Bitcoin, blockchain and distributed ledger technology, which is the right direction of development?

What is blockchain? Where did Bitcoin come from? Are Bitcoin and blockchain still in competition?

These are some of the questions TechCrunch is asking in its new streaming series, “Trust Distributed: Bitcoin and Blockchain,” which launched yesterday and shows how the global financial industry is being forced to change and adapt due to the advent of blockchain technology.

Narrated by New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, the video series aims to answer a series of blockchain questions. Further, it also explores how Bitcoin has disrupted the vision of banks, financial institutions and governments, and the current blockchain as a way to simplify or improve the work of these institutions.

It is reported that the series of videos is divided into six episodes, all of which will be released during the rest of this week.

Bitcoin vs. Blockchain

The video series includes commentary from prominent figures in the digital currency industry, such as Gavin Andresen, one of the earliest Bitcoin developers, Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, and Fred Wilson, a founding partner of Union Square Ventures, who each offer their own definition of “blockchain.”

Wilson, in particular, gave his reasons for being bullish on blockchain technology, explaining that many large companies today control a large amount of user data, which creates an environment for decentralization.

“Whenever you talk about one of these big monopolies, here’s a total game changer, and I think it’s blockchain technology,” Wilson said.

However, as the first video shows, there is a struggle between those who believe that Bitcoin is the real innovation and those who are seeking to exploit Bitcoin's underlying technology for other applications.

On the one hand, Charley Cooper, managing director of blockchain consortium R3CEV, suggested that “moving away from Bitcoin and toward blockchain and distributed ledger technology” is the right direction.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers echoed Cooper’s sentiments, arguing that those who believe Bitcoin will be the savior currency are wrong, but that blockchain can help reduce financial friction.

On the other hand, for early Bitcoin investors such as Roger Ver, the existence of non-Bitcoin blockchain projects is actually a sign that Bitcoin itself is the winner.

Roger said:

“Right now, there are a lot of people interested in blockchain technology… It’s pretty exciting. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Western Union are all in this space, which means we’re winning.”

Concerns about Bitcoin mining

In the second episode, Popper talks about the history of Bitcoin mining’s transition from “amateur” to “professional mining,” explaining that today, only those with access to cheap computer hardware and cheap electricity can profit from Bitcoin mining.

“Right now, the easiest place to find these things is in China,” he said.

In this episode, the reporter enters an unknown Bitcoin mine in Sichuan Province, where 15 workers are responsible for watching over the running mining machines. In these remote areas of southwest China, Bitcoin mining has become a new way to get rich.

Today, about 60%-75% of Bitcoin mining computing power comes from China. Some people have expressed concerns about this, including Dave Carlson, founder of the US startup MegaBigPower.

“Thinking about the possibility that, because of a government ruling or something like that, Chinese miners have been banned from packaging bitcoin transactions from the U.S.,” he said. “That’s a very scary concept.”