Here are 7 TED talks I can highly recommend!
As mentioned in a previous post: a recent survey by the HSBC bank showed that 60% of consumers have never heard of blockchain and that 80% of consumers who have heard of it don’t understand it. Daily, I receive requests from people to explain in simple language what blockchain is, what Bitcoin has to do with it and what this will actually mean for our society.
Here are my top 7 TED talks, which explain these questions in an easy-to-understand way:
1) Bettina Warburg — “How The Blockchain Will Radically Transform The Economy”
This is one of my favorites since Bettina explains in an easy-to-understand way how blockchain will change the modern economy and reduce the role of financial institutions and governments. This researcher and entrepreneur in the sector are also described as “one of the thought leaders in the emerging blockchain space”.
2) Neha Narula — “The Future Of Money”
Neha is Director of the Digital Currency Initiative within the highly renowned MIT Media Lab. Her TED talk is also about reducing the role of financial institutions in governments, but also offers a very good insight into her idea of what the future of money will look like.
3) Don Tapscott — “How The Blockchain Is Changing Money And Business”
Just like his book, which I can highly recommend, this TED talk is definitely recommended to get a nice introduction to blockchain. The focus of this talk is mainly on how the blockchain technology itself works as well as a number of applications that will cause major, positive changes in various sectors worldwide.
4) Galia Benartzi — “The Value Revolution: How Blockchain Will Change Money & The World”
A TEDx talk, but definitely as good as the TED talks mentioned above. Galia highlights the power of new developments within digital currencies. Not only does she zoom in on how we send and receive money, but also talks about various other applications that she sees from her background as an entrepreneur and community builder.
5) Charles Hoskinson — “The Future Will Be Decentralized”
Charles is one of the greats within the sector. He is a very talented mathematician who works on the well-known Cardano project and has been CEO of Ethereum. He discusses the impact on education and the legal world. By using various current issues, he also perfectly illustrates the impact of technology in developing countries.
6) Richie Etwaru — “Blockchain: Massively Simplified”
With a background as an author, professor, entrepreneur and holder of various international patents in the sector, Richie is certainly an interesting person to listen to. He breaks down all the important basic principles of blockchain technology into bite-sized chunks. I also found the risks of disruption interesting to hear.
7) Rachel Botsman — “How We’ve Stopped Trusting Institutions and Started Trusting Strangers”
This great storyteller specializes in explaining large, complex ideas as simply as possible. She is the perfect person to explain the blockchain technology to a layman! J. Rachel goes further than just explaining the technology; she also zooms in nicely on shifting trust towards unknown people, ideas and companies and the impact on society that this is going to have.
Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.
