Bitcoin’s 10th Birthday
Bitcoin was designed to be resilient and the “experiment” is still running
Bitcoin turns 10 on Wednesday October 31st 2018 and what a journey it’s been!
For years people have been trying to create digital cash. In the 1990’s DigiCash and E-Gold attempted to do so but one went bankrupt and the other fell into legal issues. It became evident over the years that the only way a native digital currency would work was if it was trustless and censorship resistant so that governments (or anyone else) couldn’t shut it down.
BitGold’s proposal in 2005 was a first attempt at creating a decentralized censorship resistant e-currency but the idea was never implemented. A few years later, just after the worst of the 2008 financial crisis, an anonymous individual called Satoshi Nakamoto proposed Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. The network was launched a few months later on January 3rd 2009 with the following teaser message embedded in the genesis block: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” Since then the digital currency has had ups and downs and was called “dead” multiple times but it’s still alive and thriving 10 years later.
(Re)Discover the story of Bitcoin:
- Blog posts: Planting Bitcoin — Species — 4 part series
- Book: Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper (easy fun read)
- Documentary: The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (footage from the early days)
From around the web
The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust (The New Yorker) — Long piece on the story of Ethereum and the ecosystem it’s generated. Enjoyed this read for the personal stories of the people behind the technology.
The Evolving Role of Crypto Investors (Multichain Capital) — Looks at how investors can and should become more involved with their portfolio companies given the emergence of new cryptoeconomic models. Highlights that investors can now help bootstrap networks until there are enough users for it to sustain itself. Post also sparked Fred Wilson (partner at USV) to share his thoughts.
Introducing Continuous Organization (Medium) — Proposes a new type (more sophisticated) tokenized approach to fund and reward participants of decentralized organizations.
Detailed overview of Ethereum 2.0 shard chains: Committees, Proposers and Attesters (Medium) — Provides an explanation and analysis of shard chains in Ethereum, which is one method currently planned for scaling the platform.
Enter the Crypto Idea Maze (exploring entropy) — Argues that applying parity (or skeuomorphic) thinking to crypto is not where the innovation is. Instead, post examines “the novel features of the technology, who the core customers are, who is failing to serve them now and why there can be a compelling new product today.”
Web 3 Summit Videos (YouTube) — Recordings of Web 3 Summit 2018 talks and panels.
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The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer.
