Jamie Smith, former special assistant to President Obama: Why I chose blockchain

Editor's note: The original author, Jamie Smith, was previously a special assistant to President Obama. Now she has joined the Bitcoin company BitFury and serves as the company's chief communications officer.

I believe in the transformative power of blockchain technology, and you should too. In fact, I believed so much in blockchain that I left Edelman, the largest PR firm in the world, to join a startup called BitFury.

Are you scratching your head? Curious? Read on.

Prior to Edelman, my career also included serving as Deputy White House Press Secretary, Special Assistant to President Obama, Director of Public Affairs in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Communications Director for the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, among other roles.

So why did I leave this path and choose blockchain? What is blockchain?

Simply put, blockchain is an immutable public ledger in which every Bitcoin transaction is recorded, making peer-to-peer payments possible without the involvement of banks or other third parties.

BitFury, the company I chose to join, has built a significant global network of servers that provide computing power to protect this blockchain network. Similar to cloud computing, this has enabled millions of startups around the world... (skip, a paragraph praising the new employer)

After a lot of research, curiosity, and testing, it became clear to me that this technology would undoubtedly change the world in a positive way.

And I am not alone. More and more senior officials from government, finance, technology, law enforcement, and civil society have also boarded this ship because they see the infinite possibilities of this technology. This breakthrough innovation will open the door to millions of people around the world. My former White House colleague Brian Forde is now in charge of the digital currency program at the MIT Media Lab, and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Jim Newsome has joined BitFury's board of directors. Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein also serves on Bifury, and former JPMorgan Chase CFO Blythe Masters has also joined the blockchain startup. More and more experts in various fields have left their respected positions to focus on blockchain technology.

Imagine….

1. Imagine a world where people can send money as easily as they send emails. It sounds crazy, but on this growing network (Bitcoin), about 100,000 transactions are happening every day.

2. Imagine a world where your bank or your favorite e-commerce site has never been hacked. It sounds crazy, but thanks to blockchain infrastructure like BitFury, the project has never been hacked in the seven years since its inception.

3. Imagine a world where any misbehavior by criminals is forever recorded online and we can use it to investigate. It sounds crazy, but law enforcement has prosecuted and imprisoned illegal actors, including their own (two involved agents), who have tried to use this technology for illegal activities.

4. Imagine a world where anyone: an entrepreneur or company, big or small, can accept digital payments without having to ask permission from banks or credit card companies and pay them high service fees. It sounds crazy, but in the Bitcoin world, more than 120,000 merchants, from Microsoft to a roasted coffee shop in Ohio, accept Bitcoin payments.

5. Imagine a world where billions of dollars in small business loans are unlocked for entrepreneurs in the developing world because they can clearly access property titles through the blockchain. It sounds crazy, but the Honduran government is already working on this.

And these may just be the beginning of blockchain.

We all remember the famous question from 1994 on NBC's Today Show between Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel: "What is the Internet?"

At the time, few people could fully understand the power of an open and interoperable system. Today, we live in a world where we watch movies online on our iPhones, search for things on Google, connect with friends and family on Facebook, and buy our favorite gifts on Amazon during the holidays, all with the power of our hands.

My colleagues and I at BitFury regularly comment and tell the story of the power of blockchain through speeches, blogs, owned media, and technical white papers.

Original article: https://medium.com/@jamieelizabethsmith/why-i-believe-in-the-blockchain-b19bf2014fab#.6r9ynbf1s
By Jamie Smith
Compiled by: Satuoxi
Editor: Satuoxi
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/jamie-smith-blockchain)