How Blockchains Will Disrupt Everything - Stephen P. Williams

How Blockchains Will Disrupt Everything - Stephen P. Williams

Author: Francis Tapon May 25, 2019 Duration: 59:06

Stephen P. Williams, author of Blockchain: The Next Everything, talks about bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchains. In this interview, I ask him:


  • What is a blockchain?

  • Is each bitcoin transaction really consuming 30-USA-households worth of electricity?

  • What's the difference between proof-of-work versus proof-of-stake?

  • What's the promise of Etherum vs. Bitcoin?

  • What's blockchain's killer app? What what's the next low-hanging fruit?

  • Why should painters love the blockchain?

  • Why did someone pay $170,000 for a digital crypto kitty?

  • Why is Williams bullish on Ethereum and Litecoin?

  • How are dapps (distributed applications) going to impact us? See the state of the dapps that Stephen Williams mentions.

  • What does a self-sovereign world look like?


Around 35 minutes into the interview, we discuss an interactive McKinsey matrix about the blockchain industry. It's worth seeing the matrix (or to watch my YouTube video about it).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRSYkay394k


You can follow Stephen Williams on Twitter.


For those who don't see how this relates to travel (my normal subject), it's that cryptocurrencies and blockchains have the potential of disrupting everything, including the travel industry. 


Promoting Health Access Sumbawa

One of WanderLearn's top patrons, Kathy Kennedy Enger, asked me to draw attention to Health Access Sumbawa. I am happy to promote this remarkable nonprofit. In 2014, Jack Kennedy founded the organization to bring malaria control and healthcare to remote, impoverished communities. It started on the remote island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Since then, it's expanded thanks to generous donations. Visit their website to learn more and to donate: https://healthaccesssumbawa.org


More info

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my newsletter at http://wanderlearn.com.


If you like this podcast, subscribe and share! 


On social media, my username is always ftapon. Follow me on:



Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron at http://Patreon.com/FTapon


Rewards start at just $2/month!


If you prefer to do a one-time contribution, you can send it to my PayPal at FT@FrancisTapon.com


If you prefer sending me cryptocurrency, then please send your support to one of my favorite wallets:


  • Bitcoin: 3EiSBC2bv2bYtYEXAKTkgqZohjF27DGjnV

  • Ethereum: 0x86D8Ab45260F82A5548F39BF21C9e244D0405a83



Get full access to Francis Tapon at ftapon.substack.com/subscribe

There's a certain kind of travel that changes you, not just your location. It’s the slow, immersive kind where the journey itself becomes the teacher. In WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life, Francis Tapon acts as your guide into this world, exploring how leaving familiar ground can fundamentally reshape your perspective. This isn't about quick tips or itineraries; it's about the deeper conversations that happen at the crossroads of culture, society, and personal growth. Each episode delves into how we engage with places and people, often weaving in discussions about the role of modern technology in both enabling and complicating these profound experiences. You'll hear stories and insights that challenge the conventional tourist mindset, pushing toward a more thoughtful, engaged way of moving through the world. Francis draws from a wealth of experience to discuss concepts like vagabonding and deep travel, making the case that the greatest souvenirs aren't trinkets, but transformed thoughts. Tuning into this podcast feels like sitting down with a well-traveled friend who understands that the real destination is often a shift within yourself. It’s for anyone who believes that travel, at its best, is a powerful catalyst for learning and living differently.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 388

WanderLearn: Travel to Transform Your Mind & Life
Podcast Episodes
Being A California Mayor: Burlingame's Donna Colson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:29
Donna Colson is one of the five City Council members in Burlingame, California. Currently, she's serving as Burlingame's Mayor. Burlingame is an affluent city with 30,000 residents near the San Francisco Airport. I grew…
Eradicating Malaria in Sumbawa, Indonesia and Beyond [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:56
Jack Kennedy got malaria in Sumbawa, Indonesia. After that tough experience, a lightbulb went off in his head.He wondered if, at the cost of a few thousand dollars, he could eliminate malaria in Sumbawa.He founded Health…
How To Avoid and Survive an Avalanche [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:07:07
What would you do if you were caught in an avalanche? How do you minimize your risk when you're traveling in the snowy mountains?Robert Hahn has studied avalanches and still managed to get caught in one. He works for the…
Touring the World with Jessica Husson and TourRadar [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:07
WanderLearn fans get a special chance to win $1000 in travel credits on TourRadar by going here:https://www.tourradar.com/wanderlearnAbout this episode: Jessica Husson was one of two people (out of thousands who applied)…
How Does A Colonial Ghost Haunt Africa's Borders? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:31
Elias Papaioannou is a Professor of Economics at the London School of Business (at the start of the podcast, I incorrectly say that he's at the London School of Economics).Professor Papaioannou has authored the following…
How To Travel Responsibly and Ethically [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:27
You might think that you're a responsible and ethical traveler, but are you really?I talk with Alexandra Pastollnigg, who is the Founder of FairVoyage. She climbed Kilimanjaro. She's biked from Cairo to Cape Town. She's…
Algerians Reveal Their Unseen Sides [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:36:46
Algeria is Africa's biggest country.It's also been the least touristy North African country for the last 100 years, on average. During Kadaffi's time, Libya received more tourists than Algeria. It's only since his fall t…
Are Humans Part of Nature? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:18
Over a decade ago, when I was yo-yoing the Continental Divide Trail, I had a lot of time to think. When I got to a town, I would have all this pent up writing energy that would explode on my blog. One of my most profound…
The Unseen Egypt with High-End Journeys [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:29
This is my 50th podcast!To celebrate, I've produced an unusual WanderLearn episode.Instead of one guest, I have two! Instead of one location, we wander throughout Cairo with two Egyptologists of High-End Journeys: Ramez…
AMA About the Book, Jail, and Languages [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:25
Rejoice Tapon and I host an Ask Me Anything episode on our podcast. The video is only available to my WanderLearn patrons.In this episode, we discuss:The Eko Atlantic Project in Lagos, NigeriaIs there going to be an audi…