I see you're
trying to invent something.
Like many great ideas, Bitcoin didn’t come out of
nowhere. It was made possible by utilizing and combining many innovations
and discoveries in mathematics, physics, computer science, and other fields.
While undoubtedly a genius, Satoshi wouldn’t have been able to
invent Bitcoin without the giants on whose shoulders he was standing
on.
“He who
only wishes and hopes does not interfere actively with the course of events
and with the shaping of his own destiny.”
Von Mises
One of these giants is Eric Hughes, one of the founders of the
cypherpunk movement and author of the
manifesto. It’s hard to imagine that Satoshi
wasn’t influenced by this manifesto. It speaks of many things
which Bitcoin enables and utilizes, such as direct and private transactions,
electronic money and cash, anonymous systems, and defending privacy with
cryptography and digital signatures.
“Privacy
is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. […] Since
we desire privacy, we must ensure that each party to a transaction have
knowledge only of that which is directly necessary for that transaction.
[…]
Therefore, privacy
in an open society requires anonymous transaction systems. Until now, cash
has been the primary such system. An anonymous transaction system is not a
secret transaction system. […]
We the Cypherpunks
are dedicated to building anonymous systems. We are defending our privacy
with cryptography, with anonymous mail forwarding systems, with digital
signatures, and with electronic money.
Cypherpunks write
code.”
Hughes
Cypherpunks do not find comfort in hopes and wishes. They actively
interfere with the course of events and shape their own destiny. Cypherpunks
write code.
Thus, in true cypherpunk fashion, Satoshi sat down and started to
write code. Code which took an abstract idea and proved to the world that it
actually worked. Code which planted the seed of a new economic reality.
Thanks to this code, everyone can verify that this novel system actually
works, and every 10 minutes or so Bitcoin proofs to the world that it is
still living.
To make sure that his innovation transcends fantasy and becomes
reality, Satoshi wrote code to implement his idea before he wrote the
whitepaper. He also made sure
to delay any release forever. After all,
“there’s always going to be one more thing to
do.”
“I had to
write all the code before I could convince myself that I could solve every
problem, then I wrote the paper.”
Nakamoto
In today’s world of endless promises and doubtful
execution, an exercise in dedicated building was desperately needed. Be
deliberate, convince yourself that you can actually solve the problems, and
implement the solutions. We should all aim to be a bit more
cypherpunk.
Bitcoin taught me that cypherpunks write code.
Follow-up articles that expand upon ideas discussed in this
lesson:
Bitcoin Is an Idea
target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Crypto Anarchist
Manifesto by Timothy C. May
target="_blank" rel="noopener">A
Cypherpunk’s Manifesto by Eric Hughes
target="_blank" rel="noopener">The
Cyphernomicon by Timothy C. May
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bitcoin P2P e-cash
paper announcement by Satoshi Nakamoto
target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bitcoin version 0.1.0
announcement by Satoshi Nakamoto
📚
Future of the Internet by Jacob Appelbaum Julian Assange
Andy Zimmermann
📚 The
Book Of Satoshi - The Collected Writings of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi
Nakamoto by Phil Champagne
