💡 “What is #Bitcoin, really?”
To understand it, you need to know where it came from.
This is the story of how one anonymous message board post changed the world forever. 🧵
The world’s first decentralized digital currency didn’t come out of nowhere.
#Bitcoin was born out of decades of failed experiments, cryptography breakthroughs, and growing distrust in centralized systems.
⛓️ The Cypherpunks
In the 90s, a group of privacy-obsessed cryptographers and hackers known as the Cypherpunks began working on tools to free individuals from surveillance and censorship.
They believed in using code as a shield against centralized power.
🧪 Early digital money attempts:
• eCash (1990s) by @chaumdotcom
• b-money by @_weidai
• Hashcash by @adam3us (proof-of-work system to prevent spam)
• Bit Gold by @NickSzabo4
All contributed critical ideas but none solved everything.
Then came 2008.
đź’Ą The global financial system collapses. Banks are bailed out. Trust in institutions hits a low.
Just weeks later, an anonymous figure named Satoshi Nakamoto publishes a whitepaper:
“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”
đź“ś The #Bitcoin whitepaper (Oct 31, 2008) proposed:
• A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash
• No intermediaries
• Digital scarcity via a capped supply
• Trustless consensus through Proof-of-Work
On January 3, 2009, #Bitcoin goes live. Satoshi mines the Genesis Block.
Embedded in its code is a message:
“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”
A timestamp. A protest. A mission statement.
Early adopters included cryptographers, libertarians, coders, and digital misfits.
#Bitcoin had no price. No exchange. No app. Just raw code and conviction.
One early transaction? 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. 🍕
#Bitcoin slowly gained traction:
• 2010: First real exchange opens (Mt. Gox)
• 2011–13: Wikileaks and Silk Road boost usage
• 2013: Reaches $1,000 then crashes
• 2017: Hits $20,000 and crashes again
• 2021: Reaches $69,000
Volatile? Yes. Dead? Never.
What makes #Bitcoin revolutionary?
• It’s decentralized
• It’s censorship-resistant
• It has digital scarcity (21M BTC cap)
• It runs on open-source code
• It doesn’t need permission to use
#Bitcoin is more than price action. It’s a monetary protocol.
• A protest against centralized control.
• A lifeline for the unbanked.
• A tool for self-sovereignty in a digital age.
From cypherpunk mailing lists to institutional portfolios…
From a 9-page PDF to a multi-trillion-dollar asset class… #Bitcoin isn’t just money.
It’s an idea whose time has come.
đź“š Want to go deeper?
Read the Bitcoin Whitepaper
“The Bitcoin Standard” by @saifedean
"Shelling Out” by @NickSzabo4
“Digital Gold” by @nathanielpopper
Special mention to @bitcoinanatomy for this animation. đź‘Ź
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