From 6¢ to $1100Pyramid scheme or intrinsic value?

Bitcoin all-time price chart

What is Bitcoin?

$500 million invested in bitcoin start-ups

• Marc Andreessen, co-Founder of Netscape

• Barry Silbert, Founder and former CEO of SecondMarket

• Reid Hoffman, co-Founder of LinkedIn; Facebook investor

• Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Atlantic airline

• Li Ka-Shing, “richest man in Asia” net worth of $32 billion

• Vikram Pandit, former CEO of Citigroup

• New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Myth #1: “Bitcoin is only used to buy drugs”

Rank Companies that accept bitcoinAnnual revenue ($billion)

1 Microsoft 86

2 Dell 56.9

3 Dish Network 13.9

4 Expedia 5.0

5 NewEgg 2.8

6 Overstock 1.3

7 TigerDirect 1.0

8 1-800 Flowers 0.8

Myth #2: “There is no advantage to bitcoin”

This parody advertisement highlights the benefits of bitcoin

Myth #3: “Bitcoin was hacked last year”

• Mt. Gox (a bitcoin exchange) lost $450 million in bitcoin in early 2014

• Mt. Gox is not bitcoin

• The bitcoin blockchain has not been “hacked” since its early development in 2009

• Bitcoin’s network is 100x more powerful than the world’s top 500 supercomputers combined

Myth #4: “There are hundreds of ‘altcoins’ that can replace bitcoin”

• Dogecoin, litecoin, darkcoin, peercoin, ripple…

• Bitcoin is the most secure • First mover advantage• Network effect of adoption

Myth #5: “Bitcoin sounds complicated”

• Buying bitcoin is as easy as online banking

Coinbase.comSan Francisco, CA

Circle.comBoston, MA

• Target and JP Morgan hacked – 100 million bank accounts compromised

• Sony hacked

• Centralized data storage is not secure

• Decentralized data storage: secure and cheaper

Other blockchain uses: Cloud storage

• Storjcoin—the future of cloud storage?

– Early beta testing

– One Storjcoin (share) worth 2¢

Pyramid scheme or investment opportunity?

Questions?