The Bitcoin network began on 3 January 2009 with the issue of the first bitcoins. In the same month the bitcoin creator, "Satoshi Nakamoto" (probably a pseudonym?), released the original Bitcoin client as open source software. Prior to this, in late 2008, Nakamoto self-published a paper outlining his work on the creation of the Bitcoin digital currency transaction system.
Development of the Bitcoin P2P digital currency software continues as a community-driven open source project, released under the MIT Licence.
Bitcoin is regarded as the world's first decentralized, secure and incorruptible means of digital currency transfer without a Central (government) Authority to issue currency and control and verify transactions.
Bitcoin is therefore an extraordinary and important technical innovation. It is the first system where a ‘Digital Good’ cannot be double spent. That means that Bitcoins can be duplicated perfectly an infinite number of times, but they cannot be spent more than one transaction at a time between two people.
Bitcoins retain all the qualities of information (near zero cost transmission, infinite transformability, infinite lossless replicability), but the Bitcoin ecosystem changes them into something that has some of the qualities of physical property, whilst retaining all of the advantages of pure information. You can actually own a Bitcoin secure in the knowledge that even though everyone can read your Bitcoin, make copies of it, and see it in the Blockchain, they cannot steal it from you and spend it. You can copy Bitcoins ad infinitum, but inside the blockchain system is the only place where they have value or more accurately, utility. Bitcoin is the first instance of a digital representation that has some of the scarcity properties of a physical good.
It should be mentioned that Satoshi Nakamoto could have patented his cryptocurrency idea but choose not to; instead, he released his idea and the software he wrote to implement it as Open Source, so that everyone everywhere can benefit from his innovative and potentially disruptive concept. This is a noble act, and it is proper that we recognize this.
It should be mentioned that Satoshi Nakamoto could have patented his cryptocurrency idea but choose not to; instead, he released his idea and the software he wrote to implement it as Open Source, so that everyone everywhere can benefit from his innovative and potentially disruptive concept. This is a noble act, and it is proper that we recognize this.