now 1925 TS Eliot published a new
collection of his work in that
collection was one of his most famous
and often quoted poems the Hollow Men
now for those of you unfamiliar with the
poem it is about a group of these
Scarecrow light creatures forever stuck
on the bank of the River Styx between
the worlds of the living and the dead
describing the horrors that they see
charming stuff at the end of the poem
our narrative tells us this is the way
the world ends not with a bang but a
whimper
that’s a pinpoint exactly what Elliot
was talking about when he wrote this
line is a little tough he was going
through a particularly rough time in his
life when he wrote it but for some
myself included we like to see it as a
commentary on the needless Ness and the
destruction of war remember this was
written in 1925 in the aftermath of the
First World War
something that of which Elliot was a
very vocal critic essentially what he’s
saying is that we all strive humankind
strives to end in this blaze of glory
big bang where there’s one clear victor
to be remembered throughout history
where the reality is that we’ll all
likely perish in a much more somber way
without much of that Big Bang to be with
to stand the test of time again super
charming stuff for a Friday morning but
today I want to talk about that last
reality is and I hate to break to you
this world is coming to an end again
this is super uplifting talk for a
Friday why I’m sure that this is exactly
what you wanted to hear but the truth is
our world is coming to an end now don’t
get me wrong most people pretty much
everybody in this room will have
absolutely no idea that the world has
ended food will taste the same
everything will look the same will go
about our lives in the exact same way
but make no mistake everything is
subject to be completely different as
you could probably guess at this point
on talking in very dramatic fashion
about the blockchain now if you are
unfamiliar with the blockchain do not
fret you are not alone ahead of this
event my company and I decided to
conduct a little bit of research to
figure out just how much people across
the country knew about blockchain
technology and some of its uses such
our crypto currencies like Bitcoin we
found that just about half of Americans
we’re familiar with what bitcoin is and
when we dug a little deeper we found
that over 90% of Americans and number
was increasing as we collected data over
90% of Americans had absolutely zero
idea or very just vaguely familiar with
how the blockchain operated now by show
of hands and don’t be shy how many
people here would find themselves in
that 90 percent okay most of you
excellent I can lie my way through the
rest of this it’s wonderful I know I
figured I’ll tell the truth it’s fine uh
well we found that this 90 percent so
and that number would have continued
rising so instead of talking about the
complexity of how the blockchain
operates and it is complex I mean I
myself I’m confused by it sometimes and
I’m up here talking to you so don’t
worry instead of talking about that
confusing elements that make up this
technological infrastructure why don’t
we talk about some real-world
applications that show how the
blockchain can really change our lives
for the better now picking a subject for
today I’ll admit was a little tough we
could really be talking about anything
from medical records to energy grids for
example just last week Walmart of all
companies was awarded three new patents
for storing their medical records on the
blockchain Walmart so we really could
talk about virtually anything but I
figured we would talk about something
that everybody here or hopefully
everybody here can relate to so again by
show of hands how many people here
currently keep their money in a bank or
financial institution of some kind okay
I see there’s a handful of you who
didn’t raise your hand and I’d be
curious to know what Illuminati like
secrets you know about keeping your
money safe but I don’t but for the most
part for the most part we all keep our
money in these institutions and if
you’re anything like me then when you
walk up to ATM when I walk up to an ATM
I like to picture that behind this
machine there’s a little box that says
Corre bad beans cash great give me some
credit I do know that this is not how it
works but when we keep our money in a
bank we like to think that it is safe
and secure and ours and for the most
part that is true Thanks do you have a
responsibility to give us our money back
and to use it
whether or not they do it or the story
but they do have that responsibility but
imagine for one second if tomorrow your
bank your financial institution stopped
doing business and shut its doors not
all that fun to think about well did you
know that after the market crash in 1929
9,000 American banks failed and I know
what you’re thinking Cory that was
almost 90 years ago what are you talking
about why are you up here well did you
know that after the crash in 2008 500
American banks failed that’s the world
we’re living in today and it’s not just
some distant memory with no chance of
repeating itself
granted we have federal insurance
programs we have deposit insurance
programs Federal Reserve programs that
are all in place to prevent these kinds
of issues from spiraling out of control
but what if I were to tell you there was
