Celebrating Bitcoin’s nerdier anniversary with Proof of Keys
While the Bitcoin White Paper enjoyed its 10th anniversary back in October of last year, January 3rd marks an arguably more important milestone — the 10th anniversary of the generation of Bitcoin’s genesis block. The milestone is prompting a fresh round of speculation about the cryptocurrency’s future (particularly in light of its turbulent recent past). Many of us working in the blockchain trenches are taking a more proactive approach to memorializing with the annual #proofofkeys events around the world, and other fun ways to celebrate this day — BTC’s nerdier 10th anniversary.
Celebrating Ten Years of BTC
We’ve asked Shyft Chairman and Paycase CEO Joseph Weinberg for his thoughts on the 10th anniversary of the network and its significance. Here’s what he had to say:
“On this day 10 years ago, the genesis block was created as an alternative to the world we were born into. We weren’t born with a choice in monetary sovereignty, but Satoshi gave us an alternative path to help create, control, and communally collaborate, to build together new systems to represent how users, the people of the world who rely on monetary instruments, interact every day.“
“The day the genesis block was mined is special. January 3rd gave us monetary freedom, and the chance for humanity to reset the path it’s taken to date, to introduce optionality and choice for all citizens of the world. Bitcoin is more than just a currency. It’s a movement, a way of life, and a key to a whole world of new opportunities. I’m excited to be building companies in this space.”
Looking back with an eye to the future
January 3rd also marks the latest iteration of the annual #ProofofKeys event, established by Bitcoin enthusiast Trace Mayer. The concept: once a year, withdraw all your crypto holdings from third-party exchanges.
This movement is intended both to recognize the original intent of the Bitcoin project — as a reaction against the global financial sector’s misdeeds, and towards a new vision of individual financial self-sufficiency — and to test the solvency of the exchanges themselves. It acts as both a look back and a shot across the bow.
The value of Proof of Keys
For his part, Joseph Weinberg embraces the movement and sees it as a welcome challenge. “Proof of keys acts as a self-driven ecosystem flush to ensure the mechanisms that enable our space via service provisioning is being maintained and are all up to standard.”
“Proof of keys is a simple, but very powerful concept. It acts as a regulatory equivalent to banks and the traditional world having capital requirements and a quick way of proving solvency. This is critical to our space. It also lets the newest participants in our ecosystem be a part of an event to commemorate what the cryptocurrency space values — sovereignty, ownership and freedom from unnecessary centralized controls. And it lets the old dogs in the space help teach the important things that we have worked so hard for in crypto to the newest generations who have now began entering.”
Will you be taking part in #proofofkeys this year? Let us know in the comments.
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