Introducing Our Speakers: Nick Szabo
Korea Blockchain Week 2019
We’re thrilled to announce one of the most valued and respected figures in the blockchain space! This man goes by the name of Nick Szabo. He is a computer scientist, legal scholar and cryptographer known for his research in digital contracts and digital currency, who even invented the phrase and concept of “smart contracts” with the goal of bringing the highly evolved practices of contract law and practice to the design of electronic commerce protocols between strangers on the internet.
Background
Despite his status as a leader in cryptocurrency, Szabo has managed to remain relatively personally anonymous, letting his thoughts and his work speak for themselves. He was also a notable Cyberphunk.
He graduated from the University of Washington in 1989 with a degree in computer science and engineering, earned a JD from George Washington University Law School, and he holds an honorary professorship at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín. This made Szabo unique in the computer science industry due to his ability to blend programming and coding with the law, particularly contract law.
Following his education, he focused on legal contract theory with emerging technology protocols. A few years after that he came up with the idea of smart contracts, which is now a familiar concept to every single reader of this post.
Bit Gold
In the following decade, Nick Szabo created the predecessor or precursor to Bitcoin, with similar advanced math and cryptography algorithms; Bit gold. His proposal was for a financial system that combines different elements of cryptography and mining to accomplish decentralization. In 2005, he opened a blog post about Bit gold as follows:
The problem, in a nutshell, is that our money currently depends on trust in a third party for its value… …Thus, it would be very nice if there were a protocol whereby unforgeably costly bits could be created online with minimal dependence on trusted third parties, and then securely stored, transferred, and assayed with similar minimal trust.
Quite some people believe that Nick Szabo played a crucial role in the development of Bitcoin, even going so far as to claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto — the creator of Bitcoin. However, the blockchain, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts pioneer denies that he is Satoshi.
Nevertheless, it’s impossible to deny that he is at least a major indirect contributor to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Today, his opinion on issues in this space is one of the most trusted and professional in the field, so we’re very excited to have him around during the Korea Blockchain Week 2019.
Can’t wait to attend his keynote? Visit the official Korea Blockchain Week website now to see all the events and get your tickets!
Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing more of the exciting speakers we’ve lined up for you!
FACTBLOCK is proud to present a premier blockchain event, Korea Blockchain Week 2019 (KBW 2019). During KBW2019’s main event “D.FINE,” global professionals from leading industry companies and startups, financial services giants, academic institutions and policy groups will return to Seoul to discuss the real and the virtual applications of blockchain technology.
Korea Blockchain Week 2019
- Dates: September 27 — October 04, 2019
- Location: Various locations in Seoul
- Tickets: Visit the official Korea Blockchain Week website now to see the events.
- Want to register your event? Send us an email info@koreablockchainweek.com
D.FINE | Main Event
D.FINE is the first Korean conference to be hosted by leading Korean media conglomerates alongside FACTBLOCK and Hashed and to be sponsored by both Seoul and Busan, two major cities of Korea. Under this year’s theme “The Real and The Virtual,” major global companies and pioneers of the blockchain industry will come together to discuss the potential of the industry’s future and share their initiatives.
- Dates: September 30 — October 01, 2019
- Venue: InterContinental Grand Seoul Parnas Grand Ballroom
- Tickets: https://dfine.koreablockchainweek.com/tickets
- Questions: Reach out to us at d.fine@koreablockchainweek.com
“The Real and The Virtual”
If you want to read more from this titan in the meantime…
His blog, Unenumerated, is a collection of writings on a huge variety of topics, ranging from economic law to history of commerce, to his thoughts on topics relevant to the current state of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. You can also follow him on Twitter (@NickSzabo4)*
