 00:00:17.976 I'm the co-founder of Edge & Node, the initial team behind The Graph. 00:00:18.268 --> 00:00:20.145 And with The Graph what Google does for the web, 00:00:20.145 --> 00:00:22.522 The Graph does for blockchains and organizing data. 00:00:22.605 --> 00:00:25.692 My name is Cynthia Haas, and I'm the director of the World of Women Foundation. 00:00:25.900 --> 00:00:28.987 World of Women is a collection of 10,000 women 00:00:28.987 --> 00:00:32.741 all across different backgrounds, variety of skins, traits. 00:00:32.991 --> 00:00:36.745 And we are a community that champions inclusion and diversity in the web3 space. 00:00:36.745 --> 00:00:38.288 My name is Charlie Lee. 00:00:38.288 --> 00:00:39.914 I'm the creator of Litecoin. 00:00:39.914 --> 00:00:42.542 One of the alternative currencies to Bitcoin. 00:00:42.542 --> 00:00:45.211 I was playing around with the Bitcoin code base 00:00:45.253 --> 00:00:48.381 and decided to create my own cryptocurrency 00:00:48.548 --> 00:00:51.718 and it was a fun side project and it took off. 00:00:52.761 --> 00:00:56.848 When you buy something with a credit card, when your groceries are labeled organic, 00:00:56.848 --> 00:01:00.310 when you see a verified identity on social media or when you vote, 00:01:00.727 --> 00:01:03.229 all of these things, they depend on trust. 00:01:03.646 --> 00:01:05.982 How do you know that the money was transferred, 00:01:05.982 --> 00:01:09.694 that the food is actually organic, that the person is real, 00:01:09.944 --> 00:01:12.113 or that your vote is counted? 00:01:12.113 --> 00:01:17.327 Ultimately, you trust records managed by banks, companies and governments. 00:01:18.036 --> 00:01:22.832 But these days, many people wonder if they can trust companies, governments 00:01:23.333 --> 00:01:28.296 or any form of centralized power. With the rise of misinformation 00:01:28.671 --> 00:01:32.634 what if we could build a system of trust that didn't depend on a central entity? 00:01:33.009 --> 00:01:36.429 What if we could keep track of things like money or property in a way 00:01:36.429 --> 00:01:41.976 that anyone could audit the data without putting a company or government in charge? 00:01:41.976 --> 00:01:45.146 That's possible today, using the technology called blockchain. 00:01:46.064 --> 00:01:49.275 Blockchain is a new way of storing information across the internet 00:01:49.776 --> 00:01:52.570 where everyone can participate. With blockchain, 00:01:53.071 --> 00:01:55.323 data can be decentralized and distributed. 00:01:55.990 --> 00:01:57.700 Nobody owns a blockchain, 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:01.079 but everybody can use it and verify their information on it. 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:05.750 This technology is the innovation behind cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin. 00:02:06.376 --> 00:02:10.964 It has other potential use cases which we'll get to in a later video. 00:02:10.964 --> 00:02:14.259 But first, let's look at how the problems of trust have been solved in the past. 00:02:15.635 --> 00:02:15.969 Since the 00:02:15.969 --> 00:02:19.055 earliest of human societies, we have invented different ways 00:02:19.055 --> 00:02:22.517 of building trust by keeping track of information and transactions 00:02:23.601 --> 00:02:26.020 like who owns this farm? 00:02:26.855 --> 00:02:29.107 How much do I owe you for the milk? 00:02:29.107 --> 00:02:31.693 What are the laws of the land? 00:02:31.693 --> 00:02:35.780 Humans started using shells or precious rocks to keep track of transactions, 00:02:35.947 --> 00:02:38.700 and these became the earliest forms of currency. 00:02:38.992 --> 00:02:42.495 As we moved from tribes to villages to cities, 00:02:42.871 --> 00:02:46.332 we needed to keep track of property and laws. 00:02:46.875 --> 00:02:50.295 This led to the early invention of numbers and writing. 00:02:51.254 --> 00:02:53.173 Isn't that incredible? 00:02:53.173 --> 00:02:55.216 We didn't invent numbers for math class. 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.720 We didn't invent the alphabet to write books. 