Bitcoin History Part 1: In the Beginning

With today marking the tenth anniversary of the Bitcoin whitepaper, the web is predictably thick with op-eds, retrospectives and thought pieces. While Oct. 31, 2008 is hailed as a pivotal moment in monetary history, at the time, few noticed the publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper to a cryptography mailing list. Like all revolutions, this one … Read more

Ten Years Ago Today, the Whitepaper Changed the Way We Look at Money

On Oct. 31, 2008, at 2:10 p.m. EDT, the creator of the Bitcoin network, Satoshi Nakamoto, announced the publication of the protocol’s whitepaper using a Vistomail email address. It’s now been 10 years to the day since Satoshi’s idea was first revealed to the world — an idea that unleashed the first pure peer-to-peer version of … Read more

Wendy McElroy: In a Stateless Society Crypto is Law and Justice

The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations Section 5: Saving the World Through Anarchism Chapter 11, Part 5 In a Stateless Society, Crypto is Law and Justice The economic analysis of crime starts with one simple assumption: Criminals are rational. A mugger is a mugger…because that profession makes him better off, by his own … Read more

Weaponized Money: Thoughts on the Creation and Control of Bitcoin

Some tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists believe government devised and built bitcoin as weaponized money to enslave the people. They think Big Brother made the technology to subjugate everyone, and that politicians are somehow benefiting from the technology. In an odd twist of logic, these people believe bitcoin represents a state-sponsored tool for control. Also read: Regulations … Read more

Bitcoin Intentions: Are We Aiming to Replace the Status Quo or Become Them?

When the idea of a working digital currency like bitcoin was introduced, many of its early adopters disliked the current bureaucratic system, with a cartel of bankers pulling the world’s monetary strings. Over time, however, something weird has happened and the idea of permissionless innovation perverted into people literally asking nation states for permission, begging … Read more

Cypherpunk Essentials: A Beginner’s Guide to Crypto Privacy

The following op-ed on crypto privacy was written by Reuben Yap. He is the Chief Operations Officer of Zcoin. A corporate lawyer for ten years, specializing in institutional frameworks, Reuben founded one of SE Asia’s top VPN companies, bolehvpn.net. He graduated with a LLB from the University of Nottingham. One of blockchain’s most notable and valued … Read more

Wendy McElroy: The Double C-Word in the Private Sector

The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations Section 5: Saving the World Through Anarchism Chapter 11, Part 2 The Double C-Word in the Private Sector The first rule of the politics of fear is that if you want to make something sound scarier than it actually is, you add the word ‘culture’ at the … Read more