TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Cryptocurrency and blockchains may be elusive concepts to some, but experts explained what they are and their worldwide implications in an easily-digestible discussion at the inaugural lecture of Ideas and Tools to Create Impact — a three-year project by Louie Dean Valencia, Texas State University Digital History associate professor, that aims to invite notable speakers whose work impacts the world and addresses digital currencies, AI, the environment and democracy. The initial event titled Bitcoin, China and Authoritarianism featured Grant McCarty, Bitcoin Policy Institute cofounder and codirector, and Yifan Liu, TXST Finance and Economics assistant professor, and was moderated by Valencia. The Bitcoin Policy Institute is a nonpartisan body of experts researching the intersection of cryptocurrency, U.S. public policy interests, technology, financial inclusion, energy and the future of money.
According to investopedia, Bitcoin is a virtual currency designed to act as money and a form of payment outside the control of any one person, group or entity. The benefit to this is that it removes the need for trusted third-party involvement, such as a mint or bank, in financial transactions.
