332 Jaime Leverton: Cryptography in Action

For almost as long as humans have been using coins and dollars to trade and grow, we’ve also been using them as weapons.  It’s almost a magical thing, one thing that can be traded for anything you want. And the people in charge of that currency control the magic. The idea of a common currency is intertwined in just about every facet of our lives, up to the very top on Capitol Hill. It seems natural that someone should be in charge of this huge power. But this is where a cryptocurrency butts in and says, why does anyone have to be in charge? Today we’re going to focus on the practical promise of this emerging tech with Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8. Practical, like two billion unbanked people getting access to a stable bank account. Hut 8 is one of the largest crypto mining operations today, and we’ll hear from Jaime how her background in everything from IBM to Blackberry enabled her to take the lead on this new project.