00:02:58.720 --> 00:03:01.848 We invented them to keep track of land, livestock, 00:03:02.098 --> 00:03:04.392 debts and taxes. 00:03:04.392 --> 00:03:06.728 And of course, we've come a long way since then. 00:03:06.978 --> 00:03:11.691 Currency has evolved from shells to coins to bank notes to digital data. 00:03:12.192 --> 00:03:14.819 Writing has evolved from clay tablets to paper 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:18.698 to digital formats. Along with inventing writing and numbers. 00:03:18.698 --> 00:03:22.493 We've also invented a new way to establish trust, 00:03:22.744 --> 00:03:27.999 because all of these ways of preserving records, they still depend on trust. 00:03:28.374 --> 00:03:31.628 That's why the laws of the land were set in stone 00:03:31.836 --> 00:03:34.881 to make sure nobody would change them. 00:03:35.924 --> 00:03:36.549 But how do you 00:03:36.549 --> 00:03:39.469 trust something, even if it's set in stone? 00:03:40.303 --> 00:03:44.807 For example, you might have a clay tablet that says you own 100 cows, 00:03:45.183 --> 00:03:48.811 but how do I know that you didn't make that number up? 00:03:48.811 --> 00:03:52.148 That's why we invented trusted seals, stamps 00:03:52.565 --> 00:03:55.026 and signatures. 00:03:55.151 --> 00:03:58.238 And with all of these inventions, we authorize and put our trust 00:03:58.238 --> 00:03:59.864 in a limited group of people, 00:03:59.864 --> 00:04:04.077 organizations, or governments with the special power to verify our records. 00:04:04.244 --> 00:04:07.664 And that's the one thing that has never changed over thousands of years 00:04:07.664 --> 00:04:09.207 and new technologies. 00:04:09.207 --> 00:04:12.418 These systems only work if we trust the organizations 00:04:12.418 --> 00:04:14.462 and authorities that verify the records. 00:04:15.463 --> 00:04:18.007 And this brings us back to the blockchain. 00:04:18.007 --> 00:04:21.261 Blockchain is the first technology that allows us to record information 00:04:21.261 --> 00:04:23.346 without needing to trust a central authority. 00:04:23.888 --> 00:04:27.517 It's a digital way to store and verify information 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:31.604 that is set in stone without needing a stone 00:04:31.896 --> 00:04:34.691 or a seal or a bank or government. 00:04:35.233 --> 00:04:40.446 The information on a blockchain is saved on a distributed network of computers. 00:04:40.905 --> 00:04:45.076 So long as these computers are independently managed. 00:04:45.451 --> 00:04:51.291 In theory, no individual or organization can take down the network or corrupt it. 00:04:52.417 --> 00:04:52.875 This is 00:04:52.875 --> 00:04:56.754 like a form of writing that can't be counterfeit or destroyed. 00:04:56.754 --> 00:04:58.756 It enables a new form of trust. 00:04:59.007 --> 00:05:01.926 The first use is Bitcoin. 00:05:01.926 --> 00:05:05.471 Bitcoin is a digital currency that safely tracks transactions 00:05:05.805 --> 00:05:09.976 and ownership without needing to put trust in any bank or government. 00:05:10.601 --> 00:05:12.395 But that's only one example. 00:05:12.395 --> 00:05:15.064 A blockchain could potentially be used to track ownership 00:05:15.064 --> 00:05:19.902 of real estate, to establish contracts, to authenticate documents 00:05:20.570 --> 00:05:23.614 and to verify a document was created on a certain date. 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:28.578 It's now theoretically possible to do all of these things and so much more 00:05:28.953 --> 00:05:31.914 without depending on traditional systems of trust. 00:05:32.498 --> 00:05:36.586 Blockchain technology still has a long way to reach its full potential, 00:05:36.919 --> 00:05:39.839 and its future is a topic of regular debate. 00:05:40.214 --> 00:05:42.967 Some believe that this is the future with a potential 00:05:42.967 --> 00:05:46.512 to democratize who has power and authority in human societies. 00:05:46.846 --> 00:05:50.475 Others think it is a giant scam with no other purpose. 00:05:50.558 --> 00:05:54.604 In the rest of this video series will look at how this technology works. 00:05:54.604 --> 00:05:57.982 And then we'll explore different points of view.