Bitcoin History: How The Digital Currency Began And Grew
Bitcoin is a form of electronic cash that works without the need for a central bank. It’s decentralized and is set to be the most widely-traded crypto in the future.
The idea of using a digital currency made sense for a number of reasons. It can offer more user-friendly and secure transactions than a traditional method, which is slow and difficult to track. It can also be used in highly fraudulent situations, something that most major banks are unable to protect their customers from.
Why a decentralized currency should be developed:
- Protect the individual from centralized banking institutions
- Protect the individual from inflationary economic practices
- Protect the individual from restrictive measures imposed by governmental officials
- Awareness on the way the currency will be used in the future
Dealing with the question of “where to from here?”
Founding a decentralized currency was not an easy task, and it wasn’t for the easiest of reasons. In the early years, the currency was anonymous and, despite certain measures to stop this, its anonymous nature allowed it to attract users from all over the world. Much of the early popularity came from black markets in peer-to-peer culture, the most well-known of which were the Silk Road and Silk Road 2.
Shortly after the first coin was mined, Satoshi Nakamoto posted a white paper on the coding project that described this currency, Bitcoin. It contained a step-by-step tutorial on how the coin worked, along with a number of anticipated future improvements.
Nakamoto remained a mystery because he never replied to people asking for more information about his identity and he never confirmed his involvement in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was released as open-source software in 2009, when Nakamoto mined the first block of the blockchain.
Notable Figures in Bitcoin’s History
Perhaps the most significant individual in Bitcoin’s history is Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous individual who developed the protocol. Satoshi mined the first block of the blockchain, which is referred to as the genesis block.
He identified himself as a pseudonym for some of his projects and was identified by many as simply the legend of the cryptocurrency. Since the discovery of his identity, many have claimed the name is an alias of another person. Others claim that the word “Satoshi” was chosen because of a bit of blockchain’s code written by Nakamoto.