What is the best platform for smart contracts? What makes Ethereum interesting to you? So far, most of the platforms experimenting with smart contracts, besides Ethereum, are either still in the roadmap or early testing phases of development (i.e. federated sidechains and drivechains). Most of the so-called "third generation" blockchains have not been able to differentiate sufficiently from the first and second generation blockchains. We cannot draw very accurate conclusions without being able to compare them at scale. When I speak about Ethereum, I am speaking more broadly than the ETH token and blockchain, but rather virtual machine-based, Turing complete, programmable blockchain for smart contracts. During the maturation of this technology, there are going to be a lot of governance missteps and security vulnerabilities because they are choosing flexibility over security in the tradeoff. Ethereum can't do what Bitcoin does. Having a robust, simple script language and conservative, reliable development is a strong differentiating factor. The biggest challenge for both Bitcoin and Ethereum moving forward is privacy. This is a question from the patron-only live Q&A which took place on December 16th 2017. If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop RELATED: The Lion and the Shark: Divergent Evolution in Cryptocurrency - https://youtu.be/d0x6CtD8iq4 Ethereum, ICOs, and Rocket Science - https://youtu.be/OWI5-AVndgk Forkology: A Study of Forks For Newbies - https://youtu.be/rpeceXY1QBM Programmable Money, Smart Contracts and DAOs - https://youtu.be/_0jxX84mzts The Killer App: Engineering the Properties of Money - https://youtu.be/MxIrc1rxhyI Hardware, Software, Trustware - https://youtu.be/Etyjc1JdmFU Bitcoin: "Failing to Scale" - https://youtu.be/bFOFqNKKns0 Impact of smart contracts on law and accounting - https://youtu.be/K-TRzuPwJCc DIrected acyclic graphs (DAGs) and IOTA - https://youtu.be/lfgMnbb5JeM Altcoins and the scaling debate - https://youtu.be/slbpdW-H3yk Altcoins and specialisation - https://youtu.be/b_Yhr8h6xnA Layered scaling and privacy - https://youtu.be/4w-bjUhpf_Q Scaling complex systems - https://youtu.be/dm9m1oQr6Ks Unstoppable code - https://youtu.be/AQx3E3F8Kz4 Cultural differences between Bitcoin & Ethereum - https://youtu.be/3UNC1AKc3Qk Governance trade-offs in decentralised systems - https://youtu.be/dtwaW79Fj7c TheDAO - Why failure is a necessity for learning - https://youtu.be/2KZTx8IYc9s We all started as critics - https://youtu.be/-jvefuVRwYA Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin. Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop Website: https://antonopoulos.com/ He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters. THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 [NEW] THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042 [NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388 Subscribe to the channel to learn more about Bitcoin & open blockchains! Music: "Unbounded" by Orfan (https://www.facebook.com/Orfan/) Outro Graphics: Phneep (http://www.phneep.com/) Outro Art: Rock Barcellos (http://www.rockincomics.com.br/)