Why Bitcoin is following the same trajectory as the Internet itself(originally just a TCP/IP standard) as it goes from a techy undertaking to becoming the underpinnings of something was more powerful.

1. MAKING BITCOIN USER FRIENDLY
Bill Barhydt
Twitter: @billbarhydt

2. Making TCP/IP Easy to Use
• 1983 – modest experiment
• 1989 – even insiders betting against it
• 1990 – over 100,000 host machines
• 1992 – over 1,000,000 connected computers
• 1994 – Mosaic popularizes the web, Netscape is born
• The rest is history

3. Making Bitcoin Easy to Use… ?
• 2008 – modest experiment
• 2010 – 10k BTC bought two pizzas
• 2012 – even insiders betting against it.
• 2016 – 12 million wallets across 5 million “users”
• 2019 – ? popularizes the use of Bitcoin
• ”Hopefully” the rest will be history

4. By the Way
• TCP/IP: Intranet vs Internet
….Remember that debate?
• Bitcoin: Public (Bitcoin) vs Permissioned Blockchain
….Guess who will win?

5. What Problem are We Trying to Solve
• Client Wallet: Bitcoin is a currency, hold and spend it
• Hosted Wallet: Bitcoin is a commodity, acquire and
store it

6. The Easy Way Out

7. What Problem are We Trying to Solve?
• Abra: We want a single mobile app that enables
anyone in the world to send money to any phone
number in the world regardless of currency or bank
account.

8. Why This Problem?
• Cross Border Remittances
-> $700 billion with over $30 billion in fees
• Cross Border Commerce eventually worth $1 trillion
• Unbanked population stands at 2-3 billion
…means no access to payments, credit, etc.

9. Issues to Overcome
• Local (cash) wallet vs Hosted wallet
• Public key vs phone number
• Fiat Liquidity -> cash vs banked consumers
• Fiat Volatility and FX vs Bitcoin
• Regulation -> hundreds of regulators!
• Not breaking decentralization

10. Local (Cash) wallet

11. 11
Public Key vs Phone Number

12. 12
Fiat Liquidity (cash vs banked consumers)

13. Bill adds $200
to his phone,
Abra app now
holding 1 XBT
XBT spot @ 200
XBT down 20%,
Abra app now
holding 1.25 XBT
XBT spot @ 160
Bill withdraws
money off
phone
LENDER LENDER
Fiat Volatility vs FX (Smart Contract Model)
XBT spot @ 160
Details of the FX/smart contract model will be discussed in a future blog post

14. Regulation
• Make app ”rules based”
• Partners define rules
• Push regulation to edge of
network where it belongs
• Ex: Ask for ID when adding
money via bank
• Only ask for intrusive
information when necessary
 Exchanges
 Tellers
 Merchants

15. Not Breaking Decentralization

17. Making Bitcoin Easy to Use
• Ultimately this means focusing on real problems for
real consumers and businesses and not simply betting
on the adoption of new technology.
• Define your problem in crystal clear terms and rally
everyone around that problem. Turn it into your
mission.

18. THANK YOU
Bill Barhydt
Twitter: @billbarhydt