Back to course 'ECON135: What Is Money?'

Topic outline

  • Unit 5: Bitcoin's Path to Immortality: Exploring Security, Evolution, and Transformative Applications

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    In the final unit, we'll cover the means and pathways for Bitcoin to achieve immortality, specifically Saylor's thesis about its seven layers of security. Next, we'll discuss predictions about Bitcoin's future energy usage, the costs for the network to continue securing itself, and some practical applications of the Lightning Network.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.

    • Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

      • identify and describe the seven layers of security for Bitcoin: Energy, Technology, Political, Financial, Network, Spatial, and Temporal;
      • identify the three dynamics that bring improvements in Bitcoin's energy efficiency;
      • explain why the impregnable security of the base layer settlement protocol is overkill for everyday use;
      • identify Saylor's claim that currency is an application of the base layer monetary protocol; and
      • describe some of the practical applications for Bitcoin that Saylor identifies.