Celebrating the Bitcoin Whitepaper turning 14
The Bitcoin Whitepaper, the document that introduced the first cryptocurrency to the world, turns 14 today. Investors, community members, developers and others celebrate this event across social media platforms.
The project that began as an experiment, as an alternative to the fiat money system, is still in its teens. However, its economic, social, political and cultural impact is massive. The document’s introduction states:
(…) an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, which allows two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.
From zero to over $1 trillion in market capitalization in a decade, Bitcoin has often been called a fraud, a miracle, a bubble. Conversely, mainstream media has declared it dead many times, but the network continues to insert new blocks into the blockchain.
Published by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin and the author behind the Bitcoin Whitepaper, proposed a solution for people to trade over the internet with a native currency. Nakamoto was the first to solve the Byzantine General’s Problem, changing the world forever.
Runs bitcoin
— halfin (@halfin) 11 January 2009
Bitcoin Whitepaper a work of art?
The document opened the door for internet users to send and receive money worldwide on an open, decentralized, censorship-resistant and permissionless network. The implications of this technology continued to ripple across the nascent crypto industry and other sectors of the world.
In 14 years, Bitcoin’s impact has spurred an industry that crossed the $3 trillion market cap and sparked a demand for new mediums of exchange, new ways to interact with money, and open solutions accessible to all. The Bitcoin Whitepaper showed that there was an alternative; it sent a message across the internet: central banks are expendable.
In emerging nations, countries in Latin America and Africa, Bitcoin has provided users with a safe haven. They can break free from their national financial institutions, access an immutable asset to protect their wealth and often bypass financial constraints. This change began with the Bitcoin Whitepaper.
Since 2020, Bitcoin has been recognized as a macro asset with the potential to replace gold as the new store of value for the internet. The cryptocurrency is part of the financial strategy of large companies, and it was made legal tender for the first time.
2022 predictions on #Bitcoin:
•Want to reach $100k
• Two more countries will adopt it as legal tender
•Will be a major election issue in US elections this year
•Bitcoin City will start construction
•Vulcan bonds will be oversubscribed
•Big surprise at @TheBitcoinConf— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) 2 January 2022
Defending Bitcoin Whitepaper
The crypto community rallied behind the Bitcoin Whitepaper once again in 2021. At that time, Craig Wright, a person claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, forced several websites to take down the document. Wright claims to own the copyright to the paper.
Individuals, companies and nations responded by hosting the Bitcoin Whitepaper on their websites, proving that the ideals behind Bitcoin are still strong. In addition, the Square-led Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) filed a lawsuit against Craig Wright.
Jack Dorsey, a founder of Twitter, and Square, and a Bitcoin supporter, shared the Bitcoin Whitepaper link. Today, as the crypto community celebrates, one of his interviews about the document resurfaced. There, Dorsey calls the white paper a work of poetry.
“The #bitcoin whitepaper is poetry. #Bitcoin moves the world forward in a noble and honorable way that enables everyone to be a part of history”
— @jackpic.twitter.com/xvUuDyvpxX
— Documenting Bitcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) 31 October 2022
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