Bitcoin emerged on October 31, 2008, when someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto published a white paper on the “peer-to-peer electronic cash payment system” detailing a global financial infrastructure based on cryptography. More than 10 years have passed since the white paper, and today cryptocurrencies are discussed extensively within the scope of global economic policies, and some countries even carry out R&D studies on their own digital currencies.
Crypto enthusiasts call cryptochain the most impressive technological and financial development of the modern era. So what happened in the process leading up to 2008?
WHITE PAPER KNOWN, BEFORE?
The first supporters of Bitcoin, which was decentralized, were predominantly tech enthusiasts, libertarians, and crypto-anarchists. The emergence and adoption of Bitcoin within this community began to define its values and fundamental design.
Satoshi’s disclosure of Bitcoin drew attention and criticism from an online community of crypto enthusiasts and computer engineers. Many of these people were involved in digital currency experiments during the 1980s and ’90s. To them, Bitcoin was the latest in a long series of experiments to create monetary systems that respect individual freedom and privacy. Tracing back its ideological roots, it can be seen that Bitcoin was heavily influenced by the discourses of two communities: Extropians and Cypherpunks.
WHAT DO EXTROPIANS AND CYPHERPUNKS SAY?
A futurist named Max More introduced a philosophy called Extropianism in 1988. This philosophy was based on a set of principles such as the evolution of values and standards for the ever-improving of the human condition, using emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, genetic engineering and space travel. Scientists and futurists with these thoughts came together in the first forums of the Internet. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, the Extropians made many designs that would herald the crypto space, such as alternative currencies. Among these names were Nick Szabo and Hal Finney, pioneers of cryptocurrency.
The Cypherpunks, on the other hand, were a community of cryptographers, computer engineers, and futurists who sought to secure individual sovereignty in the event of a possible pursuit. One of the most famous cypherpunks is Julian Asaange, editor of Wikileaks.
TECHNICAL HISTORY OF BITCON
Encryption and decryption have been based on the understanding of the cipher by the parties for centuries. So private keys were used. It was necessary to use face-to-face meetings or reliable intermediaries to decrypt these ciphers. This method meant relying on more than one party. This is called the “symmetric key encryption” method. It is not possible to use this method on a large scale and it has many weak points. An alternative method, invented in the 1970s, forms the basis of cryptocurrency technology. Let’s try to summarize this method called “public key encryption” as follows:
In this method, each party has a pair of public and private keys. So, when we think that Ahmet sent a secret message to Fatma, with this method, Fatma can lock the message with Ahmet’s public key. In this system, neither party needs to agree on a message or tip beforehand. Fatma can also digitally sign the message and have anyone with knowledge of the public key verify the message.
In the first years of the development of cryptography, it is stated that there was an unnamed “crypto war” between crypto developers and many official authorities. It is stated that governments at that time did not want to make public key encryption public, on the grounds that it could fundamentally change the balance of power.
eCASH AND BITCOIN
David Chaum is one of the most influential names in the cryptocurrency space. In 1982, Chaum started a revolution in this regard, writing a study detailing the anonymous transaction system that would directly impact future digital currency experiments. That year, Chaum’s work on digital currency goes back to the infancy of the internet, when he published his landmark article, “Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments.”
In 1997, 26-year-old Cypherpunk Adam Back invented the Hashcash system, which is the basis of today’s Bitcoin mining. This development led to the birth of Bitcoin’s precursors, B-money and Bit Gold. B-money was introduced by Wei Dai in 1998.
Bit Gold, on the other hand, was a digital currency developed by computer engineer Nick Szabo. After Satoshi launched Bitcoin in 2008, Szabo stated that the shortcomings of Bit Gold in Bitcoin were corrected and ended the project. Satoshi said in a statement in 2010 that Bitcoin was implemented by combining B-money and Bit Gold.
Sources: Cointelegraph, Crypto Coin
Risk Disclosure: The articles and articles on Kriptokoin.com do not constitute investment advice. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are high-risk assets, and you should do your due diligence and do your own research before investing in these currencies. You can lose some or all of your money by investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Remember that your transfers and transactions are at your own risk and any losses that may occur are your responsibility. Cryptokoin.com does not recommend buying or selling any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is Kriptokoin.com an investment advisor. For this reason, Kriptokoin.com and the authors of the articles on the site cannot be held responsible for your investment decisions. Readers should do their own research before taking any action regarding the company, assets or services in this article.
Disclaimer: Advertisements on Kriptokoin.com are carried out through third-party advertising channels. In addition, Kriptokoin.com also includes sponsored articles and press releases on its site. For this reason, advertising links directed from Kriptokoin.com are on the site completely independent of Kriptokoin.com’s approval, and visits and pop-ups directed by advertising links are the responsibility of the user. The advertisements on Kriptokoin.com and the pages directed by the links in the sponsored articles do not bind Kriptokoin.com in any way.
Warning: Citing the news content of Kriptokoin.com and quoting by giving a link is subject to the permission of Kriptokoin.com. No content on the site can be copied, reproduced or published on any platform without permission. Legal action will be taken against those who use the code, design, text, graphics and all other content of Kriptokoin.com in violation of intellectual property law and relevant legislation.