Biography
Josh McIntyre is an avid learner and explainer, especially when it comes to cryptocurrency topics. He is employed full time at Microsoft in Pittsburgh, PA. As his side project and labor of love, he runs a website called chaintuts, providing articles, videos, and code projects that break down core cryptocurrency concepts. His goal is to explain Bitcoin and blockchain to anyone who wants to learn about this endlessly fascinating and empowering technology.

Course Title
Visualizing Proof of Work Algorithms with MicroProcessors

Course Description
The proof-of-work algorithm is at the core of Bitcoin’s security model, allowing consensus without the need to trust an intermediary. Every Bitcoin user can benefit from understanding proof-of-work, but the underlying mechanisms including cryptographic hashes, binary numbers, and probability are difficult to understand without a computer science background.

In this session, we’ll explore a way to visually understand proof-of-work using a microprocessor with LEDs and a toy algorithm.