a way to use technology to make these
fail-safes not really necessary anymore
at least not in the capacity out there
in right now that’s essentially the
power of the blockchain we can socialize
data privacy and risk now let’s take a
look at a little bit of a deeper example
and I promise this is the last time it
allows you to raise your hand but once
again by show of hands how many people
here have ever used a form of tap
payment whether it’s with your phone or
a wearable device for a Google pay Apple
pay or the Starbucks app something like
that okay so pretty sizable chunk of
people and that’s not too surprising
when you consider that about 140 million
people worldwide currently use that
technology and it’s pretty fascinating I
mean this is the kind of thing that just
a few years ago would have been
considered science fiction now when
we’re standing in line already staring
at our phones we now no longer need to
break contact with our phone to look at
another person which is the height of
millennial anxiety and we could just
lower our phone down pay for whatever it
is we’re buying whatever coffee were
getting and go about our day plain and
simple we think about it as a minor
technological convenience then when it
doesn’t work we completely lose our
minds and break down but did you know
that in that little tap in that one
second there can be upwards of five
intermediaries taking part in that
process that means that there are five
steps in the process that means that
there can be upward
five fees being collected and that means
for the purpose of our discussion today
most importantly we can see upwards of
five different entry points for an
attack by a hacker or a hacking group
looking to steal our data and
information and we don’t really give
much credence to that little tap more so
than we do to the coffee that we’re
ordering by paying for with that now
when any one of these intermediaries
falters they work very hard to secure
our data but when any one of them
falters it doesn’t matter how secure
your data was in the last step or how
secure it would have been in the next
step your information is compromised
again little inconvenient or a little
convenience that we like to think about
but in its current form it’s kind of the
exact opposite it’s kind of like if the
death star had five major design flaws
which were to lead to its complete
destruction and that would have made for
a much shorter Star Wars series in a
back on track there must be a better way
now don’t get me wrong these data
security firms and tech companies work
extremely hard to protect our
information I remember I was on a flight
to Dallas a couple of years ago it was
six o’clock in the morning I was wearing
a suit I was headed to some meetings I
want to get this right it was I think a
hundred thousand degrees of humidity in
Dallas and I’m giving you more
information than you need because I want
you to know exactly what my mindset was
when a gentleman sits down beside me and
said and decides this is the perfect
opportunity to start a conversation
not exactly my cup of tea before I’ve
had a cup of coffee but being deployed
Canadian that I am I indulge him glad I
did because it turns out he works for
one of the world’s largest data security
firms he tells me about the process they
go through to protect our information he
tells me about the hundreds of Engineers
that he has working in real time to
fight off against hackers and these
armies of hackers who were trying to
steal data to sell on the dark web
estimates put that the market for stolen
data at about 100 billion dollars in the
last seven years
those same estimates suggest that
hackers can make upwards of $40 an hour
stealing and selling data which
completely objectively pretty decent
hourly wage not that I’m advocating
anybody go out here and start stealing
data
I’m just saying credit where credit’s do
it’s pretty good job if you can get it
but the point here is that this is
essentially our last line of defense
when they falter we see stories like the
Sony target Equifax or Walmart hacks
just to name a few that have left the
data of hundreds of millions of people
available on the dark web for sale and
to the blockchain now not to get too
deep into the technological
infrastructure of how it works but
essentially what the blockchain does is
it offers up an ecosystem wherein all
members of that ecosystem who are part
of a specific set of transactions or a
ledger are equally responsible for
verifying the coding through the
technological structure and ensuring
that no malice is taking place when a
transaction is conducted it’s kind of
like a wedding where you have all of
your friends and family in attendance to
it it’s a union between two people but
instead of two people it is an exchange
of data and instead of all of your
friends and family in attendance it is a
bunch of nameless faceless servers that
operate on a basis of a structure not
quite as romantic but equally as
official and somewhat more official
depending on who you ask
so with that let’s take a look at how
this tap payment would operate let’s use
the example I mentioned before Starbucks
coffee you’re standing in line you’re
about to pay now instead of five
intermediaries taking place you would
end to an agreement through the system
that’s been put in place on this
blockchain whereby everybody who’s a
