The Future Of Bitcoin on CNN

I was delighted to be asked by CNN to be one of the panellists debating the future of Bitcoin this evening via Twitter. Despite the chat overlapping with the livestream of Lawsky’s outline of revisals to New York’s BitLicense, it managed to attract a huge amount of attention around the web.

Our live chat about the future of #bitcoin starts now! Join us via #bitcoinfuture: http://t.co/PsOe3Nd0ke pic.twitter.com/VAU5yvbZ4l

— CNN Tech (@cnntech) December 18, 2014

Whilst I’ve been using Twitter for six years now, it was the first high profile Twitter event that I’ve taken part in. And a pretty full-on hour it was too. Trying to get your answers out whilst responding to others and also scanning the rest of the conversation meant that the time flashed by. And according this report on the debate in CryptoCoinNews, it appears it seemed to be even more chaotic for many of the people who were looking on.

Twitter’s a powerful platform. Ever since it clicked for me that it had nothing to do with everyday mundanities but that it was instead a mainline that led me to all of the key information that I needed (whether I knew that I needed it or not), I’ve been a big fan. To me, the price that you pay for the immediacy of information is the very fact that it can be a bit chaotic. That’s clear if you’ve ever followed trending topics during major breaking news events. Such chaos doesn’t come without certain risks, of course, but the discovery value is clear nonetheless.

Regardless, it was fantastic to be involved. The reality as we are all aware is that the topic can be complex and provoke plenty of strong reactions as any brief glance at the Bitcoin sub-reddit or Bitcoin Talk forum tends to highlight. And even Andreas popped his head in briefly to get involved at one stage:-

https://twitter.com/Jose_Pagliery/status/545626541510918144

@WritingFactory @Jose_Pagliery @DugCampbell The Internet is decentralization. No uptake?

— Andreas (aantonop Team) (@aantonop) December 18, 2014

So thanks again CNN. I’m pretty certain that this conversation is one that’s going to keep going for many years yet. It’s far from over.

Thanks everyone for joining us! #bitcoinfuture

— CNN Tech (@cnntech) December 18, 2014