On 31 October 2008 a person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page paper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System". On 3 January 2009 the first block of the network was created. In May 2010 someone paid 10,000 bitcoin for two pizzas, one of the first known purchases with it.
What Bitcoin is
- A digital money that exists as entries on a shared record called the blockchain.
- Run by a network of computers around the world, not by a company.
- Limited to 21 million units, a rule built into the software.
- Open to anyone: you can run the software and check the rules yourself.
What it is not
It is not a company, a stock or a promise from a bank. There is no customer support line inside the protocol, which is both its appeal and its risk.
One thing to remember
Bitcoin tries to be money that nobody controls and everybody can verify. The next lesson shows how a shared record can work without a boss.
Tap a card to flip it.
CHECK YOURSELF
pick an answer for each question