Bitcoin BTC#1

Bitcoin (BTC) is the first, and many would claim that it’s also the best – ten years on, it’s still the most widely known and accepted cryptocurrency. Its Proof-of-work technology inspires confidence in experts and non-initiates, because transactions can’t be faked or double spent. When its creator Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block in its chain, on January 3rd 2009 and in the aftermath of the financial crisis, that date was encoded forever in text at its coinbase: ‘The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks’. As people across the world lost faith in their banks and governments to safeguard their money, Bitcoin went from strength to strength – in fact, today, it’s moving into spheres as diverse as retail and political campaign donations. Whether or not Nakamoto was responding directly to the global recession, he certainly built technology that paved the way for the decentralised transfer of value between recipients – without the need for third-party intervention. Today, Bitcoin’s network is maintained by people all over the world – and those carrying out automatic checks on incoming transactions are rewarded with the currency itself, in a virtuous circle called mining.