The Promise, Pitfalls and Future of Cryptocurrency Thu, February 16, 2023, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM PST Saratoga Foothill Club 20399 Park Place Saratoga, CA 95070 Hardly a day goes by without a news story about Bitcoin, the best-known and strongest cryptocurrency technology. The recent collapse of the FTX exchange has made investors nervous. Is cryptocurrency mainly a monetary vehicle for criminal activity or does it empower individuals disenfranchised by traditional financial systems. One of the most important legacies of cryptocurrency technologies is the introduction of the Blockchain ecosystem. Cryptocurrency can be very puzzling to those who are unfamiliar with it. What is it? Why was it created? What are the pros and cons of this unique new currency? Is it a flash in the pan? A speculate bubble or something that will endure? Join Bebo White for a very brief introduction to the concepts and vocabulary of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. He will largely focus on how the original concepts and applications of the technology, how it has evolved and whether it remains consistent with the original spirit of its creation. Finally, he will also speculate on the status of the cryptocurrency and Blockchain eco-systems and what directions they may take in the future. Bebo White is a Department Associate (retired) from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the U.S. national laboratory for high-energy physics and basic energy science at Stanford University. Working as a computational physicist, he first became involved with emerging Web technology while on sabbatical at CERN in 1989. Ever since, many of his academic research interests have evolved in parallel with Web and Internet technology, including cryptocurrency, blockchain, the “Internet of Things,” and artificial intelligence/machine learning.