part of that ledger that set of
transactions would be equally
responsible for overseeing and verifying
the transaction where by a specific
token or a cryptocurrency which in the
case of Starbucks could be called
Starbucks fun I’ll let them have that
one that token can be exchanged all in a
single step where it’s verified and
secured by the very existence of the
blockchain now again I’m talking about a
hugely simplified example here but that
doesn’t make it any less excited
essentially now when you’re standing in
line you no longer have to have a severe
panic attack when you’re about to tap
your phone which in fairness you might
not have been having before but now
thanks to me you are you’re welcome
now let’s circle back to Elliott’s last
line not with a bang but a whimper
unlike the Facebook’s of the world or
the internet browsers this revolution
will not be televised you will not be
able to
see or touch the blockchain and in this
most exciting form you’ll never even
know it was there so if the world is
going to end on a whimper not with a
bang why are we here talking about it
well that has to do with our intrinsic
desire to completely ignore and in some
cases even fight against things that we
don’t understand that don’t have a
tangible effect on our lives we as a
society are particularly averse to
change and that goes especially true on
a legislative front so that means that
we may be actively fighting against the
implementation of these kinds of
technologies we have at our fingertips
the capability to enact a revolution and
a reclamation of ourselves through yes
and admittedly complex technology but
that complexity shouldn’t stand in the
way of change I’ll close on a note that
I think is pretty apropos considering
the venue that were in today about a
year ago I was right here at UNLV
sitting on a panel talking about
innovation one of my fellow panelists
brilliant woman who once was mayor this
city Jan Jones Blackhurst
made a very funny but a very true
observation she said that it makes
absolutely no sense for anyone to be
here in Las Vegas and when you think
about it she’s kind of right the city is
in the middle of a very hot desert it is
a strip of land and all logic besides
the gaming thing all logic points to
this not being a hugely successful city
and yet it has thrived for decades why
well she noted is the city’s willingness
to embrace change and innovation there
are a few cities in the world that
embrace these two qualities quite like
this one
so I say we take that mantra to heart
because just because the blockchain may
seem like a whimper it is a bang and it
should be treated as such
thank you all very much [Applause]
collection of his work in that
collection was one of his most famous
and often quoted poems the Hollow Men
now for those of you unfamiliar with the
poem it is about a group of these
Scarecrow light creatures forever stuck
on the bank of the River Styx between
the worlds of the living and the dead
describing the horrors that they see
charming stuff at the end of the poem
our narrative tells us this is the way
the world ends not with a bang but a
whimper
that’s a pinpoint exactly what Elliot
was talking about when he wrote this
line is a little tough he was going
through a particularly rough time in his
life when he wrote it but for some
myself included we like to see it as a
commentary on the needless Ness and the
destruction of war remember this was
written in 1925 in the aftermath of the
First World War
something that of which Elliot was a
very vocal critic essentially what he’s
saying is that we all strive humankind
strives to end in this blaze of glory
big bang where there’s one clear victor
to be remembered throughout history
where the reality is that we’ll all
likely perish in a much more somber way
without much of that Big Bang to be with
to stand the test of time again super
charming stuff for a Friday morning but
today I want to talk about that last
reality is and I hate to break to you
this world is coming to an end again
this is super uplifting talk for a
Friday why I’m sure that this is exactly
what you wanted to hear but the truth is
our world is coming to an end now don’t
get me wrong most people pretty much
everybody in this room will have
absolutely no idea that the world has
ended food will taste the same
everything will look the same will go
about our lives in the exact same way
but make no mistake everything is
subject to be completely different as
you could probably guess at this point
on talking in very dramatic fashion
about the blockchain now if you are
unfamiliar with the blockchain do not
fret you are not alone ahead of this
event my company and I decided to
conduct a little bit of research to
figure out just how much people across
the country knew about blockchain
technology and some of its uses such
our crypto currencies like Bitcoin we
found that just about half of Americans
we’re familiar with what bitcoin is and
when we dug a little deeper we found
that over 90% of Americans and number
was increasing as we collected data over
90% of Americans had absolutely zero
idea or very just vaguely familiar with
how the blockchain operated now by show
of hands and don’t be shy how many
people here would find themselves in
that 90 percent okay most of you
excellent I can lie my way through the
rest of this it’s wonderful I know I
