A mysterious individual known as Satoshi Nakamoto delivered the email that popularized Bitcoin. Satoshi laid out the fundamental principles and goals of Bitcoin in this email, which eventually served as the blueprint for the groundwork for the ground-breaking digital currency that has completely changed the financial and technological landscape. Let’s examine the changes that Bitcoin has undergone since its launch. The Bitcoin Origin Story In an email received on October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto described Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that would do away with the need for dependable third parties in financial transactions. It presented the idea
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As anyone who has read the Bitcoin History series (or lived through the period in question) will know, the Bitcointalk forum was the crucible of debate in the early days. What’s less known is that – to quote one poster – “DDoSing this forum coincided with dumps on the then dominant Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.” […]
As the third Bitcoin halvening approaches, a handful of OGs will wistfully recall the first such event, which occurred in November 2012. Back then, following the completion of block 210,000, the mining reward halved from 50 to 25 BTC. To commemorate the milestone, early adopters threw parties throughout the world, from Tel Aviv and Macau […]
Before the emergence of crypto exchanges and trustless multi-sig, early bitcoiners saw the need for an escrow service – a mediator to act as a go-between for strangers transacting online. Given the panoply of options now available, it is strange to think that escrow was once provided by a few early supporters, who put their […]
“I am pretty confident we are the new wealthy elite, gentlemen, even with a sum as small as 10 bitcoins … The world just isn’t going to be the same and we have been blessed as the pioneers.” When these remarks were made in June of 2011, they seemed hopeful to the point of delirium. […]
There are a few ways of looking at bitcoin mining. As an ostensibly selfish enterprise, wherein miners are seeking to extract precious coins for profit. And as a community of individuals who envisage a better way of generating, handling and using money, and are motivated to secure the Bitcoin network. The truth is probably somewhere […]
Technically speaking, it’s impossible to destroy bitcoins. But it is possible to send coins to an unspendable address, rendering them redundant to all intents and purposes. In October 2011, that’s exactly what Mark Karpeles did when he consigned 2,609 BTC to eternal oblivion due to a scripting error. Also read: Bitcoin History Part 16: The […]
As someone who was there from virtually the start, Roger Ver has seen and done it all in Bitcoin. A tireless evangelist for Bitcoin since long before it was cool, Ver remains a vocal proponent of the benefits of peer-to-peer cash and its power to effect positive change in the world. Every day this week, […]
No one remembers the first Mt. Gox hack. It was a small sum, even by 2011’s standards, and the exchange reimbursed all users. The incident was to prove significant, however, for it set in motion a string of attacks on other bitcoin platforms that began the very next day. By the time the dust had […]
Silk Road launched in February 2011 as the darknet’s first bitcoin-based marketplace. Within four months, it would be the darknet’s most notorious site whose reputation extended all the way to the U.S. Senate. The origins of the drugs marketplace can be traced back further, however, to a philosophical thread on the Bitcointalk forum. It was […]