Bitcoin (with upper case B) isn’t just money, it is a PROTOCOL. Just like the http or ftp as the protocol to transfer information over the vast network of computers around the world, Bitcoin is a protocol that transfers value.
During the first generation of the Internet; the Internet of Information, it is not a problem for someone to send a copy of e-mail, however it will be disastrous if people are able to send a copy of money! We definitely don’t want that to happen, right?
Sending a copy of money is what’s known as the double-spending problem. For decades, the attempts to solve this issue had not been successful until in year 2008, an anonymous individual or a group of people known as Satoshi Nakamoto finally found a way to solve this problem. Since then, the Internet of Value or the Internet 2.0 was born.
bitcoin (with lower case b) is the first application of Bitcoin protocol. It is a form of digital money or cryptocurrency based on Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-256) and it uses blockchain as its underlying technology which features immutability.
The supply of bitcoin is permanently capped at 21 million bitcoin and it is currently being distributed through the miners. Every 4 years, the supply of bitcoin gets halved until all 20,999,999.9796 bitcoin are completely mined in year 2140. This will create a disinflation on the bitcoin price following the law of supply and demand, when the supply gets reduced ceteris paribus, the price is going to be increased.
The method of proof-of-work that applies sophisticated mathematical problem-solving replaces 3rd party intervention in confirming transactions. This protocol is known as the trustless protocol. It also makes fiat currency totally garbage and obsolete as bitcoin cuts down the middlemen and features a nearly instant settlement across the globe with very low fee.
This technology breakthrough revolutionizes the way people doing businesses and exchanges values globally. It opens up the gateway for the unbanked. It crushes the riches who are taking advantages over poors for decades. It reduces the gap in society and opens up the whole new set of unthinkable possibilities.
Bitcoin source code is open sourced and literally anyone can make a copy of it and improve the code to promote better scalability and privacy.
Yes, you heard it right. Anyone can copy the Bitcoin code? Doesn’t make any sense to you? :) By copying the code (fork) it allows you to instantly bootstrap your blockchain project. But what differentiates bitcoin from gazillions of other projects and what makes it so powerful? The answer to this is DECENTRALIZATION. Any other blockchain projects without the decentralization is just another crap and bullshit blockchain project!
Go ahead and create your own blockchain project and start deploying a node. It’s easy, yes I know but that’s not really the challenge. The greater challenge is on how to convince and persuade others to launch a node to run your code and make your project properly decentralized and be censorship-resistance and secure like bitcoin. How would you incentivise them to run the nodes for your project? How to make the whole ecosystem sustainable? How to fund the developers, cryptographers, marketers, BDs, HRs and the list goes on…
If you are able to answer all these questions, congratulations, your project stands a chance to be better than bitcoin.
I have found my own path. Currently working on stealth mode with a superb global team called Horizen :) Visit Horizen Official Website to learn more about the project!
HAPPY LABOUR DAY EVERYONE!
Interesting links:
https://medium.com/coinmonks/ranking-cryptos-by-number-of-nodes-57a12e4ae51a
#ZENvangelist #unplug #LabourDay #cryptoanarchy #crushthecapitalist #moneyforthepeople #Bitcoin #Blockchain #Horizen
