My First Time Meeting Andreas Antonopoulos in Silicon Valley, California

This past weekend, I had the delight of meeting Andreas Antonopoulos for the very 1st time at an Ethereum meetup near Stanford University. I was in the area and couldn't pass up the chance to meet him. For those who are not familiar with Andreas, he is a popular Bitcoin spokeperson who has written Mastering Bitcoin and recently published The Internet of Money. He has done a lot for the cryptocurrency community by advocating for mainstream adoption of cryptocoins. He has appeared on TV, radios, conferences, and meetups endorsing the unique features of cryptocoins. Many people would credit Andreas for introducing them to cryptocurrency.

In this particular Ethereum meetup, Andreas discussed the differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum. He compared them to lion and shark. Both of these creatures rule in their respective environments therefore it is impossible to determine which one is superior. If you put the shark on land, it will surely lose and vice versa putting the lion in the water. The outcome of the match between those two is entirely dependent on the environment. Bitcoin has been around for longer and provides better security, but you can't do much with it. Ether, on the other hand, isn't as secure but has added functionalities due to the smart contract feature that it provides.

Andreas also discussed the future of cryptocurrency arguing that it is entirely up to the users to shape the direction it goes in. He used the example of the internet to demonstrate his point. It was originally designed for scientists to share information about nuclear proliferation, but nowadays, it is the largest repository of cat photos.

Personally, I thought the talk was very good. Andreas was clear about his points and delivered them in a very comical way. I am glad that he is the spokeperson for our crytocurrency community. I hope that he continues his effort and eventually pushes cryptocoins mainstream acquiring many more users.