Bitcoin - How it all started #1
If you missed the first half of this essay, you may look it up in the above link. this is a continuation of it. Thanks for reading
Suffice to add that Cypherpubk’s mailing list, started in 1992 comprised as many as 700 people so much that by the year 1995, breakthroughs in the field of cryptography and decentralized systems, started, championed by some of its members.
Image source: pixabay
Only shortly, Hashcash was invented by Adam Back a very adept cryptographer in the year 1997. Hashcash was a proof of work algorithm that is closely similar to the one that Bitcoin would shortly use.
Not long after Hashcash was invented, B-Money came into play, introduced by Wei Dei, also a member of Cypherpunks, and an adept Microsoft researcher. Something important about B-Money is that it merged concepts of decentralization and digital contracts. It set the earliest interests in cryptocurrencies.
In deed, before Bitcoin was launched later, Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcon, contacted both Adam Black and Wei Dai.
One year after, a mechanism called Bit gold, was designed by one, Nick Szabo. It is actually seen as the direct precursor to Bitcon
It was until the year 2004 when a major breakthrough in cryptocurrency and decentralized systems was made by Hal Finney, a cryptography enthusiast and member of cypherpunks. He developed what was the first effective reusable proof of work protocol.
Notice - and this is important in understanding the ascendency of this this technology - that this Prof of work protocol (RPOW) was based on Adam Black’s algorithm, invented earlier in 1997 as observed above.
Hal Finney, would became the very first recipient of Bitcon, continuing, despite his terminal sickness, and until his demise in 2014, to contribute to the development of Bitcoin.
Summarily, Satosh Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin started coding Bitcoin’s protocol late in 2007 and through the year 2008 until its launch early in 2009. Until he handed it over to Gavin Andresen to take on as its lead developer in 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto was active in Bitcoins development.
Of course Gavin Andresen later founded the Bitcoin Foundation that today sets the standards, protects and promotes the use of Bitcoin globally.
Now out of Bitcoin, we have several crypto currencies, the majority of whose designs are based on Bitcoin protocol now flooding as Initial coin Offerings to raise funds for building on projects.
