Episode 2: Understanding the Blockchain with William Mougayar

The blockchain is a game-changing technology everyone's talking about. It's disrupting other technologies in the same way that the Internet did more than 20 years ago. The problem, however, is that few people seem to actually understand what it's all about and what its applications are for online security. In this episode, Jon Prial talks with entrepreneur and investor William Mougayar about what this important new technology at that intersection of software engineering, cryptography and gaming theory, and what it means for today's businesses.

You'll hear about:

• The basics of the blockchain as an infrastructure layer (1:10)
• The role of the ledger in the blockchain (3:27)
• Bitcoin and Ethereum as blockchain applications (5:12)
• The implications of this technology for security (8:03)
• The adoption of blockchain technology in the financial services industry (9:54)
• What developers and business professionals should be doing about blockchain (12:45)

Who Is William Mougayar?

William Mougayar is the leading blockchain industry analyst and thought leader. As a long time industry insider, William is a prolific researcher, writer and theorist who has been described as the most sophisticated blockchain business thinker. His views and insights are well respected worldwide.William is the General Partner at Virtual Capital Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund, and currently on the Board of Directors of OB1, the OpenBazaar open-source protocol that is pioneering decentralized peer-to-peer commerce, a Board Advisor to the Ethereum Foundation, a member of OMERS Ventures Board of Advisors, an Advisory Board member to the Coin Center and Bloq, and founder of Startup Management.