On March 27, 2014 I gave a presentation at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto.

I covered a number of topics including some of the governance challenges surrounding the protocol, the tragedy of the commons surrounding the development of the system as well as how the network pays for itself through token dilution (seigniorage).

This is based on the following research paper:

• Bitcoin Hurdles: the Public Goods Costs of Securing a Decentralized Seigniorage Network which Incentivizes Alternatives and Centralization (pdf)

I made at least one error in the presentation.  Regarding microtransactions, this was not specifically stated in the original 2008 white paper but was subsequently discussed by adopters as an area for potential opportunities.  Here is one thread at StackExchange that discusses this further.

Currently only off-chain solutions like Coinbase support the ability to transact at the satoshi level.

[Note: this presentation was made prior to the announcement of “Sidechains” which is a Blockchain 2.0 company that could ameliorate some of the governance issues]