Happy Halloween to Bitcoin!
Today marks a very special day in the world of cryptocurrency, 10 years ago Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin whitepaper on the 31st October, 2008!
Some consider this to be Bitcoin’s official birthday, while others choose to celebrate the digital currency on the 3rd January, the date the very first genesis block was mined.
Here at B21, we consider both to be equally significant dates! Today we thought we would take a look at the spooky connection between Bitcoin and Halloween!
The release of the Bitcoin Whitepaper took place on Halloween and there is much debate on whether this date was a simple coincidence or if it was in fact selected intentionally. There is no denying that Satoshi Nakamoto knew the significance of his discovery and concept, it is unlikely that such thought was put into the concept with no thought being placed on the day it would be released into the world!
Although black cats, fancy dress costumes and candy have nothing to do with Bitcoin, there are some messages from the ancient tradition of Halloween that could have significant relevance!
Halloween was originally known as Samhain, a Gaelic festival celebrated in the Celtic lands of Ireland and Scotland to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the winter. Halloween was celebrated as a kind of ‘New Year’s Eve’ and a movement from one world to another. Ancient Celts believed that it was on this one evening that the boundary from one world to another could be easily crossed and that the ghosts of the dead could walk freely amongst the living!
And so what does this have to do with Bitcoin? Well, Satoshi Nakamoto is often described as a ‘Ghost’. A ghost that entered our world anonymously on the 31st October 2008 for a short period of time to introduce us to a new movement from one financial world to another, placing the idea of a digital currency freely in the public space, and then vanishing without a trace. And so, it could be looked at that the 31st October was carefully selected to tell us some important hidden messages about the centralised world we lived in and how it was about to change!
Aside from ghosts and world movement, another similarity between Bitcoin and Halloween is in the Bitcoin branding! Halloween is associated with the colours black and orange. The black represents the long hours of darkness that takes place during autumn, and traditionally the unknown world of the dead crossing over into the living realm, while the orange signifies the changing colours from summer to autumn. Orange is also seen as warm and inviting colour, and is associated with celebrations, in the case of Halloween it was connected to the celebrations of the new year! These two colours were combined to represent life and death — the end of one world and the beginning of another.
Bitcoin’s branding was not present on the day of the release of the Whitepaper, this came later, following the launch of Bitcoin.org, which was founded by Nakamoto — Interestingly the colours chosen to represent Bitcoin were black, orange and white. In the case of Bitcoin, the black could be seen to represent the death of the old centralised financial system as we knew it. White is associated with purity, perfection and new beginnings and so in the case of Bitcoin it signals a new decentralised financial system and the orange could signify the excitement and celebration of this new financial world!
Ultimately the significance of this date is open to perception, yet will remain a mystery, one thing is for sure, in the past decade the concept of Bitcoin has certainly come a long way from an idea released anonymously into the world in 2008. It has taught us some very powerful lessons and opened our eyes and minds to a whole new way of thinking, and this is only just the beginning!
Happy Anniversary Bitcoin Whitepaper!
To mark this celebration we have updated our Bounty Campaign to include more rewards for our supporters!
Happy Halloween!
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