Doing 'Blockchain' Things

Adam Poulton
linux.conf.au/schedule/present...
Most systems that are currently used by people involve a central entity that verifies, controls and charges for transactions that are processed by the controlling entity.
This entity can be a bank, a government agency, a market maker or a service provider.
These centralilized institutions, although essencial in the 20th century as they provided security, are an inefficiency that has become an evergrowing and largly avoidable cost as we move further into the cryptocurrency age
Blockchains provide a decentrilized solution to the trusted central authority and provide a platform for untrusting parties to transact with each other in a transparant system that requires zero trust in the other side.
This has implications for almost every facet of life from banking, identity, certification, autherisation and voting.