Unfortunately some countries banned ICOs so these "fake projects" can't scam people out of their hard-earned fiat. On an additional note, some replies also mentioned use IEOs. However some of the same countries are also going to ban or have already banned them.

You may want to research tokens or STOs (secure token offerings) that are tied to legitimate startup projects. Those may be of more interest to you. I also thought that all virtual coins and their projects were a scam until recently. Then I started researching STOs with real-world business applications and attending a few AMA sessions headlined by these startups. Those really informed me that some projects are really trying to solve challenges in business, medicine, the arts, etc.

Security features on blockchain are also important. For example, PayPal is only a secure software technology for currency transfer but it does not mint or mine any currency (fiat or virtual). In the same way, blockchain uses security measures to transfer both currency and information securely. However, if hackers want to attack the blockchain then it would be nearly impossible to do without any detection because the blockchain is one giant ledger. Change one digit or letter and it shows. If an organization holds its secure information in a database or cloud based service, there is some possibility of a hack without any detection for months or even years. See recent examples of Yahoo and Marriott. One took place years ago while the other happened only a few months prior.

Blockchain can also transfer information and not every transaction has to be the "value added" type. I recently attended an AMA that explored other applications of blockchain including use of decentralized apps (or dapps) for businesses to send and receive private information. In my country, healthcare information is held to high privacy and confidentiality standards that even some SaaS cannot meet. Tokenization of said information on the blockchain could solve this problem. The startups at the AMA did not go into details. However we can store regular purchases of needed medications in the blockchain then there are some uses for people who need regular heart or diabetes medications. Sure there are payments involved for the medication from insurance companies but what about the patient's information? Blockchain can also store and transfer this information. After all, blockchain is one giant ledger...

I did see some electronic payment discussion which can be sent or refunded like a bank card. PayPal may already have a hold on secured online payments in a marketplace but there is no escrow. Let's assume that you want to sell something for $1000 USD (or EUR or GBP) for an item on eBay. The buyer sends the money and you ship the item, but the payment method was compromised (like a stolen credit card) or the item is damaged in transit. The agreed upon price or good is no longer valid.

Unfortunately, PayPal doesn't account for much that may happen after the payment has been sent. I recently purchased a small ticket item on eBay where the seller sent me the wrong item and I returned it hopefully in exchange for the item I purchased. However it never came and no communication from the seller. PayPal investigated and refunded the money within the hour which wasn't too much work but let's go back to the 1000 item. There would be a lot more investigating into the matter without any escrow account in the middle. This is just an example of course but it does happen in an online marketplace like eBay more often than one would think...

In the original post I read, "the IMF bashed Germany's adoption of the gold standard in the 1870s," yet we forget how quickly the German economy turned upside down around the 1920s. It may have been 50 years later, but things moved much more slowly within the area of economics. Globally, we had transitioned into the manufacturing era in the early 19th century and would be in that era for another 70 years. They needed a lot of help getting out of their recession, but it just goes to show the IMF is not always right or has the right view on a certain topic.

Let's fast forward to the current day. In recent months, the IMF has opened up to the concept of cryptocurrencies. There were some meetings or summits regarding monetary remittance in commercial banks with a creation of their own cryptocurrency. Each individual banking system is unique based on domestic regulations and given economic conditions, so it may not be legal in some countries, but it does introduce the concept of a completely virtual system. Of course, no system is too good or too big to fail, but looking at Germany adopting the gold standard and then letting it go is definitely one of the earlier examples. Main point is that we will need some sort of reserve bailout in this global economy if it were to collapse. Some central banks have had to bail out struggling countries like the ECB with respect to Greece's situation.

Many banking systems had gold as their choice, but there are other options especially within the world of cryptocurrency. Some coins or tokens are backed by stock within a company so they're like a utility instead of traditional gold-backed fiat currencies. I recently attended an AMA session hosted by some blockchain startups and they seemed to be attached to an alternate standard of backing their tokens as a utility. These tokens can be used on their platform and It is a rather new concept, but still similar to this gold standard requirement like most believe that we need. If each unit of currency was backed by a gold standard, there would be a much larger vault space needed for the actual gold whether it be for fiat or crypto compared to the days when Germany and the US had their respective gold standards.

Well that's my two (or three) cents, but let's just keep in mind that there is no perfect or completely fail-proof system especially with a shift toward cryptocurrencies. Maybe the IMF also missed the mark on cryptocurrencies and it doesn't have the right amount of centralization needed to move forward successfully. Only time will tell...

Agreed as well. It certainly takes a village between the educators (people who teach the technology), providers (those who provide the LTE/WiFi services), distributors (companies that sell the devices), etc. While not impossible, it would be extremely difficult introducing blockchain to some indigenous populations that do not have access to the internet or even electricity. However there are ways around these obstacles like cellular towers and solar powered chargers for phones and tablets.

It's also important to note that blockchain technology itself is good not only for exchanging cryptocurrencies, but also for improving distance communications, tracking animal movements, and studying weather patterns for a possible flood or drought. An improvement with any or all of these can greatly improve the quality of life.

I like the thought of using blockchain as a part of information security. The main goal is to maintain confidentiality while providing accessibility. However PGP is rather old. Are you also asking if we should integrate the complexity of the blockchain to add more security layers to the protocol for making informational or simple contract transactions (not just monetary) more secure?

It sounds like a good topic. I recently attended an AMA session with Ophelius Labs and they answered some questions on this topic.

From what I gathered, the idea of BaaS is similar to SaaS because you will access it via an intranet or extranet connection. I studied many SaaS examples, but it only requires a simple log in credential and some industry-standard level of security to access. However this security is only a complex encryption and wont actively prevent DDoS attacks or something similar. With the blockchain in place, businesses and organizations can prevent MitM (man in the middle), packet sniffing, and, of course, DDoS attacks. This can lead to more secure computing for organizations and protect their sensitive data.

A few short years ago we were talking about the next big thing with information security in the cloud, but looks like we've finally reached some middle ground between confidentiality plus integrity and yet maintaining accessibility for remote or mobile workers.

Saying a prayer for you brother. Did twitter use an IP ban? You can use a VPN to start again with a similar handle. Share it on here and re-gain some followers for starters.

This is incredible finding so many individuals in a single chat. I have never seen so much discussion and evidence presented! How do I join the cause and help get the word out?

Unfortunately Amazon has become too big for its own good...anyway it's important to note that certain products aren't sold by and shipped from Amazon itself. The sponsored listings are redundant too so sometimes it helps to search outside their (sometimes limited) offerings. In such instances, I'll search eBay or go to a local thrift store and find it at a more reasonable price most of the time.

I honestly couldn't name a single game. It would have to be anything Mario Bros franchise on N64. I've played games from the franchise on older systems like Super Nintendo and newer ones like the Nintendo Switch. Can't beat those games.

Yes I do still use an actual laptop or desktop. Some might say, "they've gone out of style," or are outdated and no longer have the processing power but there are still places and jobs that require the use of them. My job requires me to use traditional desktops and server interfaces that can fulfill the needs of my job better than any smartphone and most tablets.

Plus who doesn't like the feel and sounds of a traditional keyboard as you hit the keys?