figured I’ll tell the truth it’s fine uh
well we found that this 90 percent so
and that number would have continued
rising so instead of talking about the
complexity of how the blockchain
operates and it is complex I mean I
myself I’m confused by it sometimes and
I’m up here talking to you so don’t
worry instead of talking about that
confusing elements that make up this
technological infrastructure why don’t
we talk about some real-world
applications that show how the
blockchain can really change our lives
for the better now picking a subject for
today I’ll admit was a little tough we
could really be talking about anything
from medical records to energy grids for
example just last week Walmart of all
companies was awarded three new patents
for storing their medical records on the
blockchain Walmart so we really could
talk about virtually anything but I
figured we would talk about something
that everybody here or hopefully
everybody here can relate to so again by
show of hands how many people here
currently keep their money in a bank or
financial institution of some kind okay
I see there’s a handful of you who
didn’t raise your hand and I’d be
curious to know what Illuminati like
secrets you know about keeping your
money safe but I don’t but for the most
part for the most part we all keep our
money in these institutions and if
you’re anything like me then when you
walk up to ATM when I walk up to an ATM
I like to picture that behind this
machine there’s a little box that says
Corre bad beans cash great give me some
credit I do know that this is not how it
works but when we keep our money in a
bank we like to think that it is safe
and secure and ours and for the most
part that is true Thanks do you have a
responsibility to give us our money back
and to use it
whether or not they do it or the story
but they do have that responsibility but
imagine for one second if tomorrow your
bank your financial institution stopped
doing business and shut its doors not
all that fun to think about well did you
know that after the market crash in 1929
9,000 American banks failed and I know
what you’re thinking Cory that was
almost 90 years ago what are you talking
about why are you up here well did you
know that after the crash in 2008 500
American banks failed that’s the world
we’re living in today and it’s not just
some distant memory with no chance of
repeating itself
granted we have federal insurance
programs we have deposit insurance
programs Federal Reserve programs that
are all in place to prevent these kinds
of issues from spiraling out of control
but what if I were to tell you there was
a way to use technology to make these
fail-safes not really necessary anymore
at least not in the capacity out there
in right now that’s essentially the
power of the blockchain we can socialize
data privacy and risk now let’s take a
look at a little bit of a deeper example
and I promise this is the last time it
allows you to raise your hand but once
again by show of hands how many people
here have ever used a form of tap
payment whether it’s with your phone or
a wearable device for a Google pay Apple
pay or the Starbucks app something like
that okay so pretty sizable chunk of
people and that’s not too surprising
when you consider that about 140 million
people worldwide currently use that
technology and it’s pretty fascinating I
mean this is the kind of thing that just
a few years ago would have been
considered science fiction now when
we’re standing in line already staring
at our phones we now no longer need to
break contact with our phone to look at
another person which is the height of
millennial anxiety and we could just
lower our phone down pay for whatever it
is we’re buying whatever coffee were
getting and go about our day plain and
simple we think about it as a minor
technological convenience then when it
doesn’t work we completely lose our
minds and break down but did you know
that in that little tap in that one
second there can be upwards of five
intermediaries taking part in that
process that means that there are five
steps in the process that means that
there can be upward
five fees being collected and that means
for the purpose of our discussion today
most importantly we can see upwards of
five different entry points for an
attack by a hacker or a hacking group
looking to steal our data and
information and we don’t really give
much credence to that little tap more so
than we do to the coffee that we’re
ordering by paying for with that now
when any one of these intermediaries
falters they work very hard to secure
our data but when any one of them
falters it doesn’t matter how secure
your data was in the last step or how
secure it would have been in the next
step your information is compromised
again little inconvenient or a little
convenience that we like to think about
but in its current form it’s kind of the
exact opposite it’s kind of like if the
death star had five major design flaws
which were to lead to its complete
destruction and that would have made for
a much shorter Star Wars series in a
back on track there must be a better way
now don’t get me wrong these data
security firms and tech companies work
extremely hard to protect our
information I remember I was on a flight
to Dallas a couple of years ago it was
six o’clock in the morning I was wearing
a suit I was headed to some meetings I
