Good Morning Everyone,
January 3rd 2021 marks 13 years since the Bitcoin genesis block was mined by Satoshi, and this entire shift began. Pretty wild to think about how much has changed in 13 years. The very first iPhone for example was released only 18mths earlier.. Life was very very different.
Above you can see the codebase from the genesis block with a message inscribed by Satoshi which reads:
“The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancelor on brink of second bailout for banks”
Here is the image of the newspaper Satoshi was referencing.
13 Years on and at the time of writing, block 717,072, is about to be mined. The price of this nascent asset has gone from a fraction of a cent, to a high of $69,000 US shekels, and the market capitilization of the asset hovers around $1T USD with huge adoption from all corners of the world.
Individuals all over the planet run the software and verify the networks transactions (these are known as the nodes). More and more mining hash power continues to come online with each passing year to secure the network and in search of the remaining 10% of the 21m issuance.
It really is crazy to think about how much has happened in 13 short years.
We have seen a nation state in the form of El Salvador adopt Bitcoin as legal tender (let that actually sink in!) along with a host of corporations adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets including Tesla, Square and Microstrategy. These developments were among the first. It is unlikely they are going to be the last.
We are now into the 4th halving epoch, and the strength of the network is only moving in one direction - up and to the right. The network has operated exactly as designed producing block after block for 13 years straight, with no traditional hierarchical structure, no CEO, no head decision maker, no HR manager hiring the best talent and no ultimate judge and jury that can be called upon. This point is not trivial.
The network is operated by a truly decentralized and globally distributed group of individuals that ultimately believe that this innovation is significant and have chosen to dedicate their time and energy towards furthering it. No one approved them to do this, there was no job application or interview process - it’s simply on the basis of whether or not they add value, and the market determines this. Many do not even operate under their known ‘real world’ identity, they operate under pseudonyms.
It is a completely new kind of framework for human organisation and cooperation. A brand new system, unlike any other we have ever conceived in the history of civilization.
A completely flat, bottom up structure organised around a software protocol that was first bought online 13years ago, that no one can own or control, or hold physically, with no rulers, that exists nowhere but is everywhere. It really does defy belief. It’s so serendipitous, and the more you learn about it, the more incredible it becomes, and unlikely it seems. Yet here we are.
Happy 13th Birthday Bitcoin (for yesterday Aussie time)
Hope you guys have a great day, and i’ll chat to you tomorrow.
AK
