2-min summary of Satoshi’s vision for bitcoin as told by its predecessors by Tony Sheng

This is a summary of Satoshi’s vision for bitcoin as told by its predecessors by Tony Sheng published on 28 May 2019.

Executive summary

Nearly all the technical components of Bitcoin had existed before its creation. Satoshi combined them in Bitcoin with trust-minimisation being the core thesis. The Bitcoin community has remained true to this vision, helping Bitcoin develop its unparalleled unassailable strength.

2-minute summary

• nearly all the technical components of bitcoin originated in the academic literature of the 1980s and 1990s

The stated objective of bitcoin

• Satoshi stated the following objectives in the Bitcoin whitepaper: to eliminate the 3rd party, to increase privacy, to reduce fees and to create irreversible transactions

Bitcoin predecessors

• E-cash (1982). A privacy-focused implementation using “blind signatures” that would work with traditional financial systems
• Linked time-stamping (1991). A data structure where documents are linked in a time-chain to ensure tamper-resistance
• Hashcash (1997, updated in 2002). A proof of work mechanism designed to prevent overuse of free online resources, such as email. In the 2002 update, it mentions that the technology can be used for payments that would not require a “banking interface”
• b-money (1998). Essentially, it was almost like Bitcoin. It was peer-to-peer digital money that is minted through proof-of-work, held and used by pseudonymous accounts, and publicly verifiable by all. The main theme was a government-resistant monetary system
• Bit Gold (2005). Another concept that sounds exactly like Bitcoin. “a protocol whereby unforgeable costly bits could be created online with minimal dependence on trusted third parties, and then securely stored, transferred, and assayed with similar minimal trust”. Bit Gold’s main theme is “sound money” with no mention of privacy

How do we fulfil Satoshi’s vision?

• Trust minimisation is the main theme in Satoshi’s communications. Bitcoin has remained true to this vision, while other projects traded it for other features such as programmability (Ethereum), cheap high-throughput transactions (Bitcoin Cash). This single-minded focus has allowed it to gain the strength it benefits from today