want to get this right it was I think a
hundred thousand degrees of humidity in
Dallas and I’m giving you more
information than you need because I want
you to know exactly what my mindset was
when a gentleman sits down beside me and
said and decides this is the perfect
opportunity to start a conversation
not exactly my cup of tea before I’ve
had a cup of coffee but being deployed
Canadian that I am I indulge him glad I
did because it turns out he works for
one of the world’s largest data security
firms he tells me about the process they
go through to protect our information he
tells me about the hundreds of Engineers
that he has working in real time to
fight off against hackers and these
armies of hackers who were trying to
steal data to sell on the dark web
estimates put that the market for stolen
data at about 100 billion dollars in the
last seven years
those same estimates suggest that
hackers can make upwards of $40 an hour
stealing and selling data which
completely objectively pretty decent
hourly wage not that I’m advocating
anybody go out here and start stealing
data
I’m just saying credit where credit’s do
it’s pretty good job if you can get it
but the point here is that this is
essentially our last line of defense
when they falter we see stories like the
Sony target Equifax or Walmart hacks
just to name a few that have left the
data of hundreds of millions of people
available on the dark web for sale and
to the blockchain now not to get too
deep into the technological
infrastructure of how it works but
essentially what the blockchain does is
it offers up an ecosystem wherein all
members of that ecosystem who are part
of a specific set of transactions or a
ledger are equally responsible for
verifying the coding through the
technological structure and ensuring
that no malice is taking place when a
transaction is conducted it’s kind of
like a wedding where you have all of
your friends and family in attendance to
it it’s a union between two people but
instead of two people it is an exchange
of data and instead of all of your
friends and family in attendance it is a
bunch of nameless faceless servers that
operate on a basis of a structure not
quite as romantic but equally as
official and somewhat more official
depending on who you ask
so with that let’s take a look at how
this tap payment would operate let’s use
the example I mentioned before Starbucks
coffee you’re standing in line you’re
about to pay now instead of five
intermediaries taking place you would
end to an agreement through the system
that’s been put in place on this
blockchain whereby everybody who’s a
part of that ledger that set of
transactions would be equally
responsible for overseeing and verifying
the transaction where by a specific
token or a cryptocurrency which in the
case of Starbucks could be called
Starbucks fun I’ll let them have that
one that token can be exchanged all in a
single step where it’s verified and
secured by the very existence of the
blockchain now again I’m talking about a
hugely simplified example here but that
doesn’t make it any less excited
essentially now when you’re standing in
line you no longer have to have a severe
panic attack when you’re about to tap
your phone which in fairness you might
not have been having before but now
thanks to me you are you’re welcome
now let’s circle back to Elliott’s last
line not with a bang but a whimper
unlike the Facebook’s of the world or
the internet browsers this revolution
will not be televised you will not be
able to
see or touch the blockchain and in this
most exciting form you’ll never even
know it was there so if the world is
going to end on a whimper not with a
bang why are we here talking about it
well that has to do with our intrinsic
desire to completely ignore and in some
cases even fight against things that we
don’t understand that don’t have a
tangible effect on our lives we as a
society are particularly averse to
change and that goes especially true on
a legislative front so that means that
we may be actively fighting against the
implementation of these kinds of
technologies we have at our fingertips
the capability to enact a revolution and
a reclamation of ourselves through yes
and admittedly complex technology but
that complexity shouldn’t stand in the
way of change I’ll close on a note that
I think is pretty apropos considering
the venue that were in today about a
year ago I was right here at UNLV
sitting on a panel talking about
innovation one of my fellow panelists
brilliant woman who once was mayor this
city Jan Jones Blackhurst
made a very funny but a very true
observation she said that it makes
absolutely no sense for anyone to be
here in Las Vegas and when you think
about it she’s kind of right the city is
in the middle of a very hot desert it is
a strip of land and all logic besides
the gaming thing all logic points to
this not being a hugely successful city
and yet it has thrived for decades why
well she noted is the city’s willingness
to embrace change and innovation there
are a few cities in the world that
embrace these two qualities quite like
this one
so I say we take that mantra to heart
because just because the blockchain may
seem like a whimper it is a bang and it
should be treated as such
thank you all very much [Applause]
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