Jonathan Warren teaches “In Cryptography We Trust, The Basics of Bitcoins” at the 7th weekly BitcoinNYC meet up event.
Fresh on the heels of the first Satoshi Square open-air Bitcoin marketplace, the BitcoinNYC group held its usual meeting on Thursday. After Jonathan Mohan led the group of about 28 people through the usual introductions and the Three Questions – Who are you? What is your interest in Bitcoins? What do you hope to take away from this meeting? – the floor was turned over to Jonathan Warren for an hour long class session on Bitcoin cryptography. His simple introductory claim of “I know how Bitcoin works.” was strongly backed up by his leading the group through a very in-depth explanation of the finer details of the cryptographic tools used by the Bitcoin system which lead into a close examination of how the block chain was constructed and various other issues. The floor was frequently opened up to questions from the audience and it seemed that most, including some of the most technically experienced people in the room, had questions that were addressed either by Jonathan or someone else who could offer some insight for an answer. Unfortunately this session was not captured by video or audio but we here at Spelunkin hope to persuade him to let us record such a tutorial to offer it to our readers at some point in the future!
Other highlights:
There was a slight critique of the New York Times coverage of the first Satoshi Square event as being unfair when it said “and there were only men” when one of the female regulars of BitcoinNY certainly was there and even spoke briefly with the reporter.
The announcement of an anonymous individual who wishes to sell between 1 and 2,000 Bitcoins privately.
A declaration of success for the Satoshi Square event and plans to immediately expand the days to both Mondays and Fridays of each week starting on May 13th. The eventual goal is to making this a daily event, perhaps being held in multiple places in the city.
The recommendation of the book “Everyday Cryptography” by Keith M. Martin by a member as a good introduction to cryptographic principles.