IOTA is a decentralized distributed ledger that was designed primarily for the Internet of Things. Unlike other cryptos based on the Blockchain technology, IOTA works on the Tangle Network technology— which is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG).

The Tangle Network enables IOTA to work in a faster and smarter way that was not possible with blockchains. In a more connected network, IOTA opens a variety of use cases that cannot be replicated with the blockchain technology.

IOTA is designed to make IoT achieve the next level of networking — think of connected devices with sensor technology, machine to machine communication, smart cities, pay on demand and other IoT concepts which were otherwise not very feasible with blockchains.

What is a DAG and how does Tangle work?

A Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) is a finite graph wit...

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H. L. Mencken

The Current System

Imagine Joe is your best friend. He’s traveling overseas and on the fifth day of his vacation he calls you and says: “Dude, I need some money. I’ve completely run out.”

You, being the nice person you are, reply “sending some right away,” and hang up.

I'm Jimmy Song from Austin, Texas and currently a Venture Partner at Blockchain Capital LLC.

I'm a Bitcoin Educator, Developer, Entrepreneur and currently the top writer in Bitcoin on Medium. You can check out some of my writings on Medium here or follow me on Twitter here.

I'll be answering thoughtful, deeper questions around Bitcoin & Blockchain on Friday June 8, 3-4 PM Pacific Time. Ask me anything!

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Incentives

Why does everyone spend resources doing the calculation when they know that someone else will calculate and announce it to them? Why not sit idle and wait for the announcement?

Great question. This is where the incentives come in the picture. Everyone who is the part of the Blockchain is eligible for rewards. The first one to calculate the sealing number gets rewarded with free money for his efforts (i.e. expended CPU power and electricity).

Simply imagine, if #5 calculates the sealing number of a page, he gets rewarded with some free money, say $1, that gets minted out of thin air. In other words, the account balance of #5 gets incremented with $1 without decreasing anyone else’s account balance.

That’s how Bitcoin came into existence. It was the f...

Almost a decade ago, Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, silently disrupted trust-providing organizations, like banks, with an eight-page long research paper describing how money can be decentralized (through Bitcoin). At the time, not many people understood the potential that those eight pages concealed within themselves.

The potential isn't just in decentralizing money — but in decentralization itself. In those eight pages, Nakamoto didn’t just explain how we can regain control over our money — he offered a new way for strangers to safely collaborate with each other.

Here, we discuss five different ways blockchain will fit into your company in less than ten years from now.

Because of its unique properties, blockchain technology can be used in many different industries, ranging from banking and accounting to the entertainment industry.

Contracts

What would you call a business that isn’t “doing bus...